About this project
$46,611
731
The Kickstarter may be over, but you can still become a part of this continuously evolving community. Visit our RoboGames website to get up-to-date information on competing in the games, attending the event, educational opportunities, or even becoming a sponsor of one of our events!
Thanks to everyone who has supported us in this endeavor in widening our community of robot enthusiasts, and inspiring a whole new generation of tinkerers to enter the STEAM fields.
Finally — the frenzied, intense action of battling robots will return as a video sports series!
In our lifetime, the greatest sporting event ever was created - fighting robots. All the thrill of a boxing match, all the explosions of a a NASCAR crash, and even flame-throwers. But coverage of this great sport has fallen by the wayside. It’s high time that a new video series of battling robots returns to delight old fans and a new generation. Technology and innovation are the buzzwords of our culture, and we need to reach out and inspire a new generation of inventors. What better way to do this than through the creativity and exhilaration of watching hand-crafted robots battle it out in the arena?
This Spring of 2015, we are producing a brand-new show where weaponized robots wage battle in the arena - fighting for glory, bragging rights, and to turn their opponents into little metal scraps. It’s all the excitement & carnage that you would expect when mad scientists from around the world enter their robot creations into gladiator combat — two robots enter, but only one robot will exit the arena a winner.
For over ten years The Robotics Society of America has been running the world's largest robot competition - RoboGames. Where hundreds of bots from around the world compete in the olympics of robots. We just want to bring it to you in High-Def glory. We are putting together a crack production crew, camera-people, and equipment. We are primed and ready to churn out a top notch robot sports series:
Giant spinners shred lesser bots! Flippers toss 220 pound opponents into the air like 3 ounce coins in a bet! Flame throwers scorch the arena walls!
Help us fund this project, and you'll get to watch it at home as often as you want! DRM Free!
Instead of just bringing this back for people who miss the EPIC battles, it is important for us to create something that expands the community we've built over the last decade and perhaps have it touch the lives of people who didn’t think the world of science and engineering are a place for them.
This is a time when the DIY science community is inspiring a whole new generation of tinkers, and what better way than through exciting, exploding, metal-grinding science!
Do you want to reach out to widen and deepen our community? You can support us by buying a ticket and let us give it to an at risk child instead. You just might be the person that blows some kid’s mind and changes their life, helping them to realize that science can actually be pretty badass.
If you're feeling especially generous, you can even sponsor an entire team of robot makers who couldn't otherwise afford to come, giving them the opportunity of a lifetime.
In 2004, The Robotics Society of America started RoboGames as a way to bring robot builders from around the world together and show off their stuff. Over the years, teams from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey, UK and the USA and many other countries have competed for those coveted medals.
Rather than limiting RoboGames to just schools or a single event, we founded it with 30 different events (now up to 54) and we allow anyone to compete. Past champions have even met their presidents - The Mexican team was received by Felipe Calderon of Mexico and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia has personally greeted gold medal RoboGames winners.
Over the years, RoboGames has been lucky enough to partner up with the Science Channel to create the hit TV special “Killer Robots.” Now we are ready to take RoboGames up to the next level by producing our own hardcore, independent web series.
At a time when teachers are striving to inspire more young people to enter the math and sciences fields, we think that a show filled with electrifying, action-packed battling robots will capture the imagination of a new generation to enter the STEAM fields.
By funding this project, you can get a digital download of the series, but more importantly, you can become part of this international community of robot makers. By only making a donation of five dollars, you can follow a team of robotic experts months before the event, as they take you on a journey through all the the behind-the-scene details of what it takes to make one of these killer robots.
$1 - Name in the credits
$5 - Behind the scenes + Name in the credits
$20 - One early-bird ticket (ONLY) + Name in the credits
$25 - Get all downloadable episodes early + Name in the credits
$35 - A physical DVD of all episodes + Name in the credits
$40 - One ticket to the event (or send an at-risk child) + All downloadable episodes + Name in the credits
$50 - Autographed program + All downloadable episodes + Robot trading cards
$65 - One reserved seating ticket + All downloadable episodes + Name in the credits
$100 - We will send you one very cool, limited-edition ROBOT T-SHIRT designed by Josh Ellingson. As you know, this will be our 11th year of the robotics community coming together to share all that they know and compete in a robotic olympic tournament for fame and glory! We are amped up and ready to bring RoboGames back bigger and louder than ever. Where can we go? This one goes to Eleven! + We will mail you an autographed program by all of the robot teams + A physical DVD of all episodes + A collection of kickass robot trading cards + All downloadable episodes + We will list your name in the credits
$100 (new added pledge level!) - We will send you one limited-edition robot t-shirt designed by Josh Ellingson featuring the 2014 RoboGames artwork +One ticket to see the RoboGames live this Spring + A physical DVD of all episodes + Digital Download of the series + We will list your name in the credits
$280 - DIY 3 lb. robot kit + A physical DVD of all episodes + All downloadable episodes + Name in the credits
$300 - KID ROBOT – Send one full classroom of 30 kids and 2 teachers from a local, underserved or underprivileged school or youth group to RoboGames for a day.Kids who'd never get to go otherwise.Also, you get your choice of a DVD or digital download of the episodes.And that warm, warm feeling inside that you just changed 30 kids live
$500 - bronze robot LED display + RoboGames t-shirt + Robot trading cards+ Your name mentioned in the program event and on the RoboGame website as a Silver Level sponsor + 2 reserved seats to live games + A physical DVD of all episodes + All downloadable episodes + Name in the credits
$1,000 - TWO tickets with reserved seating during the event + Command some humanoids during the event + Everything from the $280 tier and lower!
