For the United States and Canada: https://www.robotcombatevents.com/
For The UK and Europe: https://bristolbotbuilders.com/events/
If you are close to NHRL, they have their own event calendar https://www.nhrl.io/events
https://robotsmashingleague.com/ < lists mostly MCRA events (Midwest Robot Combat Association)
99% of the time, spectators can watch for free. Usually, you can also walk around the pits to talk with the competitors.
It is a good idea to see an event in person first so you can get an idea of what is involved in a competition, just how loud it is, how much stuff people bring to a pit table, etc.
You do need to pay attention to what weight classes are popular in your area. There’s no point in building a robot for a weight class that has no opponents.
Traveling, booking hotels or sharing AirBnBs with other competitors, are all very normal in this sport. You might even be offered, or asked for, a guest bedroom occasionally.
| Name | Limit | Popularity |
|---|---|---|
| Fairyweight | ||
| (called Antweight in Europe) | 150 grams | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Antweight (as known in North America) | 1 lbs (454 grams) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| PLANT (Plastic Antweight) | 1 lbs (454 grams), plastic only | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Beetleweight | 3 lbs (1360.78 grams) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Hobbyweight | 12 lbs | ⭐⭐ |
| Featherweight | 30 lbs | ⭐⭐ |
| Heavyweight | 220 lbs, or 250 lbs on TV | ⭐ |
Beetleweight I’ve listed as 5x ⭐ because NHRL starts at 3 lbs, they have 3 or more beetleweight cages, and runs one event per months. That skews the statistics significantly.
There is another classification for hobbyweight and featherweights called “sportsman”. This means the weapon is not allowed to be very powerful, so there’s a lot more grabbing and flipping weapons. No high energy spinning weapons.
PLANT is the funny abbreviation for Plastic Antweight. Antweights are 1 lbs weight class, and PLANT means you can only use plastic for the robot’s body. You can still use metal screws and whatever motor and whatever electronics you need. This division is meant for beginners, and it is super inexpensive to participate in. The spirit is that: all you need is a 3D printer.
In the spirit of 3D printing, there are many places where you can simply just download a robot to print for the PLANT division, such as: https://teammalice.com/scar-kit-and-spares/scar-plastic-antweight-electronics-kit/
You do need to buy the electrical components and put them together though. There are kits you can buy to make this easier, such as https://turnabot.com/products/scar-plant-turnakit
You will need to learn how to 3D model at some point, you won’t be buying kits forever. The most popular free 3D modeling tools are