Episode 3 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 will be a lot of things that people won't expect.

Battling in the biggest...

..toughest robot fighting arena in the world.

Each week, only the strongest will survive.

Last week, all robots great and small

smashed their way around our arena.

But it was the power of Shockwave and the huge axe of Thor that made

it through the heats.

The two titans clashed,

but Thor didn't last and Shockwave powered through to the grand final.

Who will join them this week

fighting to become the Robot Wars champion?

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

This is Robot Wars!

And this is the arena where the robots come to fight.

As you can see, it's filled with hazards -

spikes, the flipper, the pit and fire.

And as if taking on each other wasn't hard enough,

the teams must also contend with giant mechanised anger on wheels,

designed to pulverise anything that gets in their way.

Or, as we call them here, the house robots.

Behind me is the weapons testing area,

the last stop for our teams before they take the short but lonely walk

to the arena. It's the only place where the teams are able to test

their robots, due to the sheer power of the weapons.

Here in the pits, the teams are busy checking and repairing their robots,

ready for battle.

Here's a quick heads up on how the show works.

We start with two huge group battles.

It's a 50-50 shot if you escape, even from there.

Then the top two robots from each one progress to the head-to-heads

and, finally, the two robots that score the most points

in the head-to-heads fight in tonight's final.

The first group battle will feature...

OK, I have to say, this I'm very excited about.

I love a bit of neon. Hello, Team Glitterbomb.

-Hello.

-How are you doing? Are you the dad?

-Good.

-Yes, I am.

-Are you the boss?

-Yes, I am.

-Good woman.

Now, tell me about Glitterbomb.

How long has it taken to build?

-Quite a long time and...

-How long are we talking?

Four weeks, but mostly the last week.

Oh, it's been, like, a bit of a crammer?

-72 hours straight.

-Who chose the colour scheme?

It's quite unique, it definitely stands out in here.

I chose the colour scheme and I also chose the design.

-And what's your name?

-April.

April. And did you choose the costumes as well?

I chose the logo, but I didn't choose the black.

Tell us about the design.

It's a pink robot that's all glittery,

-with a belt around its waist.

-Right.

And the axe is really spiky, so it can dig into robots.

Brilliant. And who drives it?

-My dad.

-OK.

Did you have a few goes at this weapon before it was complete?

We haven't tested the weapon yet.

-We tested the old version of the weapon...

-Right.

..but since we've put the new parts in, it's not been tested.

-OK.

-But April's controlling the weapon in the arena,

so if it goes horribly wrong, it's not my fault.

Although, he'll have his finger on my thumb,

so he's controlling my thumb!

This is Overdozer and the team from Overdozer.

Can I start with what is the obvious question?

It seems uniquely to be made out of wood.

Yeah, we went with an MDF armour,

because it's cheap and really easy to cut

because we did not have a lot of time to make this robot.

Really? This has been...

-This is your first attempt as well.

-Pretty rushed. Yeah, the first...

When you arrived in here, you looked around and you didn't see any

other wooden robots, was there any part of you thinking,

"This might be a bad idea?"

We kind of had a thought that it might be quite a bad idea

right from the beginning.

It probably will stand up to a lot more punishment than people will

-give it credit for.

-Also, one huge change,

it's not an electric engine like most of the ones out here...

-What kind of engine?

-We have a petrol engine under here

-to power our active weapon at the back.

-What's your active weapon?

It's just a spinning blade.

-It's like an outboard motor, essentially, at the back?

-Yeah.

You've made a boat.

It probably wouldn't float, but, yeah!

How high do you rate your chances -

with your petrol engine, which could burn down your wooden boat,

which has an outboard engine?

Oh...

A long pause.

I'll take that pause. I'll take that pause and run with it.

Overdozer, I'm loving this.

I want your cabinet to win, that's what I want.

So, King B Remix, quite a smart robot, in every way?

Yes, he is, very much.

He understands Japanese, actually - only Japanese.

-So I am a commander.

-You are the commander.

And, holding a drill, you look slightly terrifying!

Amazing. Talk to me about the weapon.

Well, our main weapon is actually to be just fast and powerful.

We have these spikes, you see. We can get under them and lift them

and take them all around the arena.

-You're going to dance around!

-Absolutely.

-Muhammad Ali style.

-Exactly.

I can't wait to see you waltz around that arena.

Brilliant, guys. Thank you. Best of luck.

Now, Dantomkia,

which is a robot with some heritage as well, isn't it?

