Horizon

Horizon
Participation Information
Reboot Seasons	World Championship VI (Not selected) World Championship VII
Live	BattleBots Proving Ground
Other Events	BattleBots: Champions II (Withdrew)
Other Names	Horizon250 Horizon 2022 (WC VII) Ganymede (Concept name)
Team Information
Team	Team Horizon
Team Members	Joshua Kong (Captain) Alon Belkin Kyle Loyola Dylan McKenzie Alex Price Alicia Garnache (WC VII) Peter Garnache (WC VII) Conor O'Brien Justin Nyam Kai Yin Tommy Wong (WC VII-Present) Victoria Tomozei (BB Proving Ground)
From	Los Angeles, CA
Other Entries	Calypso
Associated Robots	Cobalt, Gigabyte (Alon Belkin, Conor O'Brien) Axolotl (Alon Belkin, Victoria Tomozei) Chronos, Valkyrie (Kyle Loyola) Big Dill (Tommy Wong) Malice (Peter Garnache) SHREDDIT BRO! (Alicia Garnache) JackPot, Project Aegis, Altair, Category 5 (Joshua Kong) Terrortops, DOOM (Victoria Tomozei)
Robot Statistics
Weight	225lbs
Top Speed	18mph
Power	8S 5100mAh LiPo batteries
Drive	2x TP5680 Brushless inrunner motors
Weapons	Continuous horizontal hammer saw
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"Introducing the world's first continuous horizontal hammer saw..."

— The team introduce Horizon on their website

Horizon is a heavyweight robot built by Team Horizon which applied for BattleBots World Championship VI and debuted in World Championship VII.

A scaled up version of team captain Joshua Kong's 12lb robot Skyline, itself derived from one of Joshua Kong's previous heavyweight designs Cyclotron, Horizon is a four-wheel drive robot armed with a large, truss-like overhead bar which spins above the main chassis. What makes Horizon unique, however, are the horizontal disks attached to each end of the bar, which spin independent to the bar due to torque reaction. Each disk has three teeth (one slightly larger than the other two) and are powered by dedicated motors. As the disks on either end of the AR500 steel arm spin, the arm itself will spin in the opposite direction. This process is known as torque reaction, and allows Horizon to find a loophole the 80lb spinning mass restriction which limits more traditional spinners. However, only each disk has to weigh under the maximum mass, and team member Dylan McKenzie stated weigh 22lbs on the final robot and spin at the 250mph tip speed limit.

One CAD of Horizon made public lacked the top semi-circle and connecting supports seen on Skyline, known as the "taco". This assists the 12lb robot in self-righting when flipped upside-down. However, the taco self-righting mechanism was incorporated into the final design. Despite applying with a unique concept proven to work at 12lb level, Horizon was rejected for World Championship VI. However, several team members including Alon Belkin, who captained Axolotl during World Championship V, would assist with Cobalt under the ownership of John Mladenik.

Horizon during World Championship VII hero shots.

The team confirmed their intention to apply for World Championship VII with "significant changes" made since the first CAD models were revealed, having learned a lot with the development of Skyline in recent National Havoc Robot League competitions. In January 2022, the team began producing a 1:1 scale wooden prototype of Horizon. A month later, the team announced via social media that they had finished recording their application video and later confirmed their intention to split the team in half and also apply with a robot called Globetrotter. However, this proved to be an April Fools' joke despite its name being a copyright issue and its ability to show controlled mobility lacking. In their Horizon application video, the team revealed Gigabyte captain Derek Tran had assisted with fabrication, but was not officially part of the team.

In September 2022, Team Horizon confirmed their inclusion into the competition as well as introducing their mascots - Taco and Teacup. Horizon is joined by a minibot built by Kyle Loyola named Sunrise, which previously served alongside Chronos and Valkyrie under the name Time Line. In spite of its uniqueness, Horizon lost consecutive fights to SHREDDIT BRO! and Monsoon in the Fight Night rounds. Horizon's fortunes changed as it secured a first ever win against Shatter! in spite of an Appeal from Adam Wrigley's team, but the rookie team were beaten by Triton in their final qualifier.

