CHANGING LIVES AND INSPIRING LEARNING THROUGH SCIENCE AND WONDER.
Catawba Science Center is proud to host the 8th annual Hickory Bot Battles combat robot competition, returning September 12th & 13th, 2025, Carpenter Hall! Featuring over 100 competitive combat robot builders, robots weighing up to three pounds fight to the "death" in the 8’ x 8’ bullet-proof arena with a fiberglass floor.
As North Carolina's largest combat robot event, Hickory Bot Battles brings competitors from across the country, often including teams that have previously competed on the BattleBots TV show. Choose one of 4 weight classes to enter your bot in a 2-minute battle with a guaranteed 20 minutes between rounds to 'the death'. Register your company to compete in the Corporate Cup Competition for a chance to prove your engineering superiority via a single-elimination combat robot competition for glory and the coveted HBB Corporate Cup Trophy!
Bot Battles will be live-streamed on the CSC YouTube channel
Subscribe to know when battles go LIVE!
Join us for 2 days of combat robot battles! Purchase tickets below to reserve your spot! Admission to the Science Center is not included; non-members who purchase tickets to Battle Bots can add CSC admission for 1/2 price the day of their event. Tickets must be purchased for each day separately.
Non-Members (Adult, Youth, Senior): $6.50
Members (Adult, Youth, Senior): $3.50
Non-Members (Adult, Youth, Senior): $9.50
Members (Adult, Youth, Senior): $6.50
Get ready for Hickory Bot Battles on September 12th & 13th! Come with all of your beginner-level questions regarding combat robots and Bot Battles for Brian! On June 8th, July 13th, and August 3rd, from 1 – 3 PM in the Foothills Collaboratory.
Learn more about events in the Foothills Collaboratory HERE
This place was great. We have kids from 8 to 1 and they all had a great time. What I really liked is most of the exhibits are hands on and that really kept them occupied.
Fabulous and I don’t often give praise. We took our grandson and were there for hours. He loved it and so did we.
We love the Science Center! I take my 2 and 4 year old boys weekly to play and enjoy the exhibits. The staff are wonderful and the classes offered are excellent! We are so blessed to have such an amazing resource in our area.
Took the kiddos and they loved it. Employees were nice and helpful. If your looking for something to do with the kids give this place a shot.
What a wonderful place to visit! Great environment to learn and the staff is very helpful! Hickory is lucky to have great family education and entertainment.
