ROBOT HAVOC 2 - Adelaide Robot Combat 29 - 30 June 2019

What: ROBOT HAVOC 2
Who: Adelaide Robot Combat
When: 29th and 30th of June 10am – 4pm
Where: 96-100 Franklin St, Adelaide, SA 5000
How: Pre-registration is required for bots, spectators free!
 
Robot Havoc 2 - Adelaide Robot Combat ~ Contributed by Chris Bycroft
How did you first become involved in the organisation:
James and I first started as coworkers and we both wanted to build something which combined creativity, technology and competitiveness into an awesome hobby.
 
How did your organisation start? and why did it start?
Since the only way at to get into robot fighting in 2015 was to enter tournaments in Queensland with the larger and more expensive 13kg robots, we decided to make our own arena here in Adelaide and fight with one of the smaller official weight classes, called Antweight (150 grams).
 
So our group started with James and I fighting in a little plywood arena I built in my back shed. Within a couple of months, we had our first regular, Steve with his son Owen. This grew to include Ben and a few more of our current regulars.
 
We’ve now expanded to the Brocas Community Space and we compete in two different weight classes, Antweight and the larger Beetleweight (1.36kg).
 
What is your organisation and what do they do?
Think Battlebots and Robotwars from TV, only smaller! We operate several tournaments a year where South Australians bring their robotic creations to fight it out!
 
How does your organisation help people connect?
Our group has developed great sportsmanship and everyone is extremely helpful and welcoming. Competitors help each other with repairs and freely give advice to anyone interested. We are open to all ages, and have several family teams.
 
Once a month we also hold a build and information evening at SANE Makerspace. Regulars come to tinker with their bots, get help with their builds or repairs and newcomers can learn how they can get involved in this sport.
 
How does your organisation help their community?
At its core, our events help develop engineering skills. How do you build your robot to stay within weight? How do you protect your internals? How to do you control your robot? There are so many different aspects to building a combat robot that one of my favourite things is to leave an event thinking about how I can improve my creation to do better next time.
 
What help does your organisation need?
Combat robotics always needs more people making robots, our group and sport would not exist without its builders! To do this we are always after more exposure and ways to make it easier for people to learn about us.
 
Anything else you would like to add?
Check us out on our Facebook group page for more information on how to get involved and when our next event will be.
 
Our big event for the year, ROBOT HAVOC 2, will be held at Makerspace Adelaide on the 29th and 30th of June and it will be free admission for spectators! If you want to compete head to the Facebook event listing and follow the instructions to register, only a few weeks left!