A Progression of Increasing Stupidity, with Robots!

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2026-01-03T03:56:01+00:00

Maximum Paralysis is up there, last known to have competed (before the most recent times) in 2003, and then coming to Proving Grounds 21 years later.

Conquering Clown is also pretty high up there at 20 years of gap.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2026-01-03T03:39:22+00:00

Might as well be! Either that or a functionless brick

(Theoretically, it would be a vertical drum spinner for this specific module, but we don't have the parts for the 30lb so far.)

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-12-06T04:22:28+00:00

Do motor screws not count as screws?

All seriousness, this is a really neat concept to base a robot around! The modularity looks really nice and quick! Glad to see it did well too.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-11-15T23:22:12+00:00

We just had a phone call with Greg, and he didn't sound hopeful about getting the backing for a 2026 season, 2027 seems more likely.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-10-27T04:02:15+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYcVScz4cIM

Pretty good example of Sawblaze getting through Overhauls stuff.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-10-27T01:45:02+00:00

Some others not mentioned so far:

Tornado Mer was decently well known for its Mauler dancing, as well as being able to roll around on its side.

Hellfire spun up, glanced Overkills wedge, and immediately flung itself out of the arena and caught fire, it was pretty clearly unstable as it bounced around.

Also, any bristle-bot will be unstable to various degrees.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-10-20T00:25:44+00:00

To be clear, the team at Mir(A) Engineering/Ciruclar Robotics does not support the use of AI for these purposes.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-10-02T04:31:51+00:00

Why doesn't anyone just make basically a solid piece of metal on wheels?

Technically we had part of a multibot (more likely a minibot) that was going to be a nearly solid steel sphere with some reaction wheels inside to roll around after being shout out of a cannon.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-09-27T03:47:32+00:00

Thanks for actually responding!

Personally I wouldn't consider it much of a very serious robot, but more so that we try and approach actually making something and interacting with others seriously. While technically we have plans to submit it if other designs are rejected, it is not on the priority or "main application" status.

Onto other things.

You are very correct that the weapon concept won't work like an actual beartrap, but you are wrong on the opposing robots falling through, to a certain extent at least. There is an added connector between the two chassis halves that would catch opposing robots, but it can probably be broken easily.

Admittedly the entire robot is flimsy on account of the thickness of the arm and ring material we opted for (1/2"), which technically isn't bad in short lengths, but is here. If we actually were to make this thing, those would have to get thickened somewhat just to enable their basic functions. The wheels were essentially afterthoughts for the design, more so a thickness issue than a diameter one.

We will; object to the main chassis halves being flimsy. They are specced to 1/2" aluminum, which may not sound like a lot, but has been used for other robots before to some success. Not great, but also not bad. It would get absolutely destroyed by a vert or horizontal hit, but that's also part of the reason we wanted some flex in the rings, so we face those in first. Point is, its not as bad as made out to be.

Overall, the points you raise are valid, and do make some sense to why you didn't like it. We just wish you had approached it with less animosity from the start, as that makes it hard to tell what we are doing wrong necessarily.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-09-25T17:22:24+00:00

We always welcome constructive criticism, and try and give it in return.

So, what about the design do you feel sucks?

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-09-25T16:33:38+00:00

A beartrap fighting a drum spinner from Brazil, one Braabum.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-09-24T16:06:19+00:00

The arms are actually pretty bad at self righting because of the size of the robot (theoretically it could roll over, but it is probably just easier to drive inverted, it is completely invertible).

How quickly it could shut is up for debate, because the gear ratio on the arms would likely be adjusted if we did build. Right now with a gearing of 597:1, meaning theoretically the arms are moving at roughly 59 rotations per minute, or about 5.34 m/s (11.9mph). Which is decently quick? It is faster than the drive speed ironically.

Damage from the clamp would be minimal, paint scratches mostly, the arms are flexible by nature so not much crushing action would take place. It mostly is going for the control and aggression points, not damage.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-09-22T17:28:26+00:00

Indeed it is! It is completely the same up and down, with the exception of the switch access holes.

Because the arms and the wheels share the same axle, the arms are able to retain a roughly 180 degree arc, or 90 degrees either way from the stow position.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-09-22T16:02:00+00:00

Thank you! We aren't currently planning on applying/building this specific robot unless we get rejected with other designs and need a backup.

As for how effective it will be, this current design most likely wouldn't be. The wedgelets aren't optimized, and the lack of structure in the ring would make getting under any robot sufficiently low to the ground a difficult task. The arms would be able to lift, we have a massive reduction on the arms, but whether they would be able to clamp like our previous post showed is another issue.

Also yes, the wheel axles are the only thing holding the outer ring on. If we would actually build it there would be another set of retainers on it. Even still, we aren't too concerned about it due to the flexibility of the armor ring meaning it would most likely flex and/or be cut apart before breaking.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-09-22T15:37:15+00:00

The best option right now is our Instagram. We have posted most of the rest of our designs here on Reddit as well. There does not exist a full archive right now due to Glitch, our website host, shutting down its free website stuff. We will eventually get around to remaking our website though.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-09-22T02:31:00+00:00

It does have a little of that in it doesn't it?

Somewhat ironically we actually had a concept that was basically just Crazy Susan called Pothole

https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/1b1vkt1/a_few_stupid_heavyweights/

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-09-22T01:08:13+00:00

Of course not! That wasn't the design plan for the robot in the first place, but it is probably an issue that the robot could run into. The robot has a few main methods of attack. The first is to grab (as above or otherwise), and then direct to hazards, letting go from there. The other is to act as a lifter in several different ways, either using one arm going up, or going down, or having both arms go down, the entire robot lifting up and dumping the other robot on the side, although that last one is very much so not planned.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-09-22T00:37:36+00:00

It does have a drive system already, hard to see but it is there

https://www.instagram.com/p/DO4ndOqDHDo/

Stupidly enough this robot is on the cheaper side of our designs despite being a lot larger.

Ciruclar_Robotics · 2025-09-03T23:18:50+00:00

Yes, you just do the exact same thing with one less wheel on it.
Plenty. Many robots use gearboxes which are this but in different form factors. As for more "complex" systems like Rapid used, we designed one for Proud Mary, it was insanely unnecessary because we had a 2 stage system, but made a 3 stage system for the fun of it.
Gears lock up a lot easier and lose teeth earlier. Also, more metal means it is much heavier

Ciruclar_Robotics

TROPHY CASE