Gemini (Robot)
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Gemini was a contestant on Robot Wars Series 4 & 5. Created by Shane Howard and Team Mace, it was the first Clusterbot to appear on Robot Wars.
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[edit] The Robot
As a clusterbot, a term probably derived from cluster bomb, Gemini would enter the arena as one robot, but then the two halves of Gemini would split and proceed to work independently to win. Each half was equipped with a flipping arm.
The robot suffered a major weakness, however. The design of the robot meant that the back of each half, where they were joined, did not have any structures on it to prevent the robot from falling over and being unable to right itself. Rules created for clusterbots stated that if a half of a clusterbot was immobilized, the entire robot would be counted out, which made this a major problem. In theory, the other robot would be able to right its twin, but Gemini's poor track record shows that this often did not work in practice.
[edit] Predecessors
Gemini had two predecessors, Mace and Mace II.
[edit] Mace
Mace was the team's entry in Series 2. They were able to reach the Semi-Finals, beating George Francis's robot Chaos in the process. Unfortunately, they were done in by the Gauntlet challenge in the first round of the Semi-Finals due to the "Sentinel" arm pushing them into the pit.
[edit] Mace II
Mace II was the team's entry into Series 3. They would make their way to the second round of the semi-finals, their greatest success ever, but in the end were defeated by George Francis's much improved Chaos 2, who would go on to win Series 3.
[edit] Series 4
[edit] Round 1 vs. Tornado vs. Kater Killer
The two halves of Gemini used their flippers on both Tornado and Kater Killer, while Tornado rammed Kater Killer around. Kater Killer eventually became immobile, so Gemini and Tornado qualified.
[edit] Round 2 vs. The Creature
Gemini gave The Creature a few flips, causing part of its armour to break off. The two halves combined to flip The Creature out of the arena - Gemini was the first robot other than Chaos 2 to achieve this.
[edit] Round 3 vs. Tornado
Gemini flipped Tornado, but since Tornado was invertable, it was not particularly affected. Tornado rammed one half of Gemini onto an arena spike, immobilising it. Since one half of the clusterbot was immobilised, Tornado won the battle. Tornado went on to reach the top 8 of the tournament: it was eventually flipped out of the arena by Chaos 2, who won Series 4.
Gemini won the awards for Best Design and Most Original Entry, and also won the Pinball side event.
[edit] Series 5
Gemini entered Series 5 as seed #18.
[edit] Round 1 vs. Ruf Ruf Dougal
Ruf Ruf Dougal didn't last long before being tipped over by Gemini and finished off by the House Robots.
[edit] Round 2 vs. Reactor 2
Reactor 2 flipped Gemini over and over, and the Gemini twins had a few narrow escapes. They have added wheelie bars to the back of the robots, to stop them tipping back when the flippers are fired. But, one module got stuck on this bar, standing on its end. It was righted by its twin, but then they both get stuck on their ends, unable to move. Reactor 2 had beaten the clusterbot, but was beaten by Firestorm III in the heat final.
[edit] Robot Wars Extreme
Gemini entered the first series of Robot Wars Extreme in two events - the All Stars and the Mayhem.
[edit] All Stars
Gemini was against Razer in the first round. The two halves successfully flipped Razer a few times, but Razer also used its crushing claw effectively, causing damage to the armour and wheels of Gemini. In a part of the fight that was edited out of the TV version, Razer was flipped by the arena flipper, but the judges deemed this unfair as the arena flipper is usually only used on immobile robots. The judges judged the fight up until the moment that this occurred (this was also not mentioned on TV), and declared Razer the winner. Razer went on to win the All Stars.
[edit] Mayhem
Gemini competed in a melee with Napalm 2 and The Spider. The two halves attacked Napalm, flipping it up but not over, while The Spider broke down. However, both halves flipped themselves onto their backs and were unable to move - the still mobile Napalm 2 won the melee, and went through to the six robot Annihilator.