Horizon was scheduled to compete in the third Sin City Slugfest bracket of BattleBots: Champions II, but pulled out due to having only one frame left after their Fight Night battles.

Horizon returned at BattleBots Proving Ground, looking to showcase improved weapon reliability. Horizon fought DOOM on the weekend of June 3-4, 2023, winning once and losing by crowd vote despite dominating the battle. In July 2024, Team Horizon were confirmed to be participating in BattleBots FaceOffs, set to appear at select September shows. However, they would instead compete with a new robot called Calypso.

It was confirmed in a 2024 Builder Blog episode that if Horizon was not accepted for World Championship VIII, then Joshua Kong would join Bot Bash Party Crew as the new driver of Skorpios for the next season.

Horizon with its team at BattleBots Proving Ground.

Team Horizon testing the functionality of their weapon.

Horizon's minibot, Timeline.

The gearing for each of Horizon's disk spinners.

Horizon in September 2022.

Horizon under construction in July 2022.

Skyline, the robot Horizon is modeled on.

Ganymede, early concept for Horizon posted to Facebook circa April 2021.

Skyline in action at National Havoc Robot League in July 2021.

Outside BattleBots

Team Horizon signed up for the July 2022 Robotica event in Houston, Texas, beginning construction of the robot several weeks prior to the competition. Primarily applying to test their drive train, the robot was billed as Rizon on the application form, with Alon Belkin stating the spinning mechanism would likely not be complete by the time of the event, and would measure 6.5ft end-to-end in an 8ft wide heavyweight arena. Irrespective of its completion, the robot could not be used in its full combat form with Robotica being a sportsman event prohibiting such kinetic weaponry.

Rizon fitted circular saws to the ends of its prototype wooden arm, but struggled throughout the event. It chalked up a win against NEUMATIK, serving as revenge for Alon Belkin and Axolotl's 2020 season loss to Team WAR? EZ!. It later beat Piranha, built by Wild Side Robotics, but suffered losses to Deferred Maintenance, Avalanche, Tiger Plywood, and Orly.

Horizon was among the BattleBots competitors displayed at Open Sauce in San Francisco in July 2023. In June 2024, Horizon was again on display at that year's Open Sauce event.

Horizon on display at Open Sauce 2024.

Rizon at Robotica 2022.

