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"After losing to DOOM, we knew we wanted to get the audience on our side. So we said we need a theme that can appeal to a 10-year-old. No one's going to cheer for a Greek myth or a lemonade."
— Alon Belkin explains the origins of the crab theme
It is a four-wheel drive robot with a wide chassis made from ³⁄₁₆" and ¼" thick[1] HARDOX steel. Its rear two wheels are exposed, while the front two sit closer to the front of the robot. Based upon Joshua Kong's 1lb robot of the same name, Calypso is armed with a horizontal, asymmetric spinning disk weighing 45lbs[2] positioned low to the ground to act as an undercutter. Either side of the primary weapon are two hinged forks, which allow Calypso to behave like a controlbot.[3] This can also be replaced by a more defensive wedge. Rather than being fully invertible, Calypso uses gyroscopic forces to self-right when inverted.
The robot sports a crab theme and is accompanied by two minibots called Pork Chop and Meat-Tornado. Both are hobbyweight SPAM kitbots available for purchase at horizon250.com. Calypso itself is driven by Joshua Kong, with Derek Tran operating its weaponry. The robot was built on an extremely tight timeline, going from CAD to combat ready in just six weeks, with members of multiple other teams assisting in the build.
"After Axolotl, I swore I'd never do that again. And now? I'm doing it again."
— Alon Belkin on the rapid nature of Calypso's build
Calypso debuted at FaceOffs, competing in Episode 2. Though it suffered losses in its first two fights against relative veterans Skorpios and MadCatter, Calypso earned a first win in its third battle against Roundhouse, finishing third overall in its group.
Calypso undergoing weapon tests inside the BattleBox.
Calypso debuted in Group A of BattleBots FaceOffs, originally taking place on September 20-22, 2024 and released as the second episode. On Day 1, it was scheduled to fight returning hammer sawSkorpios in its first match.
Team Horizon assembling Calypso.
Having brought Calypso to filming in a disassembled state - without wiring, electronics or drive chains installed - Team Horizon faced an uphill struggle to prepare it in time for the fight. Wesley Socia oversaw the process of printing sets of PLA wheels for drive and weapon tests inside the BattleBox. As his team wired Calypso up outside, captain Joshua Kong confirmed that while its motors were functional, they had not performed drive tests up to that point.
Calypso's team performing late tests.
Alleviating initial concerns that its spinner mechanism would 'explode', Calypso successfully performed its weapon test. However, major problems later arose when Team Horizon attempted to set up its drive. While the corresponding Destruct-A-Thon show got underway, two of Calypso's motors failed, resulting in them having to carry out emergency repairs outside.
Alex Price: "We've spent... I think six weeks non-stop. We've worked so hard to get to this point, and to trip at this hurdle..."
Joshua Kong: "We have gotten extraordinarily unlucky. Had to swap out two different motors. All... right before the first fight."
— Team Horizon open up about Calypso's last-minute technical issues
Having replaced the affected motors, Team Horizon assembled and brought Calypso into the BattleBox, moments before they were due to perform their arena entrance. Derek Tran tuned the robot's drive ESCs as part of the team's final preparations.[4]
"Cutting it way too close! We'll see. We either make something happen, or it gets really sad. There's no in-between."
— Derek Tran
Skorpios holds Calypso before bringing its blade into play.
Calypso, starting the match from the red square, turned right and caught its left forks in the nearby killsaw slots. Dodging Skorpios' attempted box-rush, it weaved and smashed its undercutting disk into its opponent's plow. Calypso sent Skorpios recoiling as a result, but struggled to follow up on this attack as it weaved into the lower-left corner. This gave Skorpios an opportunity to corral Calypso into the wall, despite Calypso dealing a second blow to the latter's front end. Calypso was held for several seconds as Skorpios brought its own hammer saw disk onto its front plate. Sparks flew, and Calypso struggled to push its opponent back.
Calypso rips into Skorpios' tire.