The original owner, Mike,

he named it after his three children -

Daniel, Thomas and Kiara.

He stopped playing with the hobby and then we took over it

to resurrect it.

And it's an interesting piece of work,

because the robot itself is a weapon.

It can be a very powerful weapon.

The whole thing can spin round and be a very deadly full body spinner,

-if we need it to as well.

-You've also got a flipper there as well.

We're laying on the high-pressure flipper to flip robots over, out,

in the pit and turn them over.

By the way, I'm impressed with the

way you've made it look very sciency... Very good.

With these completely fake readouts, rolling on a loop.

Are you going to get through this round?

Confident. We're confident.

-Can I give you a hint?

-Yeah.

-Go after the wooden robot.

That's the one!

Where's the smoke coming from, by the way?

-A bad thing hasn't happened?

-Not yet.

-Fine, good. OK.

Time, then, to put their robots in the firing line.

Loaded onto their trolleys, the teams must get up to the arena,

arm the weapons and prepare to fight.

Our man with a ringside view of the robots is, as ever, Jonathan Pearce.

Thanks, Dara and Angela.

The teams are almost ready and our esteemed judges in position.

Professor Sethu Vijayakumar,

Dr Lucy Rogers and Professor Noel Sharkey.

If there is no clear winner in each three-minute battle,

they'll appoint a winner judged on damage, control and aggression.

'From Falkirk, Scotland - Overdozer.'

This team of friends with a mutual love of engineering chose their

robot's wooden armour for its

flame retardant properties.

OK, then! Will they get a chance to

use their outboard motor-driven blade

before being reduced to sawdust?

It remains to be seen.

'From Wolverhampton - Dantomkia.'

This team of friends have the moves like Brucie and the flipper bot

made of tank-grade armour steel,

one of the quickest robots in

the competition.

Aimee Burch's role is team counsellor,

rehabilitating the rest of the team

after harrowing robot battles.

'From Wrexham, North Wales - Glitterbomb.'

This family team claim their robot can right itself

from any position with

its powerful pneumatic axe.

According to April's dad, James,

Glitterbomb was originally going to

be black, silver and cool looking.

April, however, insisted it be

pink and glittery.

'From Portsmouth - King B Remix.'

This flipper-rammer robot has green credentials,

made of 30% recycled parts.

The team captain Simon prepares for

battle at home by pushing

a wheelbarrow around at high speed.

Simon, the arena is no rose garden.

In all the matches this evening,

the competitors will be joined by one of the house robots.

For this group battle, it's the femme fatale of Robot Wars, Matilda,

with her fetching pink rear flywheel.

She'll be guarding her corner patrol zone, and if competitors cross the

line they'll face the wrath of this metallic mistress.

So here we go.

'Roboteers, stand by.'

'Three, two, one, activate.'

Wouldn't it be nice if Overdozer survives?

Get it?

They will soon. They're straight into the melee, though.

Glitterbomb being pushed away.

An attack by King B Remix on Overdozer.

We've lost drive, that's it.

Boarded armaments of Overdozer ruptured.

Pieces, splinters, I dare say, flying off.

Well, they didn't last long, did they, Overdozer?

We didn't think they would, but we thought they'd be better than that.

They were rubbish!

And they will be consigned to the rubbish bin, I should think.

Dantomkia chasing down on Glitterbomb.

How's that powerful axe, Glitterbomb?

Got a good blow from that axe in early on.

Oh!

April went through six different axes before she was happy.

All that power in that machine is in the axe.

They have very little manoeuvrability.

Why is it not working, Daddy?

More damage on...

Oh, Overdozer!

Look at the flipping power out there in the arena!

Sensational.

Dantomkia in underneath Overdozer and lifting 86 kilos

as if it were a leaf.

Now, King B Remix here are being clever.

They've stayed out of trouble, largely,

they know those tyres are exposed.

-Daddy!

-I don't think Glitterbomb and little April can get out of that

trouble now.

I think they've been immobilised.

Dantomkia very impressive, the quickest robot out there.

Very manoeuvrable and used the spikes underneath

the flipper to cause real mayhem.

And they have done.

Overdozer, you were rubbish, boys!

We won't build our next robot out of MDF!

-To come into the arena with...

-HE LAUGHS

KLAXON

..with a wooden robot! There are splinters out there!

Oh, dear.

Mend that one, I don't think so.

We're out. That's it.