Robot History

World Championship VII
Horizon vs. SHREDDIT BRO! Horizon's BattleBots debut came against SHREDDIT BRO!. Horizon and SHREDDIT BRO! struggle for mobility. SHREDDIT BRO!'s eggbeater drum spinner was up to speed as it initially hung back as Horizon spun its dual disks. Evan Arias' bot approached, but failed to make contact with Horizon with the first attack of the battle. Horizon drove around and dealt a weapon-to-weapon blow with one of its horizontal disks. Although its larger bar was now rotating, this impact disabled one of Horizon's spinners. SHREDDIT BRO! throws Horizon against the wall. SHREDDIT BRO! struggled to drive on the BattleBox floor as Horizon swung its only functional disk into the drum of Evan Arias' bot again, but failed to cause meaningful damage. Horizon appeared hesitant to engage, but had also been suffering drive issues from the start, in part due to using experimental speed controllers which had yet to be tested in combat. SHREDDIT BRO!'s drum got up to speed again as it struggled to escape the center of the arena. Horizon landed a tap to the back of its opponent as SHREDDIT BRO!'s drum began making contact with the floor. With its one remaining spinner, Horizon swung into the side SHREDDIT BRO!, tearing into its left-rear tire and retreating to the middle of the BattleBox. "Ohhh, that might be it for Horizon!" — Kenny Florian reacts to the biggest hit of the fight so far Both robots are stuck in the last ten seconds. SHREDDIT BRO! was still twitching and arced around as Horizon drove away, making contact with its trailing disk and throwing Joshua Kong's bot into the air, damaging one of the supports for its 'taco' self-righter. Horizon landed with one side of its arm resting on the paddle hazard, which activated to free the rookie team. With by far the biggest impact of the match, Horizon's disks had now both been disabled, but both robots' drive issues persisted. Horizon found itself resting on top of SHREDDIT BRO! as the killsaws cut against its disk. Neither robot was able to move as Horizon's wheels were off the floor and SHREDDIT BRO! lacked the traction to reverse away to safety. Post-fight damage to SHREDDIT BRO!'s wheel. "These bots seem to be out of gas and out of options as the final seconds tick away here..." — Chris Rose narrating the closing moments of the fight The fight went the distance, and SHREDDIT BRO! was unanimously declared the winner by judges' decision.
Horizon vs. Monsoon Next up for Horizon was the returning Monsoon, who lost to Black Dragon in its opening bout. Its British opponent sported a wraparound plow for this battle, in order to defend against Horizon's horizontal spinners. Monsoon charges towards Horizon. Straight away, Monsoon opted to box-rush its opponent, and although Horizon's disk spinners got up to speed straight away, the British bot honed in on the chassis and threw Horizon over. Its taco-shaped self-righter allowed Horizon to roll back onto its wheels, but Monsoon's assault was unrelenting. Using its 42lb vertical spinner, it dealt a blow to one of the horizontal disks before repositioning itself to strike the chassis again, tearing one of its side panels away and flipping Horizon over again. Monsoon slams into Horizon. Monsoon followed this up with a hit to the rookie bot's exposed underbelly leaving a gash through the baseplate as Horizon was punted towards the pulverizer. One of its disks spun helplessly, but Horizon was otherwise immobile. "Stuck on its head, kinda laying dead or... playing dead by the pulverizer. Who knows?" — Chris Rose The hole in Horizon's underside caused by Monsoon. Referee John Remar asked Horizon's team if they could show any movement, and a count began soon after. This confirmed Horizon's second loss of the season, and its first by knockout. "They were just totally and completely outmatched here. Welcome to the heavyweight division, Josh. No mercy from Monsoon." — Kenny Florian in the post-fight highlight reel
Horizon vs. Shatter! Horizon in the red square, joined by Sunrise. Desperate for its first BattleBots win, Horizon's penultimate opponent of the Fight Night rounds was fellow 0-2 bot Shatter!. For this fight, Horizon was accompanied by minibot Sunrise for the first time, and also sported additional Tegris armor to defend against overhead attacks. Shatter! gives chase after Horizon lands several swiping attacks. The rookie bot spun its disks and exited its starting square as Shatter! skidded across the BattleBox, but Horizon was nimble enough to avoid Shatter! as Sunrise defended it, before landing the first blow of the fight to Shatter!'s front wedge. Horizon then began swiping against its ablative armor as Shatter! lined up its primary weapon but misfired. Horizon's drivetrain swivelled from side to side, baiting Eric Wrigley into firing the weapon again, this time hitting the extra armor across its arm. However, this was followed up by two misses as Kyle Loyola drove Horizon in such a way that its twin disks struck Shatter!'s frame