This means that there are many sites that are offering opinions that can be contrary to fact as well as dangerous. You also probably would want to check out the NASA web site for information on the Mars rover and their other robots. The answer to this question is that many different types of people build robots. There are engineers who create robots because it is a creative outlet that uses the skills that they need for their jobs. At Milwaukee School of Engineering, one of the senior design projects explores mechatronics concepts .
Robotic combat is a contest of design, strategy, brute strength, speed and luck.
Just imagine an arena with two gladiators going after each other, trying to prove their physical dominance over the other. In a robotic combat scenario, you exchange the human gladiators with robotic ones. Many times there is a failure of components inside a robot that leads to its disqualification. This means that the robot will not have a critical failure in any of its many components. If the critical failures can be avoided, it seems that the robots are able to finish the match.