I think we know the winners,

but let's just look at all the action again.

Overdozer almost went right from the start.

You'll see it here, coming forward confidently.

But King B Remix caused the early damage there.

That immobilised Overdozer.

They were out. Glitterbomb got in a couple of blows with the axe,

but I think that was it.

And they couldn't really function properly since then.

King B Remix very clever throughout.

And Dantomkia destructive.

Overdozer, so much hope, so little left.

Dantomkia, congratulations. Very good.

I thought that actually was quite an awesome performance by you guys.

-Were you happy with that?

-It was all right. It was good.

"It was all right." That sounds like a man who thinks there's more in the can.

We're getting used to it, there's more to come.

-What is yours built with?

-Treated military-style steel.

-Treated military-style steel.

Let's bear that in mind as I turn to our other team.

We've learned an important lesson today, haven't we,

about the value of MDF as shelving?

But not... Do you know how long you lasted?

-Less than 30 seconds.

-Not very long. Our drive system went out.

23 seconds you lasted out there.

Might as well have built it out of biscuit,

that's how effective wood was.

You were like the first little piggy of this particular story!

They huffed and puffed and they blew your house down.

Lovely to have you here, lads.

An absolute pleasure. Overdozer - a delight.

Glitterbomb, the crowd were behind you all the way.

And it looked like it was going well,

but it didn't quite pan out the way you had planned.

No. No, something went wrong.

I think we've got a gas leak.

-That's a bit of a shame.

-Was it Dad's driving, April?

-No.

-Good, stand by your dad.

That's the spirit. Well done.

Guys, I feel like, tactically, you kind of sat at the periphery.

I hope we see a little bit more action

-in the head-to-heads from you guys.

-Oh, we will, we will.

-We need to.

OK, good. Good luck.

Robot Wars can be brutal for the steeliest of competitors.

So there can be little sympathy for the students from Falkirk

who opted to build theirs from wood.

I don't think catastrophic begins to cut it at this point.

We built a robot in five days and we made it work.

We really need a step up for next time

if we want to last longer than 23 seconds.

Watching Overdozer being smashed to smithereens was really quite sad

in many ways. The hours that must have gone into it.

But it just goes to show, choosing your materials.

MDF, great to work with, easy to work with,

but if you're fighting against military grade robots

or military grade materials, you've really got to choose

what you're making its stuff of really well.

Glitterbomb, sadly, it looked like it had a problem with its hammer.

Didn't come back up.

We had a tiny leak while we were ramming up

and, by the time the fight started, our regulator had frozen.

So we got the two hits that were in the buffer tank and then that's it -

we had no more gas.

So it wouldn't self-right, it wouldn't throw the axe over.

One little tiny leak scuppered us.

I'm going to come back and I'm going to smash, bash and crash!

It's time to get on with the second group fixture.

Battling it out will be...

Supernova!

Is everything going to plan?

No, not quite.

So, yesterday, the electronics, the brains of the robot,

went kaput.

So we've spent the whole of today rewiring,

and it's been a nightmare.

-So, from scratch?

-Pretty much - rewired the whole robot.

So first-time test is going to be in the arena in about five minutes.

You're basically flying blind in there.

-Basically, yeah.

-OK, you don't seem too bothered.

I am, I just hide it well!

OK, let's have a talk to TR2.

Now, let's get you in here, lads. What age are you, young man?

-I'm 15.

-15 years old. So this is very much...

This is your mum and dad here as well.

OK, so they've drawn you into the family trade.

It's very much more of a family trade, isn't it?

-Who's your great, great four times removed great uncle?

-George Stephenson.

-George Stephenson, the father of the railways.

-Yep.

Would he be proud if he looked down now,

to see that the family are creating destructive robots?!

Is this the legacy that Stephenson wanted?

All the bodge. All the bodge.

OK, fine. What will this do?

Well, on the front end we've got a full pressure flipper,

and on the back we've got a deadly axe that we'll hopefully do some damage with.

-A deadly axe, that's that triangle of metal here?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, OK.

-Panic stations at Orte.

Somebody's been sent to run to get a receiver.

-What's happened?

-The antenna's fallen off our receiver here.

-Oh, no.

-It means it won't receive our signals.

-So it'll be just sitting...

-A lump of metal.

Nightmare. Will you be able to fix it?

-How long will it take?

-About five minutes.

-Well, there's a confident response!

-Maybe less.

Not quite panic stations.

One team with great hopes is Big Nipper.

