BattleBots IQ, later shortened to BotsIQ and sometimes abbreviated to BBIQ, was an annual BattleBots event held between Season 4.0 and 5.0, and then held across much of the thirteen year gap before the first season on ABC.
Credited to nurturing many of the stars of the reboot era such as Will Bales, Marc DeVidts, Victor Soto, Paul Ventimiglia and Andrea Gellatly (then Suarez), BattleBots IQ events used the original BattleBox to host fights between robots built by students ranging from 12 to 18 (later 22) years old at the time of the event. Unlike the Comedy Central, ABC and Discovery seasons of BattleBots, these events were not professionally filmed to be aired in any capacity, with the exception of what became the 2009 Championships. As such, footage of the events has been scarcely uploaded over the years.
With the introduction of the Mini Class for young builders to design and create combat robots on a smaller budget, a square within the larger arena was originally cordoned off for these to compete within. However, as 15lb robots became more mainstream, a dedicated arena was eventually constructed.
Among the crew of BattleBots IQ were the show's co-founders Greg Munson and Trey Roski, as well as former competitors Bill and Nola Garcia of Team Loki.
The inaugural first BattleBots IQ event was held at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida a year after Season 5.0 of BattleBots on Comedy Central. Following its success, a second event titled BattleBots IQ II was held in Mare Island, California. The venue changed again to Owantonna, Minnesota in 2004 before returning to Orlando in 2005. From 2006 onward, however, BBIQ found a permanent home in Miami, Florida.
Diesector entertains the crowd during the 2004 event.
As well as the main tournament, each BBIQ event held various awards to commemorate teams and robots which did not necessarily see the most success during the competition. During the 2004 event, superheavyweight champion Diesector provided a demonstration in the arena, attacking wooden palettes and barrels.[1]
Thirteen years since the last event, the BotsIQ program was officially relaunched in 2024 under the name BattleBots: Metal Mayhem, with College and High School 15lb divisions making a return.
BattleBots IQ Events[]
- BattleBots IQ 2002
- BattleBots IQ 2003
- BattleBots IQ 2004
- BattleBots IQ 2005
- BattleBots IQ 2006
- BattleBots IQ 2007
- BattleBots IQ 2008
- BattleBots IQ 2009
- BattleBots IQ 2010
- BattleBots IQ 2011
- BattleBots: Metal Mayhem
See Also[]
- https://web.archive.org/web/20060626112426/http://www.battlebotsiq.com/
- https://web.archive.org/web/20060614203832/http://battlebotsiq.com/news.php#BBIQ2006Winners