Robot Wars

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robot Wars is a competition involving remote controlled miniature vehicles built by mechanics, engineers and inventors, and equipped with weapons, to battle with one another in an arena, gladiator-style, until only the winner is left operational. The first Robot Wars competition was held in August, 1994 at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, California. It was the brainchild of Marc Thorpe with financial backing from Sm:)e Communications, a New York record company. The San Francisco based Robot Wars continued through 1997 when the partnership broke up, starting many years for legal wrangling between Thorpe and Profile Records (the former Sm:)e Communications). Profile licensed Robot Wars to a UK production company (Mentorn) who derived the Robot Wars television format and series. The 5th Wars is currently airing in the UK on the digital channel, Sky One (Sundays, 10am).

[edit] The show

Robot Wars has since become a successful British television series, which has attracted a large cult following. The TV series is less anarchic than the original American version and has well-defined rules, classes and a tournament structure. In turn the UK series was remade in the US for television. Reruns are shown on PBS in America, and on the Sci Fi Channel, Jetix, Sky One and UKTV People in the UK. It formerly aired on TechTV and G4 in the U.S. Versions of the show have been shown in over 45 different countries, including Sweden, Italy, China and Ireland. In some countries that prefer not to use the English commentary, the show is dubbed; in others commentary is provided by native-speaking commentators who attend the recordings in the UK.

There were seven series in the seven-year run of the show.Currently in the UK, new series of Robot Wars have been dropped, and there are no plans for it to come back. However live events still happen.

[edit] The robots

The competition which forms most of the televised part of Robot Wars is the heavyweight class, with a maximum all-up weight of 100kg (this was increased from 80kg after the first four series). The rules allow electric or liquid-fuel power (though in the latter case fuel carried is strictly limited to six minutes running time), and permits any weapons that remain attached to the main vehicle (i.e. untethered projectiles, flame throwers, electrical discharge weapons and water cannons are banned). Hardened circular saws are also banned because they may (and have) shattered dangerously into the crowd. The House Robots sometimes break these rules. For instance, Sgt. Bash is equipped with a flame-thrower.

Most of the machines are not true robots by the scientific definition, because they are not autonomous. They are remotely-controlled by their teams, so could be more properly referred to as Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs). However, the TV show has influenced the general public in the UK to such a point that if you were to say "I'm building a robot" the likely response will be "Like on Robot Wars?" Remote control is not a requirement however - autonomous robots are allowed to compete.

[edit] Types of robots

In the first series, and to a lesser extent the second series, competitors' robots were very diverse, with all sorts of untried designs being put forward. After a while competitors designs tended to converge to a few established successful designs. In later series, it was often the same teams and robots that ended up reaching the final stages of the contest. Successful design types include:

Wedges with flippers - can get under an opponent and flip them over. Chaos 2, the only two-time champion, is one of the most well-known and most powerful of these types, possessing a carbon dioxide powered front flipper that can literally throw other robots out of the arena. In the UK series, however, it was Cassius, an evolution of the first-series robot Recyclops that pioneered the power of a flipper and its 'self-righting' capabilities. Cassius' weapon, rather than lifting the enemy, pushed it away from the robot. The most recent development of this design is the Dutch robot Gravity, with flipping power far exceeding that of the retired Chaos 2. The flipper on Gravity has a lifting force of around four tonnes.

Invertible flat boxes - are immune to being inverted by wedges. Weaponry varies; often a cutting disk used. The most notable of these are past champion Tornado and Third World Champion Storm II. In many cases, these robots do not rely on their weapons but rather on their ability to push opponents into the arena pit or to repeatedly slam them against the arena wall until they break. Series 2 champion Panic Attack and 3 Stegs to Heaven also had much pushing power.

Axes: Axe-based robots attempt to damage opponents by swinging sharp objects into them. Stinger and Sump Thing use an axe powered only by the drive motors, applying reverse drive in order to swing the body around in order to attack. Other designs use pneumatic power to drive axes. The most successful current designs use a pneumatic cylinder to move a rack which turns a gear on which an axe head is mounted. TerrorHurtz and Thor are examples of this type. Behemoth uses a similar transmission, using a pneumatic cylinder to pull a chain which turns a sprocket on which an axe is mounted. Despite the success of axe-robots like Dominator 2 and TerrorHurtz, a machine armed with an axe never won the competition.

