GILROY
– It was Stumpy’s first fight.
He wasn’t meant to compete, but there he was, going up against
the legendary Mean Burrito.
GILROY – It was Stumpy’s first fight.
He wasn’t meant to compete, but there he was, going up against the legendary Mean Burrito.
He dodged left; he feinted right; he attacked and tried to stay in the arena, but he got hit – with the fire shooting from Mean Burrito’s flame thrower.
Stumpy survived, but he lost the fight.
And Stumpy’s controller – Stumpy’s a robot, you see – was hooked.
That was in July 2003, and it was the first time David Wiley, a general machinist from Morgan Hill who built Stumpy, had ever been to a battle ‘bot event. It was also the beginning of a new hobby for Wiley – fighting robots.
“When he first set (the flame thrower) off early in the match, I thought ‘Oh my God, he exploded into flames.’ People said you should have seen my face,” said Wiley, who wasn’t aware that Mean Burrito had a flame-thrower. “I think right then and there people started realizing the personality Stumpy has.”
At least a dozen robot-fighters are expected to converge on Gilroy this weekend for the Gilroy Bot Gauntlet at Hobby World.
The robots will face off against each other in the 1-pound, or ant-weight, and 3-pound, or beetle-weight, categories in double-elimination fighting.
Wiley will enter Stumpy in the ant weight category, the same category that Sacramento resident Steven West’s robot Fusible Link will compete in.
Both West and Wiley got started building the full-sized battle bots, which can range from 12 pounds to 325 pounds.
“I’m a full-time student, so I can’t afford to build the big ones anymore,” West said. “The ant weights are a lot more manageable.”
West said his 1-ounce robot with a carbon fiber frame has strength in his corner, with the ability to hold about 400 pounds.
The robots’ frames, weapon and armor are usually made by the builders, West said, but the electronics, such as the receiver and control systems are usually purchased.
“It’s almost impossible to make them on your own,” he said, adding that the electronics are so good now that there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel.
Even within the size restrictions, there are a variety of robots competing, Wiley said.
“Even though we’re working with the same basic rules, you’ll see an endless array of robots,” he said. “They’re as diverse as the people who are involved in the sport.”
While all different, the robots generally have three basic weapon types, West said. There’s the wedge, which is used to get under an opponent robot and push it out of the arena. There’s the vertical bladed weapon, which spins like a saw blade and either cuts opponents or throws them out of the arena, and there’s the horizontal bladed weapon.
A new type is coming on the scene, West said. It’s a wedge that’s pneumatic or spring-loaded to flip opponents over. But, he added, those types haven’t really taken off yet, because it’s difficult to get parts that are small enough and light enough for the ant or beetle weight categories.
And what the driver does – not necessarily how tough the robot is – is what decides many of the battles, West said.
“A lot of times when people lose, it’s because they make a mistake and drive themselves out of the arena or they mean to turn one way but turn another way right into a weapon,” he said.
During the competitions, the controllers try to push an opponent out of the arena; immobilize the opponent, by, for example, flipping it; or thrash the opponent so that it no longer works.
It may seem like a disappointment to watch a robot that took eight to nine hours to build be destroyed.
But “what’s more disappointing is when it doesn’t get smashed and you lose because of something stupid,” West said. “If I have a choice, I’d rather see my robot annihilated if it’s going to lose.”
Stumpy has survived repeated attempts at annihilation. Originally built for between $200 and $300, he has performed well, even though he wasn’t meant to compete at first, Wiley said.
“He does have a reputation of being very rugged,” he said. “He’s taken tremendous beatings.”
Stumpy, who now has about a .500 record, even took on Mean Burrito again.
He still lost.
