In this episode of Just Gonna Send It, Jim Belosic sits down with Barrett Ames, robotics engineer, former NASA researcher, and CTO of REK, a humanoid robot fighting league inspired by Real Steel. Barrett shares his journey from building robots as a kid to working on NASA’s Valkyrie and Robonaut projects, launching startups, and helping shape the future of humanoid robotics.
The conversation covers hard tech, failed startups, AI, robot combat, and why competition and destruction might be the fastest way to accelerate innovation.
In this episode of Just Gonna Send It, Jim Belosic sits down with Barrett Ames, robotics engineer, startup founder, and CTO of REK, a company turning humanoid robot fighting into a real sport. From childhood invention notebooks and robot camps to NASA, AI research, and startup life, Barrett’s path is a deep dive into what happens when curiosity, engineering, and relentless experimentation collide.
Barrett’s interest in robotics started early. Growing up in suburban Phoenix, he was constantly sketching inventions, building things, and looking for ways to channel his curiosity into something tangible. Robot camps, FIRST Robotics, and hands-on experimentation gave him an early foundation in engineering and problem solving. High school robotics became a major turning point. Barrett talks about how FIRST Robotics exposed him to teamwork, systems thinking, and building under pressure. It also reinforced an important mindset that would follow him throughout his career: the best way to learn is by making things and solving real problems.
At Cornell, Barrett designed his own interdisciplinary robotics-focused curriculum before formal robotics programs really existed. Combining mechanical engineering, AI, software, and fabrication, he built a broad technical foundation while surrounding himself with ambitious people pushing the limits of what robotics could become.
Right after college, Barrett jumped into his first startup building anti-piracy drones designed to protect cargo ships from ocean pirates. The project landed a major sale, but Barrett quickly learned the importance of clear agreements and ownership after realizing the partnership structure was not what he thought it was. It became an early lesson in startups, business, and protecting yourself.
That experience helped land Barrett at NASA, where he worked on Valkyrie, NASA’s humanoid robot developed for the DARPA Robotics Challenge after the Fukushima nuclear disaster exposed major failures in robotics. The goal was simple but critical: build robots capable of operating in dangerous environments where humans should not have to risk their lives.
Barrett shares what it was like working on cutting-edge humanoid robotics inside NASA, helping develop systems capable of navigating complex environments and performing real-world tasks under extreme conditions.
After Valkyrie, Barrett worked on Robonaut 2, NASA’s humanoid robot designed for the International Space Station. The project explored how robots could eventually assist astronauts with repetitive and dangerous tasks, both inside and outside the station, reducing workload and improving safety in space operations.
Wanting a deeper understanding of the math and reasoning behind intelligent systems, Barrett pursued a PhD at Duke focused on AI and robotics. His work centered around helping robots interpret human instructions and connect abstract commands to real-world actions, problems that have become increasingly relevant with the rise of large language models.
During his PhD, Barrett and his wife bought and renovated a fixer-upper, which sparked the idea for BotBuilt. While staring at unfinished framing and repetitive construction patterns, he realized robotics could dramatically improve home building. BotBuilt focused on automating home construction and solving inefficiencies in the housing industry. Along the way, the company uncovered an unexpected reality: many construction plans are far less precise than they appear, forcing builders to rely heavily on experience and interpretation. That insight shifted the company toward software systems capable of automatically generating accurate material estimates and build plans from architectural drawings.
After exiting BotBuilt, Barrett turned toward something more unconventional: REK. Inspired by the entertainment potential of humanoid robots and the psychology behind competition, REK combines robotics, live events, and combat sports into a platform where humans pilot fighting humanoid robots inside an arena. Unlike human fighting sports, robot fighting creates excitement without the same discomfort around physical injury, opening the door to a completely new form of entertainment.
Beyond entertainment, Barrett sees REK as a catalyst for robotics development and manufacturing. Competitive pressure forces rapid iteration, stronger hardware, faster learning cycles, and better systems. Much like Formula 1 accelerated automotive engineering, REK aims to push humanoid robotics forward by creating an environment where robots are constantly tested, broken, and improved.
In this episode of Just Gonna Send It, Jim Belosic sits down with Barrett Ames, robotics engineer, startup founder, former NASA researcher, and CTO of REK, a humanoid robot fighting league inspired by Real Steel. Barrett shares his journey from building robots as a kid to working on NASA’s Valkyrie and Robonaut 2 projects, earning a PhD in AI and robotics at Duke, and launching startups focused on construction automation and entertainment robotics.
The conversation explores the realities of building hard tech, lessons learned from failed startups, the future of humanoid robots, and why competition and destruction might actually accelerate innovation. From DARPA challenges and space robotics to robot MMA fights in San Francisco, this episode is packed with stories about curiosity, risk taking, and learning through building.