in quick succession. Chris Rose: "Shatter! lands a big shot there... but whiffs on the follow up and way off on that one!" Kenny Florian: "Yeah, Horizon actually doing a nice job bobbing and weaving there, and giving themselves some time to spin up." Chris Rose: "Ohh, another drive-by slice there by Horizon. The front of Shatter! is all kinds of carved up." — Chris and Kenny react as Horizon outdrives its veteran opponent Shatter! reverses off the Upper Deck. Horizon's arm was now spinning at a reasonable speed and each disk was fully spun up also. Shatter! positioned itself and hit the arm again, but as Adam Wrigley drove Shatter! towards its opponent, Horizon dealt a blow to its rear which saw Shatter! tumbling onto the Upper Deck. With assistance from its primary weapon, Shatter! drove away from danger and looked to attack again. Damage began to rack up on Shatter! as its front was chewed up, made worse as it drove into Horizon's disk upon trying to land a hammer blow, a move which sent Shatter! twisting through the air. Horizon attempts to smother Shatter! again. As the 2020 season quarter-finalist recovered, Horizon returned to the center of the BattleBox to spin up. Shatter! charged at Horizon again, jumping on top of Joshua Kong's robot as it fired its hammer. Though one disk appeared to have been halted, the other swung around and sliced into Shatter!'s side, leaving gashes in its armor. The fight entered its closing stages and Bots FC attempted to leave an impression on the judges by landing a flurry of late blows. However, it was only able to land a couple of these and Horizon powered up both spinning disks once more as time ran out. Chris Rose: "Shatter! with one final flurry, but some frustration as time expires..." Kenny Florian: "And those horizontal spinners on Horizon were still working at the end of that fight." — Chris and Kenny observe as the fight goes the distance The extent of the damage caused by Horizon. In what proved to be a very close battle, a split decision was declared in favor of Horizon. Both teams shake hands as the decision is upheld. Bots FC confirmed their intention to launch an Appeal, but the decision was made unanimous, and Team Horizon's first victory was confirmed.
Horizon vs. Triton Horizon's final Fight Night battle saw it fight Deep Six's spiritual successor, Triton. Horizon is approached by Triton. Quickly getting its bar up to speed, Triton approached Horizon and landed a blow as Joshua Kong's robot took time to spin its arm. Horizon drove away to safety, but one of its disks suddenly ground to a halt. Its bar began rotating the other way as Horizon drove into Triton with its non-spinning disk. Bradley Hanstad's machine powered up its spinner again, striking one end of Horizon's arm before following this up with a blow to the other. "There's a nice shot... and maybe it disassembled one of those spinning disks." — Chris Rose reacts as one of Horizon's spinners goes down Horizon grinds to a halt. Triton then began to arc in place around the edge of the blue square, seemingly suffering drive issues. However, after several more attacks to the frame and the weaponry of its opponent, Horizon stopped moving over the killsaw slots. Edging its way to Horizon, Triton swung its weapon again, making contact and throwing Horizon near the center of the BattleBox. Although its main bar was spinning, it had no control over its drive, so a count was initiated. Triton took the win by knockout as Horizon fell to 1-3. "Triton is gonna advance to 2-2, while the sun sets on Horizon's rookie campaign." — Chris Rose as Horizon's season comes to a close
Horizon vs. Banshee (Exhibition) Horizon also fought in a single exhibition match against Banshee. Though not included as part of Vengeance in Vegas II, this was instead released separately on the BattleBots Facebook page. Banshee drives Horizon near the corner. The match began with Banshee performing a very fast box-rush while Horizon attempted to dodge it by moving to the side. Horizon found itself getting shoved by Banshee and was taken near the short corner. Banshee flips Horizon over. David Small then managed to flip Joshua Kong's bot, leaving it inverted at the blue starting square. While Horizon remained immobile, Banshee was now hunting down Timeline, Horizon's minibot, but failed to flip it. With chants from the crowd encouraging Team Small Robots to keep the fight going, Banshee landed a flurry of flips on Horizon, successfully freeing the rookie. Horizon carves a hole in Banshee's plow. From this moment, Horizon gained an advantage. It spun up and hit Banshee, which looked to be having drive issues, and left a large gash in the side of Banshee's anti-horizontal wedge. A pensive Horizon struck again while it was still suffering from drive issues. With Banshee crab-walking, Horizon hit David Small's machine twice more before it was almost deemed immobile in the red square. Despite concerns over its mobility, Banshee managed to successfully pin Horizon after it failed a box-rush. With thirty seconds left, a crippled Banshee and a now-weaponless Horizon did everything they could to make a final impression. Horizon hit by the killsaws a few times as both robots lasted the full three minutes. After three straight minutes of fighting, Banshee was deemed the winner by split decision, ending Team Horizon's debut year with a loss.
