Back in the Arena: Gearing Up for BattleBots FaceOffs
It’s been a long off-season, but we haven’t been idle! Nearly a year has passed since the show last aired, and it’s been even longer since we filmed a season. The gap between builds has felt endless, and we've had our share of setbacks while working on a new robot. However, we're diving back into the action with a new event on the horizon in just a few short months. BattleBots has shared the details on their socials, and it’s shaping up to be an exciting competition with a sizable field of robots and a thrilling format. The off-season lull can be challenging, but this upcoming event is just the jolt we needed to reignite our motivation!
Looking Back: Our Last Major Update
Previously, we planned to build a flipper for our Proving Grounds fights against Magnitude. Unfortunately, life got in the way and the time we needed to complete the robot slipped through our fingers. Rather than leave Chad, Magnitude, and BattleBots hanging, we decided to bring HyperShock to Proving Grounds. Everyone was a good sport about it, and the result was a showcase of Magnitude's incredible durability. We weren’t gentle in those fights, and Magnitude proved to be tough as nails! It was also the first time most of our team experienced Destruct-A-Thon in-person, where we spent time chatting with the staff who keep those robots running week after week. Competing for two weeks is one thing; maintaining robots for months on end is another challenge entirely. We were pleased to hear that the HyperDrives we developed specifically for Destruct-A-Thon, which power many of those robots, were still performing well after nearly eight months of continuous shows. Now, well over a year since DAT started, those HyperDrives are still going strong.
Vertigo’s Evolution: Crafting a Flipping Powerhouse
On the Vertigo front, we've made some key decisions that will set it apart from other modern flippers. As a refresher, Vertigo is our attempt at building a new robot: a VERY high power flipper. Vertigo will feature the same or similar drive power as HyperShock, and we're experimenting with a new version of our drivetrain that’s smaller and lighter. If it proves successful, HyperShock will likely see the same updates in the next season of BattleBots. Our goal is to create an offense-focused flipper, one that can relentlessly pursue and upend its opponents. Will is particularly excited about driving a robot without the limitations of gyro, giving him unmatched agility. Additionally, the plan is to make it totally invertible with the ability to flip while upside down. Vertigo will still have a unique flipping power system, although it’s evolved significantly from our original concept. We encountered a unique challenge: our initial solutions either made the robot too large to armor or weren’t reliable enough. Our specific goal for Vertigo is to send a robot all the way to the ceiling—not just near it, but truly to the top. Despite the challenges, we’ve developed numerous designs and models that continue to influence the current iteration we’re working on. Follow along here and on our social channels for updates!
Building the Brand: Beyond Combat Robotics
Last year, we had a communications intern named Bella for several months, which initially felt a bit out of place for a combat robotics team. However, the reality is that we’re as much a marketing company as we are a robotics team. Motorsports, in general, revolves around creating highly focused advertising opportunities for sponsors, and much of our revenue too comes from securing sponsorships. We put significant effort into designing cool, high-quality merchandise, which not only sells well but also enhances our brand value—an essential factor in attracting sponsors. Bella was instrumental in structuring our social media strategy, and her work paid off when we secured a new sponsor, TIGER Coatings, despite the absence of a filming season.
TIGER Coatings is the manufacturer of the neon yellow powder coat we've been using since season 3. We've partnered with them to create a collection of HyperShock-themed coatings under the brand BattleCoats. This Fall, we'll be expanding our use of these coatings on both robots we'll be bringing to the FaceOffs events. Previously, HyperShock's chassis was spray-painted, and the weapon support uprights were anodized. Now, both will be coated in BattleCoats colors, with Vertigo also sporting bright, durable coatings from the collection. We’ll be attending SEMA this November in Las Vegas as part of TIGER Coating’s presence, showcasing our collaboration.
Renewed Partnerships: Xometry and the Road Ahead
Our marketing efforts lead to continued interest & support from a long-time sponsor, Xometry, who will once again be our exclusive manufacturing partner. We'll be joining them at IMTS this September in Chicago—a must-see event for anyone in the manufacturing industry. We'll have a rotating staff of HyperShock team members in their booth all week. Notably, students can register for IMTS for free. Will and I attended a few times while in college, and it was always a blast—it’s like Disney World for manufacturing. If you're at IMTS next week (Sept. 9-14), come find us in the Additive Manufacturing section at Xometry's booth!
BattleBots League: Reviving the Next Generation of Combat Robotics
BattleBots also unveiled their plan to relaunch the educational league for combat robotics at SXSW this past spring. We attended as special guests alongside teams Witch Doctor and Skorpios. The new BattleBots League is an evolution of the BattleBotsIQ program, which trained many of today’s top competitors, including members of HyperShock, Witch Doctor, Rotator, Icewave, and Bite Force. BattleBots is aiming to expand this program to give more kids the opportunity to join the sport and participate in a national league.
A Surprise Recovery: The Return of a Lost Robot
In a surprising twist, we recently recovered a robot we thought was long lost to the shipping void. After OpenSauce 2022, the freight company we used abruptly declared bankruptcy, and our robot disappeared. We spent weeks chasing it down, only to be told it was lost—until it wasn’t. We received cryptic instructions for retrieval, but when we tried to follow up, the company stopped responding. With no other options, we coordinated with Jason Woods of Jackpot and Tracer to collect the robot from a shipping depot. However, on the morning he was set to retrieve it, we learned that the company had ceased customer freight collection, and any remaining freight would be handed over to a consignment shipper. Months went by with no updates, and despite our best efforts, we eventually ran out of leads and hope. Then, out of nowhere this past June, we received an email from a former employee of the freight company. He had purchased our robot pallet at an auction and kindly shipped it back to us. This unexpected recovery brought our robot count back up to three—all of which will be heading to FaceOffs or SEMA this Fall with a fresh coat of powder from TIGER.
Refreshing the Brand: New Robot, New Look, New Merch
Alex has been hard at work updating the team branding, and creating a new, cohesive look for both HyperShock and Vertigo at FaceOffs. Will overhauled the website and we're collecting input from the team on new merchandise (coming soon!). We're focusing on high quality goods that fans will enjoy using by making sure we enjoy them first. The plan is to redo almost every offering we have and pare down the selection. With nearly 200 items, it's just too much, especially when about a dozen items comprise the overwhelming majority of sales. In the coming weeks, we'll do a deep dive into Alex's design process and share what makes HyperShock look so electrifying.
Looking Forward: BattleBots FaceOffs
HyperShock and Vertigo will compete this Fall in the BattleBots FaceOffs event series. Each robot will compete on a different weekend against different opponents. HyperShock will be in action from November 1st through 3rd, facing what has been dubbed the "Group of Death." While the fight order is still up in the air, our opponents will include Tombstone, Valkyrie, and Orbitron. Vertigo’s debut fights will take place during the last FaceOffs weekend, from December 20th to 22nd, where it will face off against Cobalt, Slammo, and Warthog. We’ll see which of them soars the highest!
The current plan for FaceOffs footage is a rolling release starting a few weeks after the first weekend, continuing until they run out of content. We’ve heard there will be both short-form fight videos and longer content featuring behind-the-scenes footage, repairs, testing, and interviews. Without the constraints of TV runtime, BattleBots has the chance to experiment with new presentation formats. This will all run alongside updated Destruct-A-Thon performances starting today, Sept. 6th, which will likely focus more on the robots and fights and less on scripted banter.
Join Us at FaceOffs
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Iteration: Bringing back the same HyperShock, but better?