Robot Combat League - Revision history

User: /* How RCL works */

2026-02-04T23:49:44Z

How RCL works

Chklnk: Add event photo; season before score; simpler score+rank section

2024-10-28T02:38:42Z

Add event photo; season before score; simpler score+rank section

Chklnk: Created history section

2024-09-25T03:21:03Z

Created history section

Chklnk: Update links SPARC

2024-04-30T04:23:17Z

Update links SPARC

Chklnk: /* Why the Robot Combat League doesn't use the SPARC Botrank system */ Additional reason disclosed in discussion elsewhere

2024-01-06T06:56:05Z

Why the Robot Combat League doesn't use the SPARC Botrank system: Additional reason disclosed in discussion elsewhere

Chklnk: Update 2023 past tense, ranking page described

2023-11-06T05:46:48Z

Update 2023 past tense, ranking page described

Chklnk: Fulfilled dire need for edits and updates

2023-04-18T04:22:28Z

Fulfilled dire need for edits and updates

User: Fixing some grammer

2022-03-13T01:26:41Z

Fixing some grammer

User: Some edits

2022-02-27T18:25:40Z

Some edits

User: Starting this page - needs more details

2022-02-21T01:51:11Z

Starting this page - needs more details

New page

== Robot Combat League ==
Robot Combat does not have an offical organizing body. Although most events use the [[SPARC rules|http://sparc.tools/]] or some varient of them, each event is independent and can run their event as they see fit. Starting in March 2022, more than 30 independent events have agreed to an event results tracking system that will help determine which bots are the top competitors. <br>
==Why the Robot Combat League doesn't use the SPARC Botrank system==
Although the [http://sparc.tools/BotRank/index.php SPARC Botrank] system made an attempt at tracking how well robots performed,their system had several shortcomings.
* The primary issue is that the system used to calculate scores is greatly influenced by the number of events a bot as competed in which favored bots that competed a lot rather than bots that placed highly in events.
* Other issues include the [http://sparc.tools/BotRank/index.php SPARC Botrank] system being based on a on a rolling 18 month period which made it difficult to evaluate when the results should be evaluated.
* The SPARC Botrank system didn't have a way to disambiguate robots with the same name. Common names like 'Hazard' made the results unreliable. <br>

==When is the league season?==
The season starts the first day of March and ends on the last day of February. Event data prior to March 2022 isn't complete so take historical rankings with a grain of salt.

==What weight classes will be included?==
Currently, ranks are calculated for the most popular weight classes: 150g, 1lb, 1lb-plastic, 3lb, 12lb, 30lb, and 30sportsman robots.

==How are rankings determined?==
Robots earn points by placing in events. A robot's season total is taken from their top 3 events. <br>
How are points calculated?
Points are determined by how well a robot places in a competition and is weighted by the number of robots competing. The exact calculations to determine a robots score can be [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GGMDljRZXsq9HCCjCAIsGpup90LLsPtqhkUiPwJRPWY/edit#gid=0 viewed on this calculator].

==[https://www.robotcombatevents.com/types Robot Combat League Ranks]==

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 ==How RCL works==
-Robot Combat League is a national robot competition federation, not an official organizing body for Robot Combat. Launched in March 2022, it draws competitors from local events in the USA to participate at a national level. Although most local events in the League use the '''[https://sparc.tools/ SPARC]''' rule set or some variant, every event participating in the league is independent and can run their event as they see fit, so long as they fit into a very broad set of guidelines and agree to use the League event results tracking system that will help determine which bots are the top competitors in the USA. Highly ranked bots will be considered candidates for the annual Robot Combat League competition.
+Robot Combat League is a national robot competition federation, not an official organizing body for Robot Combat. Launched in March 2022, it draws competitors from local events in the USA to participate at a national level. Although most local events in the League use the '''[https://sparc.tools/ SPARC]''' rule set or some variant, every event participating in the league is independent and can run their event as they see fit, so long as they fit into a very broad set of guidelines and agree to use the League event results tracking system that will help determine which bots are the top competitors in the USA. Highly ranked bots will be considered candidates for the annual Robot Combat League competition. The Robot Combat League dwarfs similar leagues, with more than 200 qualifying events for the 2025 season.
 ==Qualifying weight classes==

