The Maths and Science of Robot Wars

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one thing i cannot help but notice in robot wars is the elements of science in the show such as physics namely newtons laws of physics.anyone else agree with me and if so , what other maths and science elements are within robot wars

(fun fact: one robot, MR speed squared got its name from the equation governing it's spinning rim; MR representing mass and radius )

just my two cents

I used to love that show! Is it still on?

Like ten years ago we Americans had "Battlebots" on the Comedy Central network. And at the same time we also got the British import "Robot Wars" ( cant recall which network showed it). Robot Wars had a more fantasy cinematic look to it while Battlebots was modeled after WWF wresting. Some of the same bots even turned up on both shows. But both shows disappeared after a season or two.

But over here in the States Battlebots has resurfaced on the Science Channel. Don't know of Robot Wars being available here in the states.

But certainly fighting robots would be a great tool for math education.

There is a class of problems in mathematics called the "knapsack problem" having to do with how much stuff that you can cram into one package. Certainly every battlebot is an example of the knapsack problem. Its a finite sized machine, so...if X amount of space and power is devoted to that big mallet that goes up and down like a giant meat tenderizer then there is less left over to be devoted to the flamethrower you wanna stick on it, and then the mallet and the flameflower have to share the budget with the power drive, and any armor, etc.

One of my favourite demonstrations of science was Hypnodisc, which demonstrated the principles of inertia conservation of angular momentum.

It's flywheel energy storage system was able to store so much power it could literally rip other robots to shreds!

If I had more smarts and talent and I'd love to have a problem like that. The closest I ever came was when I was involved in a Lego Mindstorms competition. That was a lot of fun but the comp wasn't combat based.

In the States they have robot building camps for privileged teens, don't they?

Long before I even knew that the "knapsack problem" was a thing of that name I was inflicting knapsack problems on myself in a hobby I got myself addicted to:namely designing a wargame that simulated naval warfare of the two world wars (this was in the pre personal computer Seventies, and use a board and dice, and tables). Got into designing my own warships, and trying to figure out the trade offs of sticking bigger caliber guns on to a warship, vs more speed,vs maintaining armor, etc..

The probably do have robot (not fighting necessarily) camps here. A guy I used to work with I got to talking about Battlebots, and he suggested that some people, like David Kozinski (the Unabomber) wouldn't have become people like the Unabomber if they had only gotten involved with battlebots.

I keep waiting for someone to make one with a disk of concrete.

If done correctly, you can make concrete that is nearly indestructible. One use of such concrete is to build prisons.

The trouble is a concrete disk might put them over the weight limit.

I'd like to see them make one where the entire robot spins. The could give it four wheels at right angles and using clever software they could make the wheels go slightly faster when they rotate to the leading side and slightly slower when they rotate to the trailing side in order to make it drive in a given direction. This would maximise the spinning weight while keeping within the weight limit.

In my Walter Mitty dreams of Battlebot glory I build "Land Shark": a machine with two horizontal spinning circular saw blades, but blades that are counter rotating.

The trouble with bots with saws is that the saws push the bot away from the target as contact is made: veritical blades push the attacking bot up and away, and horizontal blades push the bots apart laterally. But counter rotating blades would cancel out the motion and keep your attacking bot on target ...so it can keep on ripping right into the target bot. RIPPING! RIPPING! RIPPING! I tell you! With the spectacle of the enemy bot's bits and pieces flying!

You would certainly have to be careful with weight for a concrete disk.

One thing that would help is a suspension that gives when hit with a hammer to reduce the hit from the hammer. With a well constructed concrete disk that goes to the floor and rests when hit, it could take just about anything one would hit it with.

Also, if you had retractable wheels to bring it to the ground with no space underneath, it would be hard for someone to get underneath it to flip it over.

no unfortunately BBC saw fit to axe it!!