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!

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

I had the pleasure of being joined by the amazing Jenny Buccos with EXPLR Media who has been running the National STEM Festival going on its second year. We talked about the surprising and exciting amount of kids whose projects centered on using AI tech for good to help people, what kids attending the festival get to experience while there and the importance of kids having mentors to help get them more engaged. You can watch the livestream of the National STEM Festival on March 22nd. Check out the cool things these kids are doing at nationalstemfestival.com and EXPLR's amazing content and initiatives at explr.com.

Check out another STEM Spotlight and this time Christine talks to Bryan Hijam whose project focuses on prostate cancer research for better treatment and management of this disease that impacts so many. Hear him talk about his passion for this area of research, his plans for future career paths and what he is looking forward to when attending the National STEM Festival.
You can check out more info about the festival at https://www.nationalstemfestival.com/

It feels like we just wrapped up Round 1 of NHRL and we are already so close to Round 2 of more exciting robot fights!
Join Christine as she talks to a number of builders about their plans and predictions for March's loaded event. We talk to Zech Matthews about the hype surrounding his beetleweight Fragment X, chat with Peter and Destiny Garnache about their respective robots and getting to attend an event together again, and lastly we break down all of the weight classes with Tyler, Ian, Kekoto, Mark, Will and Nik including strong thoughts on the beetleweight class coming down to a possible victory by Knuckle Sandwich/Repeater or Eruption builder Brian Boxell. Lots of exciting stuff!