Event Description

The summer is heating up, and that means one thing: the return of New England's hottest robot fighting event, partnered with LeafLabs! We're excited to be returning to the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation to once again bring you an entire day of mechanized mayhem! We will be running standard beetles and plastic ants in a brand new arena. We hope to see you there for some robot fighting action! Spectator admission to MassDestruction is handled by purchasing a ticket to the museum, for $10 (Adult) or $5 (Child). Competitors get two free tickets.

We'll be doing 3-4 rounds of "qualifying" fights, and a final tournament for glory and silly trophies (size will depend on the number of bots).

Keep your eye out for a formal schedule, but expect:

8:30am competitors arrive
9am  safety and weigh in
10:30am fights start
1:30/2pm midday break
6:30-7:30pm fights finish up

Please contact our facebook page with any questions!

Event Rules

This event will generally follow the NERC Rules, with some exceptions/additions that are described below. If you are new, please contact us if you have any questions! The event is most fun and smooth if everyone is on the same page with rules.

The NERC ruleset can be found here.

Weapons

• Your robot must have an active weapon
  • Thwack bots, flail-type weapons, and other robots that have a specific attachment meant to inflict damage are allowed
  • EO discretion will be final on non-active weapons, please contact us if you would like to check if your design will be allowed!
• Bots with passive wedges only are not allowed, generally
  • On a case-by-case basis, for competitors new(ish) to the sport and/or children under 18, passive wedges may be allowed. Please reach out to us for more information/mention this in your registration!
• The use of “kitbots” is discouraged, unless the participant is new to combat robotics or a child under 18.  We want to see your craziest designs!
• Banned weapons:
  NO Fire
  NO Liquids (including canned beans)
  NO Explosives/fireworks/rocket engines
  NO Nets, tape, glue, other entanglement devices
  NO Radio jamming, tazers, lazers, tesla coils, high voltage or blinding devices
  NO Projectiles
  These rules are for competitor & audience safety, as well as respecting the limitations of our arena. If you have something you think is borderline, please reach out.

Robot Weight Limits

Beetleweights

Maximum of 3lbs, or about 1,942 fully grown adult bumblebees.

Antweights

Maximum of 1lb, or about 90,709 fully grown adult red ants.

Exceptions

Walkers

• Any robot that qualifies as a "walker"; is allowed 2x its nominal class weight limit (ex. Beetleweight walker: 6lbs).'
• A walker qualifies as "those robots in which multiple linear or limited-travel rotary actuators are intermittently driven to produce linear travel of the robot. Actuation may be through electric, pneumatic, or hydraulic means. Walkers must have no parts normally in contact with the ground undergoing continuous rotation, and must require some change in timing or sequencing of the driving mechanisms in order to reverse direction. Walkers will typically have control systems significantly more complex than those found on shufflers or rollers, involving multiple actuators, servos, or valves running through a specific sequence to produce motion."
• A shuffler (a robot that "uses a system of mechanical devices such as cams or crankshafts to generate reciprocating motion of those parts from one or more continuously rotating drive shafts") is not considered a walker.
• Please reach out before the event to confirm that your robot qualifies, as we'd prefer not to have to disqualify anyone the day-of (not fun for anyone!)
• Note: an entrant can use either the multibot weight bonus, or the walker weight bonus.

Multibots

• A multibot system consists of two or more robots entered as a single entrant
  A beetleweight (normally 3lb) multibot entrant may weigh up to 4lbs, with no robot weighing more than 2 lbs
  Ex. two robots, each weighing 2lbs
  Ex. three robots, one weighing 2lbs and two weighing 1lb each
• A plastic ant (normally 1lb) multibot entrant may weight up to 1.5lbs, with no robot weighing more than 0.75lbs.
  Ex. two robots, each weighing 0.75lbs.
  Ex. three robots, each weighting 0.5lbs
• Note: an entrant can use either the multibot weight bonus, or the walker weight bonus.

Plastics

The plastic class is meant to encourage builders who may not have access to metalworking tools, or who would like a new challenge. As such, we ask that competitors conform to the spirit of the rules and not try to loophole them. Competitors found to be doing this may be disqualified, or otherwise be forced to bear some Terrible Consequences.

Additional Rules (rules above still apply!)

• “Anything that I can touch must be plastics”
  • Armor, structure, wheels, weapon, etc. must all be made of plastic or polymers (ie. foam wheels are ok)
  • Motors, electronics, axles, fasteners and adhesives can be any material, but cannot be used in such a way to enhance the structural integrity, armor the robot, or enhance any weapon
• Allowed materials: PLA/PLA+, PET/PETG, ABS, Polycarbonate, Acrylic, PVC, standard SLA, ASA (New for this event)
  TPU is not allowed
  Nylon is not allowed
  UHMW is not allowed
  Carbon-fiber, kevlar, fiberglass are not allowed
  SLA materials that mimic or exceed the properties of banned material are not allowed (ex. Formlabs Flexible 80A, simulates TPU). Please check with us if you are using SLA.
  Carbon- or metal-reinforced materials are not allowed (ex. Onyx, )
  Please contact us if there is a material you would like to check!

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