TKO Robotics, formerly known as CM Robotics, are an active team from Ottawa, Canada who have competed in numerous BattleBots World Championships.
They are best known for their heavyweight entry Lucky, but also competed across multiple years with their superheavyweight Ziggy and sit-and-spin heavyweight CycloneBot, both of which competed at R3: Rochester Robot Rampage 2005 under CM Robotics.
CM Robotics have found recent success in BattleBots with Lucky, achieving Top 32 finishes in World Championship VI and VII.
The team became the third international representatives in April 2024 to fight at BattleBots Proving Ground, following fellow Canadian entry Orbitron as well as Team RioBotz. They are set to return as part of BattleBots FaceOffs.
Outside BattleBots[]
The team have a long history at RoboGames, with Ziggy dominating the superheavyweight division until the class was discontinued after 2010. The team also fought at several events with CycloneBot.
For the 2018 RoboGames event, Lucky was converted into Ziggy for the final competition before it went into hiatus until 2023, where it entered as Ziggy Jr. but otherwise reflected their most recent build of Lucky. Ziggy Jr. defeated Whomper, essentially a revised Whiplash, in Round 1, before beating fellow Canadian Kurtis Wanner and Crash n' Burn in the second round by a 20-13 judges' decision. It then lost to Cataclysm in a rematch from the 2018 event, but redeemed itself with a win over one of the competition's most successful robots, Original Sin. Late in the tournament, Ziggy Jr. picked up two more wins over Whomper and HexaDecimator, both of which were rematches, before falling to eventual champion Manta.
For RoboGames 2024, Ziggy Jr. received a Round 1 bye but then lost to Ragin Scotsman. It received a bye in the loser's bracket, where it was due to fight Traves T. until it had to forfeit. Ziggy Jr. advanced to fight Black Dragon, who it defeated as the Brazilian bot's primary weapon was non-functional. Ziggy Jr. next faced Hailstorm, winning by knockout, but then lost by judges' decision to Ragin Scotsman, confirming its elimination.
Team Members[]
Mark Demers[]
Present for each of Lucky's seasons to date, Mark Demers is the captain of TKO Robotics and has led the build process ahead of each competition. He previously entered BravePart and PitBot into Season 5.0 of Comedy Central BattleBots under Team MacCanIKill. As the televised show entered its hiatus, he spearheaded CM Robotics and entered the 2005 Rochester BattleBots event, finding success in the superheavyweight class of RoboGames and the Combots Cup with Ziggy.
Due to its dominance and the drop in superheavyweight entries over time, Ziggy was largely considered responsible for the retirement of weight class in 2010, also featuring in the final superheavyweight battle - a win against Riddle Box. Demers also entered the Rochester event with CycloneBot.
Matt Olson[]
Matt Olson was brought onto the team ahead of Lucky's return in 2021 as the new designated driver. His experience in dirt track RC racing gave Lucky its best success since its debut season. He retained this role for World Championship VII.
Outside BattleBots, he operates a business called Matt Olson Designs, abbreviated to "MOD", which sells and produces parts for a variety of remote control race cars.
Gary Gin[]
Present only for the team's first televised season in 2016, RoboGames icon Gary Gin left to captain Free Shipping from 2018 onward.
Main article: Team Special Delivery
Rob Masek[]
Masek joined the team ahead of Lucky's debut season, and remained until 2019. As well as assisting with Lucky, he also lent himself to Aptyx Designs and Bite Force in its championship-winning 2018 and 2019 seasons. In Bite Force's absence, he returned to BattleBots in 2021 as part of Team Fast Electric Robots, who entered both Whiplash and Defender into World Championship VI.
Prior to joining Aptyx Designs, TKO Robotics and Team Fast Electric Robots, Masek assisted with scoring during the 2009 High School, Collegiate and Pro Championships.[1]
Zac O'Donnell[]
Like Gary Gin, Zac O'Donnell was only part of the Lucky team for the 2016 season. He previously assisted with Team LOGICOM and Captain Shrederator, but has bot been involved with a BattleBots team since his stint with Lucky.
Mart & Cassandra Coursol[]
Joining the team ahead of World Championship VII alongside his wife, Cassandra, Mart Coursol competes in NHRL events with the 3lber Drum Zero.
Kurtis Wanner[]
Canadian native Kurtis Wanner is the founder of FingerTech Robotics Ltd., which has supplied parts for combat robots since 1998. He joined the team for the 2018 season, then left to pursue a multibot called Hack & Slash, a redesign of his RoboGames entry Crash n' Burn. However, he was unable to compete due to international travel restrictions enforced during the COVID-19 pandemic. He would instead join up with Team Witch Doctor prior to World Championship VI.
Robots[]
| Name | Weight Class | Season |
|---|---|---|
| CycloneBot | Superheavyweight | BattleBots Rochester R3 |
| Ziggy | Superheavyweight | BattleBots Rochester R3 |
| Lucky | Heavyweight | World Championship II World Championship III World Championship IV World Championship V (Withdrew) World Championship VI BattleBots: Champions I World Championship VII BattleBots: Champions II BattleBots Proving Ground |
Win/Loss Record[]
- Wins: 13
- Losses: 21