Behind the Bots

April NHRL Recap with Supernova builders Jaaron Leibson & Ezequiel Solano!

This week we will recap the April NHRL event with WPI's own Ezequiel and Jaaron! Both of these builders have been competing with their 3lb robots Blink and Red Panda respectively alongside supporting larger machines like 30lb Waddles! This time they're back with 12lb Supernova where they made an impressive run to the Semifinals where they ultimately lost to Maximizer. We'll talk about their stories of robot building, fighting, and repairing!   Let us know what questions you have for Ezequiel, Jaaron, and Jake about the event!    To watch the podcast live check out https://www.youtube.com/@jakemaximizer/streams [https://www.youtube.com/@jakemaximizer/streams] where it will be shared to all of the audio apps the following week!   Follow us on Instagram and Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PlayerFM, and all the other podcast places. Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

Robot Rampage Recap with Team USA!

This week we will recap the Robot Rampage World Cup event from February with our very own Team USA! Henchmans Sam & Colin, Johnny Tsoumpas, and Corey Nason are joined by special member Aki to recap how America’s own Jump Rope, Spartan 30, Riposaw, and Synthesis 30 joined Bad Blood to compete in four days against top machines from New Zealand, Australia, and Brazil in a unique nation-vs-nation 5-a-side team match!    Let us know what questions you have for Team USA! Also check out the Robot Rampage Youtube channel to rewatch each night of the four-night spectacle and follow Team USA’s road to silver medal! To watch the podcast live check out https://www.youtube.com/@jakemaximizer/streams [https://www.youtube.com/@jakemaximizer/streams] where it will be shared to all of the audio apps the following week!   Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PlayerFM, and all the other podcast places. Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

Interview and February NHRL Recap with UIUC's iRobotics!

This week we will recap the NHRL February event with members of University of Illinois's iRobotics team! We'll talk about their experience with 30lb entries quack., FSH, and Killswitch and other famous entries from the team like Undertaker and Goose!  To watch the podcast live check out https://www.youtube.com/@jakemaximizer/streams where it will be shared to all of the audio apps the following week! Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PlayerFM, and all the other podcast places. Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

NHRL Finals Recap with 3lb World Champion Alex Wang!

Alex has been steadily honing Pinevictus all year. Though Pinevictus has been around since November 2021 during his days at UMD as a Leatherback,  2025 is the year where the robot has been on a meteoric rise. It started the year strong by reaching the Semifinals at February NHRL with a Judges Decision loss to Silent Spring followed by solid runs at Motorama and Hive Hysteria. After designing and debuting a new version only two weeks out from Finals, it was a gamble that paid off to win the distinguished Golden Brett at the NHRL World Finals! Let us know what questions you have for Alex! To watch the podcast live check out https://www.youtube.com/@jakemaximizer/streams on every other Thursday at 7pm EST! Otherwise, it should be available on all the podcast places later in the week! Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

November NHRL Recap and Finals Preview with Golden Dumpster Winner Liam King!

Liam has been on a tear this year with Buzzzz-kill recently capturing the 12lb crown at November NHRL! Now the overall 2nd seed behind only Slam Plan, Liam looks poised for a deep run at Finals. Outside of 12lbs, Liam and the rest of Leatherbacks have been racking up wins in the insectweights at events like Water's Edge, MACRO and had a close fight with top bots like Mako at November NHRL with his 3lb Zenith.  To watch the podcast live check out https://www.youtube.com/@jakemaximizer/streams on every other Thursday at 7pm EST! Otherwise, it should be available on all the podcast places later in the week!