House Robots of Robot Wars
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since January 2006. (help, talk) |
 |
Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
The House Robots are a powerful set of robots used as obstacles in the television series Robot Wars as a means of added destruction. The House Bots are Shunt, Matilda, Dead Metal, Sergeant Bash, Sir Killalot, Growler, Mr. Psycho, and Cassius Chrome. The House Robots are put into a match, two at a time, staying in their Corner Patrol Zones(CPZ). If a robot wanders too close, they are sure to get smashed. But, these zones are removed when a robot is deemed immobilized by the Refbot, after which the house bots can come out and cause mass destruction. Several of the robots, including Razer, Panic Attack, Firestorm, Tricerabot, Chaos 2 and Bigger Brother, have directly attacked the house robots, some of them dealing damage, including flipping, and nearly, dropping them into the Pit of Oblivion, the final destination for all robots caught in the clutches of the house bots.
Contents |
[edit] House Robot attacks
The House Robots may only engage with a competing robot under two circumstances.
- When a robot drives or is shunted into the CPZ (Corner Patrol Zone). The House Robot patrolling that zone may attack. The attack can last for up to fifteen seconds before the House Robot must disengage and let the robot go back to battle, if it still can.
- If a robot is immobilised for more than thirty seconds, either by another competitor or a House Robot, the House Robots are allowed to attack the robot in one big group. The robots may attack it and then can dispose of it by either dropping it in the pit, putting it on the arena flipper, tossing it out of the arena or placing it underneath the drop zone.
Shunt wields a bulldozer-like scoop and a diamond-tipped axe with a pressing force of over 500 kgf per square centimeter (49 MN, 7,100 psi). Dead Metal traps his victims in his powerful pincers and decimates with a circular saw blade rotating at over 3,000 rpm. Dead Metal is also the fastest of the original 4 house bots. Sergeant Bash has a flamethrower weapon on a 360° turret and heat vented from the flamethrower is used to power a secondary steam engine; he is also armed with piercing jaws on the front. Matilda uses tusks and an interchangeable saw/flywheel weapon used to cause mass destruction. Sir Killalot uses a powerful drill, which saved him from the Pit of Oblivion during the Robot Rebellion of Extreme Warriors, and a hydraulic cutting claw, adapted from the Jaws of Life. Killalot is also claimed to be invincible, but has been shown to be not so invincible. Growler, the fastest house robot of the season 6 duo, including Mr. Psycho, uses its powerful jaws, which closes in at 9 tons of force, to deal major damage! Mr. Psycho, the largest house bot, brings in a 20 kg hammer, powered up by a hydraulic accumulator and a 9 ton shoulder and elbow ram, and a powerful claw that can lift the equivalent to 2 Killalots! Cassius Chrome, the latest and fastest of the house bots, uses interchangeable fists to pummel or pierce the opposition.
[edit] Attacks to the House Robots
The house bots aren't invulnerable! Even they have some weaknesses. Shunt has been flipped several times and one time, even immobilized by Tut-Tut during the Robot Rebellion in Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. Dead Metal once lost its saw blade during a middleweight battle due to a loose bit holding it. Matilda received major damage from Razer and was tipped over by Tricerabot in the Robot Rebellion.| Matilda's biggest humiliation was when she was attacked by Razer | who clawed right through her backside, and at the end of the episode she came out in bandages. Another one of her humiliations was when, during the trail round of Heat 2 in Series 1, she was flipped by Recyclopse's pneumatic tongue (Johnathan Pearce commenting that she would not be pleased about it)! Sergeant Bash was the victim of constant attacks by Chaos 2, Bigger Brother, and Thermador 2 in the Flipper Frenzy (Wheely Big Cheese was knocked out of commission by Matilda, who went on to take out Chaos 2 and Bigger Brother. The match ended with Matilda battling Thermador, who was personally declared the winner of the Frenzy by Craig Charles). Killalot received a bit of