Among the experienced engineers and garage monkeys competing were students who designed and built their own radio-controlled fighting bots.

"A lot of the kids who would not be particularly enthused about algebra homework will spend hours doing gear calculations to get the best performance out of their robots," said Dan Rupert, a technology teacher at Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego who brought two students to the tournament.

"If it's something concrete and physical, they can get a little glory out of it."

Indeed, this is no math meet.

Like boxers, bots are grouped by weight class as light, middle or heavyweight. The superweight bots max out at 340 pounds.

Contestants decorate their bots with colorful paint, glitter, stickers, American flags and sharp objects of many forms. The robots spin, push, grip, stab, saw and pinch each other in a ring, the perimeter of which is lined with spikes and various weapons as additional hazards. Robots fight for three minutes.

Tournaments are held twice a year and broadcast on Comedy Central. Last week's tournament will begin airing in December.