Jaws - can enclose a competitor and crush/pierce it. This requires enormous force and there have been few successful designs. A notable exception is former UK and World champion Razer, which once did devastating damage to the house robot Matilda with its hydraulic pincer. (At the end of the show in which this happened, there was a brief voiceover [which said, in a rather mournful voice, "Matilda, created at the dawn of Robot Wars, RIP - "Rust In Peace". DIA - "Destroyed in Action".], suggesting that Matilda had been destroyed beyond repair, but then the tone changed, the voiceover said "DYWB, Do Ya Wanna Bet?", the sad music stopped, and the robot was subsequently shown to be in good repair, albeit heavily 'bandaged'.) The Dutch machine Tough As Nails is a new kind of jaw wielding heavyweight. The whole body is a horizontal claw with 2 big wheels attached. The exerted force is not that great, with 1.2 tons at the jaw tips, but it is a very fast acting weapon, running on high pressure CO₂ gas rather than hydraulics. On the UK live robot circuit, Kan-Opener is probably the most powerful crushing robot, having gone undefeated in the Annihilator competition. Kan-Opener and Tough As Nails are invertible.

Stored energy weapons - heavy flywheels spun up to speed by electric motors or internal combustion engines have proved very successful in causing damage. The first UK robot to fully demonstrate the power of such a weapon was Hypno-disc, which literally tore apart some of its earlier opponents, and even once knocked the armoured skirting off Matilda. In the US the full-body spinning robot Blendo was deemed too dangerous to take part in the early competitions, which lacked adequate barriers between the robots and the audience. Typhoon 2 is the UK pinnacle of this design, having won the final series of UK Robot Wars. It used its whole spinning chassis as a weapon and was capable of tearing the sides from the arena. This type of weaponry is often banned at live events, simply because there are few arenas in the UK which can contain them without risking the audience's safety.

All championship winning designs rolled on wheels rather than maneuvering on tank-style treads or walking on mechanical legs. Tracked and walking robots require more advanced building capabilities and are generally heavier, bulkier, and more fragile. Walking robots are given an additional weight allotment to help compensate for the design difficulties, but tracked robots are not. An all-terrain environment would offer a tracked or walking robot some advantages, but most robotic combat is held on a smooth, flat arena where wheeled robots are more appropriate.

Cluster Bots - also permitted were "Cluster Bots", which started out as one robot and could split into two or even three smaller robots during the fight itself. They did however have to be capable of splitting and joining back up without human intervention and had to start each fight as "one". There was no extra weight allowance for Cluster Bots however so the dilemma was out-numbering your opponent but with smaller robots that on their own can't really compete with the larger one. One robot was known as a good cluster bot was Gemini, which split into two, with each half possessing a CO₂-based lifter not too dissimilar from Chaos 2. It enjoyed some success but ultimately unless the two were both functioning well working in tandem would often come up short against any half decent single heavyweight. Rules governing when a Cluster Bot was "out" changed throughout the series of Robot Wars. Sometimes all sub-bots would have to be eliminated, sometimes just one. Eventually they decided it had to be the "majority" in terms of either number (2 out of 3 parts) or weight (e.g. the heavier robot from the later Cluster Bot Typhoon Thunder, made by the creators of Typhoon 2).

The current rules used in the UK "Live circuit" state that clusterbots are deemed "out" when more than 50% of the running weight is immobile. This favours the uneven weighted or numbered machines. Examples of uneven cluster is the Dutch V3 cluster build by 3 separate teams, who each had a full heavyweight in the Dutch Series II competition(filmed back to back with the UK series 6). This last machine barely could make true its value as clusterbot as no mechanical interlock was achieved. Only the lifter on one of the 3 cluster parts could be used as interlock. Nonetheless this set of 3 smaller machines was fun to watch.

[edit] The competition

There are a variety of games played, though the main knockout arena game is the most popular. Other games have included obstacle courses, robot football, and tug of war and sumo against shunt. In some games, including the main arena game, there are additional "House Robots" who patrol certain areas of the arena. If a robot enters those zones, the House Robots are permitted to join in and add to the general chaos.