Hello, Big Nipper. How are you? Are you doing well?

-Yeah, we're doing well.

-Fantastic.

This is an interesting one because you have not just one,

-but two weapons, am I right?

-Yeah, we've got interchangeable weapons, depending on who we're fighting.

So which one is the most destructive one?

This weapon that's on the robot now. It's a vertical spinning weapon.

It spins at about 4,200 rpm.

We've cranked it up to ten seconds,

that's as much as we dare crank it up for.

-It's that dangerous.

-What happens at 11 seconds?

It could destroy itself.

-Are you going to win this?

-Of course we're going to win it!

-Lovely stuff.

-It's the toughest robot here.

Even to itself! That's how tough it is.

So it's off to war for our teams as they head up to the arena.

Taking us through every destructive detail to their treasured robots is,

of course, Jonathan Pearce.

Thanks, Dara. It'll be interesting to see who can keep the gremlins

at bay, then, during the chaos of this second group battle.

'From Leeds - Big Nipper.'

A family team of engineers who're

responsible for this eight-wheeled machine.

Its interchangeable weapons are a

very high pressure crushing jaw,

or a vertical spinner.

The team are very confident.

They've rated their chances

of winning as 11 out of 10.

'From Gateshead - TR2.'

It's a family affair with mum and dad putting full confidence in

15-year-old Alex's driving skills.

Of course, it's also got a weapon

capable of flipping a small car

at its disposal.

The team are worried about the

quality of dad Clive's welding.

Let's hope they hold it together.

'From Brighton - Orte.'

A team of teachers and students have

a double-skinned steel

and titanium armour.

The team described their machine

as a nightmare in metal

and as having no weaknesses.

Captain Ian's been behind lots

of robot building projects,

including a robot that eats crisps.

'From Wallington, Surrey - Supernova.'

This bot boasts a mighty spinning disc

which rotates at 2,500 rpm.

Captain Suren, who works in the gas

and oil industry, and his team

promise that Supernova

will be a crowd pleaser.

But its disc is so powerful it could

easily damage itself if used incorrectly.

Overseeing this fight from the corner patrol zone for this

group battle, Sir Killalot.

At 750 kilos, what he lacks in speed he makes up for in damage.

'Roboteers, stand by.'

'Three, two, one.

'Activate!'

Supernova... Oh, getting a slam on the right-hand side.

This is like taking a driving test at the Monaco Grand Prix!

And they're being nudged towards Orte.

Have they repaired their aerial problems?

They're stuck on the arena sidewall straightaway.

Slammed in there by Big Nipper.

We know all about Big Nipper's weaponry.

They have the ability to pick up an

opponent weighing 300 kilos and carry

it around the arena floor.

Supernova back in the action and slamming in on Big Nipper.

Well done, Supernova.

And if they can get that full spinning potential up,

it's much faster than most other robots of its type.

TR2 with a little bit of a push and a shove in there on Supernova.

Meanwhile, Big Nipper staying out of trouble and comes in behind TR2.

The flip over the axe of the back -

the team from Gateshead, on Tyneside.

Oh, head-to-head there!

The power of Supernova and Big Nipper.

Orte long gone, by the way.

Literally out of the picture.

And TR2 there and

Big Nipper teaming up on Supernova!

Very nearly in the pit. Oh, and Big Nipper nearly went down as well!

Well, how difficult is it to control these machines, I wonder.

Very difficult if you've got a gyroscopic effect

created by a 2,500-rpm spinning disc there

for Suren in charge of Supernova.

-May be powerful...

-HE LAUGHS

..but he couldn't control it.

They couldn't control Big Nipper, it would seem!

TR2 now, closing in on Supernova!

They've finally gone.

-KLAXON

-They couldn't stay out.

And Supernova disappear into the big black hole.

Oh, what a shame, they'd done so well.

Terrific contest, this.

We wondered about Orte's control because of the aerial.

And Supernova, largely untested, and Big Nipper doing the damage there.

You can see it had it in the link coming out.

Meanwhile, goodness me, how close that was for Big Nipper.

But Supernova didn't take the hint.

And although they came in and may have caused some damage to TR2,

they got the flipper underneath.

They carried them, and that's when Supernova went down and out.

Thank you very much.

TR2 survive with Big Nipper.

That was fantastic, you looked really powerful out there.

Yeah, well, we had a bit of a problem from the start,

we didn't have the flipper and the axe working. We had no pneumatics.

