Roseville town square transforms into robot battleground for ‘Summer Smash’ event
Joshua Adriano narrated the clash like it was a Las Vegas prize fight.
“Oh!” Adriano yelled into a microphone, after one of the competitors smacked into another. “Big shot!”
Adults and children “oohed” as they gathered around a six-foot high plexiglass cage set up in a Roseville town square.
“The wedge has been shattered!” Adriano, 26, exclaimed as robot parts scattered.
It was an early round of a tournament called Summer Smash put on Saturday by Placer Robotics. The Roseville-based nonprofit encourages young people to learn science, math and engineering by competing with machines. One of the avenues for that is through combat.
The robots whirled and sparks flew as they slammed each other throughout the day.
“I love building it, destroying it and tinkering with it,” Jase Countryman, 12, said about his machine, called “Buzz Kill.”
It was Jase’s second competition. “It’s rather fun,” he said between bouts.
Reva Vallurupalli and Diya Bijish were at their first.
“I’m having a lot of fun so far,” Diya, 14, said before smiling. “I really like how to problem solve your robot when it completely tears apart in the arena.”
Competitors leaned over tables in the square, rebuilding and retooling their machines.
Reva, 15, lost her first match, but wasn’t hanging her head.
“I would obviously like to win, but I do appreciate that I lost,” she said. In combat robotics, Vallurupalli has found that competitors are friendly, often telling each other “good job” after a duel. That lessens the sting of a loss. “As much as I can learn right now and take in,” she said, “the better I can be.”
Both girls have older sisters who were involved in robotics.
One of them, Arya Bijish, 18, is now studying mechanical engineering at Purdue University after graduating from Granite Bay High School.
Bijish loves building and designing the machines. She founded a program to encourage more girls to get involved in Placer Robotics and became president of the organization.
The organization, which began in 2018, has a robotics center down the street from the square. Young people take part in local competitions but also ones on a national stage.
“It’s super cool to see how many different types of people participate,” she said.
The fun doesn’t stop when they become adults.
Bam Singhasaneh, 29, brought her robot “Nightlight” to Saturday’s battle, a machine she has worked on for more than two years.
“You come back and improve each time,” she said, moments after defeating “Angle Biter” in the cage.
The competition was still ongoing, so Singhasaneh walked across the square and set Nightlight down.
She had to prepare her machine for the next match.
This story was originally published August 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
