Outside of the Box

It is another roundtable and this time I gathered together one of the most dominant forces in the NHRL - Team WPI! We talked about many things including the importance of growing combat robotics, the Loophole controversy and how it subsequently promoted more creativity in the sport, what you can expect from Team Too Hot To Handle at NHRL's Teams event and a special conversation with Gabe & Alex about the dominance of Clyde in April and what may be in store for Finals. It is all here!

In one of my biggest episodes to date, I got a bunch of strong performers together from the April NHRL event including the builders of Golden Dumpster winners Chonkiv (30lb) and Ambisbaena (12lb). Hear all about how the RoboJackets of Georgia Tech felt about having to fight each other in the competition and why their bot names usually end in the letter 'i'. Also, hear from Team Stamdamonium who had a great day with many qualifying robots including the punchy BattleTots and the amazing story of how builder Matt Lantry did not even know qualifier Half Life would be competing until shortly before the competition started. This is such a fun episode so make sure you check it out!
 
More about the RoboJackets: https://robojackets.org/
Team Pandamonium Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/Rp3ZDb26Ej6dDBby/?mibextid=qi2Omg
Team Stamina page: https://www.facebook.com/share/hjzkopZHrCu5Bymp/?mibextid=qi2Omg
 

Hey fans and builders! For the two year anniversary of the show we did something a little different and THIS time, Ashley is asking the questions! Find out what inspired the podcast in the first place, why soldering is frustrating and what we think about the NHRL Teams event coming up in June. This was a really fun episode to record and hopefully it answers some questions that some of you may have had.
 

It is now two years to the day that the first episode of Outside of the Box premiered featuring Zach and Diana from Team Skorpios. The show has come a long way in that time and I have gotten to interview so many wonderful folks within combat robotics and beyond. I chose 20 episodes for this recap that were defining or important to the show in some way and I break them all down for you here. Thank you to everyone who has supported and I hope to make the next two years even better than the first two! #battlebots #combatrobotics #stem

It is time for a chat with Hacksmith Industries about the highly anticipated BattleBots entry - Orbitron! We talked about how Ben, Bogdan and Hacksmith became involved with the University of Waterloo's BattleBots idea which has turned into a super innovative AI robot that may change the landscape of combat robotics. They elaborate on the benefits and challenges of an AI robot and how important it is to continue inspiring others to get involved in STEM. They also teased a smaller version of Orbitron that you may see at lower weight class competitions in the future!
Check out more content at https://www.youtube.com/@UCjgpFI5dU-D1-kh9H1muoxQ
You can also get a mini Orbitron and much more at www.hacksmith.store 

If you are already feeling high about April's NHRL event, please check out this roundtable featuring Corey, Chris, Gabe, Jaaron, Dan & Kyle where we preview what to expect from their robots and much more! We naturally talked about triple threat Jamison Go who will be competing in every weight class, dug into much of the rest of the field and I got super hype about multibot Barbie & Ken & Tim Hebert's new bot Pretty Fly which make their debuts at this event.

Last month, I got the opportunity to attend Indiana Comic Convention and nerd out with a bunch of people that share so much of the fandom appreciation that I do. I got to do a couple of interviews with fans and got to meet a handful of celebrities including some Avatar encounters with a couple of my favorite voice actors. Check out my review and feedback on the Con!

Prepare to be royally entertained in this episode as I chat with Gillian and Linden of Bot Barons about their court full of regal robots. We dove into how they came up with this amazing theme in the first place, why cam lifters are so hard to fight, their bot Prince's amazing performance at the March RIT event and how Emperor will be changing its "clothes" for the April event and moving away from the live shaft system it has had in the past. Also, hear about their new acquisition Yippee and the changes they plan to make to it!

It is time for the final spotlight on the National STEM Challenge Champions leading up to the National STEM Festival coming up here in mid-April. This time I spoke to Jasmine Lima who has had a longtime passion for STEM and has been working on her project for years which focuses on Tsunamis and T-Sound. She was inspired by a trip to Hawaii which potentially put her in the path of a tsunami and she is working to prevent this terrible disaster from occurring in the future. She is excited to get to attend the Festival with friends who are also Champions and network with all of the amazing young people who will be headed to Washington D.C. for this event. Please check this episode out to hear about Jasmine's amazing project.

After two years of the podcast, it seemed like it might be time to try out some new segments. Check out these amazing segments I did with Tom Farkas, Corey Nason and J Lee. It is sure to be an episode you won't forget!