abuse during the series. During a match between Pussycat and Tornado, Killalot caught on fire trying to pick up Pussycat. In the end, the CO² vents put out the fire. However, one of the biggest attacks was by Tricerabot during the Robot Rebellion, when Tricerabot rammed itself under Killalot while he was dumping Silver Box into the pit, causing Killalot to nearly tumble in himself. His drill arm had saved him from taking a head-first tumble into the Pit of Oblivion. Growler was challenged in two different occasions during season 6. First, Bulldog Breed picked a fight with Growler, who got some big air off of the flipper. Thor was the next opposition to take on Growler. But, both the foe and the house bot were pinned to the wall until Mr. Psycho, the second house bot in the match, nudged Growler, releasing both. However, the biggest thing to happen was during a battle between Panic Attack and Firestorm IV, with Bash and Mr. Psycho as house robots. The flame-throwing Sergeant was quickly flipped out of commission after Panic Attack was deemed immobilized. Firestorm first attacked Psycho while Panic Attack was being roasted. This ended with Firestorm retreating. However, after dropping Panic Attack into the pit, Psycho backed onto the flipper of Firestorm. Several tense seconds later, Mr. Psycho, the mightiest of all house robots of the time, was toppled. It took several people to right him. For Show 6 of Series 1, in the final between T.R.A.C.I.E. and Skarab, T.R.A.C.I.E. forgot Skarab near the end and instead, launched attacks against Bash ("surely not mental enough to take on the Sergeant, I don't know, though") and Matilda ("this is enough to take on Matilda's tusks"), then Bash again ("and T.R.A.C.I.E. now attacks the Sergeant"), earning points for aggression
[edit] Robot rebellions
Probably one of the biggest House Robot disasters in the history of Robot Wars was the Robot Rebellion of Extreme Warriors. The original fight was meant to be Tricerabot, Tut-tut, Silver Box, and Rosie the Rivetor vs. Shunt and Matilda, but Sir Killalot came in soon after the two were beaten. Tricerabot succeeded in toppling Matilda and Shunt was immobilized by Tut-tut's axe. When Killalot came in, Tricerabot pushed the button to the Pit of Oblivion. Killalot first grabbed Silver Box and dumped it into the pit. However, Tricerabot was able to ram underneath Killalot as he tipped a bit from stopping due to a forward-placed center of gravity from carrying Silver Box and fell forward, his drill arm saving him from dropping into the pit as well. The match was soon declared a draw.
It wasn't much better for the House Robots with the UK competitors either. A special match held during the 7th Wars pitted Behemoth and Gravity against Mr Psycho, Growler and Cassius Chrome. Gravity first managed to flip Growler, then flipped Cassius Chrome on the already decending pit. Forced to use cheating, Refbot pushed Cassius Chrome back upright. Behemoth and Gravity turned their attention to Mr Psycho, but their flips were neither powerful or accurate enough. During the end of the fight, both Gravity and Mr Psycho broke down, and Behemoth couldn't finish off Cassius Chrome. The match ended in need of a decision, but unlike the American rumble, the audience got to choose the winner, ultimatly deciding that Behemoth and Gravity were the victors.
[edit] Flipper frenzy
A big flipper showdown that was meant to be between Chaos 2, Wheely Big Cheese, Thermador 2, and Bigger Brother to see who had the biggest flipper turned into a 3-on-1 mess as Bigger Brother, Chaos 2, and Thermador 2 attacked Bash, nearly flipping him out of the arena, which would have been a first in Robot Wars history. At one time, Chaos 2 and Bigger Brother double-flipped Bash. However, Matilda intervened, immobilizing Bigger Brother and Chaos 2, after which she took out her rage over Bash's damage on Thermador (Wheely Big Cheese was immobilized by Matilda early in the match). The match ended during the battle. During after-match interviews, Craig pointed out to the teams over the lookout, the house roboteers angry at them for attacking Bash, whose flamethrower weapon was damaged when it was split off by hitting the top of the wall. After that, Craig personally declared Thermador the winners of the frenzy (the other three were immobilized by Matilda).