So you just drove them and smashed them and that was all it took?

-Yep.

-How good are you going to be when it goes head-to-head?

-Who knows, hopefully better!

-That's fantastic.

And you, winners as well.

This is... What a happy room this is for once.

But could have gone terribly wrong.

Oh, yeah. We nearly went in the pit. Too near.

There was a point that you skimmed the very edge of it. How did you manage to stay out?

Because we've got four wheels and only one went in the pit.

-The other three drove us off, just!

-Listen, well done to both of you.

Two winning teams. This is the winners' room.

Supernova, it looked like you were managing to keep it on track.

I mean, nearly got chucked in the pit, on your sides,

everything was looking good.

It was looking good. It felt like TR2 were really gunning for us.

Just didn't see that pit, and they just pushed us into it.

Why do you think they were gunning for you?

Because it's such a destructive weapon.

So I guess a good hit could disable them.

-So do you think they were going for you before you got a chance to get them?

-Yeah.

Before this fight we hadn't tested the drive or the weapon.

And the fact is, they're both still working right now.

-It's just we got the pit.

-I'm sorry, hard luck.

Now, Orte, you hardly got out of the blocks. What happened?

One fatal blow, it seemed.

Something fell off, we think the link fell out.

The safety link that all robots have to have.

-We think it fell out.

-How did you feel at the steering wheel?

-It was good.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-You gave it your best shot, didn't you?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, well done.

-Good man.

-Yeah.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Supernova started off very well, had a massive attack taking out Orte.

But then, in trying to run away from Sir Killalot, it fell into the pit.

We must have hit someone really hard, and it sheared the bolts,

and this blade basically was embedded into the arena wall.

So we actually sheared ten bolts off.

It was amazing, it was an amazing fight.

We performed quite well, we were a bit unlucky.

But it was good fun and we'll definitely be back.

After another merciless group battle,

Big Nipper and TR2 are through to the head-to-heads.

But victory has come at a price.

This should be straight. It's twisted all over there.

It's come out of where it slots in...

The disc isn't working, we might have just pulled some wires out,

-because it's come out.

-Supernova.

Well, I think we ran into him, and it did that.

Father-and-son team TR2 know they have work to do.

For some reason we haven't got the flipper working.

So that's what we're going to do now,

is find out why that failed and hope to have

it working for the next fight.

These two valves here are what fire the weapon.

The gas comes through, stops there until we fire those two,

which then fires the ram in the piston.

Luck was on our side that time, next time it might not be.

With the group rounds complete, the four qualifying robots...

..will now fight each other in one-on-one battles.

Our first head-to-head is between King B Remix and Dantomkia.

King B Remix, is the commander feeling confident?

Yes, I think we are more confident after the first battle.

Why do you feel more confident?

Because you did nothing in the group battles, so you're unscathed.

Well... He was too gentle and I talked to him, so he'll be...

-Gave him a little pep talk?

-Yeah.

-What did you say to him?

-Yare. Yare.

-What does that mean?

That means kill him.

On that note...

Now, Dantomkia, you came through that group battle,

I wouldn't say unscathed.

You have a rather large puncture hole.

And also it's been signed, "And first of many by King B Remix,"

who you are fighting in the next battle.

Are you going to stand for that?

No, they crept in to sign it and

they are going out of the arena for it now.

Amy, you are very much the counsellor for this evening,

how would you describe their emotional state at the moment?

They've had a few moments with getting the robot fixed and sorted

and ready for battle, but they're pretty cool.

You're saying they were down. You're saying they're brittle emotionally

and it wouldn't take much for them to break again,

-is that what you're saying?

-No, we're Dantomkia, we're strong.

-That's what I'm taking from this.

-No, we're strong.

Even the thing itself is exhaling in its own environment.

-He's ready. He's roaring, ready to go.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-OK, cool, fantastic.

Listen, the best of luck, Dantomkia.

Dantomkia arrive with smoke effects and digital displays.

But they'll need to prove themselves as fighters in the arena.

My name's Shane, I'm from Mablethorpe.

I'm team captain and driver.

We are from all walks of life.

I'm an arcade manager. Kevin and Amy, they're bar managers.

Stu, he's a managing consultant.

Our robot is Dantomkia.

We're not from a technical background,

but robot building itself, what it's taught us is to weld,

it's taught us electrics, it's taught us gearbox ratios,

pneumatics, it's taught us a lot.

