Ever heard of BattleBots or Robot Wars? Have you wondered if we do anything like that in Australia? Last Saturday in Adelaide the first Interstate Antweight Tournament happened and from all reports was a massive success.

The third tournaments this year in Adelaide, but first with an interstate invitation, this weight class to be hosted at this location by Adelaide Robot Combat (ARC) – the main robot brawling body in South Australia.

Open to spectators the matches provided much entertainment to individuals and families who love seeing robots on robot action. We spoke to redditor OooshR32 who took his boy, “Once the robots were whizzing about, and the arena trap doors opening, he was engrossed and demanding more after each match”.

The competition was open to all comers on the night for a small entry fee in the Antweight class. Antweight is defined under the SPARC (or Standardised Procedures for the Advancement of Robotic Combat) rule set to limit all combatants to a 4x4x4 inch dimension, like boxing. Antweight is the 2nd lightest class only beaten by Fairyweight but the SPARC rule set goes up to a top tier 113.4kg Heavyweight class.

Saturday’s tournament was run in 3 divisions of A

League, B League (non-destructive) and a 2×2 rumble. The A League group results from the night contributing towards the Adelaide A League ladder.

Safety is paramount in robot fighting. All professional leagues adhere to strict safety procedures. Saturday’s match was no different with the arena being fully enclosed but camera feeds used with screens setup high for spectators in the back.

If you weren’t able to attend the Adelaide event the ARC have put together a highlight reel of the night. A full range of bots were in attendance on the night with every weapon category we would expect from this weight class like front facing spinner (both horizontal and vertical) weapons, crushing pinches and wedge-bots. For those not familiar with the rules each match is timed but similar to wrestling the goal is to disable the opposing bot so it no longer has movement.

We are expecting to see a reduction of the amount of flipper weapon bots as more builders adopt a reversible configuration allowing them to still manoeuvre if turned upside down. However this comes at the cost of allowing less ‘top’ armour.

Owen Hobson was the winner on the night which is his first overall win for the year. This win ensures that Owen maintains his position tied in points for the top 3 which has been consistent through the previous matches. With 3 more matches planned and the next on April 22nd it is too close to call the Adelaide 2017 A League season result just yet.

We will be bringing you all the robot fighting updates and action as part of the Geek Society AU coverage from all around the country including matches and profiles on individual teams & robots. If you want to get involved with robot fighting in your state you can reach out to groups like the Adelaide Robot Combat to find out how to get started safely.

Given the violent nature of robot fighting, safety is first priority in robot events. All participants follow strict safety instructions, please contact your local robot club about safety if you wish to get involved in building or operating battle robots of this kind.