Skorpios proceeded to pin Calypso against a nearby paddle, where Calypso sustained another hit to its front-right corner. A series of head-to-head exchanges allowed Calypso to bring its undercutter back into play. Not only content with generating sparks from Skorpios' plow, the Team Horizon machine also drove into and slashed the former's right tire. Another heavy blow followed, though Calypso soon found itself being pushed back and pinned against a screw mount.
Skorpios strikes the top of Calypso.
Calypso, still struggling to push back, took four more hits from Skorpios' hammer saw, tearing into its front bulkhead and weapon shaft. After the fourth blow, Skorpios moved away, and Calypso hesitated for a few seconds before again trying to drive over the lower-left killsaw slots. Calypso again caught the slots, and stopped moving altogether upon reversing back into the screw bumper.
To avoid the machine taking further damage, and with it still suffering major drive issues, Joshua Kong intentionally relinquished control of Calypso at that point.[4] A cursory shove from Skorpios prompted a full ten-second count-out. Though Calypso's first match ended with a knockout loss, Bot Bash Party Crew's Zach Lytle still praised Team Horizon for their effort to prepare it within their six-week timespan.
"The Calypso team - they got six weeks to build that robot. I've had ten years to make mine, and I honestly don't think under the timeline you guys had, I would have a robot that moves in the arena right now. So I really want to congratulate you guys!"
— Zach Lytle to Team Horizon
Calypso vs. MadCatter
Also in Calypso's group was Founder's Award winner MadCatter, with Coleman Christy driving in the absence of Calvin Iba.
Early in the battle, Calypso was able to slide its forks under the plow of MadCatter, prompting celebration from Team Horizon. The undercutting blade of Calypso cut into MadCatter's plow, but also separated the robots as MadCatter looked to recalibrate.
Calypso proves to be the lower robot early on.
MadCatter drove into the arena wall momentarily before driving around to Calypso's back, but failing to capitalize on this chance. Calypso's forks proved effective as both robots faced one another again. MadCatter instead drove up the forks of Calypso, first the left set and then the right, having to reverse to become free.
Calypso loses its weapon.
However, MadCatter then managed to maneuver between Calypso's forks and initiating a weapon-to-weapon impact. MadCatter threw Calypso through the air, and as its crab-themed opponent was sent twisting through the air, its weapon blade was torn away and thrown in the opposite direction. Calypso lost its weapon pulley and belts during this devastating exchange, which also caused ripped a chunk out of MadCatter's plow.
Steve Judkins: "Watch out, folks!"
Bil Dwyer: "What was that? Was that the main weapon of Calypso?"
Steve Judkins: "It was! I think he's out!"
— Steve and Bil react to the decisive hit
Calypso is counted out.
Calypso twitched in place but then stopped moving altogether, prompting a count from the referees.
Damage to MadCatter caused by Calypso.
Calypso fell to a 0-2 record, but its team were happy with aspects of their performance and the effectiveness of their forks, with Derek Tran in particular noting improvements from their first defeat.
"We got under them, like, we were getting under them good."
— Team Calypso post-fight
Calypso vs. Roundhouse
"It's been like two days of us just panicking, and slowly feeling more confident in the robot. Friday, we just barely had it working. Yesterday... you know what, we have it working and it did things that we were expecting it to do. Today is like... oh, the robot feels like we wanted it to, and that is the thing that's giving me confidence."
— Alex Price
Looking to avoid finishing last in the Group A standings, Calypso took on fellow undercutter Roundhouse on Day 3. Buoyed by their robot's gradually improving functionality, Team Horizon added aluminum foil plates to counter their opponent's flamethrower. The front end was also modified to sport its forkless wedge configuration. Believing Calypso to have a '50-50' chance of winning, Joshua Kong stated his plan to box-rush Roundhouse, a strategy anticipated by RoboGym Robotics' Dan Tisza.
"Think this is finally the day that we've caught up to the long chain of problems we've had at this event. And... the queue hasn't started, and we're not working on the robot, so, you know, that's a win. If we take this, it's going to look real good for the Selection Committee."
— Joshua Kong
Calypso and Roundhouse collide.
