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Team Coolrobots Bashes Up Gen Con 2001
Wizards of the Coast: Magic BattleBots Unveiled
-- by Teresa Dickert; Images by Shannon Tracy
Team Coolrobots brought a little taste of the power and destruction that is a BattleBot to the 2001 Gen Con crowd. Saturday at 4, 5, and 6 p.m., and Sunday at 11, 12, and 1 p.m., team members Christian Carlberg and Luke Khanlian bashed their way through an odd assortment of things. Purina milk bones contained in a Hasbro box, a water-filled gasoline can, watermelon, and other fruit were among the items the two robots, Dreadnought and Toe-Crusher, destroyed.
Dreadnought, a 325-pound superheavyweight bot, is the first robot fully funded by Magic: The Gathering. Wizards of the Coast paid for an exclusive sponsorship, which means that Coolrobots may not sell any other advertising space on Dreadnought. In addition to paying for their sole-advertising spot on the bot, Wizards also covers the cost of all necessary construction and repair materials. Team founder and captain, Christian Carlberg, stated, "It was like a dream come true when they (Magic: The Gathering) called to fund it ... I started playing Magic in 1994." He explained that Dreadnought is a several thousand dollar robot. Without the sponsorship, he mentioned, "I never would have been able to build the dreambot on my budget."
Carlberg also drives the 3-month-old bot. When asked who the greatest competitor to Dreadnought in the arena is, he replied, "We (weapons master and driver, Khanlian, and himself) would hate to drive against our other heavy bot (Minion). We would hate to name a competitor outside the team because then it can be seen as a challenge by the other teams."
Toe-Crusher, the other bot sponsored by Magic: The Gathering, was also in the demonstration. It was named, stated Carlberg, "due to the near misses [it has had] on feet." Toe-Crusher, a 57-pound lightweight bot (the lightest class in the circuit), is approximately 3 years old.
The bot's smaller size made it more affordable with the team's budget. Initially, it cost about $2,000, and was build solely by Carlberg. Since then, advertising space on the bot has been purchased by NPC and most recently by Magic: the Gathering.
Carlberg, who also drives Toe-Crusher, explained, "Since it is two-wheeled, it is very fast, but harder to control. . . . It takes a lot of practice." Practice, it seemed, is a luxury, since many times the bots are being built up until the last minute. That isn't as big a factor as you'd think, though. Carlberg believes, "We drive the best when we don't practice." This was evident with past heavyweight champion (and still rated number one), Minion, which competed for the first time after only 5 or so minutes of driver practice. What is Carlberg's best driving strategy? "Hit them harder than they hit you" is his best advice.
Spectators at the demonstration expressed how pleased they were. Avid BattleBots watcher, Mike Pecket of Michigan City, Indiana, was astounded. "I didn't realize how much larger the bigger bots were! I was impressed. I didn't think they (Team Coolbots) were actually going to start them and throw stuff around." But they did.
Couple Tonya and Dave Voyls of Dayton, Ohio, were also excited after watching the exhibition. They also watch BattleBots regularly at home. "It's a family time," Tonya described. Dave jumped in, "Robots are cool. . . . Robots that destroy things are even cooler." That is why they came, to watch stuff be destroyed and to "see two geeks that are also television stars." What was their favorite part of the demonstration? "The flying gas can," they stated in unison.
Team CoolRobots accomplishments on BattleBots have afforded their business, C2 Robotics, some additional contracts to build commercial and industrial robots.
Third team member, Brian Roe, was unable to attend the demonstration.
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