If you are new to combat robotics, or even a seasoned veteran of many tournaments, information is crucial to becoming a better builder and competitor. Luckily for fighting robot enthusiasts, there is a ton of information available the Internet. Here are just a few of the websites and groups with great combat robotics information.
The Big Boys (and Girls)
It started for most of us when we first saw robot fighting on television with either Robot Wars or BattleBots. We were hooked with the first shower of sparks. Even though those shows featured huge bots costing thousands of dollars to build, there is still a lot of information for those of us competing at the lower weight categories.
BattleBots Official Website: The official site for the popular television competition features team profiles, event schedules, match results, and behind-the-scenes content.
The BattleBots Robots: A great resource to learn about the teams competing in BattleBots, with links to their social media and websites.
A Community of Combat Robotics Enthusiasts
Reddit – r/battlebots: A subreddit group with over 70,000 members. The group is an independent community for fans of robot combat, not representing any one brand. They welcome those with a casual interest in television shows as well as the enthusiast community.
Hackaday: While not exclusively focused on combat robotics, Hackaday features articles on innovative robot designs, tutorials, and projects that can be relevant to combat robotics builders.
Instructables: This site has many user-generated tutorials on building combat robots, covering various designs and techniques.
Facebook Groups
Various groups exist for combat robotics enthusiasts, where members share insights, event information, and offer support to each other. Do a search on Facebook and you will find a bunch of them. Here are just a few: (member numbers data as of 1/23/25)
Robot Weight Class Groups
- Antweight Combat Robots (5 K members)
- Plastic antweight combat robotics group (607 members)
- Beetleweight Robot Combat (5.5K members)
- Featherweight Robot Combat (532 members)
Regional Groups
- Texas Robot Combat (1.2K members)
- Arizona Robotic Combat (ARC) (825 members)
- Florida Combat Robot Builders (403 members)
- Combat Robots of Oklahoma (622 members)
- Ohio Robotics Club (823 members)
- Michigan Combat Robotics (248 members)
- Utah Combat Robotics Group (277 members)
- Carolina Combat Robots (413 members)
- Colorado Combat Robotics Club (961 members)
Other
- 3D Printing for Robot Combat (3.0K members)
- Combat Robot Flea Market (2.5K members)
- Beater Bar Combat Robot Builders (629 members)
- BattleBots Fans (10.8K members)
YouTube Channels
YouTube is a great resource for combat robotics. There are dozens of channels dedicated specifically to combat robotics, including channels from individual builders, teams, commentators, and dedicated news platforms covering the sport and its related events. Here is a small sampling of what is available:
Ray Billings team captain of Hardcore Robotics, and the builder/designer of the BattleBots champion robot Tombstone! This channel focuses on various robotics projects along with some building and competing guidelines. (56K subscribers•177 videos)
Team Witch Doctor Those familiar with BattleBots will associate the name with the hugely successful vertical spinner bot with the ribcage design as armor. The channel includes a “Witch Doctor Junior”playlist with team member Andrea Gellatly covering everything you need to know to build and compete an antwaight. (17K subscribers•294 videos)
Robert Cowan Member of Team Copperhead of BattleBots. The channel covers CNC, robotics, various other projects. The channel has many great combat robotics videos, including a playlist of videos about building an antweight Combat Robot. (66.5K subscribers•392 videos)
Team Just ‘Cuz Robotics Seth Schaffer is a Mechanical Engineer with a passion for combat robotics. The channel is dedicated to sharing the knowledge needed to build combat robots and other related DIY projects. He is also a member of the Battlebots team behind the vicious overhead spinner Bloodsport. (10.3K subscribers•225 videos)
Team Panic Channel of an electrical engineer with an interest in robot combat. His videos document his experiences with build logs, tutorials, 3D printing and other robotics stuff! (8.05K subscribers•386 videos)
DrumBotics Welcome to DrumBotics Youtube channel where we will be uploading antweight competition fights updates about our robot and more! (1.4K subscribers•52 videos)
Team Cryptid Robotics This channel includes bot builds and guides about combat robotics. He states the goal of the channel is to grow the sport, build hype for his bots and guides for all the things he “wished existed when I got into combat robotics”. (364 subscribers•71 videos)
Other Combat Robotics Resources
Robot Combat Events A listing of combat robotics events in the US.
Ask Aaron Combat Robotics Q&A Team Run Amok started Ask Aaron in March of 2003 to answer the robot combat questions sent to their team. Twenty-one years and 7500 questions later they are still fielding a very broad range of practical, theoretical, arcane, obscure, and sometimes just plain silly questions.
The Robot Combat League A non-profit whose mission is to promote STEM and design and fabrication skills through the sport of Robot Combat. The Robot Combat League is not an official organizing body for Robot Combat.
NHRL Official website of the National Havoc Robot League. The organization is the home of the 3lb, 12lb and 30lb world championships through a series of seven combat robotics tournaments hosted in the House of Havoc. The group is based in Norwalk, CT.
Don’t You (Forget About Me)
Last, but certainly not least, is the robotics section on my Knowledge Base Articles page. As of this writing, I have nine articles on combat robotics, with everything from The Science Behind Robotic Warfare to Sumo Robotics. You can find my Knowledge Base here.
Conclusion
These resources can be invaluable for anyone interested in combat robotics, whether they’re looking to build their own robot, stay updated on competitions, or connect with other enthusiasts in the community. This is just a very small sampling of what is available. Google (or another search engine) is your friend. A search will reveal a wealth of resources.