Liam King Won National Havoc Robot League Title
The 12-pound division champion secured victory at a high-stakes combat robotics tournament held in Manhattan.
Updated on Sept. 20, 2026 in Robotics
Live Poll
Do you believe robotics programs help students develop valuable life and career skills?
Liam King emerged as the 12-pound division champion at the National Havoc Robot League Pro Tour held at Terminal 5. The event featured 48 robots across three weight classes and drew an audience of 50,000 live stream viewers.
Why it matters
The professionalization of combat robotics has created a competitive circuit where high-performance engineering is tested under rigid single-elimination formats. Success in these events serves as a qualifying metric for participants seeking entry into the upcoming world championships.
The tournament featured 48 robots across three distinct weight classes, including 12-pound and 30-pound categories. Each division consisted of 16 individual competitors battling through group stages and a single-elimination bracket.
The players
Liam King
He is the robotics operator who secured the 12-pound division championship at the New York tournament.
Joe Copenhaver
He is a member of Team Honey Cracked who piloted the robot Deadrise to the 30-pound semifinals.
Colin Butrym
He served as the operator for the HoneyBombers robot during the competitive event.
growingSTEMS
This is a St. Mary's County-based nonprofit organization that supports robotics education and engineering teams.
The details
Operators like Liam King, who piloted Buzzzz-Kill, were required to perform complex field repairs between matches to keep their machines functional. Competitors navigated round-robin group play before advancing to the high-pressure knockout rounds of the tournament.
Timeline
September 12, 2026: The National Havoc Robot League Pro Tour occurred at Terminal 5.
December 2026: The Pro World Championships will take place.
The Tech Race
The National Havoc Robot League Pro World Championships qualifying system defines the career stakes for participants and sets a concrete benchmark for engineering success within the professional combat robotics circuit. These events represent the industry shift toward standardized, high-stakes competition as a primary vehicle for robotics innovation.
Fans and engineering enthusiasts can watch future matches via live stream, which now attracts tens of thousands of global viewers. Participants must account for the high cost of maintenance and the technical requirements necessary to keep machines operational through a full bracket.
The takeaway
Success in professional robotics demands both advanced engineering skills and the ability to perform rapid, high-pressure repairs during competition. As the sport grows, standardizing these repair constraints remains a central challenge for all participating technical teams.
What happens next
The top four finishers in each weight class qualify for the Pro World Championships, which are scheduled to occur in December 2026.
Further reading
Learn more about the latest developments in the field at Robotics.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Bay Net.
Live Poll
Do you believe robotics programs help students develop valuable life and career skills?
