Memoirs of a veteran roboteer

[team death]

Series 7 of robot wars
Our Robot- Metalis was ready, teething problems regarding the traction were sorted,we were advised
at the auditions that shortening the pipe in the Co2 tank would prevent any freeze problems
but I decided it was probably a one off fault and shoulden't happen again.
This new venue at nottingham didn't seem to have the atmosphere previous venues had
it was gloomy in fact, channel 5 were to screen series 7 and we got the feeling or
was it the correspondents with mentorn that hinted at this been the end of the road
for Robot Wars.
Our first round group included scrapasaur and ceros and by pure chance ming dienasty.
We were placed in the same control booth as ming d and decided to work together initially
as we thought the other teams would do the same.
All the robots drove out perfectly and things were looking good, I won't describe the battle in detail
as you can see it in full on youtube, but the fact that we didn't shorten the Co2 pipe came
back to haunt us and froze again,leaving us with no claw function not flipper and no
srimech.
Now dosen't it just annoy you when johnathon pearce says they can't self right,when you know you
can if the blooming thing hadn't developed a fault.
Another interesting thing was after we were counted out and then righted by ceros I think-the organisers
didn't seem to want us to participate in the rest of the battle and tried there best to disable Metalis
including Growler ramming our robot into the arena sidewall at full pelt-I felt sure he would go through the polycarb.
Thankyou to Mario for saying "you built a very strong robot" at the end of the battle,just as the dump valve
on Metalis released a full tank of the frozen Co2.

[team death]

So this was the end,no more Robot Wars on tv and as far as we knew there was nobody running
events in the UK,the socials must have been up and running because I recall a conversation with
Kevin Scott about putting Metalis in a robot museum for ex Robot Wars machines.
I discussed this idea with my team mate and he was quite hostile and we decided to split the
robot and move on.
The socials seemed to be the only place to keep up with whats happening, and I attended a number.
The live events got up and running and I decided to build a new robot for them, Chimera was
born ,formally known as the Wall ,this machine had 4 incarnations including a Wall,hammer,thwacker
and grinding blade with sometimes up to 5 years between incarnations and I attended events by
Roaming Robots and black top productions.
Chimera's last battle was at the O2 for the uk championships 2011 against Thor, Storm and tiberius,
the chain for the drive to one wheel came off more or less straight away- after a major onslaught
by Storm and Thor and I was only able to drive in half circles, I recall the VIP audience ticket
holdercoming back stage and one father and son asking about my robot, stating it looked really
good as it drove in, MMM, yes that front profile allways was the best.
Chimera was sold in 2012.

[team death]

2016...
I have decided to build yet another robot for 2016, this will be robot number 7, taking
time out helps on the ideas front and the robot is 10% built, I have a great name in mind
and new team mate on board.
Looking forward to revealing it later this year.

[bigsi]

Interesting to read it from someone else's perspective. My precise memories of the series we entered are all a bit hazy these days. I hated the cheezy TV programme - but loved the time in the pits. It felt in some ways like being back at University, everyone having the same hopes, fears and common objective.

I held on to my hope that it would return for a decade - then decided it was never going to happen. Only six months ago, Barber-ous was sent to the scrap-man. We'd built a much improved version for Series 8 (with removable links that cannot fall out ;-) ). I'd so hoped to run it - but other than the odd drive around the garden, never did!

The new series looks really good! Much less cheezy and I've found myself enjoying watching it - particularly seeing some familiar faces (Ian Watts among others). Now I'm sorely tempted to build Barber-ous 3!

Si

[team death]

I remember barber-ous well,without even checking out old vhs videos, an unusual shape for
the time with a barbers spiral down its length.
Gone to the scrappers 6 months ago you say-ruddy Robot Wars 1 year too late and
I'm more than convinced there are at least 2 dozen similar stories of robots sold
on or disposed of in a falawn wait for a new tv series that never came in time.

I have no doubt that numbers of robots will soon be at a level seen in the
hey days but I just hope the producers do not do it a death like I feel they
did previous-keep them wanting more is the key but not more the same.

[team death]

I thought I might revive this thread mainly because it seems to have come full circle
on my original post regarding a visit to a large salvage yard.
The work on team deaths robot is well underway -we allready have a name for it
and it will be disclosed at a later date, the chassis is more or less finished and
work on the weapon mechanism and drive systems are underway.

So after a disscussion with Adam my team mate, we are planning another trip
to the large salvage yard that I visited perhaps fifteen years ago now for parts
for Immortalis.
The salvage yard in barnsley is called PVS and is mainly a bus dismantlers
and I recall it been rather interesting clambering aboard vintage buses from the
1970s and earlier I think.
Note: thier website states that the yard is not a tourist site and only bonifide
customers are allowed to enter the site.
The parts we require are available on E bay at around £100 but because we
need to get a few sundries as well we think its worth a visit and we can maybe
put on the build diary- includes Parts from a number 9 bus ?.

[team death]

It's back after 20 years! PIECE DE RESISTANCE
Well in spirit anyway-I have made a homage to my original creation in the
Form of a featherweight with bulging eyes and a robot driver in the cockpit
As before.
It will be interesting to see how it fairs against seasoned feathers and
Will make it's debut at robodojo in March 2019.
What would be good is to see other replicas at said event for nolstagic
face off í ½í±€í ½í¸ƒí ½í¸.

[Roboteernat]

Awsome, would love to see some older bots in featherweight format. I think there was a FW Road Block in Cheltenham?

[team death]

The missing chapter-Mean Machine
Following the re boot of Robot wars in 2016, Team Death set about building
yet another robot to take part in the show, Ref :Team Death New Heavyweight.

Speaking for myself, there is nothing better than Robot Wars for showing
off your creation to a wider audience, although a good live event with a
large audience gives you that being there feeling.

So series 8 had been aired and Adam and myself were starting to build
the Mean Machine mainly in a four hour slot on Sunday afternoon.
I remember telling Adam that it was quite important to crack on with
the Robot because we didn't know how long the current series of
the Robot Wars series might run for.
Series 9 of Robot Wars came and went and we were not quite ready for
series 10 either.....then the news I was dreading Robot Wars cancelled.

Disappointment was an understatement but Team Death had a unusual
new heavyweight and it needed to be seen.

I discussed going to a live event with Adam and we decided that Robots
Live would be good due to the no spinner policy.

The Mean Machine performed really quite well and it had 3 good battles
including one against Apollo which managed to flick our Robot at least
5 feet in the air.
Adam got to drive in the last fight and was on cloud nine at the end.

The VIP ticket holders came to look around the pits and I was over
the moon to get a crowd around our Robot with Adam telling them
all about it-priceless