Judging

From Combat Robot

Perhaps one of the most important elements of robotic combat competition is knowing how a match will be judged. Not all completions are judged in the same manor and you can't properly design a 'bot or plot a strategy if you don't know how a fight is going to be judged.

Beyond disabling the other robot completely (a knock out is ALWAYS a win!), the criteria for winning may be different between different events. Several of these differences and how they may change the outcome of a fight have been illustrated by members of Run Amok in their Could you be a Robot Combat Judge? thought experiment and their Robot Combat Paradigms page.

RFL

The Robot Fighting League has a set of judging guidelines that is used for their events. The most current version of the guidelines may be seen here: [RFL Judging Guidelines(pdf)]

BattleBots

 Main Article:BattleBots

The judging categories are Aggression, Strategy, and Damage. A robot who hangs back safely from its opponent will not get many Aggression points; one in there fighting the whole time, however, will. The Strategy category is about how well a robot exploits its opponent's weaknesses, protects its own, and handles the hazards. A robot driving over the kill saws will lose points here, unless it had good reason to do so, while a robot that is able to attack its opponent's weak areas will gain points. The Damage category is for how much damage the bot can deal to its opponent while remaining intact itself.

Other Events & Info

NERC simply states that if no knock out is achieved the judges will declare a winner based on "aggression, damage, and strategy".

For tips from a well-known robot combat judge, see: How to Win