Arriving from across the United States and around the world for a robotics competition that's becoming well known as the place for bot builders to compete, hundreds of engineers and their mechanized counterparts are in San Mateo, Calif., this weekend for RoboGames 2011. The doors opened at noon Friday and already in the pits sparks were flying and the smell of solder was in the air. Teammates shouted urgently for wire and batteries, and final preparations were being made for the first competitions. The passionate community, which will send its various creations into competitions ranging from kung-fu android battles to urban Mech Wars to soccer and hockey, is proving that builders in basements and backrooms can engineer some of the best bots in the world.

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James is the photojournalist for CNET News, shooting the geeks and gadgets of Silicon Valley.