ROBOT ARMAGEDDON

It's the cockfight of the 21st century: radio-controlled robots equipped with saws, claws, drills, pincers, streamers, and hammers duking it out to the DEATH. It is the definitive mechanized sporting event of tomorrow.

Robot enthusiasts from all over the planet have converged on San Francisco for this, the Second Annual Robot War. With more than fifty robots divided into four different weight classes: Super lightweights (2-20 lbs.); Lightweights (21-40 lbs); Middleweights (41-80 lbs.); and Heavyweights (81-160 lbs.). The number of entrants has tripled over last year. The top competitors in this year's event will be flown to England to challenge limey bots in "Robot Wars, U.K." There's also a proposal for a weekly television battle on the BBC.
The tournament is the brainchild of Marc Thorpe, who used to work for George Lucas' company, ILM, building models and creatures for Return of the Jedi and Indiana Jones. One day, while mounting some power tools on a radio-controlled vacuum cleaner (like so many of us do) the idea came to him. The rest? Robotic and entertainment history. Thorpe has high expectations for the future of robot wars. "With television coverage, people will become aware of robot wars. And just like how auto-racing grew, robot wars will grow," he said.

Music by Steve Jones

It's the cockfight of the 21st century: radio-controlled robots equipped with saws, claws, drills, pincers, streamers, and hammers duking it out to the DEATH. It is the definitive mechanized sporting event of tomorrow.