Markforged-Printed Parts Featured in BattleBots Championship
June 7, 2019Comments
Valkyrie, an undercutter robot designed to damage the undercarriage of robot competitors, has 55 parts produced on Markforged 3D printers. The robot will be competing in the season-opening episode of BattleBots, airing tonight (June 7) on the Discovery Channel, and June 12 on the Science Channel. |
Markforged announced that four of its 3D printers will be featured on BattleBots, a television series premiering tonight (June 7) on the Discovery Channel and June 12 on the Science Channel. As the only 3D printer company hosted by BattleBots during filming, Markforged produced more than 160 parts for 29 teams onsite – all within the 2 weeks of filming. The printers allowed the teams to rapidly repair damaged robots, improve their performance during battles, and optimize their design against competitors in real time.
In BattleBots, teams design, build and operate remote-controlled machines that fight in an elimination tournament. With strict robot weight limits, Markforged 3D printers gave contestants the ability to create tough custom parts with the strength of aluminum at half the weight.
“Teams with broken bots were saved and able to fight again because of Markforged and its 3D printers,” says Greg Munson, founder and executive producer of BattleBots Inc. “In addition, Markforged created custom shock mounts for many robot motors. This decreased the fail rate of motors that were poorly mounted, and increased the reliability and the excitement level for the 2019 fights.”