And we make a good team now, so all good.

Dantomkia has two key features.

It's tail keeps the robot pointing to the ground,

and its flipper, lots of flips.

The thing I love about robot fighting

is watching other people lose.

Their faces, it's great.

You're not going to beat us,

just go and play with your little robot and dream on.

Heading into the all-important head-to-heads,

King B Remix weren't really tested in the group stage,

so this could be a rude awakening for the Portsmouth team.

I'm Simon. I'm the team captain and designer and builder

for King B Remix team, from Portsmouth.

My day job is actually a power electronics engineer,

so big electrical systems is my thing.

Martin's also a technical guy.

Grant is also into technical sales.

And Natsuko, well, who knows what Natsuko gets up to!

I have taken my experience from work which is power electronics.

We build this whole robot on the fact that we can pump a lot of power

into the motors, into the system, and keep it under control.

Sometimes though we have been known to overclock it a bit,

and we set fire to motors. That's our only problem, really.

We're all about attack.

But if Natsuko was driving, we wouldn't stop.

But to take it all the way to the end,

if the robot gods are smiling, it'd be amazing.

So here it is, Dantomkia versus King B Remix.

Faster flipper versus powerful pusher.

In the arena with our competitors for this fight,

Matilda and Dead Metal.

'Roboteers, stand by.

'Three, two, one...

'Activate.' KLAXON

Dantomkia quick off the mark.

Can get up to 22mph.

Good driving by King B Remix.

And they come in on the attack with those front spikes.

Dantomkia forgot about the floor spikes.

Now he loves to watch the others lose, says Shane Swan,

the captain and driver.

Will his team be the winning team,

or will he have to take a long look at himself?

Well, he's in underneath. King B Remix there!

And they're wedged in there.

Well, one mistake by King B Remix to open themselves up to the blip,

and they are not going to get out from there.

That is brilliant driving by Dantomkia.

And now, of course, King B Remix can be flipped out by Matilda.

KLAXON

Good start, I felt, by King B Remix.

Confident. Dantomkia with the initial mistake.

But once they had recovered from that,

they got in underneath King B Remix.

From then on, one outcome likely.

That was brutal.

And this, of course, was the coup de grace from Matilda.

Great performance by Dantomkia.

They showed perfect control, precision, great aggression.

And the way it flipped it in behind the tyre,

you couldn't have done better.

Rushing their robot back to the pits,

King B Remix need to find out as soon as possible

-how bad the damage is.

-Bad.

We broke it by just giving it too much...

If it can't be fixed, then if something very strange is going on,

then I'm panicking when it all starts going to pieces.

That's it. Thank you very much.

We have clean snapped the chain...

with power.

I whizzed up the power to maximum.

And that's what happened. That's like 1.6 tonnes

breaking force on that chain.

-Wow.

-That was a bit easy, wasn't it?

Shame, shame on them.

Shouldn't have put a hole in my robot.

At the end of the first head-to-head,

Dantomkia take the lead with three points,

with King B Remix on zero.

Next up, it's Big Nipper versus TR2.

Since their group battles,

teams have been fixing and repairing damage.

There you go, mate.

TR2 have now sorted their weapon firing system

and are feeling confident about the competition.

The best machine will win.

-Hope it's us.

-After limited success with their spinning disc,

Big Nipper have decided on a weapon change and will be using their

crushing jaws in the next battle.

The jaws are for lifting and crushing.

They can lift the robots up with a crushing power of about

three and a half to four tonne, so they tend to pick up the robots.

We can sustain a lot of a lot of damage,

so face power with power.

Big Nipper make the daunting walk to the arena.

If they can crush rivals TR2 and take the full three points,

they'll go joint top of the league.

I'm Graeme, we're from Lancashire and our robot is Big Nipper.

My day job is a toolmaker,

my brother is an electronics engineer,

my dad is a weaver.

We like the idea of a crusher but we wanted to build something different

so we thought, if it could pick the robots up, it would be a good idea.

We got all the materials from the local scrapyard, mostly titanium.

That's what you need to build a strong robot.

-And we've got these for both sides of the disc as well.

-You've got six bolts...

Being a toolmaker has helped a huge amount

for building the robot because I know how to use the machines,

I can use CNC machines and lays and spark eroders.

Without that experience,

I would have never have been able to build the robot as it is.

The strategy that we have in the arena is

go full speed and attack, attack, attack!

TR2 may have the youngest driver in the head-to-heads but he's proving

himself to be as good as any we have in the competition.

I'm Alex from Newcastle and my robot is TR2.

Robots and rugby, they're my two main hobbies, definitely.

I couldn't split them. I really couldn't split them.

I'm the captain of Team TR2 and also the driver,

my dad is the engineer and builder and my mum supplies the tea.

We just started going to live events

until we got into building robots and there we were.

I was just fascinated by it.

Being a geek, it sort of really intrigued me

and inspired me to have a go at that myself.

I'm not worried about anything going wrong on the robot.

It's tested over three years, 50 fights a year.

We know it works. If anything is going to go wrong,

it's going to be Dad's welding.

With a place in the final at stake, over to you, Jonathan.

So prepare for punishment.

Head-to-head two. Big Nipper against TR2.

One tonne of flip against four tonnes of crush.

The house robots are Dead Metal and Matilda.

'Roboteers, stand by.'

No flip on the first fight for TR2.

No-one in charge, apparently, for Big Nipper.

'Two, one. Activate.'

Here we go. TR2 coming in from the right,

trying to get away there from the clutching, gripping claws

of Big Nipper and getting in underneath and ready to flip.

Big Nipper! And over goes 110 kilos.

The heaviest machine in this heat of Robot Wars.

Simply tossed up into the air, as Matilda watches on.

And, again, Big Nipper is thrown by TR2.

They've repaired the CO2 supply.

Have they got enough of it to keep up this punishing pace

in the Robot Wars arena?

Big Nipper into the clutches of Dead Metal and down comes a

circular saw onto that armament.

Between seven and ten millimetres of grade five titanium in that armament

and they've survived to make this a good battle

but TR2 on the offensive. Good steering there.

Big Nipper getting away and trying to draw them into the CPZ.

But TR2 having none of that.

KLAXON

-AUDIENCE:

-In the pit!

And the last moment of this for Big Nipper!

Sure to go now!

And down they go and, in the end, they made it easy for TR2.

SIGHING

Tea for two, a cream tea.

It was that easy in the end for TR2.

But certainly TR2, the better machine getting in underneath

Big Nipper there with a slam into the side walls.

Imagine the damage caused, perhaps to the drive system.

I wonder if it was fully working.

There! As they got so near the pit it made it an easy task for

TR2 to simply shove them home.

The weapon seem to be lacking a bit in power,

but that could be because it's so cold today.

It didn't work in the first fight, so anything's an improvement.

We're happy.

This is one of the five where we saw the house robots really get into it.

Saw Dead Metal really cause some damage.

Dead Metal saw us come down and just scratched all the way up here.

For some reason, we didn't have enough power

so we need to look at that

but I think what we'll do is put the other weapon on.

Dantomkia and TR2 are both

on three points,

with King B Remix and

Big Nipper yet to score,

leaving this competition wide open.

I'm here with one of our judges - renowned mechanical engineer Dr Lucy Rogers.

We've been talking, Lucy, about how accessible robotics is and this is

also true for animatronic robotics.

Indeed. Here's a replica of an eight-metre dinosaur

that is at a theme park down on the Isle Of Wight.

I can take this small one...

-Yep.

-..into a school, they can program it on their desk

and I can then take the card,

put it in the main ones at the theme park

-and they can control them.

-And this is the kind of program

kids are being taught in schools these days,

which you program it as a flow chart, so you can make

-very easy requests...

-Yep.

-..to make something very direct happen.

-Yep.

-So, presumably, this is incredibly encouraged.

-Kids love this, I presume.

-Yeah.

-And what can you make it do?

Well, I've got it nodding and also wagging its tail.

But I've also got a sensor.

ROARING

And it knows when its mouth's open and when its mouth's closed.

So I can program it to roar with its mouth open.

-ROARING

-Fantastic. Brilliant.

-Isn't he good? She, it's a she.

-She? It's a she?

-She.

-You can sex a dinosaur?

You can sex a replica animatronic dinosaur?

Half of all dinosaurs were female.

I'll give you that. The odds are not quite in your favour

but I'll give you that.

Next to face each other in the head-to-heads,

it's the top-of-the-table clash between Dantomkia and TR2.

Dantomkia make final adjustments to their robot in the knowledge that

a victory here could put them through to the final.

It stopped about there. Needs to come down a bit more.

I think it's just catching on the side.

So take this off. Wind it down.

We sustained one tiny little bit of damage.

Other than that, we're pretty much unscathed.

