In Ohio University’s BattleCats club, members design and build fighting robots for competitions. The organization started multiple years ago, but had a resurgence in 2023.
BattleCats is a Russ College of Engineering and Technology student organization; however, it is not limited to engineering students, and Bobcats of all majors are welcome.
Talon Trout, a senior studying engineering technology and management, is the president of BattleCats.
“BattleBots is basically making a custom bot that will 1v1 another bot, and the goal is to destroy them or disable them, usually within two or three minutes,” Trout said.
The organization builds robots similar to those seen in the BattleBots television show, though BattleCats’ bots are smaller.
“Anyone familiar with the BattleBots TV show, which is where most people know it from, those are 250 pounds, but we usually do one to three-pound bots, and this semester, we’re also trying to throw together some bigger ones that are 15 pounds,” Trout said.
BattleBots, according to IMDb, is a “robot combat competition” show, where designers manufacture and operate their robots until a “champion is crowned.”
Sean Jenson, assistant professor of instruction in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, is the club advisor. Jenson said the robots students construct go beyond the “flashy” types seen on TV.
“It’s geared towards making all types of robotics, not just strictly battle bots,” Jensen said. “The beauty of that type of club is that there’s a bunch of different classes and activities you can do, especially when you go to competitions.”
Jenson said the club is designed for engineering students, as it helps them practice topics learned and developed in the classroom.
“It’s basically meant to give the students something fun and interesting to work on while honing their design skills, their mechanics, their electronics, their control systems, programming,” Jenson said. “Basically everything that we learned through our first four years to kind of give them an application, to bring it all together and make it work.”
Trout said he is comfortable using the software SolidWorks to design and construct BattleCat bots. According to its website, the software offers training, online trials and opportunities to connect with designers across the world and discover 3D models.
“That’s been a big help, (and) I’ve gotten way more SolidWorks experience working on the bots for the club than from anywhere else,” Trout said.
As an advisor and professor, Jenson said he enjoys when students’ designs come to life and seeing the “lightbulb click on” in their minds is rewarding.
“My favorite thing, and this goes not just with the club but mentoring and teaching in general, is that I get to experience what it felt like to learn these things for the first time,” Jenson said. “I try to step back, I want them to learn it, but being able to steer them, and then seeing that instant gratification … the smile … it's fun. That’s why we’re doing it.”
BattleCats can be a beneficial club for engineering majors, but also for Bobcats in other areas of study.
Brock Klamfoth, a senior studying computer science, helps organize the club’s events and competitions and said studying the robots is fascinating.
“I think a lot of it was just learning initially how robots work, (and) that was kind of my initial get-go,” Klamfoth said. “It’s sort of how to use these controllers. It gave me more of an electronic perspective in a place that I was just starting out as computer science.”
Klamfoth discussed how he was able to develop a basic understanding of the technology and focus on his interests as a computer science major.
“It started out as a foundation for what I found I could put my hands in and eventually evolve into something I wanted to do,” Klamfoth said.
Klamfoth encourages any student to join BattleCats and said engineering major or not, the club can be fun for anyone.
“Definitely give it a shot, even if it’s not something you’re entirely sure if it lines up with what you want to do,” Klamfoth said. “It’s a good place to start and to eventually make the connections where you want to be.”
BattleCats competes every fall and spring semester in a tournament called the Mechanical and Energy Engineering 1010 competition. ME 1010 is a course offered at OU, in which students build one-pound battle bots and fight at the end of the semester.
Trout said BattleCats also participates in an ExtremeSTEM competition called ExtremeBOTS. The competition involves a three-minute battle with one to 15-pound robots with weapons, according to the website.
The club meets every Monday in Stocker Hall room 190 at 6:15 p.m., according to Bobcat Connect, and its next competition is April 25 on OU’s campus.
“It just starts with reaching out, go and sit in on a meeting, get a taste of what’s going on,” Jenson said. “If it’s for you, great. If not, at least you found out.”