$2,000 - Sponsor a team - get them here from their home country + Your name mentioned in the program event and on the RoboGame website + Gold LED robot display + Everything from the $280 tier and lower!
$3,000 - TWO tickets with reserved seating during the event + Drive a 220 lb. robot - Vlad The Impaler II + Everything from the $280 tier and lower!
$5,000 - 2 backstage passes plus a pit tour + You get to take home a 60 lb robot! + Everything from the $280 tier and lower!
$10,000 - 4 backstage passes plus a pit tour + You will have your companies name added to all our promotional materials (posters, flyers, online events page) with the official credit of your choice + 30 sec promo placement of your business in 2 episodes + Everything from the $280 tier and lower!
$150,000 - Full co-branding of the event. You become the premier sponsor. The arena floor and side-walls will have your corporate logo all over. You will have your name added to all our promotional materials (posters, flyers, online events page) with the official credit - "Sponsored By [name/business name of choice]" + 30 sec promo placement of your business in each episode + Everything from above!
Strategic planning, management, and expert advice for this Kickstarter was given by:
Risks and challenges
Every film project, no matter how big or small the production is, has its own set of unique challenges — everything from potential cost overruns to scheduling conflicts to post-production delays. We've tried to anticipate and avoid these problems as much as possible by giving ourselves plenty of pre-production time, as well as by assembling a team of talented, dedicated, experienced filmmakers and performers.
Every single person involved with this project has worked on high-stress projects and has the ability to be flexible if unforeseen issues arise. We bring our experience from over 10 years of organizing and running international robot competitions and hosting and producing podcasts and TV shows. We have an expert team of robot makers gearing up, and an expert production team, and with your help, we can take our independent series to the next level.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterFAQ
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Yes, you sure can!
+ What you want to do is select “Manage Pledge” on the main project page.
+ You will be taken to a second page where your pledge amount is at the top of the screen in a box.
+ You can put a new pledge amount into the pledge box.
+ If you want to change your backer reward selection, you can do that at this time as well, by selecting one of the buttons below.
+ Then, confirm your pledge, and you are done! -
Kickstarter won't let you choose more than one pledge item, but it is not against the rules.
We can totally do multiple items or tickets!+ What you want to do is select one of the items on the main project page (if something has a limited quantity, then choose that pledge button).
+ You will be taken to a second page where your pledge amount is at the top of the screen in a box.
+ What you want to do next, is add up the donation amount of all of the pledges rewards that you want, and put that number into the pledge box.
Confirm your pledge, and you are done!
+ When the campaign ends, we will send a survey asking you questions regarding your pledge, asking if you got any extra items, and you can specify what those are at that time. -
For our first goal of $40,000, we will be focusing only on the 220s, with one episode on the humanoids. We really would like to cover as many of RoboGames’ 54 events as possible (robot hockey, androids who play soccer, tiny nano-sumo robots, etc.), but that means extra production costs. That’s why we have some stretch goals planned so that we can make that happen!
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Definitely! While our barebones goal of $40,000 will only allow our series to focus on the 220s heavyweights, there is often involvement of young people on those teams in that category. This is indeed, a family event. Additionally to that, we are hoping to soar past our $40k goal and move on to our ‘stretch goals’. This extra production money will allow us to dive deeper into how RoboGames is a great environment for hands-on STEM.
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We are very close to nailing down a date, but we can’t give the specifics yet. The event definitely will occur in the Spring of 2015.
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You will have the option of choosing a mastered for Blu-Ray or a regular DVD. We will send a survey at the end of the campaign to find out which you prefer to receive.
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Yes, the DVD level also includes a link to the downloads.
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Funding period
- (31 days)