The Pits

The Pits
Seasons	Long Beach 1999-Present

The Pits is the name given to the large, designated area where BattleBots teams perform maintenance, repairs and testing on their robots.

Over time, The Pits has comprised of various different areas, with each dedicated to tasks such as welding, machining, charging as well as drive and weapon testing.

A map of the current Las Vegas filming venue.

Team Pit Areas

Chuck Pitzer working on Gamma Raptor in the team's pit area.

Every competing team has been allocated a numbered pit area, where they are able to set up work areas, team banners and display their robots. During the original seasons, pit areas were often limited to a single bench with limited workspace due to there being a much larger amount of competing teams.

However, this is no longer the case, and teams have a much larger area to set up within. During World Championship VII, there were 58 designated and numbered pit areas.

The Haaspital during World Championship VII.

Haaspital

Located towards the outside of the team pit areas was the Haaspital - a machining shop for quick manufacturing of new, spare and replacement parts on site. A portmanteau of the words 'Haas' and 'hospital', the Haaspital was provided by Haas Automation in 2021. The Haaspital received a dedicated segment during Episode 8 of World Championship VI. Haas also produce parts for numerous major motorsport teams such as those in NASCAR, as well as having their own Formula 1 team.

Haas no longer sponsor BattleBots, with the show's tooling supplier being HGR since 2022.

Test Boxes

Test Boxes are small, enclosed arenas built to allow teams to test for drive and weapon functionality before a fight or following repairs and upgrades. The boxes have steel flooring and Lexan walls to allow for maximized visibility during testing, as well as long entrance ramps for teams to wheel their robots in and out of their test box.

Since World Championship I, there have been two test boxes to more quickly allow for multiple teams to perform tests between and ahead of fights. The test boxes are labelled A and B, though are almost identical in their design, and are each enclosed in a 30'x20' tent.

Main article: Test Box

One of the test boxes during World Championship VII.

Beta undergoing drive and weapon tests during Season 5.0.

Welding Area

The designated welding area during Season 3.0.

Outdoor welding areas have been provided for BattleBots teams since the show's Comedy Central seasons. They typically consist of long benches with space for welding equipment provided by Lincoln Electric. Gases were originally provided by the Berkeley-based company Nesco, with representatives available on site to assist.

Lincoln Electric continue to work alongside BattleBots in the reboot seasons, providing state-of-the-art equipment for the on-site welding station teams are able to utilize throughout the competition. The welding area is now a 30'x20' site located in close proximity to both Test Box A and Test Box B.

Grinding Area

The designated grinding area during the 2009 Championships.

As it is deemed unsafe to use angle grinders and similar equipment in enclosed areas, another outdoor area is dedicated to grinding parts, with equipment provided on-site.

As of World Championship VI, the grinding area has been a 40'x10' tent located between the main hangar which houses the team pit areas and Haaspital, and the site occupied by welding area, test boxes and the BattleBox itself.

Battery Tent

The battery tent is the designated areas for safely charging batteries, made up of a large tent with access via double doors. There is also a TV in the battery tent to watch fights.

Weighing Area

Also situated in the main battery tent are the scales which all robots are weighed on ahead of fights. In certain situations, such as when Raven was fighting to be ready to battle during World Championship III and when Horizon was weighed on Day 1 of World Championship VII filming, the scales were temporarily relocated to the team pit areas.

After an official weigh-in ahead of a fight, no alterations can be made to a robot without special permission from BattleBots crew, and opposition can formally request a reweigh if desired. Controversy surrounding this occurred during the World Championship VII Round of 32 match between Riptide and Shatter!, where Bots FC became aware of Team Break32 adjusting their robot after their official weigh-in and requested a reweigh.

Bloodsport's team in the battery tent during World Championship VII.

Team HyperShock in the battery tent during World Championship VI.

Trivia

• Battery inspector Patrick Kivin previously served as part of Team Whyachi during the Comedy Central Season 4.0, and featured sporadically in their 'Whyachi Rumble' livestreams.
  • His specialized role is to inspect every single robot's batteries in line with the rest of the safety team.