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 The '''[https://robotcombatleague.net/ Robot Combat League]''' is a non-profit whose mission is to promote STEM and design and fabrication skills through the exciting sport of Robot Combat.
 ==How RCL works==
@@ Line 8: / Line 11: @@
 ==Qualifying weight classes==
 As of 2022, ranks are calculated for the most popular weight classes: 150g, 1lb, 1lb Plastic, 3lb, 12lb, 30lb, and 30lb Sportsman robots. If more [[RobotClasses|weight classes]] become popular and events want to include them in the League, the ranked classes may be expanded.
 ==Determining points and rankings==
-Robots earn points by how highly they place at events they participate in.  A robot's season total is taken from their top 3 - highest point events, provided there are at least 5 competitors in the same weight class competing.
+Robots earn points by how highly they place at events they participate in.  A robot's season total is taken from their top 3 - highest point events, provided there are at least 5 competitors in the same weight class competing, and rankings are determined from this season score.
 Points are determined by how well a robot places in a competition, and is weighted by the number of robots competing. The exact calculations to determine a robots score can be '''[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GGMDljRZXsq9HCCjCAIsGpup90LLsPtqhkUiPwJRPWY/edit#gid=0 viewed on this calculator]'''.
-==League season==
+The [https://www.robotcombatevents.com/types Robot Combat League bot ranking page] is updated periodically and can be filtered by year.
 ==Competition history==
@@ Line 33: / Line 38: @@
 * Botrank rankings were adjusted based on an 18-month rolling time period. While this captures recent performance well, having a moving period where rankings would be set made calculations of seasonal rank difficult to evaluate.
 * Botrank didn't have a way to disambiguate robots with the same name.  Common robot names like 'Hazard' made the results unreliable.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 The '''[https://robotcombatleague.net/ Robot Combat League]''' is a non-profit whose mission is to promote STEM and design and fabrication skills through the exciting sport of Robot Combat.
 ==How RCL works==
-Robot Combat League is a national robot competition federation, not an official organizing body for Robot Combat. Launched in March 2022, it draws competitors from local events in the USA to participate at a national level. Although most local events in the League use the '''[https://sparc.tools/ SPARC]''' rule set or some variant, every event participating in the league is independent and can run their event as they see fit, so long as they fit into a very broad set of guidelines. More than 30 independent events have agreed to use the League event results tracking system that will help determine which bots are the top competitors in the USA. Highly ranked bots will be considered candidates for the Robot Combat League competition.
+Robot Combat League is a national robot competition federation, not an official organizing body for Robot Combat. Launched in March 2022, it draws competitors from local events in the USA to participate at a national level. Although most local events in the League use the '''[https://sparc.tools/ SPARC]''' rule set or some variant, every event participating in the league is independent and can run their event as they see fit, so long as they fit into a very broad set of guidelines and agree to use the League event results tracking system that will help determine which bots are the top competitors in the USA. Highly ranked bots will be considered candidates for the annual Robot Combat League competition.
 ==Qualifying weight classes==
@@ Line 15: / Line 14: @@
 Points are determined by how well a robot places in a competition, and is weighted by the number of robots competing. The exact calculations to determine a robots score can be '''[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GGMDljRZXsq9HCCjCAIsGpup90LLsPtqhkUiPwJRPWY/edit#gid=0 viewed on this calculator]'''.
-==The league season==
+==League season==
 The season starts the first day of March and ends on the last day of February. Competitions in this time period are considered qualifiers for the next event. With the 2022 season being the first, adjustments to the season dates may be made if needed. Event data prior to March 2022 isn't complete, so take historical rankings with a grain of salt.
 The first season consisted of 98 local events and ran from March, 2022 to February, 2023. The Robot Combat League National Championship '''[https://www.robotcombatevents.com/events/853 first competition]''' took place May, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. Since an appropriate arena was not available for this event, 30lb destructive bots did not compete in 2023.
 ==Why the Robot Combat League doesn't use the SPARC Botrank system==

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 ==How RCL works==
-Robot Combat League is a national robot competition federation, not an official organizing body for Robot Combat. Launched in March 2022, it draws competitors from local events in the USA to participate at a national level. Although most local events in the League use the '''[http://sparc.tools/ SPARC rule set]''' or some variant, every event participating in the league is independent and can run their event as they see fit, so long as they fit into a very broad set of guidelines. More than 30 independent events have agreed to use the League event results tracking system that will help determine which bots are the top competitors in the USA. Highly ranked bots will be considered candidates for the Robot Combat League competition.
+Robot Combat League is a national robot competition federation, not an official organizing body for Robot Combat. Launched in March 2022, it draws competitors from local events in the USA to participate at a national level. Although most local events in the League use the '''[https://sparc.tools/ SPARC]''' rule set or some variant, every event participating in the league is independent and can run their event as they see fit, so long as they fit into a very broad set of guidelines. More than 30 independent events have agreed to use the League event results tracking system that will help determine which bots are the top competitors in the USA. Highly ranked bots will be considered candidates for the Robot Combat League competition.
 ==Qualifying weight classes==
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 ==Why the Robot Combat League doesn't use the SPARC Botrank system==
-Although the '''[http://sparc.tools/BotRank/index.php SPARC Botrank]''' system made an attempt at tracking how well robots performed, their system had several shortcomings.
+Although the old Botrank system made an attempt at tracking how well robots performed, their system had several shortcomings.
 * Botrank scores were greatly influenced by the number of events a bot has competed in; bots that competed a lot were favored over those that placed highly in events. This led to situations where a bot that competed and performed 'OK' in a half dozen events would be ranked higher than a robot that competed in and won two events.
 * Forfeits in events were found to be inconsistently reported, leading to errors in ranking.

