Liam King Won 12-Pound National Havoc Robot Title
The National Havoc Robot League Pro Tour in Manhattan showcased high-speed repairs and combat robotics.
Updated on Sept. 20, 2026 in Robotics
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Liam King secured the 12-pound division championship at the National Havoc Robot League Pro Tour held at Terminal 5. The event featured 48 robots competing across three weight classes, drawing 50,000 spectators via live stream.
Why it matters
The tournament highlights the growing technical rigor of combat robotics, where teams must rapidly diagnose and repair complex mechanical damage under strict time constraints.
The competition involved 16 robots per weight class utilizing a round-robin group stage followed by a single-elimination bracket. Participants must maintain performance through repeated, high-impact matches with limited downtime for repairs.
The players
Liam King
A competitive robotics operator who won the 12-pound division championship at the National Havoc Robot League Pro Tour.
Joe Copenhaver
A robotics competitor with Team Honey Cracked who reached the 30-pound division semifinals.
growingSTEMS
A nonprofit organization based in St. Mary's County focused on robotics education and competitive participation.
The details
The combat robots operate through remote control, relying on custom-built chassis and weapon systems designed for kinetic energy exchange. During the event, operators like King, who drove Buzzzz-Kill, and Copenhaver, who drove Deadrise, performed field repairs between rounds to ensure structural integrity after sustained damage. These robots utilize specialized drivetrains and weapon motors that must survive high-force impacts while remaining operational within the tournament bracket.
Timeline
September 12, 2026: The National Havoc Robot League Pro Tour took place at Terminal 5 in Manhattan.
December 2026: The Pro World Championships are scheduled to occur.
The Tech Race
The Manhattan event serves as the critical qualification phase for the upcoming Pro World Championships. Robots reaching the top four in their respective weight classes now advance to compete in the year-end finals.
The event demonstrated the high-stakes engineering workflow required to maintain robotic performance during back-to-back matches. Viewers can track future developments in competitive durability as these machines prepare for the December championship.
The takeaway
The event proves that rapid, on-field diagnostics are just as critical to robotics success as initial machine design. Watch the leaderboard rankings from the September event to see which specific designs advance to the final December matches.
What happens next
Qualifying teams will compete at the Pro World Championships in December 2026.
Further reading
For more on engineering challenges in combat robotics, see Robotics.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Bay Net.
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