BattleBots Proving Ground
Horizon vs. DOOM (6/3/2023) Returning for BattleBots Proving Ground, Horizon faced off against DOOM. The team were joined by Team Terrortops' Victoria Tomozei for this weekend, reuniting her and then-captain Alon Belkin from their time with 2020 season rookie, Axolotl. The team mounted decorated UMHW armor to the top of its weapon arm and sides of its chassis. Horizon attacks DOOM and ends up on its back. Horizon evaded the initial charge from DOOM and quickly got its disks up to speed, showcasing an improved spin-up speed compared to its debut season. It then struck the back of DOOM, halting its vertical spinner. Horizon swiped its opponent again but became unbalanced this time, sliding upside-down across the BattleBox. "Horizon on its back... I wanna see how Hori- YES!" — Bil Dwyer reacts to Horizon self-righting ... but rights itself shortly after. Horizon spun one of its disks and rolled back onto its wheels with the aid of its taco shell self-righter, much to the delight of Team Horizon. Horizon and DOOM collide again. Both disks spun up again, this time landing two hits in quick succession and causing both robots to propel to different sides of the arena. Bil Dwyer: "Oh my goodness! Woah!" Steve Judkins: "What a massive hit." Bil Dwyer: "The power of both bots..." — Bil Dwyer and Steve Judkins react to the biggest hit of the fight so far An onboard shot from Horizon showing damage to DOOM. DOOM suffered damage to its armor but Horizon landed awkwardly in the corner - its drive wheels off the floor as DOOM approached to keep the fight going. Horizon went in for another attack, which sent Alejandro Pina's bot into the blue square, before it got its own disk back up to speed. Though DOOM was now smoking and part of its armor was peeling away, one of Horizon's disks was no longer spinning. This did not deter Horizon from continuing to attack DOOM, striking its vulnerable armor several more times as DOOM struggled to land a shot with its hammer saw in response. Now in the final minute of the fight, both of Horizon's disks were disabled as its main body slowed to a stop. With both robots experiencing drive issues, very little contact was made in the closing stages and the fight went the distance. Despite damage sustained, DOOM was declared the winner by crowd vote.
Horizon vs. DOOM (7/3/2023) Horizon fought DOOM a second time the following day, with its opponent suffering serious damage from their first outing. Horizon immobilizes DOOM early on. As Horizon approached its opponent, it was evident DOOM was experiencing mobility issues immediately as it struggled to escape its starting square. DOOM was struck once by the right disk of Horizon as Joshua Kong's robot inadvertently drove into the screws. However, this attack appeared to be enough to immobilize DOOM completely. Horizon strikes DOOM. Once Horizon freed itself from between its opponent and the screws, DOOM was left swinging its arm over with no movement from its drive. DOOM was counted out and Horizon landed a second glancing shot, buckling its side armor. A third attack followed, forcing DOOM to be carried onto the screws. After one final strike to the rear of Alejandro Pina's robot, DOOM was counted out and Horizon won by knockout in a much shorter time than in their previous meeting.

Results

Competitive Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 3

Exhibition Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 2

Total Wins/Losses

• Wins: 2
• Losses: 5

Competition	Wins	Losses
World Championship VII	Shatter! (Undercard Match) *	SHREDDIT BRO! (Undercard Match) Monsoon (Undercard Match) Triton (Undercard Match) Banshee (Exhibition Match)
BattleBots Proving Ground	DOOM	DOOM

* Horizon was initially declared the winner of this battle on a split judges' decision. Following an unsuccessful Appeal from Shatter!, the judges re-scored the fight to be a unanimous judges' decision.

See Also

• Horizon's website

Trivia

• The 2022 build of Horizon is designed to feature the same wheels as Seems Reasonable Robotics entries Tantrum and Blip.
  • The team use NeuMotor 8038 motors to power their disk spinners, which have been used for the drive and weapon systems for recent iterations of HyperShock.
• Horizon's wheelbase, including batteries, weighs just 72lbs. This is 43lbs lighter than the middleweight limit during BattleBots.
• Cyclotron, the robot Horizon is derived from, also formed the basis of Joshua Kong's previous applicant Project Aegis.
• The geometry of Horizons weapon hubs allows it to fit the blades of Valkyrie, however due to slightly different tolerances, it does not work the other way around.