Robots get ready to rumble at Expo Center

Destruction aplenty as RoboGames prepare to invade this weekend's Maker Faire at the Travis County Expo Center.

By Patrick Beach
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, October 16, 2008

No more calls, please — the competition for Awesomest Thing Ever is hereby closed: Battling robots are coming to the Maker Faire at the Travis County Exposition Center this weekend, the end.

The Faire, an offshoot of Make and Craft magazines, first came to town last year, and it was positively delightful for gearheads, DIYers, inventors and hobbyists. It was, dare say, the very best way to spend that particular weekend. But this year — in addition to all kinds of great stuff including a catapult contest, life-size mousetrap and Diet Coke and Mentos fountain — they're having the Robo Games Texas Cup. Games president David Calkins of San Francisco says it's the biggest venue they've ever played, and they'll have more than two dozen fights each day. These things weigh up to 340 pounds and are outfitted with flamethrowers, "spinning blades of death" and more.

"It's such a cliché, but to see it on TV is cool, but when you see it up close it's a hundred times cooler," said Calkins, who recently left a teaching job at San Francisco State University and is the president of the Robotics Society of America. "One of my favorite things is the smell. After a couple hours of fighting, the arena takes on this amazing scent of, as our announcer likes to say, burnt metal and broken dreams. Each one has its own scent — steel and titanium and aluminum, and the sweat and adrenaline of the builders, and there's a little blood involved, and exploded batteries and fire. It's this incredible smell of destruction and gladiatorial after-effects."

Awesomest. Thing. Ever.

And these things are custom-built from the ground up. One team sponsored by the Lagunitas Brewing Co. of Petaluma, Calif., for example, had a robot that was fashioned from a beer keg — a beer keg with a flamethrower on it. As Calkins puts it, "You can't go to Robots 'R' Us and buy an awesome custom robot."

There are at least four builders with Austin or at least Texas roots, including Jascha Little, whose robot, The Judge, is a heavyweight. The Judge will be battling, among others, Ziggy, a six-legged robot from Canada (boooooo) that has been known to flip The Judge — all 340 pounds — 12 feet in the air.

"That's the best show, the ultimate matchup you can see in this sport," Calkins said. "And to appease the audience, it is a round robin event, so every robot in its weight class fights every robot in its own weight class."

The Judge doesn't see tons of combat these days. It will show up in pieces at Little's father's house, and Little will see whether he can get the thing working in time for the games.

"Some people put together very, very simple machines," said Little, 33, who's from Austin but has lived in Los Angeles for the past three years. "You can put one together for under $1,000, although it's very difficult. I put more than $15,000 into my first one, which was quite an expensive thing for a young engineer. It's like a really obsessive and expensive hobby for some people."

The Judge was last seen smashing toilets at the Minnesota State Fair.

"The Judge's hammer is pretty powerful," Little said. "If he hit the toilet dead center, the whole thing turned into shrapnel."

For a taste, check out some of the videos at robogames.net/videos.php.

No doubt the Faire would be well worth going to even without RoboGames. With them? If you don't go? Dude. Your circuits are fried.

Maker Faire

When:10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday

Where:Travis County Expo Center, 7311 Decker Lane

Cost:On-site tickets $10-$25 (children under 3 free). Discount tickets available through Friday at the Austin Children's Museum, 201 Colorado St., or Whole Foods, 525 N. Lamar Blvd.

Information: makerfaire.com