- "Abandon all hope ye robots who enter."
- — Infernolab's official motto
Infernolab, also known as The Infernolab are a retired team captained by Jason Bardis which competed in all five Comedy Central BattleBots seasons, as well as Long Beach 1999 and World Championship II in 2016.
The team originally competed in the US Robot Wars competitions held by Marc Thorpe in San Francisco, later entering the inaugural BattleBots competition in Long Beach, California. He worked alongside friend and fellow builder Christian Carlberg to enter Slugger into the Las Vegas 1999 event. Following this, future Infernolab robots were largely built single-handedly by Jason Bardis, including The Missing Link and Dr. Inferno Jr..
Ahead of Season 1.0 on Comedy Central, an assembled BattleBots team was comprised of Jason Bardis, his brother Byron Bardis, his girlfriend Lauren Herold and others to assist with the repairs and general maintenance of Dr. Inferno Jr. and the Missing Link.
Infernolab continued to compete in multiple weight divisions with their robots, largely finding success in the lightweight division with Dr. Inferno Jr. as it won the lightweight championship in both Season 3.0 and 5.0. It also won both the Consolation Rumble and Royal Rumble in Season 4.0, making up for a surprisingly premature exit in the main competition that year. His heavyweight Towering Inferno also won the Best Design Award for Season 5.0.
14 years since his last BattleBots appearance, Jason Bardis returned to compete in the second season of its revival on ABC. He entered with an upscaled version of his middleweight design, Disko Inferno, joined by Mark Liu and Ross Hironaka of Robotic Death Company.
- "When BattleBots returned to ABC in 2015, the builders were offered an extremely short build time, & I couldn't accommodate a design & build, what with not having a team, the event being far away, changing jobs twice, moving twice, & with the birth of my daughter around the corner. One short year later, after the first season was well received, when I got the call from BattleBots to apply, the logistical pieces of my life had fallen into place (or close enough to go for it...). I partnered with Richard Loehnig of NTMA, who wielded his employer's impressive facilities (a build area, a wide array of machining equipment, as well as a talented group of staff & students eager to help) & worked NTMA's extensive SoCal fabricators network to secure sponsors to provide materials, large-bed CNC milling, EDMing, heat treating, grinding, & even banners/stickers/audience signs. So, between my design efforts & Richard's fabrication efforts, we had our bases covered."
- — Jason Bardis on The Disk O'Inferno
Following this competition, Jason Bardis took on the permanent role of judge from the 2019 season onward, joined by fellow former competitors Lisa Winter and Derek Young, who had also competed in both eras of the show. However, as of World Championship VII, Jason Bardis no longer held the role on BattleBots.
- "I won't be attending after all. Discovery decided they didn't want to invite me back, & they'll replace me. Oh well. That's show business. It was good while it lasted. At least I'll have lots of time with my family, time to work on projects, catch up on chores, etc..."
- — Jason Bardis on not returning for World Championship VII[1]
Most of the Infernolab bots are no longer used and were either sold, donated, or disassembled for other minor projects. Infernolab robots, Dr. Inferno ]|[ and Dr. Inferno IV, would become a main icon for robot educational outreach, demos, school projects and other events in the Orange County area.
Outside BattleBots[]
The team began as the name Jason Bardis himself entered under. Though his projects were funded by a minority of sponsorships, along with the University of California, Santa Barbara, his family and friends also pitched in to spread the Infernolab name. His first robot, Rampage, was built on a shoestring budget in collaboration with his fellow classmates from UCSB's Mechanical Engineering department. It performed poorly in a featherweight rumble during US Robot Wars 1996 where the robot was later upgraded and renamed to Bot will Eat Itself. It performed better than its predecessor during US Robot Wars 1997.
Infernolab entered Mini Inferno into Season 1 of the TLC show Robotica, having initially intended to enter Towering Inferno. Essentially a stripped-down version of Dr. Inferno Jr., Mini Inferno saw the return of Christian Carlberg to assist with Bardis. Although it largely impressed during its episode, Mini Inferno was defeated in the Gauntlet round by the considerably heavier Killer B.
Jason Bardis also entered the 2005 RoboGames competition with Towering Inferno, where it picked up a win against CycloneBot before losing to Sewer Snake, and then the Robot Wars UK champion, Typhoon 2.
Robots[]
| Name | Weight Class | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Hot Air * | Lightweight | Long Beach 1999 |
| The Missing Link | Lightweight | Long Beach 1999
Season 1.0 |
| Slugger | Heavyweight | Las Vegas 1999 |
| Dr. Inferno Jr. | Lightweight | Season 1.0
Season 2,0
Season 3.0 |
| Towering Inferno | Heavyweight | Season 3.0 Season 4.0 Season 5.0 |
| The Disk O' Inferno | Heavyweight | World Championship II |
* Hot Air was a collaborative effort between Infernolab and LungFish Technologies.
Win/Loss Record[]
- Wins: 17
- Losses: 16
See Also[]
References[]
- ↑ Email correspondence between Jason Bardis and User:Falco276