MPR’s Sea Stachura interviews numerous individuals taking part in the “sport” of Mechwars, a competition that pits homemade robots against other bot creations. Everything from Barbie dolls to gnomes are utilized as weaponry.
Awarded:
2006 NBNA Eric Sevareid Award, award of merit in Audio - Large Market Radio category
SEA STACHURA: At three feet tall, Borg Queen Barbie is an even match for her competitor My Size Ken. She drives around in a Barbie Jeep with four-wheel drive. There's a forklift on the front and two cannons on the sides. She's the creation of Tim Wolter and his son Karl. And she'll be entered in the Mechwars as an art bot. It's a fighter, but not a serious contender for any trophies.
Tim and Karl are helping Mechwars organizer John Vandervelde put together the solid steel cage. Robots will fight in this Saturday. The Barbie isn't Tim and Karl's first robot. Tim jokes with Vandervelde about some of their earlier creations made out of garden gnomes.
TIM WOLTER: There was actually a gnome series of robots, Gnome One and then Turbo Gnome. And the gnome was basically a couple of old wheelchair motors and a big aluminum turkey roasting pan and a lawn gnome on top. And it would try to get close to people and spin around. And we had various modular weapons, axes, and hammers, and things. And we'd try to pound people.
JOHN VANDERVELDE: The garden gnome was like the tail of a lizard. Every opponent always went for the gnome. They had no real function.
Hardly any points if they got it. So they wasted their time trying to hit the gnome. And then, these guys would get in their licks. It seemed to work pretty well.
TIM WOLTER: So we have Barbie out on the trailer out there, whenever you want to--
SEA STACHURA: Take a look.
TIM WOLTER: Take a look at her.
JOHN VANDERVELDE: This came off a power wheelchair that lifts things up.
TIM WOLTER: Some people would use hydraulics. But not these guys.
JOHN VANDERVELDE: Heck no. We got it for free. That's half part of a fire engine bumper someone gave us.
The electronics are all from the previous Barbie Jeeps. They were grinding a gearbox there. Which one is that one? Probably left rear. These things break with some regularity.
SEA STACHURA: Why?
JOHN VANDERVELDE: They just do.
TIM WOLTER: They're not made for it.
JOHN VANDERVELDE: They're not made to do this.
TIM WOLTER: This would probably be a good point to say that our esteem for the Mattel doll and their entire product line is unequal.
SEA STACHURA: Karl and Tim loved the Barbie Jeeps to cannons and aim them at a computer monitor. It's been set on the street for practice. Usually, they use wood as ammunition.
TIM WOLTER: We've tried a variety of things. Potatoes, yams, dirty socks, Barbie dolls. Apparently Karl has talked me into trying to destroy the computer monitor with a Barbie doll. This is not going to go well.
SEA STACHURA: Most people who enter Mechwars are serious competitors. People scrounge for parts and barter for welding time. Bill Arden comes down from Brainerd. He admits to being the mad scientist of the group. Arden says robot combat is a sport that takes serious commitment.
BILL ARDEN: Another good suggestion for would-be robot builders is to take your robot. Design it tough and throw it off the roof. If it can't survive that, they are in trouble. And if you aren't willing to do that, then you're in the wrong sport.
SEA STACHURA: Arden loves to win. But he's also absorbed by his own mechanical prowess. His robot is called Millipede. But he got rid of the legs a while ago.
Now it rolls on wheels. It also spins really fast. It's a steel octagon with special hooks.
BILL ARDEN: This whole top here spins at 1,000 RPM. So these tips are going over 100 miles an hour. I've only got two minutes of runtime in a three-minute match. I'm not the most competitive robot because of that reason.
JOHN VANDERVELDE: Got to kill them before he runs out of juice.
BILL ARDEN: Yes. Those tips are-- one or the other robot gets destroyed because those tips are specially designed to dig in. And I'll show you that with the propane tank over there.
JOHN VANDERVELDE: Spills matches never go to three minutes. So there's really no point in having that much battery. Either wins or loses it almost immediately.
BILL ARDEN: There you go. No, hey. Power down, baby. That's close enough.
SEA STACHURA: Arden and Vandervelde sweep up their mess. Then they return to building the cage for this Saturday's competition. It takes place at the Bystrom Building in South Minneapolis from 10 AM until 6:00 PM. I'm Sea Stachura. Minnesota Public Radio News, Minneapolis.
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