Battlebots ProLeague Recap with Team Valkyrie!

This week we chat with Sam Herman! Brandeis University graduate, Team Pandamonium member, and recent winner of the 30lb division in Round 2 of the NHRL Pro Tour, Sam is an ascendant competitor in the sport of combat robotics. Since his debut in 2022, Sam has become one of the foremost bigwheel builders in the sport, fielding the 3lb robot Colossus and the 30lb robot Gargantuan. Both robots have seen competitive success, earning Sam multiple podium finishes at a variety of competitions and earning him two entries to the NHRL Pro World Championships later this year.

We chat with Brian Kaspr, event director at NHRL! Kaspr was originally an artist based in Norwalk, CT known for his abstract art that led him to co-found the critically acclaimed studio Flat Vernacular! In the robot he’s been introduced to many as one of the hidden hands that has kept the NHRL ship going on event days! As we look forward to NHRL’s 2nd Pro Tour event of 2026 we will be diving into Kaspr’s history and his view on this major upcoming event!

We chat with Zoe Lambert, captain of Honey Cracked, mentor of growingSTEMs, builder of Minun and Plusle, and member of Team Mammoth! Zoe and growingSTEMs have been one of the first groups to host the NHRL XP events with robots winning in the classes receiving full invitation to compete at NHRL’s Open league! Between the event running, multibot building, team managing, and parts selling Zoe and her team have become household names in the NHRL community. Let us know what questions you have for Zoe!! To watch the podcast live check out https://www.youtube.com/@jakemaximizer/streams where it will be shared to all of the audio apps the following week! Follow us on Instagram and Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebotsRate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PlayerFM, and all the other podcast places.Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

We chat with the builder of reigning 30lb world champion and June golden dumpster winner Joshua Rhinehart! Josh's robots Kazaa Lite and Kazaa Eins have literally set ablaze the 30lb division with their ultra-resilient chassis, unmatched ground game, and ultra-power flame thrower. They've defeated top 30lb machines including Synthesis 30, Lil Lash, Emulsifier, and Megatron all while reshaping what flame dominance can mean in small-scale robot combat.

This week we chat with the man, the myth, the legend, the King of Kinetic Energy: Ray Billings! Ray has one of the most incredible careers in all of combat robots having competed in Battlebots since the Comedy Central days all the way to the reboot! Tombstone holds the distinction as one of the few winners of the Giant Bolt and the Giant Nut! He’s also competed at some of the most prestigious events in the western hemisphere such as Robogames, NHRL, Robocore, Motorama, and numerous robot events coast to coast. Besides highlights from Ray’s incredible career we’ll also touch on (non-spoiler) recaps of the Battlebots Pro League and NHRL’s May Pro Tour events!