Outside of the Box

It is finally time to talk about the robot that is too hot to handle - Caldera! I got to sit down with the wonderful Glenn Boxell to talk about his robots, winning a Golden Dumpster, getting to go to competitions with his son Brian and a new event that the Boxells have cooked up coming in September! This was an amazing chat with one of the best in the sport!   https://www.robotcombatevents.com/eve...

It is nearly time for the premiere combat robot league in the State of New Jersey to hold their league championship which will take place on August 3rd at the New Jersey State Fair. I chatted with builders Kevin, Ryan, Adam, Mark & Alex about the season so far, what all of them are planning to help get their respective robots ready to compete and what else GSCRL has in the works. You can catch...

It is time for another Gamer Edition of Talkin' Nerdy and this time I got to sit down with my friend, variety streamer TheDivinityOfIvory. We chatted about playing spooky games, the joys of building in Minecraft and the importance of taking care of your mental health in gaming. If you enjoy a fun stream with a kind and lovely human being, you will definitely want to check out Ivory's channel! http...

On this episode I got to chat with a young entrepreneur with a passion for combat robotics - Joseph Betz! He started competing in combat robotics a few years ago and has turned that initial interest into so much more. We talked about his beginnings in the sport, organizing events as well as the new building kit he now has on his website. You can also check out one of his events this weekend in Wis...

You likely know him from the cult classic series The Guild or The Legend of Neil - my guest on this episode is none other than Sandeep Parikh. I talked to Sandeep about the magical friendship that he and his Guild castmates have maintained for the past (almost!) 20 years, teaching tech bros how to defeat a Beholder, and how he has been able to bring his South Asian culture to the D&D world thr...

We're back with another NHRL Recap, although this one is solely focused on the 3lb robots - specifically, Mako, Turbofiend and Jelly Baby. I first sat down with siblings Julian and Dima to talk about their exciting run into the Top 16 for Mako and Top 8 for Turbofiend including how each of them felt about fighting meltybrain The Greatest Challenge. I also caught up with Paige of Jelly Baby to chat...

The month of June is full of combat robotics events and in this episode we chat about the June 22nd NHRL event with a group of builders who will be competing - Julian Papsian/Mako, Michael Cross/Stag Beetle Bot, Alex Curtis/Floor Letter Word, Mitchell Sullivan/Yakety Yak, Zack Knight/Pramheda, and Corey Nason/Synthesis. We went through every weight class chatting about many of the bots who will be...

If you like video games as much as I do, you'll thoroughly enjoy my guest on this episode of Talkin' Nerdy - Totally Kaal who has been a Twitch affiliate for several years now. Kaal is a variety streamer with a soft spot for Souls-like games and Pokemon. We talked about the process of starting and growing a community as well as a lot of the fun things he does for engagement on his channel that hav...

This week, I am sharing a recap of my wonderful experience at Indy POP Con! I had the pleasure of attending the Podcast Awards where Outside of the Box was a Finalist as well as leading a discussion/workshop on combat robotics and we did a LIVE podcast recording from the POP Con floor with my guest/co-host Ashley Foor chatting about all things nerdy including whether Mandalorian actor Pedro Pascal...

Are you hyped about the NHRL Teams event on June 1st? Well, I was joined by the crew from Havoc Rundown including Ashley, Ryan, Justin, Thomas & Tony to break down the groupings in each division to discuss matchups and who we will will win it all! This episode is packed full of fun discussions like theories on how Paws could win it all in the 3lb division as well as some friendly smack talk be...

Introducing this very important episode on the importance of safety in combat robotics where in the first half I chat with Quantum's James Cooper on the safety fundamentals and everyone's responsibilities to put together a safe event followed by a discussion with Triton's Brad Hanstad and Synthwave builder Kyle Kuffrey about why good safety practices are so essential to the growth of the sport and...

It is another roundtable and this time I gathered together one of the most dominant forces in the NHRL - Team WPI! We talked about many things including the importance of growing combat robotics, the Loophole controversy and how it subsequently promoted more creativity in the sport, what you can expect from Team Too Hot To Handle at NHRL's Teams event and a special conversation with Gabe & Ale...

In one of my biggest episodes to date, I got a bunch of strong performers together from the April NHRL event including the builders of Golden Dumpster winners Chonkiv (30lb) and Ambisbaena (12lb). Hear all about how the RoboJackets of Georgia Tech felt about having to fight each other in the competition and why their bot names usually end in the letter 'i'. Also, hear from Team Stamdamonium who ha...

Hey fans and builders! For the two year anniversary of the show we did something a little different and THIS time, Ashley is asking the questions! Find out what inspired the podcast in the first place, why soldering is frustrating and what we think about the NHRL Teams event coming up in June. This was a really fun episode to record and hopefully it answers some questions that some of you may have...

It is now two years to the day that the first episode of Outside of the Box premiered featuring Zach and Diana from Team Skorpios. The show has come a long way in that time and I have gotten to interview so many wonderful folks within combat robotics and beyond. I chose 20 episodes for this recap that were defining or important to the show in some way and I break them all down for you here. Thank...

It is time for a chat with Hacksmith Industries about the highly anticipated BattleBots entry - Orbitron! We talked about how Ben, Bogdan and Hacksmith became involved with the University of Waterloo's BattleBots idea which has turned into a super innovative AI robot that may change the landscape of combat robotics. They elaborate on the benefits and challenges of an AI robot and how important it...

If you are already feeling high about April's NHRL event, please check out this roundtable featuring Corey, Chris, Gabe, Jaaron, Dan & Kyle where we preview what to expect from their robots and much more! We naturally talked about triple threat Jamison Go who will be competing in every weight class, dug into much of the rest of the field and I got super hype about multibot Barbie & Ken &am...

Last month, I got the opportunity to attend Indiana Comic Convention and nerd out with a bunch of people that share so much of the fandom appreciation that I do. I got to do a couple of interviews with fans and got to meet a handful of celebrities including some Avatar encounters with a couple of my favorite voice actors. Check out my review and feedback on the Con!

Prepare to be royally entertained in this episode as I chat with Gillian and Linden of Bot Barons about their court full of regal robots. We dove into how they came up with this amazing theme in the first place, why cam lifters are so hard to fight, their bot Prince's amazing performance at the March RIT event and how Emperor will be changing its "clothes" for the April event and moving away from...

It is time for the final spotlight on the National STEM Challenge Champions leading up to the National STEM Festival coming up here in mid-April. This time I spoke to Jasmine Lima who has had a longtime passion for STEM and has been working on her project for years which focuses on Tsunamis and T-Sound. She was inspired by a trip to Hawaii which potentially put her in the path of a tsunami and she...

After two years of the podcast, it seemed like it might be time to try out some new segments. Check out these amazing segments I did with Tom Farkas, Corey Nason and J Lee. It is sure to be an episode you won't forget!

It is Floor Friday and time for another clip with one of the most vibrant personalities on the show - Sunnie Allen! We talked about how auditioning for a different show led her to eventually be cast on The Floor, a really cool wildcard idea that Sunnie has for a potential next season of The Floor, and the excitement and challenge of taking Steve out of the game who was a well-liked contestant on T...

This is a very special STEM Spotlight episode as I had the opportunity to speak with two sisters who are both National STEM Champions. Ananya and Advika Vuppala decided to pursue projects that help with early detection and diagnosis of Anemia and MS which are conditions that impact many people globally. Advika's project uses an app prototype to assist with detection of anemia while Ananya's projec...

I cannot believe it has been TWO years since I took a leap and started this show to put a well-deserved spotlight on the combat robotics community, especially all of the wonderful people in it. In this video, I share some thanks for the people who have helped and supported me along the way, included highlights of some great episodes we've done and a teaser for my BIG Giveaway that is coming in Apr...

It is time for another Floor Friday and this time I sat down with Stephanie Ross who went on quite a hot streak early on during her time on The Floor. We talked about how her real specialty is horror movies, which is why she had to adjust her strategy and challenge Tom, her experience in getting case for the Floor and Stephanie talked about they honeymoon she planned with her winnings from The Flo...