Both competitors immediately squared off against each other in the BattleBox center. Positioning itself to the right, Calypso dodged Roundhouse's initial flame blast. Two rapid collisions allowed it to send its opponent recoiling and bouncing across the floor. Calypso rushed in to inflict another pair of side-on attacks on Roundhouse, tearing a chunk out of its left wheel with the second. This was followed by two head-to-head collisions, lifting, then sending Calypso spinning in the air across the center of the BattleBox.
Calypso coasted to a stop by the Killsaw slots. After a few seconds' hesitation, it pivoted into Roundhouse's bar and left wheel when the RoboGym Robotics machine next tried to attack. Despite this, it was quickly put on the defensive when Roundhouse, flamethrower active, drove into its undercutter. Calypso was flicked upwards by the impact, but in doing so tore off Roundhouse's top-right cover. More head-to-head exchanges followed. Tanking a blow to its front-left corner, Calypso drove into and sent Roundhouse recoiling towards the Upper Deck screws. However, after shuffling close to the blue square, it was flung sideways into it during the next series of attacks, while a belt was sheared away.
Roundhouse loses a tire, courtesy of Calypso.
At that point, Calypso began hopping within the square, struggling to maintain full forward drive. It backed up against the center screw mount as Roundhouse rushed in to inflict further damage. As it reared up, Calypso's undercutter landed on top of Roundhouse's right tire, flicking the robot further upwards. However, the impact still sheared the tire completely off the rim, as well as remove the chain from that side of Roundhouse's drive.
Steve Judkins: "Woah! Why is everything flying at me tonight? I've had about five things going for me! [Bil laughs, Calypso rips off Roundhouse's right tire] Oh no! We've lost a wheel!"
Steve Judkins: "Can he still operate? He looks functional! He's still got his weapon."
Bil Dwyer: "Now... is it time for Roundhouse to pick apart... Calypso? [long pause as both competitors struggle for mobility] Both bots have lost a wheel!"
Bil Dwyer: "One minute into this fight, and it is a great one!"
— As both competitors are reduced to one side of drive
Both robots struggled for mobility.
Even with its opponent partially incapacitated, Calypso still struggled with mobility issues of its own. While still showing functionality in both of the outer wheels, it struggled to move out of the blue square, only being able to turn and shuffle to the right in either direction. Calypso kept shuffling as Roundhouse crabwalked across the BattleBox, only to accidentally reverse into the screws. Attempting to recover, it found itself being spun around when Roundhouse hit it twice more in succession. As the battle reached the end of its first minute, however, Calypso's mobility issues continued to worsen - the right-most wheels appeared to jam up and leave it crabwalking within the square. Calypso thus could not capitalize when Roundhouse mistakenly drove into a paddle and the top-right screw, disabling its own bar spinner. However, its disk still flung away a gear set ejected by Roundhouse during this moment.
Calypso again backed into the screws just before the 90-second mark. While allowing it to be recoiled onto the neighboring Killsaw slots, this did not alleviate its mobility issues. A drive chain lay beneath and was flung aside by Calypso's undercutter, before Calypso as a whole began shuffling towards the lower-right corner. Neither robot engaged further for the rest of the match, with Roundhouse also losing functionality in both of its weapons.
Bill Dwyer: "Ladies and gentlemen, as long as these bots are movin', the fight continues!"
Steve Judkins: "Could it be strategy, Bil? I don't think so!"
— Commentary as Roundhouse and Calypso both struggle to engage in the final minute
Calypso and Roundhouse limp to an audience decision.
Having dodged one of the Pulverizers, Calypso eventually made its way to the lower-left corner. Both competitors survived the full three minutes, leading to a Judges' decision and audience vote. A close vote ruled in Calypso's favor, earning it its first-ever BattleBots victory and third place in the Group A table.
"The schedule was insane. Fighting two of the best robots in the game right now in Skorpios and MadCatter, and taking on another great newcomer in Roundhouse - genuinely such a great experience. Once everyone found their rhythm, it was so much fun!"
