Prepare for an episode full of energy as we broke down the SEMO July Jamboree event at QuadCon in Peoria, Illinois. We first chat with Christopher who is the builder of Fingers Crossed and his team is here to have fun! We talk about his background and why it is so important to keep fun at the top of mind when fighting robots. I also talked to SEMO's Mike Mueller about the growth of his organization, how the July Jamboree went and future events.

Fresh of the heels of Outside of the Box's first event, it is time to do a deeper dive into event organization. We have several perspectives on event hosting in this episode including talking collegiate events with Ryan and Uday from UIUC, a focus on being a brand new event organizer with Emily, George & Jair from MRCA and the journey of becoming an experienced event organizer with Carolina Combat Robotics' father/son duo Chuck and Jeremy. If you ever wanted to know more about hosting, this is the one to watch!

As you may have noticed, episodes of late have been geared around events and the FIRST Tech Challenge was a really fun event I had the opportunity to attend. Check out a couple of interviews from that event with teams from Romania and Brazil who travelled very far to compete with other teams from around the country and the world.

To follow up on the PopCon Recap, this episode covers the entire panel that featured Brian Boxell & Ellie Clark who are both seasoned builders at both NHRL and BattleBots. There is so much good commentary during this panel including a really heartwarming moment when Brian was asked about his father Glenn Boxell and his accomplishments.

It was such a fun time down in Indianapolis at the Circle City Clash presented in conjunction with PopCon and Robot Smashing League! Enjoy this brief recap with video highlights from the event including our friends at Witch Doctor and Turnabot as well as clips from the tournament itself!

Thanks again to our sponsors BAIS219, Palm Beach Bots, Fingertech Robotics & Master Control Bot!

If you want an episode that is proof that robots can be beautiful and destructive - look no further. I had the joy of chatting with Boby of Melon Baller as well as the team behind Killswitch about their awesome designs and solid performances at the last event.

As we prepare to take a summer break from NHRL, join me for a great recap with 3 robots that really made a splash at the June event with one of them coming away with a finals win. I chatted with Brian from Murphy's Law about their unexpected run, got into 12 lb talk with Ben from RoboCat and heard from Kevin Milczewski about his speedy robot Red Storm and its run to the Golden Dumpster. Check it out!

It is time for another STEM Spotlight! In this episode, I spoke with Sarah DeVolld of Vintage Train Case about her passion for blending fashion with STEM. She talks about her journey as a designer, some of the projects she has been working on and her experience at the National STEM Festival this year.

It is fitting that this episode is packed full of builders who originate from the Midwest as we preview the MRCA takeover of NHRL in June. I first talk to Emily & Dustin of Nacho Robotics about their pair of hard hitting bots that have impressed in MRCA events. Then, we shift into shenanigans with a group of folks from the Outside of the Box discord server and get even more amazing Frank lore (IYKYK). We wrap up talking to Alex & Aren from Seems Reasonable and Eli & Jamison from Sawblaze about the scary bots they are bringing to this event including some upgrades to bots we know and love. Strap in and get ready for a MEGA sized episode!

There were some pretty spectacular runs at the May NHRL event and I spoke to a few builders who had amazing performances, but were all stopped by the eventual winners of their respective weight classes. Cameron from Sad Octopus talks about an amazing day of fights culminating in a fun fight versus Jelly Baby, Matt Lantry talks about the journey from control bot driver to his success with hard hitting horizontol Sievert and Joe From Deadrise talks about his building inspirations how his performance at Motorama gave him confidence in his robot.

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