Can You Explain the New BattleBots “Residency?”

Can you explain the new BattleBots “residency”?

"BattleBots" is an American TV series based on the British program "Robot Wars." The basic premise is that custom home-crafted remote-controlled robots of all shapes, sizes, and weaponry try to tear each other to pieces in a sort of boxing-match elimination-tournament format (complete with opposing corners); factor a fair amount of Demolition Derby in the mix with a lot of flying debris. The robots fight until one or both are immobilized.

The show originally aired on Comedy Central, then moved to ABC, and is now broadcast on the Discovery Channel. It's taped at BattleBox Arena at Caesars Entertainment's TV production studios at 4165 Koval Lane; it's the tent-like structure you might've wondered about behind Bally's. The "World Championship VII” was filmed there last month and airs on Discovery next month.

BattleBots is a spectator sport and you can buy tickets to attend. That's where the residency comes in.

The “BattleBots" residency is called Destruct-A-Thon and launches on Feb. 3 at the Koval studio. Show times will be 6 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, Saturdays 3 and 6 p.m., and Sundays at noon. Ticket prices start at $49 for general admission; $125 VIP packages and $150 family bundles are also available. They're on sale now.

Destruct-A-Thon will be "the only live, ticketed, daily robotic-combat show ever," according to one description, and will feature the most famous fighting robots on the planet. "It’s going to be the most violent show in Las Vegas where nobody ever gets hurt," said BattleBots CEO Trey Roski, who happens to be the son of Ed Roski, who happens to own Silverton. Trey and his cousin Greg Munson started BattleBots in 1999.

It's a big production. Upwards of 50 teams from five continents competed in last month's World Championship. For the residency, however, each 80-minute show is a standalone performance; there's no tournament format.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal's John Katsilometes explains it further. "There will be five fights per night with two costumed team members per fight. The team members perform the walk-in, pretending to drive the robots, while the robots’ actual drivers are at the commands. These actors react to the action and the hired performers conduct interviews at the end of each fight. But the stars are the robots. If you don’t already, get to know Witch Doctor, Kraken, Mammoth, Lock-Jaw, Hypershock, and Whiplash, along with a host of new robots being specially created for the BattleBox Arena. It’s a far distance from Cirque, Celine and Spiegelworld. But the 'BattleBots' are ready to play Vegas."

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Dave_Miller_DJTB Dec-09-2022

Is there a robot factory?

I'm more interested in how the competitors get / build their robots.

On the TV show, they often have short segments showing the teams back home in their workshop, building the robots, describing the months of design work and thousands of dollars invested, and in some cases, the sponsorships.

Also, there are qualifier, semifinal and final rounds (maybe even more levels). Since even the winning robot often has extensive damage, how are they able to be ready for the next round?

Your response indicates that these shows are not tournaments, so no need to worry about the damage incurred while getting that victory. But what about the next day's show?

I mean, I assume there's no assembly line churning out robots, so where do all the competitors and robots come from?

Jackie Dec-09-2022

@Dave

All of your questions answers have been available for decades.
Just go to their websites.
Battlebots
Robotwars

Roy Furukawa Dec-09-2022

Terminator Robotics

My daughter used to compete in HS robotics competitions in Vegas at Cashman Center which are a far cry from these destructive machines, but even those team matches were very fun to watch. Pretty sure one of these competitors has a shop in Burbank, CA. that I've passed by once before.

AL Dec-10-2022

Length of matches

Just to be particular, the matches don't always end when one or both robots have malfunctioned, because sometimes that doesn't happen. Actually, the matches are set for 3 minutes.

Question of the Day - 09 December 2022

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