One thing I realize as a sports fan is a love of a rather broad range of sports, and self-admittedly my interests can run to the fringes of the sports world as well.
I doubt many in the city, maybe no one except me, tunes in on YouTube.com on a regular basis to watch Badminton World Federation or Professional Squash Association events.
And, yes dear readers I love Battlebots on television, and view it as a sport, in spite of the protestations of my better half to the contrary.
So, it was a blast recently when I caught up with Canadian designer Mark Demers, one of the team leaders behind the Battlebot 鈥楲ucky鈥�.
Not too surprisingly Demers came to designing a 鈥榖ot after initially becoming a fan.
鈥淟ike you I remember seeing it on television and I was a fan,鈥� he related in a recent telephone chat. 鈥淚t looked like fun.鈥�
Demers, who lives in Ottawa, is an engineer, although he works on the marketing side of things rather than actual design.
So Battlebots 鈥渨as kind of an outlet for engineering for me,鈥� said Demers.
When Demers first watched Battlebots he was in San Francisco where the TV show taped. He watched for a year. Attended events in season two.
And by year three he was involved with a 鈥榖ot.
The design of a 鈥榖ot is a balancing act for Demers, who admitted the simplest approach to success is generally a powerful vertical spinner with Tombstone the 鈥減oster 鈥榖ot鈥� for such designs.
But, he wanted something unique too.
鈥淚t鈥檚 interesting, I like to have something fun and entertaining to watch,鈥� he said, adding 鈥淚 like the challenge of designing something different.鈥�
That said it鈥檚 not easy to be wild in design, and competitive too.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to be unique when there are only a few designs to be effective,鈥� offered Demers.
In the end, Demers, the lead designer on the tem, went with a flipper, partly because he loved watching 鈥榖ots such as Bronco flipping opponents across the floor.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 awesome when they get under a guy and its going eight-10-feet across the arena,鈥� he said.
Lucky has not quite achieved the success of Bronco as a flipper, and Demers said he expects better of his 鈥榖ot.
鈥淥ur record has been mediocre,鈥� he admitted adding 鈥渨e鈥檙e more competitive than we鈥檝e shown on the show so far.鈥�
Realistically Lucky is a middle of the pack 鈥榖ot, yet to crack the top 16 in a season, but Demers said they aspire to show the potential be believes the 鈥榖ot has.
The 鈥榟obby鈥� is not a cheap one, although Demers noted; 鈥渢he goal is to make a few dollars at it.鈥�
Like soccer though, Demers said to just play is cheap, to get to the top level and be competitive takes investment, adding he doubted a reasonable competitive battlebot could be designed and built for under $20,000.
Of course at the top level you are competing with design teams from around the world, with Demers noting there are four, or five teams in Canada with an eye on the 鈥楤ig Nut鈥� the trophy handed out each season on Battlebots.
It鈥檚 not easy to be the best, and it gets harder every year.
鈥淭he level of competition today compared to five years ago is incredible,鈥� said Demers, adding major design and engineering companies and top university teams are building 鈥榖ots now
So I finally asked the big question; is Battlebots a sport?
鈥淚 consider it a sport,鈥� said Demers. 鈥淚 think it is as much as car racing is a sport.鈥� Then he added that doesn鈥檛 mean he sees himself as an athlete.
As for the upcoming season of Battlebots, Lucky will be staying home due to COVID concerns, but Lucky will be back in the future assured Demers.
