BattleBots S5 Reflections with Skorpios Captains Zach Lytle and Diana Tarlson

This week on the podcast, we catch up with Skorpios co-captains Zach Lytle and Diana Tarlson—exactly one year (to the day!) from the last time they were on the show. In early April 2020, the world had just gone into lockdown, and it was unclear how long COVID would last. Zach and Diana run a small business in the San Francisco Bay Area where they host in-person combat robot parties, after-school programs and educational summer camps. During the pandemic, they were forced to temporarily close their business.

 

2020 was simultaneously Zach and Diana’s worst year, and their best year, they said. Skorpios went 2-1 in their qualifying matches (including an incredibly destructive loss to Bloodsport, and a satisfying and decisive win over Tombstone), before their championship run was cut short by Witch Doctor. They ended up winning the Icewave bounty, and taking home the 2020 Founders Award.

We talk about all that, and more, in this episode. <3

 

This week’s combat robotics news:

 

• New BattleBots basement fight: Deadlift vs. Bale Spear
• BattleBots: Bounty Hunters this Thursday? BETA
• Axolotl has applied to 2021: https://www.facebook.com/axolotlbattlebot/posts/199400165286558
• Bale Spear 1 is getting a new job: https://www.facebook.com/Deer-Dash-Crop-Protection-676408819117226/
• (April 1) Bloodsport’s new titanium bar: https://youtu.be/a11BhqsUmAs
• Bots FC is applying with a vertical spinner called Emulsifier: https://www.facebook.com/BotsFC/posts/136639231798227 
• Deadlift recap of BB:BH: https://www.facebook.com/robogymrobotics/posts/4281193908600087
• Extinguisher’s shop got a Tormach glow up: https://www.facebook.com/ExtinguisherBattlebot/posts/847530435828806 
• (April 1) FingerTech releases a bike rack: https://www.facebook.com/Whyachi/posts/4183376198341830 
• (April 1) Gigabyte is looking malicious: https://www.facebook.com/RoboticDeathCompany/posts/1759763587747005 
• Gruff auction on eBay: https://www.facebook.com/gruffrobot/posts/799459960667876 
• HiJinx has applied to 2021: https://www.facebook.com/HiJinx.BattleBot/posts/322129906005388 
• JackPot auction on eBay: https://www.facebook.com/JackPotBattleBots/posts/242306150925750
• (April 1) Jeff Waters is applying to 2021 with Offtrack: https://www.facebook.com/JackPotBattleBots/posts/241060707716961 
• Bunny hunt on Malice’s website: https://www.facebook.com/malicebattlebot/posts/303721864490023 
• (April 1) Longboi P1: https://www.facebook.com/AberrantRobotics/posts/936671233831898 
• SawBlaze has applied to 2021: https://www.facebook.com/SawBlazeBattlebots/posts/127279579405465
• SME is applying with a new multibot called Caulk: https://www.facebook.com/SMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE/posts/275814637342597 
• Sporkinok has applied to 2021: https://www.facebook.com/SporkinokBB/photos/a.110676813759385/283570203136711 
• (April 1) SubZero’s vertical spinner: https://www.facebook.com/SubZeroBattleBot/posts/225937205990006
• Tantrum on Behind the Battle: https://www.facebook.com/tantrum.battlebot/posts/1413852605621877 
• (April 1) The Big Dill’s vertical spinner: https://www.facebook.com/teamfoodfight/posts/1240540936362406 
• (April 1) Tracer’s walking minibot: https://www.facebook.com/kymerabots/posts/251501853340307 
• Valkyrie auction on eBay: https://www.facebook.com/valkyriebattlebot/posts/390383498878022 
• Join Witch Doctor’s Patreon: https://www.facebook.com/witchdrshaman/posts/3486321921472617 

 

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