KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

Saturday was alright for a fight as the Hands-On Science Center (HOSC) presented T-Town Beatdown 2 this past weekend.

Throughout the day Sat, Jan. 6, HOSC and TeamPyramid hosted the second robot fighting competition where teams and competitors from all over the country gathered as 69 robot competitors faced off in 129 fights in a double elimination tournament. Also in attendance at T-Town Beatdown 2 was Nola Garcia de Qyevedo, who founded the United States Alliance for Technological Literacy and was the head of the first all-female team on the “BattleBots” TV show. She also co-authored the book “”STEAM Powered Girls: Power Your Dreams, Power Your Future” with Elizabeth de Zulueta.

During the event, attendees who paid for general admission had the chance to watch the pit crews prepare the robots for battle and view the fights via the monitors throughout the science center as they checked out some of the exhibits and enjoy food provided throughout the day. Guests also got the chance to have an enhanced experience by watching the fights live in the auditorium for an extra fee.

According to event organizer Hal Corum, the tournament introduced two new weight classes with the previous three weight classes returning for the robots. The five weight classes were the fairyweight class, weighing at 150 g, the Ant Weight class, weighing at one pound, the Beetle Weight class, weighing at three pounds, the plastic Ant Weight class, weighing at one pound, and the autonomous sumo class, weighing at 500 grams.

When the smoke cleared, and the area was swept clean of parts, the winners were decided for each weight class. For the Fairy Weight group, taking first place was Santis, with Squeez4r and Slipper taking second and third place respectively. For the Ant Weight division, Fallout came out on top with Cyber Wolf and Swoop taking second and third respectively. For the new plastic Ant Weight class, Erosion took first place, followed by Leroy Brown in second and Swoop Plastic in third. Winning first place in the Beetle Weight division was Performance Anxiety, who also took first place in the inaugural T-Town Beatdown, while Komodo took second place and Misdirected Aggression claimed third place. As for the sumo class, The Original BOT placed in first place, with Bad Attitude and Apophis a two-tie for second place.

“HOSC was excited to host all these teams from six different states,” HOSC Executive Sean Amidon said. “It was a great success and we look forward to soon announcing T-Town Beat down III!”

Corum said T-Town Beatdown 2 was the largest event he has hosted, and thanked everyone involved who helped to put the event together.

“From the competitors who came to this event, and to all my volunteers who without their help I would never have got this event running,” he said. “A special thanks goes out to Sawyer Toby for his help in designing and printing the trophies. And last but not least, a big thanks to the Hands-On Science Center in Tullahoma for providing an excellent venue to hold our event.”

SECRA is a collaboration between several robot combat event organizers in the Southeastern US. Some of the organizations that SECRA has collaborated with include Faceless Productions of Atlanta, Ga, Backwoods Combat Robots of Chapel Hill, Maximum Effort Robotics of Chattanooga, Little Chicago Combat Robotics of Johnson City, Turnabot Turnament of Atlanta, Ga, Grind City Robot Combat in Memphis and more.

Anyone interested in watching the tournament can visit the SERCRA’s YouTube channel here. For more information mabout the event and the tournament, visit buildersdb.com/TTOWNBEATDOWNII.

The science center’s next event will be the HOSC Adult Prom: 1995 Valentine’s Soiree on Feb. 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 and come with light snacks and a voucher for one complimentary drink. Tickets can be purchased at https://tinyurl.com/HOSCPROM.