Robotica

Hosts

Ahmet Zappa Tanya Memme Tanika Ray Dan Dankinck

Broadcast

TLC: 4/4/2001-7/29/2002

Packager

Don Weiner Productions

Robotica was a robot combat series aired on The Learning Channel (TLC) across three seasons between 2001 and 2002. Competitors entered custom-built remote-controlled robots designed to complete a variety of challenges including obstacle courses, mazes and the climatic combat-based "Fight to the Finish".

The series also included behind-the-scenes segments on their builders as they strategized, designed and repaired their machines in between stages.

Season 1

Season 1 began with six "preliminary" episodes, each featuring four robots weighing as much as 210lbs. Competing teams were identified by uniforms with color-coded patches - initially red, blue, silver or gold, later joined by purple and orange for the final - indicating their performances in qualifying sessions held before the televised competition.

The four robots would be paired off to face each other in a series of three challenges, with the aim of scoring the most points across all three. Similar to the final rounds of Robot Wars and its North American versions, winners of each pairing faced each other in the combative "Fight to the Finish" to determine the winner of each episode.

The three challenges were as follows:

• The Speedway - Facing in opposite directions, robots raced around an figure-8 circuit with the aim of completing as many laps as possible within two minutes. 10 points were awarded for each lap completed (up to 8) with an additional 20 points being awarded to the winner. Originally titled Speed Demons in the Season 1 rules.
• The Maze - A pair of identical obstacle courses featuring a "teeter ramp", "push box", "rotating paddles", "guillotine" and "waterfall" along with raised platforms in the center serving as the end zone. 15 points were earned by clearing each obstacle, with an additional 25 points being awarded to the first robot to reach the center platform(s). This challenge had a three-minute time limit.
• The Gauntlet - Robots smashed through five barriers made out of varying objects (glass pane, paint cans filled with sand, bricks, concrete paving stones and a heavy safe) and each increasing in difficulty. 15 points were awarded for each barrier cleared, plus an extra 25 points for the first robot to complete the course. This challenge had a three-minute time limit.

Points scored across all three challenges would be combined to determine the winner of each pairing. In the case of a tie, the winner was determined by which robot had won the most events.

The two surviving robots faced each other in the Fight to the Finish, a sumo-esque combat round taking place on a 15' by 15' steel platform (16' in diameter according to the official rules) elevated eight feet above a 'spike pit'. Competitors accessed the platform via a set of 6ft-wide bridges which retracted as soon as they entered their starting positions in the center. A low guard rail surrounded the platform, giving way after one minute had elapsed. The last robot remaining on the platform moved on to the finals.

The finals shared a similar format to the preliminary episodes, with the six finalists grouped into three pairings. The three winning robots from each pairing met one last time in the "Final Fight to the Finish"; the overall winner was awarded $12,000, the largest cash prize in robot combat competitions at the time of filming.

Seasons 2 and 3

Robotica underwent major format changes for Seasons 2 and 3, which saw "The Speedway" dropped and "The Gauntlet" retooled into a larger and more elaborate stage reminiscent of the Season 1 "Maze". "The Maze" itself was also significantly revamped to become The Labyrinth. The color patches used to identify teams were also changed, these now being red, blue, yellow and green respectively.

The Gauntlet

The new Gauntlet featured two robots traversing two separate routes in opposite directions within a diamond-shaped arena. Barriers consisted of a wooden plank as well as walls of metal cans, bricks and cement blocks/paving stones, with the safe being absent entirely. Each robot was required to complete its own leg of the diamond as well as the reverse direction of its opponent's leg, meeting each other and traversing over any debris ("rubble pile") left behind.

Upon reaching the start zone again, competitors drove up a ramp to the "Forest of Glass" in the center of the diamond, smashing through sets of red and blue-colored glass strips. Once all glass strips had been destroyed, a larger "bonus" glass sheet lowered into position as the final challenge; breaking this signalled the end of the event.

Scoring was as follows:

• 10 points for each barrier.
• 5 points for each "rubble pile" cleared.
• 10 points for the first robot to clear the ramp.
• 5 points for the second robot to clear the ramp.
• 15 points for smashing the "bonus" glass pane.

In total, this challenge offered 150 points to participating robots, with the winner being determined by whichever robot scored the most within the three-minute time limit or up to the point where the "bonus" pane was smashed.

The Labyrinth

Unlike its predecessor, The Labyrinth was a larger free-form maze where both robots could drive around to negotiate various obstacles in any order as well as to attack each other. Competitors started off together from a motorized turntable where combat was usually encouraged. Also roaming The Labyrinth were two rat-shaped robots with "buzzsaw" weapons, the "Robotica Rats", which could hinder or help out with competitors' runs.

Points were scored by breaking six glass strips fixed beyond certain obstacles. Equally, the points for each obstacle cleared could be deducted from a robot's tally if they became immobilized or stranded in a position where they impeded access to those for rival competitors.

Labyrinth obstacles with breakable glass strips included:

• Box/Push Box (weighing 253lbs) - 15 points
• Stabbing Spikes - 15 points
• Suspension Bridge - 20 points
• Flip Ramp - 20 points
• Sand Pit - 25 points
• Rollers (+ swinging wrecking balls) - 25 points

Sets of "Speed Bumps" were also fixed to the Labyrinth floor in between scorable obstacles, with the purpose of creating an uneven surface and potentially beaching competitors with low ground clearances.

At the end of three minutes, or after all other obstacles had been cleared, a siren activated and the exit gates unlocked to reveal a final glass pane worth 30 points. Pushing through these gates and breaking this pane would automatically end the event. The Labyrinth offered a total of 150 points to competitors within a four-minute time limit.

Fight to the Finish

As in Season 1, the winning pair of robots faced each other in the Fight to the Finish. The elevated platform was enlarged from the previous season to a 25' by 25' square, while a new rule was introduced where robots were required to release opponents after pinning them for more than 15 seconds. Otherwise, the stage remained largely the same.

Finals

For the finals, three pairs of robots competed in The Gauntlet, mirroring the approach of Season 1. The two robots with the lowest scores were eliminated, and the remaining four robots paired off for The Labyrinth. The highest-scoring robots from each Labyrinth pairing would meet in the final Fight to the Finish to determine the champion.

Winning Robots/Builders

• Season 1: Run Amok (Mark Joerger)
• Season 2: Flexy Flyer (Mike Konshak)
• Season 3: Panzer Mk. 3 (Todd Mendenhall)

Filming

All three seasons were filmed in Los Angeles, California, with Season 1 known to be filmed at the former ABC Television Center (West) at Prospect Avenue, since renamed The Prospect Studios.

Reruns

The Discovery Channel formerly showed re-runs of Robotica in Europe, with the show also being aired by Channel 5, ChallengeTV and Bravo in the United Kingdom.