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Robot Wars is a 1990s phenomenon, spawning a television show, in which amateurs compete in a tournament-style contest to see whose remote-controlled robot is the best at fighting. The first contests were held in the San Francisco area, and were inspired by the work of San Francisco artist Mark Pauline and his Survival Research Laboratories.
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 and G4techTV in America, and on Jetix and UKTV People in the UK. Versions of the show have been shown in many different countries, including Sweden, Italy 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 nine series in the 7-year run of the UK series, all but one hosted by Craig Charles (Red Dwarf). The first series was hosted by Jeremy Clarkson. Philippa Forrester also co-hosted except for three series. Julia Reed co-hosted two series in her place, and Jayne Middlemiss co-hosted the final UK series. In every series, running commentary of the battles was provided by BBC football commentator Jonathan Pearce.
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 three series). The rules allow electric or liquid-fuel power (though in the latter case fuel carried is strictly limited to five minutes running time), and permits any weapons that remain attached to the main vehicle (i.e. untethered projectiles, flame throwers, and water cannons are banned).
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.
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. 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 tyre painted yellow. In one series there was an actual switch, as the tyre 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. Finally, in the final three 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, 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, 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 initally 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 were 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 adjudicators who judge based on "style, control, damage, and aggression".
The TV show is filmed in front of a live audience, who view the action in the arena through tough polycarbonate safety screens. The audience are encouraged to behave in the manner of spectators at a roman gladiatorial contest, waving banners supporting particular teams, and calling "pit!, pit!, pit!..." when a house robot has totally disabled a competitor and appeals to the audience for the final verdict as to its fate.
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, a two-time champion, is one of the most well-known and indeed most powerful of these types, possessing a carbon dioxide powered front flipper that can literally throw other robots out of the arena. The follow up development of this kind of robots is the Dutch machine called Gravity, with a weaponpower which far exceeded that of Chaos 2, which is now retired.
- Invertible flat boxes - are immune to being flipped by wedges. Weaponry varies; often a cutting disk is used. The most notable of these is past champion Tornado.
- Jaws - can enclose a competitor and crush/pierce it. This requires enormous force but there have been some very successful attempts. A notable example is former UK and World champion Razer, which once did devastating damage to the house robot Matilda with its pincer. (At the end of the show in which this happened, there was a brief voiceover [saying things like RIP - "Rust In Peace", and DIA - "Destroyed in Action"], suggesting that Matilda had been irreparably destroyed, but the robot was subsequently shown to be in good health, albeit heavily bandaged.)
- Stored energy weapons - heavy flywheels have proved very successful in causing damage. The first UK robot to demonstrate the power of such a weapon was Hypnodisc, which literally tore apart some of its earlier opponents. In the US the robot Blendo was deemed too dangerous to take part. Typhoon 2 is the UK pinnacle of this kind of weapons, having won the very last series of UK Robot Wars.
All successful designs have so far been wheeled rather than walkers. Tracked seems less and less inviting to be used. No weight advantage, and taking more space, weight and technical more advanced building capabilities.
The champions of UK Robot Wars were:
- Series 1 - RoadBlock
- Series 2 - Panic Attack
- Series 3 - Chaos 2
- Series 4 - Chaos 2
- Series 5 - Razer
- Series 6 - Tornado
- Series 7 - Typhoon 2
The Dutch series- made by Mentorn, on the requist of BNN - 1 and 2 took place alongside the UK series 5 and 6. For series 7 several Dutch and 1 Belgian entry entered the main UK competition, with mixed success.
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,operated by a bunch of partyanimals.
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, usually bi-weekly. The Netherlands are also active, but with less frequency. The few Belgian roboteers participate gladly. Also, there is a good information exchange between all the Germanic speaking countries.
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, and their web forum would be a good starting point for anyone interested in combat robotics.
See also: Battlebots, Techno Games Dutch robot games
Nickelodeon version (a kids version of the show)
In 2002, Nickelodeon had a kids version of Robot Wars, hosted by Dave Aizer.
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