Episode 2 Robot Wars

The level of challenge involved with building a fighting robot means that

there is no perfect design.

40 robot-fighting teams...

..competing for the ultimate prize.

This year, there'll be a lot of things

that people won't have expected.

Battling in the biggest...

..toughest robot-fighting arena in the world.

Each week, only the strongest will survive.

Last week brought together the weird...

THEY CHEER

..and the wonderful.

Team Nuts surprised everyone before their ultimate destruction.

But it was all about the huge, devastating power

of week-one winner Carbide.

Who will join them this week,

fighting to become the Robot Wars Champion?

CHEERING

This is Robot Wars,

and this is the battlefield where the robots will come to fight.

Due to the sheer power of the robots involved in the show,

there are two layers of bulletproof protection around the outside,

with a moat between them that's designed to stop anything

that gets flipped out of the arena.

The teams must guide their creations from up there -

those are the control rooms, which is also where they must try

to ensure that they avoid the arena hazards.

The spikes.

The flipper. The pit.

And fire.

But, before the teams enter the arena, the real graft

happens down here, in the pits,

which is effectively a giant mechanics' workshop.

We're going to talk, obviously, to some of tonight's teams,

but first, here's a quick reminder of how the show works.

We start with two huge group battles,

each featuring four robots.

The two winning robots from each group stage

progress to the head-to-head,

a mini league made up of four teams.

The top two at the end of this

are our worthy finalists in today's show.

First into the arena for Group Battle 1 will be...

Jason, you are flying solo with this little beaut.

-Yes, one-man army.

-One-man army.

So, have you built everything?

Yes, everything on here is with my own fair hands.

Take your hands off the controls, you're making me nervous.

Does it go already? The axe looks mammoth.

What kind of power are we talking, what damage will it do?

You got one and a quarter tonnes pushing it over,

in less than half a second. So it's pretty fast.

-How confident are you feeling?

-I'm all right, actually, I feel good.

-I feel good about it.

-Cool as a breeze.

Listen, best of luck, get back to it. Thanks a mill, Jason.

Now, next one we have here is Shockwave. Hello, Shockwave,

how are you? Good to see you. Are you looking forward to this?

Yes, it's going to be fantastic. We've sharpened up and ready to go.

-What's your big weapon?

-We've got this great big scoop on the front,

goes all the way over the robot. But it's made from armour-plating

material so it's really tough. So we're going to hit everything

-head-on and try and shock them.

-Are you going to flip them,

-are you going to throw them...?

-It's a lifter, so we're going to

pick them up, then use the huge amount of drive power to push them

into the pit or into the House Robots.

-You guys have come all the way from Holland?

-That's true, yes.

Right. It looks giant.

Well, we need it for our tactics, we want to crush all robots,

so we need a big robot just to be able to grab them.

-What kind of power is it?

-It can crush 1,200 kilos.

-Are you feeling confident?

-Yeah.

-Have you sized up the competition?

Yeah, we've seen it, and, yeah, we're ready for it.

Ready to represent Holland?

-Yeah.

-Best of luck.

-Show them who's the boss.

Show them who's boss, I like that, fighting talk!

-What's the weapon you've got here?

-We have a 20-kilo stainless steel

-spinning disc that travels at about 2,500 rpm.

-That's pretty powerful.

That's one of the most powerful discs I think we've had

in this competition. Does that leave you open in any other direction?

-If somebody comes behind you or to your side?

-We should be all right,

cos we've got a pretty good titanium shell on the back.

OK, so you've got a titanium shield and a giant spinning disc.

-The best of luck.

-Thank you.

It's time for the first group battle, an unforgiving

and merciless way to find out if all that hard work will pay off.

Time for me to hand over to the master of ceremonies,

Jonathan Pearce.

Thanks very much, Dara and Angela.

Tonight, each match is three minutes and competitors are looking to

immobilise the competition by any means necessary.

If robots are immobile for ten seconds, they're out.

The same rule applies if robots find themselves in the pit,

are flipped or hit out of the arena. It's then game over.

If at the end of the three-minute battle

the robots are still functioning,

it's up to our expert judges, Professor Sethu Vijayakumar,

Professor Noel Sharkey, and Dr Lucy Rogers, to crown a victor.

Now, it looks as if the teams are entering the arena,

so let's meet tonight's first competitor.

From Helvoirt, Netherlands,

Tough As Nails.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

One of the largest robots in the competition,

it has a top speed of 13mph.

Their giant clamping arms have a crushing force of 1.2 metric tonnes.

Their favourite tactic - grab an opponent and dump him in the pit.

From Reading, Shockwave.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Father and son Ian and Will Thomas from Reading have ten years

of robot-fighting experience. During testing Shockwave,

they apparently drove it through a neighbour's fence!

This team claim their scoop arm will allow them to climb out of the pit.

We'll have to see about that.

From Northampton, Thor.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

One-man team Jason Marston is a builder by trade.

He designed, built and drives Thor with its CO2 powered axe.

Thor has a gyroscopic stabiliser which allows Jason to position it

precisely before unleashing his one-tonne axe.

From Redhill, Surrey, Disconstructor.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Built by the Phillipson family, Disconstructor has a titanium shell

and a 20-kilo stainless steel spinning disc.

If they have time to spin that disc up in the arena,

this could be very destructive robot indeed. That's the four teams.

The House Robot on patrol for this battle is Shunt,

with a pneumatic axe and flipper.

House Robots limited to the corner patrol zones, don't forget.

If competitors find themselves in there,

they'll be victim to the immense power of the House Robots.

Roboteers, stand by.

Teams are in position and ready for battle.

Four fearsome competitors.

Two will go home after this fight.

Who will survive the chaos of the group battles?

Three, two,

one. Activate.

Who will have the power? Who will have the staying power?

Tough As Nails

riding into the arena sidewall, taking on Thor.

Down goes the pit release.

Thor flying through the air. Its axe, so powerful.

At the moment they're just testing.

Oh, look at the power of the flipper!

Lifting 103 kilos of Disconstructor as if it was a feather.

And they must have been affected cos they're gone, they're out.

Almost straightaway.

The team from Redhill in Surrey gone,

and Thor in trouble because it's in the grip of Tough As Nails.

In the pincers.

Can they hold him in there?

I don't think the axe is having any great effect there.

A couple of blows have gone in.

Down comes the axe.

Landing blow short.

Push him in.

They want to try and push him in, they say,

the team from the Netherlands.

Underneath goes the bucket,

the armour-plated bucket of Shockwave.

Into the corner it drives Tough As Nails

and now can get the axe blow in.

Push him into the corner, and now

damage being sustained by Tough As Nails.

And real damage, and Shockwave teaming up here with Thor.

-It's not working.

-It's not Dutch delight,

that's for sure. It's not working.

They are in major trouble.

Jeroen van der Loo, the captain, knows it's not working.

Are they immobilised?

They have ten seconds to get going.

Jason has been a star in this.

And comes in now, I think, Tough As Nails...

are teetering.

Is this the end for the team that has come a long way to be here

from the Netherlands? They look forlorn.

They've competed all over Europe

in amateur robot competitions.

There are about to go double Dutch.

Yes, the second team in the pit,

over and out for them.

Oh, look at the despair!

Look at the pirouette.

Look at the showboating.

-KLAXON BLARES

-Cease!

Sorry, guys.

Good start by Tough As Nails.

And he flew through the air with the greatest of ease,

the first flying robot of Robot Wars this time round.

Disconstructor didn't survive the blow, went into the pit.

Really good driving here,

Thor caused the mechanical damage and into the pit they went.

As group battles go, it doesn't get much better than that.

Jason, Thor.

If we're judging on aggression alone, there was no shortage of it.

-Excellent. That's what I went for.

-The good news is, you're through

-to the head-to-head. Well done.

-Thank you.

Shockwave.

Can I applaud you on the aggressiveness?

You could have stepped away from a few of those battles.

We wanted to get in the mix, get them down the pit, and we knew these

guys were going to be the toughest, most damaging robot out there.

-So we had to hit them first.

-It was the disc we were worried about,

because we were so exposed with our four-wheel drive. We just said,

-"We've got to go for the disc."

-You were looking very good out there.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Very good.

CHEERING

After the first group battle,

Shockwave and a very happy Thor are through to the head-to-heads.

That was good, intense. Intense, sums it up. Yeah, awesome.

It wasn't until I rammed him into the sidewall and he went up,

at 45 degrees, then the hammer could reach him.

Before that, it was just missing him, going between the claws.

I think right there is the battery box and his link,

a removable link that turns the machine off. It was like

a roundhouse punch just knocked him out. Beautiful.

It's time for the second group battle. The winner of this battle

will join Thor and Shockwave in the head-to-head.

Currently enjoying the sheer attritional nature

of these group battles. 50% of the robots gone at the very, very start.

I'm here with Draven who would expect...

presumably you expect to get through this part.

We're certainly hoping to get through this part,

although our big Achilles heel is probably spinning robots

and we're up against at least one.

And our shell, although it should be very strong,

is also quite thin and lightweight.

Mr Speed Squared, still a bit of finishing to be done.

Yes, it is our baby, of course. It's only five weeks old.

-What, it's brand-new?!

-Yeah, absolutely.

That is cruel, unleashing it.

It is a bit, especially with no armour on it. Because we had to take

-the bottom off it, it's too heavy.

-So this is the weapon?

-This bit spins, yeah.

-How fast does it spin?

-Well, the tip's doing about 120.

-What's the ideal opponent for you?

Something made of a composite material like Kevlar,

something like that machine over there in our heat, actually.

-Go on, name and shame.

-I don't think I can say Draven, can I?

Good luck, guys.

You can obviously make too much of anthropomorphising these robots -

for example, you could turn them into a fox.

Who we kidding with this, lads?

You are a flipper, which is historically, has been a very,

very successful form of robot.

Yes, but we can also...

This whole arm will go all the way over the top,

so we can use it as a big hammer as well.

-How much power is in that?

-It should lift about two and a half tonnes.

-Good luck, Foxic.

-Thank you very much.

Chimera, how are you?

-Very good, thank you.

-Good, are you all set?

-Yeah, ready to go.

-These are quite, like, sturdy-looking tyres.

-They're actually off a road car.

-Tyres are vulnerable in the arena -

is this going be your weak spot?

We're worried against the spinner that we're up against,

we think they might take it out but we have tested it and they can still

-run even if they get destroyed. We can roll on the rims.

-Who's driving?

-You, OK. You feeling the pressure?

-Kind of.

-Yeah, little bit.

-How are you going to handle that?

-Probably not well.

THEY LAUGH

OK! Listen, best of luck, guys,

-I'm really looking forward to seeing you in there.

-Thank you. Cheers.

It's time for the teams to make their way to the arena

for the second group battle.

Only two places up for grabs in the head-to-heads,

and nobody wants to go home at this stage of the competition.

But only two can progress.

From Melksham in Wiltshire, Draven.

The Draven team all work together at a famous vacuum cleaner

and hand-dryer manufacturer.

Draven with a hydraulic crusher and lifter.

Four tonnes of crushing power at the tip.

From Bristol, Foxic.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Foxic is a pusher-lifter bot

with two inches of hardened steel armour on all sides.

Designed and maintained by Craig Danby.

He says they have no weaknesses.

That's a dangerous boast from the second lightest machine in the heat.

From Belbroughton, Worcestershire, Mr Speed Squared.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The Forsey family are responsible for Mr Speed Squared.

It has a 360-degree spinner,

but it's unarmoured on one side,

that could leave them vulnerable.

Dad Peter Forsey is a heart surgeon by trade.

From Bolton, Chimera.

Chimera's weapon is three sharpened steel spikes.

Robot Wars is a passion of team captain Jordan. He can name

every robot that's ever competed, including the team members.

He even has a picture of Matilda on his wall.

Don't we all? The four teams are joined by Dead Metal.

He'll be in the corner patrol zone armed with that pneumatic pincer

and circular saw weaponry.

Roboteers, stand by.

Two places left in the head-to-heads,

two robots will have their dreams cut short.

This is a battle of survival.

Three, two, one. Activate!

Big question here, who will Mr Speed Squared attack first -

Draven or the wheels of Chimera?

They get the spinning blade up to full pace.

-Stay away from that one.

-Chimera, watch out, watch out, watch out!

-Stay away from that one.

-You didn't stay away from that one.

And that's cost you, the wheels are wonky.

Don't bring tyres into the arena.

Stay away from it, stay away from it.

Mr Speed Squared chasing Chimera.

They can't get away.

In comes Draven.

Dark, mysterious, very violent, they say, Draven.

Chimera can't get far.

Off goes the wheel completely.

And now who will remain?

Foxic out of trouble, Mr Speed Squared now takes on Draven,

and I think part of Draven went flying there.

Let's see.

Yes, off went part of the carbon fibre and Kevlar composite shell.

Just cut through it like paper.

Mr Speed Squared simply sliced through the lot.

Draven is immobilised, I think.

I can't move.

And it's a question now, is Mr Speed Squared active?

And little Foxic staying out of trouble so far.

Mr Speed Squared's OK, and I would imagine would go through with Foxic,

who's just stayed out of trouble all the way. Cease is called.

Look at this, straightaway went for the tyres of Chimera.

Always vulnerable to come into this arena with tyres.

They never learn!

That's the end of Chimera.

Brutal, wasn't it? Yeah, great, loved it.

And then the damage to Draven.

Foxic, look - hiding!

Mr Speed Squared!

-THEY LAUGH

-Look at that!

That's a cheeky laugh, isn't it?

I mean, what a rampage.

They loved it.

They want you to go in hard that's exactly what you did.

Somebody who were at the wrong end of your rampage, well done.

-Sorry, guys.

-I mean, Chimera,

you said earlier on that if one of the wheels went....

We said the spinner was our weakness, and it's proved to be.

The bad news, Chimera, is that you guys are going home.

Hard luck. But you guys are into the head-to-heads.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I was expecting so much.

-What happened?

-We had terrible control problems, I'm not sure why,

it was glitching backwards and forwards.

Mr Speed Squared just cut, sliced you through the middle?

-No, I don't think so.

-Really?

-From the sparks, he found the titanium

-that lived underneath the outside shell.

-So why did you stop?

It hit really hard!

LAUGHTER

Anyway, so you're going home.

You, possibly the least impressive robot that has ever qualified

-from a big battle.

-LAUGHTER

You were hiding in the corner for large chunks of it,

-just flapping your hat around. Were you happy with your performance?

-No.

So what was going wrong for you?

We were slipping really badly. Every time I pressed forward,

it would go fine cos four wheels are going.

But then, because it's so slippy for us, it just, trying to turn,

it's going, "Urrrgh!"

Well, congratulations, you're through, well done Foxic. Very good.

The group stages are now over, but the victorious Mr Speed Squared

have discovered some serious damage to their robot.

It runs on bearings.

And maybe four or five of them have just blown up.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

Foxic also have some technical issues to deal with.

We've got to take the side off and find out why it's loose,

and maybe get a touch of welding done.

But that should be fixable, should be able to do that.

We now have our four victorious robots:

They all progress to the head-to-heads,

a series of one-on-one battles, scoring three points for a win,

and two for a judges' decision.

The two robots with the most points at the end of this stage

will be tonight's finalists.

No repairs that I can see of, yet.

I'll have a detailed look and go from there,

but I wouldn't have thought there would be much, fingers crossed.

This wheel, we just can't get quite right.

So we were only on three wheels at the end of the day.

So a little work to do on that,

get some power in the batteries, and we will be good to fight next.

Approaching the end of the allotted repair time,

Mr Speed Squared have managed to resolve their bearings issues.

We had to modify some other bearings to fit.

And use some extra sort of rubber cushioning in between

to try and stop it happening again. It's just taking a little bit longer

than we thought.

The two hours of repair time are up. Ready or not,

Thor and Mr Speed Squared must down tools and make their way

to the arena for the first head-to-head.

Having avoided a spinner in the first round,

can Thor's axe stand up as well against Mr Speed Squared?

My name is Jason Marston.

My day job, I'm a builder.

The things that I've brought from the trade into building a robot

is a big 'ammer.

Watching Robot Wars on the telly,

I thought, "I can do better than that." And I couldn't.

Not for a few years, anyway.

My main concern about Thor is it's not battle-tested.

And I am pushing the envelope on some of the designs in that.

If Thor gets totally destroyed, I will be heartbroken.

300 hours of work, and a lot of money smashed to pieces.

Upsetting!

To win Robot Wars, it would be a bit of a dream come true.

After all these years of building, that would be, yeah...

That would be special, actually, yeah.

Mr Speed Squared are a family team who have surprised all

with their new robot. But do they have the killer instinct to win?

The doctor will see you now.

A family team. Jake, data analyst.

Sam, motorsport engineering.

Myself, consultant cardiologist.

Well, my job, which involves surgery at work, obviously,

is precise and controlled. So robots allow a different kind of surgery

to take place which is a lot less precise and much less controlled

and perhaps a bit more fun.

It's OK, you won't feel a thing.

As a family, we've always been tinkering, building go-karts,

and racing cars, and mucking around, doing stuff together.

So it seemed a good idea to do the Robot Wars thing.

We have good team dynamics, we get on well.

There's always robust discussion on how it's going to be, but I guess,

because I pay for it, often it goes my way.

Building the robot, the hardest thing that we've come across

is getting strong enough mountings for the disc.

We're just a little family group in the shed building this thing.

Some of the bots have loads of money spent on them, professionally built.

We'd like to upset some people there.

At work, we try and avoid fatalities.

But at Robot Wars, that's the mission.

Three, two, one. Activate!

Have they managed to repair the damage in the pits?

Driven ball-bearing-barmy,

the Mr Speed Squared boys.

And the pit release already activated.

The two most impressive robots so far.

Oh, what came off there?

Something flew away, across the arena floor.

And Mr Speed Squared are running away,

and not getting the circular blade

up to running speed at all.

It is totally ineffective.

It's the baby of Robot Wars,

five weeks old.

Bye-bye, baby. Baby, bye-bye.

Mr Speed Squared

so brilliant in the first battle

of this heat.

Thor, one of the most experienced robots in this competition,

been battling for 15 years.

-CROWD CHANT:

-In the pit! In the pit!

And look at the power of the drive.

-CROWD CHANT:

-In the pit! In the pit! In the pit! In the pit!

Thor has destroyed washing machines, microwaves,

loads of household appliances.

Now destroying Mr Speed Squared.

Dead Metal playing a role.

Oh, now can they get that circular saw up to speed?

Look at the damage caused by the axe.

Absolutely smashing down through the armament.

And comes in now, surely, for the kill.

The only thing that can beat Thor now is...

Oh, and the floor flipper!

How about that?

Can self-right.

Were they getting too cocky

and arrogant

heading for victory,

and lost sight of the floor-flipper?

Back on top now, but Mr Speed Squared

has a new sense of survival.

This might go to the judges yet, you know.

And in comes Shunt.

And Thor can't rain any more blows down, it would seem.

But the unarmoured section of Mr Speed Squared now on top,

hugely vulnerable.

Can they get to the motors, can they destroy?

Onto the tyres, now vulnerable.

Oh, I think this is it.

Oh, goodness me, nearly was for Thor.

It is for Mr Speed Squared, into the pit of oblivion.

-KLAXON BLARES

-Cease!

It went quite well.

The start was not as I planned.

Missed him on the initial charge, so I had to do a quick U-turn

and come back after him. But luckily enough, he hadn't managed to get

the disc up to speed,

so no harm done.

A comfortable victory for Thor,

but the early optimism from Mr Speed Squared has now soured.

-We've had a beating.

-Look at this as well, what is going on?

In that match, we took on a very experienced, powerful,

well-driven robot

who did exactly the right thing, got on us like a rash,

didn't give us any chance to get the disc up to speed,

and he pushed us all over the shop, then managed to get us flipped over

and then pummelled us on our soft underbelly,

getting into a lot of our vital organs.

-We underestimated how much these bearings can take.

-Yeah.

So every fight, we're going to have to replace them.

After our first head-to-head,

Thor scores three points

and takes the top spot.

Mr Speed Squared falls

to last place,

with Foxic versus Shockwave

next to fight.

-Foxic, you're up against Shockwave.

-Yes.

-Are you all set?

-Yeah, we're good.

-You're good?

You see, this is the thing, I find your confidence borderline arrogant,

considering you just ran around the ring.

-MOCKING:

-Oh, we just ran around, we just ran around.

-Is that your imitation of me?

-Yes, it is, I'm afraid.

-Crucially, is the drive back?

-Yes, it's all fixed.

-Really?

-Yeah, we're all fixed.

-And what about the weapon?

The weapon works now. We've gone for the smaller lift.

-Right, why is that?

-A tactical reason.

Go on, hit me with it. No-one can hear.

(I can't fit the other one back on.)

Beautiful tactics! I love this, as you can tell.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

The power in Shockwave's motor had snapped the drive chain.

Now repaired, the team plan for Opposition Foxic.

This sharp edge here was incredibly effective. We've just got to get

under them and then displace them, and lift them up, that's the secret.

After a lacklustre first performance,

Foxic have something to prove.

But apparently they're going to storm the head-to-heads.

I'm Craig Danby, I'm from Bristol, and my robot is Foxic.

The good thing about building a robot by myself

was that I didn't have to compromise with anyone else's ideas.

It was all my train of thought, my build, I did everything my own way.

Everyone else is just along for the ride.

The robot is modular, it was designed so it can come apart

and go back together as quickly as possible.

I'm here to bring a lot of pain, a lot of damage, a lot of aggression,

a lot of speed, a lot of robustness. I'm here to kill.

Shockwave are pushing their new machine to its limits

with their no-holds-barred combat style.

But can their untested machine take the punishment?

My name is Will Thomas. I'm a PhD student, studying Cybernetics

at the University of Reading.

My main responsibilities are the concept and the CAD design

and the driving of the robot. My dad Ian is responsible for

the mechanical building and the electronics.

Building robots and taking part in competitions has really taken over

the entire family. My mum gets involved, she is making

all the shirts to make us look presentable at the competitions.

Dad's always been good at DIY, but over the last few years,

he's learned a lot about welding and milling and drilling to help us

build a winning robot.

The House Robots overseeing this head-to-head, Dead Metal,

and for the first time today, Matilda.

Sporting her pneumatic flipping tusks

and destructive tail flywheel, absolutely beautiful.

Three, two, one.

Activate!

Ah, so they want to be the villains of the piece, Foxic.

But will they have repaired that drive system damage?

They were slipping in the earlier fight.

Shockwave want to get in underneath with the bucket and flip Foxic.

Down goes the pit release.

So they need driving skills to stay away.

Run, Foxic, run, Foxic, run, run, run!

But they look more competitive than they were before.

If they can stay out of trouble, that is.

Oh, they're in the CPZ.

Ill-advised. Dead Metal is in there, can catch them in the pincers.

Shockwave trying to edge them onto Dead Metal.

And Foxic caught in the claws, but look at this power.

That is not Dead Metal dragging Foxic,

that is Foxic pushing Dead Metal.

So it looks to me as if they have corrected the drive system.

And they love it.

That's a huge House Robot they're pushing, but Matilda,

it's not your turn, get back.

And now, having pushed into Dead Metal, they couldn't get away.

They will sustain damage from the Dead Metal blade.

And it's time for Shockwave to get a push in.

Steering away from the House Robot and now perhaps they can flip Foxic

against the side wall.

-He's there, he's stuck.

-It's been a brave battle so far from Foxic,

much, much improved.

But how much damage was sustained there, I wonder?

Can they self-right? Yes, they can, well done.

And steering away, initially, from Shockwave, but no more.

Down go Foxic.

Into the fox's lair that is the pit, and out.

Cease!

Well done. Unlucky, chaps.

Well, they wanted to get in underneath Foxic,

but it was the other way round, initially.

Then they used the brute pushing power force,

and I think that was where major damage was caused to Foxic,

from Dead Metal.

But in the end, I feel that was inevitable.

All four teams have now had their first head-to-head.

They must still take on each of the other robots,

scoring as many points as possible.

Someone yet to get off the mark is Foxic, and no surprises,

he's not happy about it.

We lost. As far as I'm concerned, that's it for me.

So I'm going to go after the House Robots.

Look at these pansy saws. Look at them.

He better hope the House Robots don't hear him talking like that.

Meanwhile, the undamaged Team Shockwave

prepare for the next fight.

After the first two head-to-heads,

Thor and Shockwave are at the top of

the table with three points apiece.

Foxic and Mr Speed Squared are yet

to get off the mark.

Next up, and it's a big one,

it's Thor versus Shockwave.

While the teams prepare for the next battle,

I'm here with one of our three judges, Sethu Vijayakumar,

who is a professor of robotics at the University of Edinburgh.

Sethu, it's an interesting challenge, robotics, but robotics is

a field that has evolved enormously over the last recent while.

One of the things we're going to do with robots is we're going to place

them into environments that we just can't put human beings.

That's probably one of the great frontiers for robotics.

That's correct.

One of the programmes that I've been associated with is an exciting

collaboration with Nasa.

I was at the Johnson Space Centre,

working on one of their state-of-the-art robots

called the Valkyrie.

-Where was this robot going to go?

-Nasa has a 15-year vision

about creating an unmanned programme to Mars. There are two reasons

to it. It cuts down the price of space travel significantly.

It's almost one-seventh or one-eighth the price

-of a manned mission.

-Really? Just because you're limiting oxygen,

the need for water in the same way, you're limiting the need for food?

And the safety constraints are much less stringent, obviously.

because you could afford to lose a piece of equipment,

-you couldn't afford somebody's life.

-So where we're going to find

our robots isn't even going to be here, necessarily, our robots

are going to be the ones being the intergalactic explorers?

Hopefully, hopefully. And we will follow them, after making sure

-everything else is safe.

-OK, cool.

Thank you very much again to the robots.

With no damage sustained in his last head-to-head,

Jason has had time to tailor Thor for his next fight.

For the Shockwave fight coming up,

I did have, previous to that, this plate across the front,

to stop the spinners. So, I took that off and we've now got these on,

which will hug the floor,

and effectively render his front scoop useless, so he won't be able

to get under me and lift me over. That's the plan, anyway.

Fresh off their initial victory, Shockwave has had a makeover.

This looks like a very different Shockwave.

It's had a complete overhaul since the last fight.

We've got a brand-new front end, so it's sort of a high-impact one,

-we can deflect the axe of Thor.

-You're not expect to do damage yourself with this?

That's it, we're going to do the same thing we always do,

push him around the arena and try and get him in the pit.

And where did this come from?

This is actually a gas-main pipe, we got this outside of our house,

cut it up and it's really, really tough stuff.

So we're going to raise it up like that.

-Fantastic.

-And Thor can smack this all day long.

-It wasn't in use,

-outside your house?

-No.

-Good luck,

-Shockwave. Thank you very much.

Thor and Shockwave go head-to-head now,

each robot adapted to try and gain some kind of advantage.

They're at the top of the league and powerful robots.

Will Shockwave's changes do anything to protect them

against Thor's merciless axe?

The teams are ready. It's battle time.

-Three, two...

-Shockwave and Thor,

two of the most experienced teams in the competition.

This promises to be a barnstormer.

The new scoop of Shockwave,

the new front feet buffers of Thor.

Don't forget, Shockwave lost a chain for one wheel earlier this evening.

But that's good power and push.

And immediately, Shockwave backing onto the House Robot.

That's where they could be vulnerable, also at the sides.

And they're taking punishment at the sides,

trying to self-right with that bucket.

On the top, 15 millimetres of high-density polyethylene plastic

is protecting... Oh, the bucket's come off!

Look at that, part of the bucket...

..literally flew away.

Now they're suspect on the front left wheel, too.

If Thor can manoeuvre with the gyroscopic stabiliser

and that magnificent turn of speed,

the greater manoeuvrability to get in on the side wheels...

We are seeing a very capable robot in Thor.

Huge power, one and a half tonnes of axe power down there.

Jason, one of the most experienced drivers,

builders in Robot Wars history.

The bucket scoop fragmented.

There's the carnage.

There's the wreckage.

And, boy, we love it.

And off comes another piece.

Whatever they put it on with -

sticky-backed plastic, it looks like to me - it wasn't good enough.

And Thor here, well on top.

Can Shockwave just stay out of trouble, though?

That's what it needs to do now.

Maybe take it to the judges.

Maybe last the whole bout.

Can Thor deal a death blow?

That's the big question.

Good control there

by Will Thomas and Ian Thomas, the father-and-son team,

to stay away from Thor's axe.

The floor spikes, the House Robot,

damage there caused on the weaponry mechanism.

It's buckled.

Out of control into the corner,

or are they simply just turning away from trouble?

Look at the axe there, right into the wheel.

They need to get out of that corner, and they do so.

Discretion the better part of valour.

Live to fight another day, but without the bucket,

it's completely gone now.

For me, Thor the most impressive robot so far.

But pushed on there, to Matilda.

All these points will be tallied up by the judges should they survive.

And they've got ten seconds to survive.

The crowd are counting down.

Oh, great valour and courage from Shockwave.

Thor dominating,

but Shockwave still in there, and it goes to the judges.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

And they know the judges will be marking on control,

damage and aggression right now.

Thor the most aggressive robot right from the start.

Pushing Shockwave onto the House Robot, causing damage with the axe.

Shockwave lost its scoop in various stages,

it has to be said.

But what a competitive spirit, in the end,

to stay clear of Thor just enough and push Thor onto Matilda.

Wow, this could be tight.

I am breathless, Dara, what a fight.

I think that was a fantastic fight. I think it was great cos I'm

actually looking at shards of both robots spread over the arena there.

But it has been a unanimous decision.

And the winner of this bout, under the judges' ruling,

is Thor.

Well done, congratulations, Thor.

Nice one.

There we go with Thor's thing!

Do the Thor thing! Very good.

OK. So, no points for Shockwave there, but two points,

because it was a judges' decision, go to Thor.

As the judges, we're looking at aggression, damage and control.

And Thor's hammer coming down, hammering it all the time,

the aggression, using those

criteria, we said Thor would win.

Mighty Thor powers through but Team Shockwave are heavily damaged

and have suffered both robot and human casualties.

Just getting it out of the arena,

we lifted it out and a really sharp bit has caught William's fingers

so he's in first aid now. So, we've got a puncture.

Scoop's gone.

The hub has been completely smashed to smithereens.

Thor was just so strong.

So, yeah, I've got to plough on now, repair our plough,

and get ready for the next fight.

Thor are now at the top

of the table with five points,

whilst Shockwave stay on three.

So a win for either Mr Speed Squared

or Foxic would get them

back in the game. It all comes down

to this next battle.

Having worked solidly since their last battle,

Mr Speed Squared are putting on a brave face.

But have they done enough to prepare for this all-important fight?

The disc is bent. So it's just jamming on all the bearings.

It's fine,

we are going to go into the next battle and do some serious damage.

-We are.

-Whether it will be mainly to ourselves or to the opponent,

we don't know. We hope the opponent, obviously.

Plagued by drive problems so far in this proposition, Team Foxic seem

confident we'll finally get to see them at their true potential.

-So, it will drive now?

-No, it's driving, it's fine.

-We'll just make sure it's doing what it's supposed to be doing.

-It is.

The House Robots, the deadly Dead Metal,

and for the very first time today, Sir Killalot, thank you very much.

Three, two...

Will Foxic have repaired their drive problems?

Has Mr Speed Squared survived that dreadful damage by Thor?

Tentative at the moment.

Mr Speed Squared backing away.

We've seen the weapon spin a little, but you can see there, it's buckled

and bent out of shape, as they were saying.

Can't spin. They need to attack here.

Attack, attack, attack, that's what the crowd want, that's what we want.

We want a bit of a rumble in the arena jungle.

They're in on the House Robot now.

Well, you remember they wanted to push the House Robots.

You need to get out of there cos both of them are combining now.

Meanwhile, Mr Speed Squared is doing absolutely nothing.

Well, I think it's going to go to the judges. I pity them.

In all my years,

this has been one of the dullest Robot Wars contest I've ever seen.

Come on! Let's see something, go on, drive into the pit!

I think it's going to go to the judges, isn't it?

Can either of these robots deal a death blow?

They are together there. It's just a question of avoiding the pit.

Can Mr Speed Squared shove Foxic in?

No. Good control by Foxic, getting in underneath.

Dear, oh, dear.

This has been so dreary, I feel weary!

Six seconds, thank goodness.

Three, two, one.

Klaxon goes, judges take over.

-That was terrible.

-That was awful!

Pardon me, everyone, I've got to go out and make a cup of tea.

I'll be back sometime soon.

Mr Speed Squared and Foxic, I can't even look at you.

You know this is called Robot Wars, not Robot Wimps!

What were you doing?

-Just didn't work.

-Your spinner didn't work, what was your excuse?

We've got no drive on one side so we can only go backwards and forwards.

No game plan, more like. So, it was a split decision.

But the judges decided, two to one,

that it was...

-Mr Speed Squared.

-Yes!

-Two points to you guys.

I mean, a very limp clap.

You need to up your game for the next round.

That is one of the worst fights, it might even be the worst fight

I've seen in the whole of Robot Wars. Just complete rubbish.

Bit of an anti-climax, really. We spent a lot of time fixing up

the disc, hoping to get a good bang on Foxic.

Unfortunately, in the arena, it didn't spin up. We don't know why,

everything else was all right. We got the judges' decision, but...

didn't feel very glorious, really.

With just one more round

of head-to-heads to go,

Thor is hammering ahead

on five points.

Shockwave is second on three points.

Mr Speed Squared is on two,

and lying at the very bottom,

with zero points, Foxic.

Next up in the head-to-heads, it's Foxic versus Thor.

I'm more than happy to fight Thor.

I came here for Thor.

I'm going to drive in with this upright,

and I'm going to cut his bloody axe off.

But having won both of his head-to-heads,

Jason doesn't appear too concerned.

He hasn't won anything since he's been here yet,

so I don't think he's going to start now.

Foxic claim to have finally fixed their drive problem and can operate

at full power. As rivals Thor have not yet guaranteed their place

in the final, could this be a dangerous case of complacency?

If Foxic can deliver on the promises,

a major upset could be on the cards.

I make a habit of beating up the boss.

I've killed them all, and he's the last one to kill.

So, yeah, he's next.

I've actually got the front end designed especially for him.

So the Foxic team think they can take any axe.

They won't take this one.

Three, two, one.

Activate!

Bit of a grudge match, this, then.

Foxic say they're operating at full power -

full hype, that's for sure.

-Hit me!

-They say they want the axe.

At the moment, though,

Thor, the pit release is activated.

And they have, with the full power,

driven Thor onto that release

and onto the arena sidewall.

And out comes Dead Metal.

And this is the best display we've seen from Foxic so far.

But Thor now getting on top.

Oh, little turn of speed there by Foxic.

They can get up to 17mph.

And the two 15 horsepower servomotors

do seem to be operating at full power. Smiles all round.

We know that Thor has the weaponry,

we know that Foxic has that lithium polymer armament.

The Danby boys of Foxic have made 132 robots so far.

I have to say, this one possibly isn't the best.

Have to be cruel to be kind.

You might have to go back to the drawing board.

But who knows what will happen here,

because Thor finding things difficult.

There goes the axe!

They finally they have manoeuvred themselves into position

to have a crack with the axe.

Down it came. And Jason is a superb driver.

He got you, you're stuck. You're stuck.

And Foxic are on the flame.

I wonder if that axe blow was a killer blow?

Because Foxic's drive seems to have gone again.

Out comes Dead Metal.

It's in Dead Metal's pincers.

And now the axe can come raining in.

They're trying to manoeuvre themselves for a run at another hit.

All the while, damage being caused to the wheels.

Oh, no, get it off the fire!

You need to, because you're burning at the moment.

I think they've been immobilised.

Dead Metal is lining up the pincers to grab you again

and hold you there.

The drive motors must have -

oh, down comes that terrible circular saw!

Look at the damage there.

That is 15mm of wear- and abrasion-resistant steel

on that front wedge. And they are staggered

that it's causing that much damage.

Knife through butter.

-KLAXON BLARES

-Cease!

The klaxon sounds.

Thor manoeuvres away to safety.

-Coward.

-Damn straight.

-You coward!

THEY LAUGH

Maybe, but he's smiling.

And now... Oh, no, no, no.

We don't need this, Matilda.

Oh, Matilda, that's... Matilda, you're a bully.

You're just a bully.

Beautiful, but a bully.

So, Thor on the offensive.

Down came the axe.

And again, when they got themselves into position for a side-on attack,

they were merciless. Onto the flame pit. Dead Metal held them there.

That was the end of Foxic, couldn't get away.

Burn, baby, burn.

And this, oh, was unnecessary.

Jason!

-You coward!

-Craig was giving it large, trash-talking,

trying to psych me out, saying he's going to chop the axe off.

Hasn't got the ability to chop the axe off,

I'm the only one with the ability to chop the axe off. So, yeah,

it meant nothing. Straight over the top of my head.

So, the maximum three points

and Thor rightfully takes his place

in the final. But his adversary

is yet to be decided.

It all comes down to

this final head-to-head.

A victory for either

Mr Speed Squared or Shockwave will

secure their place to fight Thor.

All right, here we go with the final head-to-head of the night,

Mr Speed Squared versus Shockwave.

CHEERING

The maths are very simple here, lads. It's a win or nothing.

Yeah, we can do it. We've got the anti-spinner scoop on,

we're going to hit him hard, and straight down the pit, we hope.

Fantastic. And also, can we see the human cost of Robot Wars?

AUDIENCE: Oh!

-How did this happen?

-Loading it out of the arena after the last fight.

-Dropped the robot on my hand.

-You dropped the robot on your hand.

-Yep.

Can you drive with two fingers immobilised?

-Luckily, the thumbs are OK, that's the main bit.

-Fantastic.

The thumbs are OK, that's the main bit!

CHEERING

You heard what Dara said. It's pretty simple, but you need a win

-to get through to that final and take on Thor.

-We do.

-We're going for the win, though.

-Yeah.

-We're going all-out,

everything we can do to make the disc go as fast as possible.

-OK.

-No holds barred.

-No holds barred. Good luck.

CHEERING

Mr Speed Squared!

Crucial for both.

They need to steal a win to stay in the competition.

Activate!

Mr Speed Squared shoved backwards.

The plough, scoop, bucket, call it what you will, on Shockwave,

destroyed previously by Thor,

is at the moment being used to great effect.

In goes Shockwave again, with a push and shove onto Dead Metal.

New robot, Shockwave, to its team,

taking damage there from the circular saw of Dead Metal.

Really venomous House Robot throughout this heat of Robot Wars,

which has been sensational so far.

And Shockwave, ooh! Off comes the chain again!

They lost the chain on one wheel early on,

that will decrease the manoeuvrability of Shockwave.

Now largely just being nudged.

The blade cannot cause any damage, it would seem,

to the Shockwave front bucket...

..which can lift up to 200 kilos in weight...

And slammed it in a body press against the arena side gate there.

I see smoke! And that could be the end,

that could be the drive motor gone.

And that could be the end of Mr Speed Squared.

-Get out of there.

-Can they survive now the last few moments?

Is there anything left in Mr Speed Squared?

Team captain Peter works in a hospital theatre as a cardiologist.

Plenty of heart in Mr Speed Squared.

But it's about to be arrested, it would seem, by Shockwave.

Not hugely brutal and powerful, this contest,

but good control by Shockwave.

Mr Speed Squared now vulnerable.

Turned up.

Motors uppermost, tyres uppermost.

House Robots waiting for the kill.

Oh, well done. Got out of trouble there.

Peter and sons Jake and Sam, good competitors.

Good fun.

They won't think so at the moment, being lifted up, look at that,

like a toy. A little bit of buckling to the bucket on Shockwave,

but they're on top.

-Get away!

-They need to get away from the bucket, that's for sure.

Took a big blow there, shards coming off Mr Speed Squared,

they've had trouble with bearings throughout the night.

It's an innovative design.

Power in the first round.

They caused damage, but in doing so, dealt damage to themselves.

They couldn't repair it -

and Shockwave nearly drove themselves into the pit

before finally finishing off Mr Speed Squared

into the square-shaped trap. Victory for Shockwave.

Into the final.

-KLAXON BLARES

-Cease!

And what a final it will be. Shockwave against Thor.

Shockwave with the pushing power.

Nudging Mr Speed Squared onto the House Robots.

Good control,

good technique.

Power behind the lift, and the final shove, of course,

nearly a driving mistake.

They'll have to watch that in the final against the mighty Thor.

After six gruelling battles,

the head-to-heads are over.

Time now for tonight's final

between Shockwave and Thor.

With a brand-new robot,

Shockwave were surprised to survive the group stage.

We've done way better than we thought we were ever going to.

We thought if we go through round one, we've done brilliantly,

and now we've got this far,

we realised our robot's way more competitive than we ever thought.

Against Foxic, Shockwave showed it had the pushing power required,

but against Thor, Shockwave took a beating,

falling victim to Thor's experience and deadly axe.

In the final, they must face them again.

This is it for us. Potentially our last fight so we're going to go out

in a blaze of glory.

Unbeaten, Thor has dominated in the arena in every match.

A perfect mixture of style, control and power.

Thor has consistently caused unprecedented damage,

relentlessly dominating the competition.

At this stage of the competition, of course, I want to get to the end

and I want it. Do I think I can do it? Oh, yeah, we can do it.

It's Thor versus Shockwave.

At stake is a place in the grand final.

But will the hammer beat the scoop?

For the last time tonight, it's over to Jonathan.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thanks, Dara. Our finalists, Shockwave and Thor.

The winner here will go through to the Grand Final.

One of these robots will be going home.

Three, two, one.

-Activate.

-Shockwave's aim -

to pitch Thor using that front bucket or wedge scoop.

Immediately, it's a good start by Shockwave.

110 kilos of weight.

Can get up to 20mph, second quickest in this heat.

The only quicker robot is Thor,

very manoeuvrable, but under pressure here.

Surprising, they nearly got him into the pit!

He's in the pit, surely! Oh, what an upset! What an upset!

Shockwave have won! I cannot believe it!

INDISTINCT CHATTER

-I don't know what the hell happened there.

-What a turn-up!

What a shocker.

-KLAXON BLARES

-Cease!

On the front foot straightaway, they used the front feet there,

Thor, to try and negate the lift of Shockwave's front wedge,

but they got them side-on.

That was the crucial thing, and Thor tried to right itself,

started to wobble and went in.

CHEERING

By Odin's Raven, Thor,

what happened to you out here?

First impact into the wall.

-Gone.

-Gone.

-And then you're in the pit within a minute.

-Add insult to injury.

-Humiliating for a god of your stature

to be dumped into a pit by that.

-Thank you(!)

-Thor, ladies and gentlemen, a fine, fine competitor.

CHEERING

Give it up for our grand finalists, Shockwave!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well done, guys.

Last time you went up against Thor in the head-to-heads,

it went to a judges' decision. It didn't go your way.

You've clearly changed tactics.

Yeah, last time, he completely battered us, really.

We lost the entire front end of the robot. So we changed tactic,

we wanted to go all-out on the offensive and, somehow, it worked.

Well done, guys.

CHEERING

From all of us at Robot Wars, goodnight.

CHEERING