[edit] Shunt
Weight - 105 kg Length - 130 cm Width - 110 cm Height - 70 cm Speed - 10 mph
He moves at a speed of 4.5 metres per second (10.1 mph) and has a prototype cold fusion engine capable of dragging a fully loaded Land Rover from a standing position to a speed of over 6 mph (2.7 m/s).
Shunt has diamond edged axe with a force of over 500 kgf/cm².
His design is reminiscent of a bulldozer, with a rear-mounted scoop and fearsome axe, both powered by pressurised carbon dioxide. Shunt's chassis and scoops are made of steel, while his superstructure is moulded fiberglass.
Shunt's extremely resilient structure and low profile ensure that he can take just about anything thrown at him.
In series 1 & 2, Shunt was used to fight the competitors in the Sumo trial, and was the flag holder in the trial round of Heat 4 of Series 1.
[edit] Dead Metal
Weight - 112 kg Length - 160 cm Width - 100 cm Height - 70 cm Speed - 12 mph
Dead Metal is driven by a battery powered engine.
His weapons consist of pneumatically driven pincers and a circular saw turning at over 3000 rpm. He moves at a speed of 5.4 metres per second. Dead Metal is protected by a steel exoskeleton consisting of jagged armour plates and spiked struts as wheel guards.
[edit] Matilda
Weight - 116 kg Length - 140 cm Width - 66 cm Height - 66 cm Speed - 8 mph
Matilda is equpipped with hydraulic tusks. New for this year, she has had her tail-weapon transformed into an interchangeable weapons arsenal that can take either a chainsaw or a flywheel weapon that weighs over 60 lbs. She's powered by a rechargeable battery unit and moves at over 3.6 m/s.
She is fashioned from fiberglass matting. She is driven by a 12-volt motor and her tusks are operated by a powerful pneumatic carbon dioxide system.
During the final of the "UK vs USA war of independence", Matilda nudged the American finalist into the pit, thereby granting victory to the British competitor, Mortis.
Her most embarrassing moment was when she was "torn up" by Razer in the Southern Annihilator, as well as being set on fire.
[edit] Sergeant Bash
Weight - 120 kg Length - 140 cm Width - 90 cm Height - 90 cm Speed - 8 mph
Sergeant Bash is the flame-filled, militaristic machine of war powered by four batteries running in parallel. Conduits attached to his flame-thrower also vent heat to power a secondary steam engine.
This camouflaged, armour plated annihilator has a tank-like forward section and pneumatically driven, front mounted pincers. His primary weapon is a propane-fuelled flame-thrower mounted on a 360 degree turret.
His weapons require the inclusion of gas bottles to power the flamethrower, in addition to valves and numerous carbon dioxide reservoirs.
The flamethrower and pneumatically driven pincers all contribute to Sergeant Bash's increased weight and he requires an extremely long wheelbase to support the mass of internal engineering. Sergent Bash's steam engine, when not in use powers a small rear end saw (which was his rear weapon in series 1 & 2 instead of the pincers, which were put on Bash as the frontal weapon from Series 3 onwards).
In the Series 1 Heat 1 Semi-Final bout against Killertron and Shogun, as Killertron axed Shogun (who foolishly got stuck on the grille), Bash came in, and his saw shattered as he attacked Killertron with it - "and the Sergeant's lost his saw!". This happened again in Heat 6 of the same series; in Elvis's Gauntlet run, Elvis got stuck on the first ramp, and Bash came in with the saw, and a bit of it shattered, leaving nearly a third of it left. This presumes that Bash's saw was a little bit hardened, since hardened blades are liable to shatter and therefore are prohibited against regulations; this was the cause of Pussycat's disqualification in Series 3. Another of his humiliations was in series 2 heat 2 , where in wheelosauras's run in the gauntlet,after completing the ramp it some how got stuck on top of sgt bash and ripped sgt bash's gas canister out making sgt bash's flame thrower useless.
Bash's favourite target seems to be Diotoir with its fur-skinned surface that likes to set on fire.
Ironically, flame throwers are technically illegal in Robot Wars.