There are other hazards in the arena, the most popular being "the pit", (known in earlier series as "The Pit of Oblivion") a hole in the floor into which a robot may fall and become trapped, unable to get out (in later series, the pit could be opened by any robot activating a 'switch' on the arena wall, which was really a tire painted yellow. In one series there was an actual switch, as the tire was constantly getting knocked off the wall). There is also a powerful flipper which can fling a robot across the arena, retracting spikes, flame torches and cutting wheels built into the arena sidewalls. In two series there was a spinning panel on the floor, also activated by a switch/tyre, known as "The Disc of Doom". However, this was soon removed from the arena again, as the competitors hardly ever used it, and wedge robots were getting their front ends stuck under the panel at the start of fights. Finally, in the final series there was "The Drop Zone", a large "X" on the floor, where beaten robots were placed by a house robot or opponent, and after a countdown from 10 to 1 by the audience, a very heavy object (for example, a TV, an ocean buoy, refrigerator or most commonly, a washing machine) was dropped on top of them in a rather cartoony fashion.

The House Robots are not bound by the same rules as the competitors, and are generally much larger and heavier, as well as being professionally built. The number of house robots in the arena varied in each series - 4 in Series 1, 5/6 in Series 2, 5 in Series 3, 6 in Series 4 & 5, 8 in Series 6, 9 in Series 7, and in the spin-off show, Robot Wars Extreme, where various other competitions and random battles were contested, there were 6 in the first series, and 8 in the second. The five 'main' house robots; that is, the most well-known ones, are Shunt, Matilda, Dead Metal, Sergeant Bash, and Sir Killalot. There was also The Sentinel, a giant robotic arm which impeded contestants' progress in the Gauntlet game in Series 2. In Series 4, the Refbot was added, to ensure fair play in the arena, and to provide extra camera footage from the heat of battle. Although initially criticised for always 'getting in the way' of fights, he was more or less accepted by the time Robot Wars Extreme got under way the following year, when he was given the ability to give out yellow and red 'cards' to offending contestant, and more often than not, house robots, (red cards meaning the house robot was forbidden to take part for the remainder of the battle, even when a robot was being destroyed in the normal way by their fellow house robots) and 'count out' defeated robots as if in a boxing match.

In Series 6, a new pair of house robots was built, named Mr. Psycho and Growler. They were very well received, and in Series 7, a further robot joined the group, a boxing robot named Cassius Chrome (nicknamed "Hammered Ali").

In general the winner is the last robot still functioning. In the event of a tie or disputed outcome, there is a panel of 3 adjudicators who judge based on "style, control, damage, and aggression".

The Dutch series - made by Mentorn, on the request of BNN - 1 and 2 took place alongside the UK series 5 and 6. For series 7 and 8 several Dutch and 1 Belgian entry entered the main UK competition, with mixed success.

The UK TV series Robot Wars has now drawn to a close; however, robot builders in the UK have been taking part in competitions independent of Robot Wars for several years and the community is expanding. Combat events are organised across the UK on at least a monthly basis, but are usually bi-weekly. The Netherlands are also active, but with less frequency.

There is an active group of roboteers in Brazil, but at the moment not much is known.

The Fighting Robot Association (FRA) is the most prominent body in the UK at the moment. The 2006 UK Fighting Robot Championship, organised by the FRA, saw a unknown robot called Turbulence beating Storm II to the title.

[edit] Robots that appear in Robot Wars UK, US and/or Battlebots

Note: This list is incomplete.

