History

How it all started..........

For me, it was the same as for many others, I started watching a program on
Comedy Central called

                                  BATTLEBOTS!

I was never a very good spectator.  I did some research and found an annual
competition that was held in nearby Atlanta called Robot Battles.  I dug an old
RC tracked vehicle out of storage, dressed it up in polycarbonate and aluminum,
named it DAGGER, and I was off!  It did not matter that I would be entering a 4
pound 4 ounce AM radio toy in a ten pound class, I just wanted a taste of the
excitement I had witnessed on TV.  I contacted Kelly Lockhart, the organizer of  
Robot Battles and inquired about entering.  Kelly was very supportive and I
traveled to Atlanta for the 2001 Labor Day competition.  I was called for the very
first match of the day and was quickly defeated  in the 10 lb class by a real ten
pound robot named Rex.  I settled in to watch the rest of the event, not realizing
that my participation was not over.  After the ten pound class was finished with a
victory by Doorstop, the fifty pounders took the stage and the matches continued
until Little Piece of Hate was victorious.  The stage risers were then re-arranged
to form a large combat surface and all competitors were invited back to the stage
for an event called the Battle Royale.  I put my little 4 pound bot up on the
platform with all of the ten and fifty pound bots and when the word was given, I
jumped into the fray.  Most of the bigger bots took themselves over the edge and
many of the smaller bots fell prey to the entanglement strategy of the dreaded
Panty Bot.  DAGGER got knocked around a lot.  I was repeatedly ramming a 50
pounder stuck on the edge of the platform when I heard a chant rising from the
crowd of roughly 600 people;

DAGGER.....DAGGER..... DAGGER..... DAGGER!

I shook off the tunnel vision and looked around to see that DAGGER was the
only mobile bot left on the platform.  I HAD WON!  DAGGER is the smallest bot
to ever win the Battle Royale.

That is how I got started in sport robotics.  I am officially hooked.