The First Step
BattleLab Robotica 2023 was where the legend began. It was our very first time stepping into the arena, carrying a machine that looked more like a sketch of a rat than a polished robot. That first Shobolinsky was our namesake, our origin, and the spark that turned a group of students tinkering in the lab into a team with an identity. It was small, underweight, and underpowered compared to every opponent it faced. By the rules we could have pushed the robot to 3 kilograms. Ours barely made a third of that. While the other robots were heavy slabs of aluminum and steel, ours looked almost fragile, a thin frame holding modest motors and electronics. But it had character. It had a shape that made people laugh—until it started fighting. And then it earned respect.
“The rat would not leave the arena quietly.”
Chaos and Resurrection
Every match felt like a gamble. The drivetrain was never meant for the forces it was facing, and the electronics were held together with what felt like hope and tape. Against machines with triple the mass and several times the power output, Shobolinsky somehow found ways to hold on. It was quick, it was nimble, and most importantly, it was stubborn.
The true turning point came when the drivetrain finally gave out. For most teams, that would have been the end. For us, it became the defining moment. With barely ten minutes before the next fight, the robot was torn apart and rebuilt on the pit table in a frenzy—tools flying, wires stripped with teeth, bolts jammed into place with shaking hands. It was not neat and it was not elegant, but somehow it worked. When the clock ran out, Shobolinsky rolled back into the arena, scarred but alive. That ten-minute resurrection became our first true Shobolinsky moment: chaos, pressure, and just enough brilliance to make the impossible possible.
“That ten-minute resurrection was our first true Shobolinsky moment.”
David vs Goliath
The final chapter of BLR 2023 came in the fight against Mark, one of the strongest robots of the tournament. It was David versus Goliath, and for a time it looked like David might pull it off. Shobolinsky threw itself into pushes that rattled its own frame as much as its opponent’s. But reality has sharp edges. The motor driver PCB cracked under the strain, the fragile heart of the drivetrain giving out mid-match. The rat was left motionless, and that was the end of its run. Fourth place. Not quite the podium, but for a robot that weighed a third of the limit and carried a fraction of the power, it was a result that stunned the field.
The Birth of a Philosophy
BLR 2023 gave us more than a ranking. It gave us an identity. Shobolinsky was no longer just a robot, it was a philosophy: build what you can, push it further than it should go, and never, ever give up in the arena. We learned that size and power are not everything. We learned that repairs under impossible time limits can save a tournament. And we learned that the crowd will always root for the underdog if it fights with heart.
The Legacy
The first Shobolinsky did not take home a trophy, but it took home something more valuable: a legacy. From that moment on, every robot we built carried its DNA—its scrappiness, its scars, and its refusal to die quietly. BLR 2023 was not just the first fight. It was the birth of Shobolinsky as a name, a story, and a team. The rat was in the arena, and it was not leaving.
“BLR 2023 was not just a tournament. It was the birth of Shobolinsky.”