[edit] Robots that appear in Robots Wars UK and United States

Prometheus (UK, US)

[edit] Robots that appear in Robot Wars UK and Battlebots

Dreadnought
Razer
Killerhurtz (see notes)
Mortis
Suicidal Tendencies
Bigger Brother
Panic Attack

Killerhurtz was the most successful of the robots (listed above) in Battlebots, making it to the final against Biohazard. In Series 3 of Robot Wars, Killerhurtz said they hadn't seen the pit, (which Killerhurtz drove in to) because "the competition in America didn't have one (pit)"

[edit] Competition winners

[edit] 1994 (United States)

Heavyweight (100 lb) - Ramfire 2000
Middleweight (70 lb) - IX
Lightweight (40 lb) - The Julie-Bot
Super Heavyweight (100 t) - the Zaneinator

[edit] 1995 (United States)

Heavyweight (160 lb) - The Master
Middleweight (80 lb) - La Machine
Lightweight (40 lb) - Test Toaster 1
Super Lightweight (20 lb) - Kreigmaschienmensch (KMM)

[edit] 1996 (United States)

Heavyweight (165 lb) - Biohazard
Middleweight 100 lb (45 kg) - The Agamemnon
Lightweight (50 lb) - Atiller the Hun
Featherweight (25 lb) - Wedge of Doom

[edit] 1997 (United States)

Heavyweight (170 lb) - Biohazard
Middleweight 100 lb (45 kg) - Vicious-1
Lightweight (50 lb) - Defiant
Featherweight (25 lb) - Wedge of Doom

[edit] UK Series 1 (1997)

Main article: Robot Wars UK Series 1

Best Design Award - Plunderbird
Best Engineered Award - Mortis
Most Original Entry Award - Psychosprout
Sportsmanship Award - Nemesis
UK Champion - Roadblock
Best Newcomer - Roadblock

[edit] UK Series 2 (1998)

Best Design Award - Razer
Best Engineered Award - The Mule
Most Original Entry Award - Milly Ann Bug
Sportsmanship Award - Plunderbird 2
UK Champion - Panic Attack
Best Newcomer - Panic Attack

[edit] UK Series 3 (1999)

Best Design Award - Razer
Best Engineered Award - Chaos 2
Most Original Entry Award - Hypno-disc
Sportsmanship Award - Diotoir
UK Champion - Chaos 2
Best Newcomer - Hypno-Disc
Robotic Soccer Tournament Champion - Evil Weevil
Pinball Warrior Tournament Champion - Razer
International League Champion - Razer
World Champion - Razer
Middleweight Champion - Tentomushi & A-Kill (joint winners - however they later played off head to head and Tentomushi won)

[edit] Robot Wars Extreme - Series 1 (2001)

Antweight Champion - Combat-ant
Featherweight Champion - Beefcake
Middleweight Champion - Typhoon
All Stars Champion - Razer
Tag Team Terror Champions - Díotóir & Pussycat
Challenge Belt Champion - Tornado
UK v Germany Champion - Nasty Warrior (Germany)
World Champion - Razer
Armed Forces Champion - Anvil
First Annihilator Champion - Pussycat
Second Annihilator Champion - Disco Inferno

[edit] UK Series 5 (2001)

Best Design Award - Razer
Best Engineered Award - Derek
Most Original Entry Award - S3
Sportsmanship Award - Pussycat
UK Champion - Razer
Best Newcomer - Fluffy

[edit] UK Series 6 (2002)

Best Design Award - 259
Best Engineered Award - Anarchy
Most Original Entry Award - Crushtacean
Sportsmanship Award - Kat 3
UK Champion - Tornado
Best Newcomer - Dantomkia

[edit] Robot Wars Extreme - Series 2 (2002)

All Stars Champion - Razer
Annihilator Champion - Kan Opener
Minor Meltdown Champion - Bigger Brother
Tag Team Terror Champions - Bulldog Breed & Robochicken
New Blood Champion - Storm 2
Antweight Champion - Anty-B
Featherweight Champion - Arg
Lightweight Champion - Typhoon Thunder
Middleweight Champion - Typhoon
Challenge Belt Champion - Tornado
Iron Maidens Champion - Chompalot 2
University Challenge Champion - Tiberius 3
Commonwealth Carnage Champion - Firestorm 4
European Champion - Tornado

[edit] UK Series 7 (2003)

Featherweight Champion - DTK (Dantomkia)
Middleweight Champion - Typhoon
UK Champion - Typhoon 2
Best Newcomer - Gravity
Annihilator Champion - Kan Opener
All Stars Champion - Pussycat
World Champion - Storm II

[edit] Other countries

Robot Wars Extreme Warriors (United States):

Series 1 (2001) - Panzer Mk. II
Series 2 (2002) - Panzer Mk. IV

The champions of Dutch Robot Wars were:

Series 1 - Slicer. A drum armed stainless steel armoured wedge with tracks
Series 2 - Pulveriser, a disk wielding agile machine

[edit] Seeds

The main tournament also featured 'seeded' robots, ranked in a table based on past performance. In Series 2, the 6 grand finalists from Series 1 were seeded, but some did not return for Series 2, so Mortis and Killertron got seedings instead. In Series 3, there were no seeds, due to the raft of rule changes that year.