[edit] Sir Killalot
Weight - 280 kg Length - 120 cm Width - 120 cm Height - 130 cm Speed - 5 mph
He has a medieval appearance, Sir Killalot is armed with a rotating drill and a hydraulic cutting claw, adapted from the 'jaws of life' which rescue services normally use to save trapped victims from car wreckage.
The hydraulics were adapted and refined to give a much faster cutting speed. The claw is quite capable of lifting over 100 kg of weight, slicing through armour plating and cutting the axles of opposing robots in two.
Killalot's was built in less than three months and was introduced to the show in 1999. His description boasted that he had no weakness though once a robot with a very similar design to his managed to knock most of his armor off, and on another occasion a robot cornered him (with help) and managed to set him on fire.
In one edition of the there was a huge uproar from the house robots as during an edition of pinball Sargent Bash accidently torched Sir K and set him alight
[edit] Refbot
Weight - 120 kg Length - 1.4 m Width - 0.9 m Height - 1.3 m Speed - 7 mph
Refbot was introduced to Robot Wars as the robotic referee of the show in 2000. He was built in a very humanoid form and was created with the sole purpose of making sure there was fair play in the arena.
Refbot comes equipped with a multitude of gadgets. A pair of bulldozing shunts, front and back to separate robots that become locked in mortal combat. An electrionic countdown board is mounted on Refbot's chest to count down the defeat of robots. There is also a pincer grip on the left arm to help robots in tight spots and a fire extinguisher on the right arm, to put out fires, and also occasionally as a spray weapon. He also has a light-indicator system with a red/yellow card, similar to a soccer referee. This replaced the claw on his left arm at the start of Robot Wars: Extreme; it would also to show when battles begin and end and also whether robots are mobile or immobile. In addition, if a house robot misbehaved (i.e., attacking a competitor when it wasn't supposed to) Refbot would give the offender a yellow card, and if it persisted, a red card, which forced the house robot to stay in its CPZ for the remainder of the match. Diotoir has had several encounters with Refbot's fire extinguisher.
Despite the fact that Refbot never really was made to fight, he does have a variety of objects that could be makeshift weapons, such as his plow and fire extinguisher.
[edit] Growler
Weight - 375 kg Length - 152 cm Width - 130 cm Height - 76 cm Speed - 17 mph
Growler is Mr. Psycho's loyal but terrifying robotic dog. The jaws of Growler are capable of putting out 9 tons of force. Growler's tail is a flame thrower.
The shell and chassis of Growler is predominantly steel with industrial digger gauge used in the jaw. Growler has two 48 volt 5 kW motors running a 4 wheel drive motive system, 300 ampere speed controllers and 6 batteries.
Growler was designed by Robin Englebright
[edit] Mr. Psycho
Weight - 750 kg Length - 163 cm Width - 145 cm Height - 150 cm Speed - 8 mph
Mr Psycho made its debut at the Sixth Wars. Mr Psycho's claws are powered by two 9 tons hydraulic rams running at 3000 psi (21 MPa).
The Hammer head weighs in at 20 kg and has a hydraulic accumulator and is powered by a 9 ton shoulder and elbow ram.
The tracks are the same type used on Sir Killalot and are powered by two Briggs and Stratton 5hp electric motors run at 48 volts, which are controlled by two 300 A speed controllers. The chassis is constructed from thick walled steel box section and the head is fabricated in fibreglass. Mr. Psycho, like Sir Killalot, is believed to be practically invincible, and is currently the largest and heaviest robot in all of Robot Wars.
Mr Psycho was designed by Robin Englebright
[edit] Cassius Chrome
Weight - 250 kg Length - 130 cm Width - 100 cm Height - 85 cm Speed - 20 mph
Cassius Chrome was the last House Robot to be introduced, in Season 7 of Robot Wars. Cassius Chrome is based on the famous athlete, Mohammed Ali, whose stage name was Cassius Clay.
Powered by 2×24 V magnetic motors, with interchangeable fists, Each piercer weighs in at 1.5 kg. It's designed to look like a heavyweight boxer, complete with a black eye.
Cassius Chrome was designed by Robin Englebright
