Japanese Robot Wrestling Kicks Ass!

The west is no stranger to robot fighting as a sport, it's just that our fighting robots tend to look like post-apocalyptic Roombas. The Japanese Robo One league is, predictably, far ahead of the curve.

Separated into weight classes just like conventional wrestling, the largest robots approach the size of small children. The smallest are similar in size to large action figures. As in Battle Bots, there are a few recurring designs chosen because of their proven efficacy.

Paddle hands, for example. Grasping claws too. Large, flat feet, sometimes with hooks to facilitate leg sweeps. The robots are not controlled on a per-limb basis, but with a combination of general forward, backward, left and right motion plus pre-programmed full body animations. Macros basically, which imitate wrestling moves.

Piledriver? Plenty. Suplex? All over the place. This added layer of complexity makes it more interesting to watch, by comparison with the simplistic smash and bash action of western robot fighting. That's not to say it doesn't have its own distinct appeal, of course.

The myriad of forms on display all nevertheless obey the same basic layout. The limbs are clusters of servos which directly drive the joints. This type of kit can also be found in the US and is an excellent place to start if you've ever wanted to build your own humanoid robot. Just be prepared to spend loads on it, this level of hobby robotics doesn't come cheap.

Part of what makes Robo-One such fun is how each robot 'pilot' gives their own robot a distinctive personality through coloration, clothing and other accoutrements. You may have seen some hint of this in the underground robot fighting scenes at the start of Big Hero 6, though most viewers probably did not know it's a real sport elsewhere in the world.

Dramatized obviously, but this is what the sport could become as the quality and capability of hobby robots continues to improve. Western variations exist in which Battle Tech or Mech Warrior styled hobby robots are armed with BB guns and tasked with shooting the enemy's weak spot; a photosensor covered in thin aluminum foil. Once enough light comes through, it disables the robot.

These days, this type of robot fighting is typically done with FPV style video headsets that give the robot pilots the feeling of actually riding inside their "mechs". The arrival of consumer VR headsets only stands to improve the fidelity and immersion of this approach.

Until such time as the first full sized giant robot battle finally takes place, we'll have to make due with the scaled down version. Still, the level of technological sophistication on display is interesting in its own right, and the strategic side of the sport remains intact on any scale.

What does the future hold for robot fighting as a sport? Were you aware of the exciting world of robot fighting prior to this article? If not, I'll bet you'll now comb Youtube for choice videos of the most exciting fights. The exploding popularity of drones may yet drive interest in other forms of FPV robotics, and humanoid would be a natural next step.