Outside of the Box

STEM Spotlight with Designer Sarah DeVolld on Outside of the Box

It is time for another STEM Spotlight! In this episode, I spoke with Sarah DeVolld of Vintage Train Case about her passion for blending fashion with STEM. She talks about her journey as a designer, some of the projects she has been working on and her experience at the National STEM Festival this year.

NHRL Round 5 (June) Preview on Outside of the Box

It is fitting that this episode is packed full of builders who originate from the Midwest as we preview the MRCA takeover of NHRL in June. I first talk to Emily & Dustin of Nacho Robotics about their pair of hard hitting bots that have impressed in MRCA events. Then, we shift into shenanigans with a group of folks from the Outside of the Box discord server and get even more amazing Frank lore (IYKYK). We wrap up talking to Alex & Aren from Seems Reasonable and Eli & Jamison from Sawblaze about the scary bots they are bringing to this event including some upgrades to bots we know and love. Strap in and get ready for a MEGA sized episode!

NHRL Round 4 (May) Recap on Outside of the Box

There were some pretty spectacular runs at the May NHRL event and I spoke to a few builders who had amazing performances, but were all stopped by the eventual winners of their respective weight classes. Cameron from Sad Octopus talks about an amazing day of fights culminating in a fun fight versus Jelly Baby, Matt Lantry talks about the journey from control bot driver to his success with hard hitting horizontol Sievert and Joe From Deadrise talks about his building inspirations how his performance at Motorama gave him confidence in his robot.
Please donate to the Alexander Richmond Scholarship Fund if you are able: https://www.gofundme.com/f/alex-richmond-memorial-scholarship-fund?cdn-cache=0

Unconventional Robot Control with Tim Hebert & Pearl Grey on Outside of the Box

Have you ever thought about driving a combat robot using video game controllers? The builders on this episode did and even WON using these unconventional transmitters. I talked to Tim Hebert about his recent NHRL appearance where he won fights using a DDR pad and Rock Band drums and attempted the same with a Guitar Hero guitar! He breaks down his process for this and potential ideas he has for future implementations. I also talked to Pearl Grey, whose robot 2FA I got to fight against at a previous event. They talk about the use of video game controllers to drive robots as well as more techy ideas that you could see at a future event!

NHRL Round 4 (May) Preview on Outside of the Box

New episode for you featuring some of the most exciting builders at the upcoming Round 4 NHRL event on May 3rd. Gwen is so backalope with her already qualified robot Jackalope, but is setting her sights on the Golden Dumpster for this event. Jim and Andrew Kazmer talked all about meltybrains including some cool facts fans may not have known! I also sat down with Kevin, Ariel & Corey from Team Pandamonium to talk about the army of robots they are bringing to the event including information about Corey's new and exciting 12 lb entry Sweet Tooth. Catch it all right here!

NHRL Round 3 (April) Recap on Outside of the Box

We are back with another NHRL recap, this time highlighting a few of the amazing competitors from the Round 3 April event. I talked to Ben & Razi Strano about Bean Supreme Refried's amazing qualifying run, heard all about Trevor Sommer's run with Void including a heart-stopping win against Minun & Plusle, and chatted with Nick Grumski about his robot Alan and how exciting/terrifying it was to battle against Battlebots legends.

PopCon and Circle City Clash Preview on Outside of the Box

On the heels of the big event announcement, I wanted to give fans a little bit more information on what they can expect from the Circle City Clash tournament and PopCon as a whole. I first sat down with Kris Keys, co-owner of PopCon, to talk about how they value diversity in the many experiences they offer at PopCon which will include things this year like an even larger film festival and Purr Con for cat lovers. I also talked to Casey Jeremiason of Robot Smashing League about the opportunity to host such a big event for potentially thousands of new combat robotics fans.

NHRL Round 3 (April) Preview on Outside of the Box

We've got some heavy hitters in this episode as we talk about the upcoming NHRL Round 3 event happening on April 5th! It will be the 2025 debut of Chainsaw Kitty and the return of fellow Sleepy Anime Girl bot Usawgi whose builders Kezia and Mint are hoping not to face each other until deep in the bracket. I also talked to BattleBots veterans Matt & Jason Vasquez who are bringing a couple of robots that have the NHRL community buzzing including Lil Lash which is a 30lb Whiplash. Finally, I was once again joined by the Robojackets from Georgia Tech to talk about their swarm of robots coming to this event. Some great discussions you won't want to miss!

NHRL Round 2 (March) Recap on Outside of the Box

It is time to recap Round 2 of NHRL where we saw some amazing fights and underdog wins! In this episode, Christine chats with Dwight of Master Control Bot, Ben of The Wall Pt 2 and Ryan of Count3r Punch and ARES about all of their incredible runs in the bracket. Check out some great discussion from these amazing and talented builders!

National STEM Champion Ishaan Kunwar Talks About Using AI to Detect Cataracts

On this final STEM Spotlight ahead of the National STEM Festival, I chatted with Ishaan Kunwar - a high school student who was able to use AI to develop a better way to detect cataracts. His project could help many in less developed countries or in underserved communities where it would be difficult or a financial burden to obtain this diagnosis and get treatment.
Please check out https://www.nationalstemfestival.com/ for more information!