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 ==Why the Robot Combat League doesn't use the SPARC Botrank system==
 Although the '''[http://sparc.tools/BotRank/index.php SPARC Botrank]''' system made an attempt at tracking how well robots performed, their system had several shortcomings.
-* The primary problem with Botrank is that scores are greatly influenced by the number of events a bot has competed in; bots that competed a lot were favored over those that placed highly in events. This led to situations where a bot that competed and performed 'OK' in a half dozen events would be ranked higher than a robot that competed in and won two events.
+* Botrank scores were greatly influenced by the number of events a bot has competed in; bots that competed a lot were favored over those that placed highly in events. This led to situations where a bot that competed and performed 'OK' in a half dozen events would be ranked higher than a robot that competed in and won two events.
-* Another issue is that Botrank rankings are adjusted based on an 18-month rolling time period. While this captures recent performance well, having no defined seasons or periods where rankings would be set makes its calculations ever changing and difficult to evaluate.
+* Forfeits in events were found to be inconsistently reported, leading to errors in ranking.
-* The SPARC Botrank system didn't have a way to disambiguate robots with the same name.  Common robot names like 'Hazard' made the results unreliable.
+* Botrank rankings were adjusted based on an 18-month rolling time period. While this captures recent performance well, having a moving period where rankings would be set made calculations of seasonal rank difficult to evaluate.
 ==Robot Combat League Ranks==
 The [https://www.robotcombatevents.com/types Robot Combat League bot ranking page] is updated periodically and can be filtered by year.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-== Robot Combat League ==
+''Note: This article is not about the 2013 TV show of the same name.''
-==Why the Robot Combat League doesn't use the SPARC Botrank system==
+The '''[https://robotcombatleague.net/ Robot Combat League]''' is a non-profit whose mission is to promote STEM and design and fabrication skills through the exciting sport of Robot Combat.
-Although the [http://sparc.tools/BotRank/index.php SPARC Botrank] system made an attempt at tracking how well robots performed, their system had several shortcomings.
-* The primary issue is that the system used to calculate scores is greatly influenced by the number of events a bot as competed in which favored bots that competed a lot rather than bots that placed highly in events. This led to situations where a bot that competed and performed 'ok' in a half dozen events would be ranked higher than a robot that competed in and won two events.
-* Another issue with the [http://sparc.tools/BotRank/index.php SPARC Botrank] system, is that the calculations are done on an 18 month rolling period. Having no defined seasons or periods where rankings would be set makes its calcuations ever changing and difficult to evaluate.
+==How RCL works==
-* The SPARC Botrank system didn't have a way to disambiguate robots with the same name.  Common robot names like 'Hazard' made the results unreliable.<br>
+Robot Combat League is a national robot competition federation, not an official organizing body for Robot Combat. Launched in March 2022, it draws competitors from local events in the USA to participate at a national level. Although most local events in the League use the '''[http://sparc.tools/ SPARC rule set]''' or some variant, every event participating in the league is independent and can run their event as they see fit, so long as they fit into a very broad set of guidelines. More than 30 independent events have agreed to use the League event results tracking system that will help determine which bots are the top competitors in the USA. Highly ranked bots will be considered candidates for the Robot Combat League competition.
-==When is the league season?==
+==The league season==
-The season starts the first day of March and ends on the last day of February. With the 2022 season being the first, adjustments to the season dates may be made if needed. Event data prior to March 2022 isn't complete so take historical rankings with a grain of salt.
+The season starts the first day of March and ends on the last day of February. Competitions in this time period are considered qualifiers for the next event. With the 2022 season being the first, adjustments to the season dates may be made if needed. Event data prior to March 2022 isn't complete, so take historical rankings with a grain of salt.
-==What weight classes will be included?==
+The first season ran from March, 2022 to February, 2023 and the '''[https://www.robotcombatevents.com/events/853 first competition]''' is scheduled for May, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. Since an appropriate arena is not available for this event, 30lb destructive bots will not be able to compete this year.
-==How are rankings determined?==
+==Why the Robot Combat League doesn't use the SPARC Botrank system==
-Robots earn points by how highly they place at an event.  A robot's season total is taken from their top 3 - highest point events. <br>
+Although the '''[http://sparc.tools/BotRank/index.php SPARC Botrank]''' system made an attempt at tracking how well robots performed, their system had several shortcomings.
-How are points calculated?
+* The primary problem with Botrank is that scores are greatly influenced by the number of events a bot has competed in; bots that competed a lot were favored over those that placed highly in events. This led to situations where a bot that competed and performed 'OK' in a half dozen events would be ranked higher than a robot that competed in and won two events.
-Points are determined by how well a robot places in a competition and is weighted by the number of robots competing. The exact calculations to determine a robots score can be [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GGMDljRZXsq9HCCjCAIsGpup90LLsPtqhkUiPwJRPWY/edit#gid=0 viewed on this calculator].
+* Another issue is that Botrank rankings are adjusted based on an 18-month rolling time period. While this captures recent performance well, having no defined seasons or periods where rankings would be set makes its calculations ever changing and difficult to evaluate.
 ==[https://www.robotcombatevents.com/types Robot Combat League Ranks]==