SLS Combat Robotics Team Battles in Their First Competition; Comes Out Victorious

On Saturday, Oct. 26, St. Luke’s Combat Robotics Team battled in their first competition at the National Havoc Robot League (NHRL) in Norwalk. 

After completing the inspection, our three-pound multi-bot combat robot, “StormSurge,” was ready for competition. StormSurge consists of a lifter bot based on a Just Cuz Robotics SSP kit and a smaller mini-bot made from a Fingertech Robotics Viper kit with a saw attached. The SSP kit was built and driven by Joe Fraser ’27 and supported by Julian Kizner ’27 while the mini-bot was built by Finn Keiske ’28, and driven by Conor Urban ’28 and Rowan Stewart ’27. 

In the team’s first fight, StormSurge matched against Spin Cycle, a modified shell spinner robot with two fast-spinning flails. As the countdown began and the lights came up, the robots raced toward each other, and StormSurge was able to catch Spin Cycle’s weapon and break the arm of the spinning weapon. Within a few seconds, the match was over as Spin Cycle tapped out and conceded the game, and StormSurge was victorious. 

After a short time in the pit to fix up the light damage sustained in the fight, StormSurge was back at it again against its next rival, Chicken Bot Pie, a horizontal spinner robot based on the battle bot, Tombstone. Out of the gates, the two robots jockeyed for position to get their weapons to attack the other. Conor, driving StormSurge’s mini saw bot, took a bite from the tire of Chicken Bot Pie, but they retaliated and sent the mini-bot flying to the corner. With the mini bot knocked out of the fight, it was up to the larger bot to handle the battle. Pinning and keeping the pressure up on Chicken Bot Pie, the St. Luke’s Bots were victorious after three minutes of intense combat.

In the team’s third and final match for the day, the St. Luke’s team matched against 1st Law from the Brandeis University combat robotics team. 1st Law is a modular weapon robot configured as a horizontal spinner. Once again, the two bots squared up in their corners, and StormSurge raced ahead to intercept their opponent before its weapon reached its maximum velocity. With 1st Law Pinned against the wall, Rowan drove StormSurge’s mini bot in to dole out maximum damage against the rival, only to be shattered at the last second as the spinner came free and the mini bot was hit, losing a tire and its saw. Once again, with the saw bot out of the fight, the three-pound bot was left to fend for itself, and through masterful driving by Joe Fraser, StormSurge was able to keep the college bot up against the ropes and come out the clear victor in the battle.

St. Luke’s Combat Robotics came to the NHRL and brought their best. The team looks forward to competing in the next open tournament in February 2025. 

If you're interested in joining St. Luke's Combat Robotics Team, please contact CJ Agro, SLS designLab Technician.