If you are interested in building and competing with your own combat robot, you have come to the right place. The Northeast Robotics Club (NERC) is a non-profit organization that promotes fun and education through the hobby of combat robotics.

What is combat robotics?

You may have seen robot fighting before on the past TV shows "Battlebots" and "Robot Wars". The competitions continue through NERC and other organizations throughout the world. Robot builders design and build their own remote control machines to enter in double elimination tournaments. Two bots enter the fully enclosed arena for a 3 minute battle and attempt to incapacitate their competition with saws, hammers, lifters and anything else their builders can devise.


Who builds combat robots?

Robot builders range from 8 (with supervision) to 80 years old and can start with years of experience in related areas or none at all. Individuals can go it alone or team up with friends or family members.

What can you learn from this hobby?

As much as you want!

In a matter of weeks, you can learn enough of the basics to build your own bot. As you learn and increase your capabilities you can delve into limitless fields including math, physics, electronics, engineering, machining, and computer aided design.

How do I get started?

There are many resources to help you.

Review the rest of our site paying particular attention to the rules section.
http://www.nerc.us/rules.html

Start with the tutorials and explanations on these sites:

Once you work through those, you can check out what other builders have done.

The best resource is other builders.
Most communication between our builders happens on our forum.

Here you'll find questions from other builders, build progress on bots, results from competitions and announcements for future events. Read through as much as you can. Then introduce yourself and ask any questions you may have. We'll be glad to help.

Other useful forums include: