Combat Robots

I don't generally write about non-homesteading related stuff here, but I just had to share this.

Logan has been into combat robots since he was 2. 3 years ago we started building and competing with small combat robots. It is very much a family hobby with all of us having our parts.

This weekend we had our annual really big robot competition. It is an international competition bringing over 100 competitors. Logan decided he wanted to drive Seeking The Truth (STT) this year. It would be his first time driving in a competition. We were hoping for his first time to be a small regional competition but it wasn’t to be. He was in a field of 34 bots in his weight class.

And he did awesome! He went 4-2 finishing in 5th place! He was so amazing and not because he won. He handled himself so well. He stayed calm and focused the whole time regardless as to whether he was winning the match or losing the match. He just kept at it. He never got upset or panicked. In his last 2 fights STT was being thrown all over the arena and Logan would just let the bot land and he would be right back after his opponent. He didn’t miss a beat. Even when he was upside down he just went after the other guy. It was really incredible to watch because most drivers, even adults get a little panicky when they are upside down. And other people definitely would have tapped out in some of these fights but Logan just kept going. It won him one of the matches, even though STT was being thrown all around, Logan was the aggressor the whole time so they judges ruled him the winner.

Even his last match 1/3 judges voted for Logan to win even though he spent most of the fight in the air. Turns out being aggressive really scores you points with the judges. During his last fight all around us I heard people talking about what a good driver he was, and can you believe he is only 8? And look how calm he is, like he has ice in his veins. At the end of his last match everyone applauded for him and came up to pat him on the back and tell him how awesome he had done.

He was a great sport too. When he won a fight, he shook the other guys hand and said good fight, and when he lost a fight, he shook the other guys hand and said good fight. He never boasted after winning or got upset after losing. His second to last fight was a very close decision that he won and he went up to his competitor and said I really think you should have won that fight.

STT is pretty trashed now and will need a complete rebuild, but it is the best any of us have done in this particular competition. So it is well worth it!
You can see videos of the fights here: http://home.comcast.net/~teamdor/stt.html

In particular I would watch the last 2 fights (against Beloved Shardy and Jack), these really show why people get so into combat robots. Seeing bots fly through the air is just so much fun, even when it is your own bot. Logan won the second to last fight and lost the last one in a 2-1 judges decision.


Logan on his way to his first fight. Look how confident he is.
Logan driving in one of the fights.
Seeking The Truth before the competition
Seeking The Truth after the competition!