Shock Soc Robot Fighting League
Written by our almuna, Abeer.
On a beautiful Wednesday evening at The University of Leeds, Leeds University Union (LUU) held one of the biggest and most exciting events of the year; the ShockSoc Robot Fighting League, an event run a number of times every year at the University of Leeds allowing students from all backgrounds and especially Engineering students to unleash their tech abilities to develop the most sophisticated robots with the ability to destroy competing robot.
At 5:00 pm robots’ lovers and technology enthusiasts started arriving to the Pyramid; the arena where the most brutal robots’ fights will begin, soon enough the arena was filled and we were all waiting for the battle to begin. The event’s host welcomed everyone and introduced the two judges and commenters who were staff members at the university, the two judges were responsible for choosing the winner robot.
The event started with two competitors showcase their robot abilities, the competitors were either an individual or a group but each competitor was allowed one robot only throughout the competition, with two breaks throughout the three hours competition to repair the damage. The competing robots had about a minute fight in which one of the robots need to push the other into a hole, if none of the robots managed to do this, the judges will choose the winner based on the damage caused in which the least damaged robot move to the next round. It was exciting to see robots being shattered to pieces and even more exciting to watch among a very excited audience who were screaming and cheering for their favourite robot.
On the first round we saw robots made out of soup pots, old computer parts, paper and even food including bread and chips, and well it is not difficult to imagine some had a better chance of survival than others, however the audience had a soft spot for the underdogs and therefore we were all sad to see the flying bread and chips pieces all over the fight arena.
Round after round more robots were being completely destroyed, partially damaged or unable to work, throughout the evening the fights got more exciting with only stronger robots remaining in the competition. The final fight was between the two strongest and long lasting robots; Attire and Screaming Suma, the final fight was by far the most exciting with the audience cheering for their favourite robots. The night ended with Screaming Suma winning the title of the best robot after a very epic fight.
Just in case you missed it, the event was covered live by the university television with exclusive chats and interviews with participants. The live event can be watched using this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtZcONvKZqE
If you like what you are reading, why not see it for yourself when you join Leeds?