Robot Gladiators Fight in Detroit
On an unassuming stretch of 7 Mile Road, sandwiched between industrial lots and fast-food joints, nine-foot-tall metal warriors are shooting explosive projectiles at each other inside a church. And people are paying good money to watch. Since its debut last summer, this live spectacle, dubbed Robowar, has been packing the house on a regular basis. The venue might raise some eyebrows: Global Empowerment Ministries, a church founded by entrepreneur Art Cartwright, has transformed part of its space into a battleground for mechanical mayhem. Behind bulletproof glass, massive robots with glowing red eyes square off while more than 500 fans cheer from the pews, well, auditorium seats.
“We have these nine foot tall metal gladiators that shoot exploding projectiles at 20 rounds a second,” The two enterprises, the church and the robot fighting league, share space but little else, Cartwright explained. There’s a method to the madness, though. He sees the spectacle as a way to get young people excited about robotics, especially since the Detroit area leads the nation in the field. The robots on stage are far from the industrial machines used in car factories. Instead, they resemble giant mechanical superheroes with glowing eyes, heavy armor, and dramatic entrances. Cartwright told NPR that comic book culture played a big role in shaping the show’s design. “I’m a Marvel fan,” he said. “So I’m like, okay, let’s make some robots that look like superheroes.” Robot battles as entertainment have long captured the public imagination. The concept appeared decades ago in the 1956 short story Steel by Richard Matheson and later inspired the 2011 film Real Steel. Robowar taps into that same fascination, but brings it to life with performers inside nine-foot-tall mech-style suits.
He’s already created AI personalities for robots representing 30 different cities. “They talk cash money trash,” he said with a laugh. The show also features actual autonomous robots from the Chinese company Unitree, robot dogs, and humanoids that dance and pose. Robowar also features real robots — robot dogs and child-sized humanoids that dance and pose for pictures. During one segment, a human audience member performed in a dance competition against a robot named Halo, which pulled off impressive spins and flips. “You better be nice to them before they finish you,” his mother, Nawal Denard, jokes. Though the two depart into a cold Michigan night, along with hundreds of other spectators, the room they left was full of human warmth.
Robot Ruminations
What do you feed a hungry robot?
Mega-bites.
A robot tried to rob a bank but was caught when its battery died.
Police have no plans…to charge the suspect.
There was a giant, steel, robot who had one job, protect the city.
One day when it was raining some of the screws got rusty and fell off causing one of the legs to fall off entirely. When the leg fell off it crushed the city that it was meant to protect.
Oh, the iron knee!
A robot man walks into a robot restaurant.
A robot waiter approaches and asks him for his robot order.
The robot man orders a robot steak.
The robot waiter asks him how he wants his robot steak prepared.
The robot man replies, “Weld on.”
July 2nd Birthdays
1991 – Margot Robby, 1986 – Asley Tisdale, 1986 – Lindsay Lohan, 1976 – Elizabeth Reaser
1937 – Richard Petty, 1948 – Larry David, 1908 – Thurgood Marshall, 1932 – Dave Thomas