Page 25 - Build Your Own Combat Robot

Build Your Own Combat Robot
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around since the late 1980s, and have been rapidly growing ever since. The follow-
ing is a short history of some of the most popular robot contests around today.
There are many other competitions aside from those listed here, and new ones are
turning up each year.
Late 1980s The remote control and autonomous robot sumo contest
is invented by Hiroshi Nozawa of Fujisoft ABC, Inc., in Japan.
1989 Inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen founds FIRST. This
nonprofit organization, “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science
and Technology,” pairs up school-age children with local engineers
to build robotic projects.
1992 Marc Thorpe discovers that his experiments with building a
radio-controlled vacuum cleaner to help with the housework can be
turned into a new sport called Robot Wars.
1992 FIRST Robotics hosts its first competition with 28 high-school teams.
1994 Marc Thorpe creates Robot Wars. This is the first major competition
where robots face off against each other in an arena in front of a live
audience. The first event is held at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.
1997 Mentorn Broadcasting produces a six-episode series of Robot Wars
for BBC television in the U.K.
1997 BotBash, a similar event to the original Robot Wars, holds its first
event in Phoenix, Arizona.

March 10, 1999 BattleBots is founded by Trey Roski and Greg Munson
in San Francisco.
August 14, 1999 BattleBots hosts its first event in Long Beach, California,
with 70 robots competing.

January 29, 2000 BattleBots appears on pay-per-view television, and
airs the second BattleBots event from November 1999.
August 23, 2000 BattleBots begins airing as a television series on
Comedy Central. The show quickly shoots up in ratings and finishes
its first season as one of the most popular shows on cable TV.
April 2, 2001 BattleBots registers over 650 robots at its Spring 2001
competition.
April 4, 2001 Robotica begins airing as a television series on
the Learning Channel. Early indications show the program is
a hit among viewers.
August 20, 2001 The new Robot Wars Extreme Warriors, a spin-off
from Robot Wars, premieres as a new television series on TNN.