Students work on their robot during the 2024 Railside Rumble

The Purdue University student organization Railside Robotics is gearing up for its largest-ever robotics competition, Railside Rumble, taking place Saturday, November 15, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. in the Purdue Armory.

Railside Rumble challenges student teams to design, build, and battle their own custom-built robots in an electrifying, full-combat competition. Spectators can expect a day of fast-paced action and creative engineering.

“This is our second time running Railside Rumble,” said Dylan Manning, a student in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the team’s Code Lead. “This semester we’re focusing on scaling up what we’ve already done and solving a lot of the issues that popped up last time. It’s shaping up to be our biggest event yet, and we’re very excited to keep growing.”

Nathan Hines, a mechanical engineering student and president of Railside Robotics, said the organization plans to make Railside Rumble its premier annual event going forward.

“This will be the biggest event we’ve hosted so far, with two filled brackets in two separate weight classes competing in the Armory,” Hines said. “We’ll also have exhibition matches between our onboarding members and outside competitors to help our newest members gain combat experience early.”

The competition features two divisions, 1-pound “antweight” and 3-pound “beetleweight” battlebots, each designed and built entirely by students. Hines explained that while Railside Rumble follows a dedicated ruleset, the emphasis is on creativity and safety.

“The main rule is that the robot has to be within the weight that the class specifies,” said Hines. “Builders can use whatever 3D printing filament, metal, or composite materials they want. It’s cool to see all the different designs people come up with using the same materials.”

Paul Mick, an electrical and computer engineering student, said the scale of this year’s event means “more action, unique designs, and teams to talk to and learn from.”

Railside Rumble is a full-combat competition, which means teams have wide design freedom — within safety limits. “Aside from a handful of rules meant to keep everyone safe, teams are allowed to design whatever kind of robot they want to take on the others,” Mick explained. “There’s no one perfect battlebot design, so every fight is a unique matchup and always entertaining to watch.”

Safety remains the top priority for organizers.

“If our resources can’t guarantee safety for a certain weapon or design, we can’t allow it,” Manning said. “That’s why we disallow elemental weapons, like anything involving fire, and require weapon locks and safety checks before any robot can compete. It still leaves plenty of room for creativity and thrilling matches.”

A student adjusts his robot during the 2024 Railside Rumble

Beyond the excitement of competition day, members say Railside Robotics offers an invaluable learning experience.

“I joined Railside Robotics my freshman year with absolutely no experience in combat robot design,” Hines said. “Through my freshman year, I learned so much from the founding members and made great friends. Now I feel confident I can teach others and pass that knowledge on to future members.”

Mick and Manning echoed those sentiments.

“I’ve met a ton of amazing people in my time with Railside Robotics,” Manning said. “It’s helped me grow as a leader and as an engineer — from improving my soldering skills to learning more about the resources available through ECE. It’s made me much more confident in my major and my career path.”

Mick added that the technical experience and collaboration are what make the club so rewarding.

“I get lots of hands-on experience from designing robot electronics systems, iterating on CAD designs, and balancing tight design constraints,” he said. “But I also really value the community — working with great people who share the same passion for building and innovation.”

Railside Rumble is open to competitors and spectators alike. Members of the Purdue community and the public are invited to attend and cheer on the teams as they test the limits of their engineering creativity.

For more information about Railside Robotics or to learn how to get involved, visit https://sites.google.com/view/railsiderobotics/home.