In Series 4, some robots were seeded based on past performance, such as Razer, and some by popularity, such as Mortis, Plunderbird 4 and Díotóir. The series semi-finalists from Series 3 were all seeded, but when Trident and Blade's Big Bruva pulled out at the last minute, the list was reshuffled slightly, and Centurion 2 and Suicidal Tendencies were both given seedings. The brief rumour that the cheap, square-shaped, home-made hobbyist robot R.O.C.S. (Roboticly operated control systems) had been seeded, despite being the loser in nearly every event in series 3, was quickly dispelled.

From Series 4 onwards, winning a heat final and going through to the series semi-finals won that robot a seeding, which meant that they gained automatic entry into the next year's competition.

Between Series 6 & 7, many 'veteran' teams had pulled out, such as Razer, Chaos 2, and Hypno-Disc, so the list had to be compiled in a similar way to that of Series 4. Since Razer was no longer competing, Firestorm 5 and Terrorhurtz, who would have been third and fourth, moved up to second and third, with Bigger Brother taking fourth spot. Other seeds were given their place on the table on past performance, whilst Storm 2, who won automatic entry into Series 7 by winning the New Blood championship in Robot Wars Extreme Series 2, was given the 16th and bottom spot.

[edit] Series 2

Roadblock
Mortis
Bodyhammer
Killertron
Cassius
Chaos

[edit] Series 4

Chaos 2
Hypno-disc
Razer
Panic Attack
Firestorm 2
Behemoth
Steg 2
Gemini
101
Spawn of Scutter
Wild Thing
Evil Weevil
Gravedigger
Bigger Brother
Wheely Big Cheese
Killerhurtz
King B3
Cerberus
Pussycat
Aggrobot 2
Díotóir
X-Terminator 2
Mortis
Berserk 2
Shadow of Napalm
Plunderbird 4
Sir Chromalot
Wel-dor
Dreadnaut XP-1
Stinger
Centurion 2
Suicidal Tendencies

[edit] Series 5

Chaos 2
Pussycat
Hypno-disc
Razer
Stinger
Panic Attack 2
Firestorm 3
3 Stegs To Heaven
Wild Thing
Wheely Big Cheese
Dominator 2
Tornado
Spawn Again
X-Terminator
Behemoth
Thermidor 2
Splinter
Gemini
Mini Morg
Mousetrap
Suicidal Tendencies
Atomic 2
101
S.M.I.D.S.Y.

[edit] Series 6

Razer
Bigger Brother
Firestorm 4
Hypno-disc
Chaos 2
Dominator 2
S3
Panic Attack
Wild Thing
Spawn Again
Stinger
Tornado

[edit] Series 7

Tornado
Firestorm 5
Terrorhurtz
Bigger Brother
Dantomkia
Spawn Again
13 Black
Panic Attack
Pussycat
Behemoth
X-Terminator
Bulldog Breed
S.M.I.D.S.Y.
Thermidor 2
Ming Die-nasty
Storm II

[edit] See also

Battlebots
Robotica
Techno Games
I, D'oh-Bot (Simpsons episode)
Spaced (In one episode)
Zoey 101 (In one episode)

[edit] External links

Robot Tutorials for Beginners
German Roboteers Association
Dutch Robot Games
The Fighting Robot Association
RoboWars Australia - Robot Wars Down Under - a popular public event
Tectonic Robot Wars UK - Full Details of First 4 UK Series
UK Gameshows Page: Robot Wars
Full results of major robotic competitions, including Robot Wars, Battlebots and Robotica
Partial results of Robot Wars Extreme II

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../r/o/b/Robot_Wars_788b.html"