We're ready to go the whole distance.

All they need to do is defeat the undefeated TR2.

Quietly confident now, but not cocky.

-That's the thing.

-We've got to remain composed.

Got to stay in the zone.

Alex is doing well, he's driving well.

We've got a chance now of getting through.

Three crucial points up for grabs here which would propel either team

into a strong position to make it through to the final.

Over to you, Jonathan.

Dantomkia versus TR2, two powerful flippers.

Precision and control will really count here.

-ALL:

-Activate!

KLAXON

"We're ready to go all the way," says Dantomkia.

"We're quietly confident," say TR2.

They very nearly got in under the side there of Dantomkia and, again,

go for an assault on the side of that big mean yellow machine.

Dantomkia using the weaponry to self-right.

And, of course, one of the first ever self-righting

srimech system we saw in Robot Wars,

using the weaponry and they've done it again well there.

Slammed onto the arena wall,

but bounce up they come again, like Tigger.

GASPING

Oh!

And Dantomkia getting in underneath.

Very nearly flipped TR2 there.

But it's flipped. This is a really good contest, isn't it?

It's flipping fantastic for me.

Over they go again.

And now they come in for the kill, TR2.

And I wonder what's happened there to Dantomkia.

What's happened?

That final flip I think immobilised him.

-Yeah, we're dead.

-They cannot move, it seems to me.

Something's come loose.

KLAXON

And TR2, the winners here.

Yes!

What damage sustained by Dantomkia, I wonder.

Titanic tussle here.

Right from the start, they went almost head-to-head.

There's the flip by the arena wall.

The self-righting mechanism of Dantomkia working there,

but don't forget, they're draining themselves of power with each flip.

TR2 on the offensive, and again and again.

Trying to get underneath the side, getting in behind...

..and that was the final flip.

-What happened there?

-I've no idea.

Can you repair, do you think, in time for your last battle?

-We'll see.

-Because the last battle is vital. You have to win this last battle.

-I'm sure... It's normally something simple. Fingers crossed, you never know.

-Yeah.

-We'll see.

-TR2, congratulations.

-Thank you!

That's a fantastic victory, it really is.

It was, kind of, an unusual manoeuvre at the end though

because you knew he was done for and then you

just started backing your bum towards him in a very aggressive...

You were basically flaring yourself at him like a baboon.

We've got the yellow and green axe on the back,

-so we tried to hit him with that.

-You have a bum axe, of course.

And then you just get him with the bum axe.

It's the first time we've been able to

use the bum axe on anybody, so...

Killed by a bum axe. Yes.

When I first started, the robot didn't seem itself, anyway,

and it was like a slippery slope.

It got worse and worse and worse and then died.

Which points to batteries,

but I just really don't know at this moment.

What do you do? What do you do?

I've got just the tool to fix it.

OK.

Damn you! Damn you!

TR2 take a commanding lead

with six points.

Dantomkia lose ground and stick on three,

whilst Big Nipper and King B Remix

are still to score.

Next up, it's Big Nipper versus King B Remix.

The two teams who have yet to score.

You guys need three points to get through, right?

-We desperately need three points, yes.

-Are you confident?

Relatively, mildly, not at all.

One of those.

-This is do or die.

-Yeah, we're going for it.

-Definitely.

-Good luck.

With Big Nipper.

-Now, Big Nipper, you've changed your weapon a number of times.

-Yep.

Which is looking less like versatility

and more a lack of strength

and a lack of belief in your rotating weapon

because you came out with a gripper, which was like a little pincer thing

and it didn't really get to grips with anything at all.

The lifter didn't work properly, so we couldn't lift them up.

You couldn't lift it up and you couldn't do anything with it. You've changed now to what?

-Our better weapon.

-Your better weapon which...

-Spinning wheel.

-Your spinning wheel, which goes 4,000 rpm.

-What are you going to do to him?

-He's going home in a bin bag.

He's going home in a bin bag. Yeah, OK.

Going home in a bin bag,

write that in huge letters as you watch this battle.

Big Nipper, get their bin bags ready!

King B Remix against Big Nipper.

Big Nipper sporting their deadly spinning disc

against the pushing power of King B Remix. Here we go!

# Home in a bin bag

# You're going home in a bin bag, yeah! #

We'll wait and see.

-AUDIENCE:

-In the pit! In the pit!

Good speed on the arena floor by both.

Onto the floor. Oh, the floor spike and pin there!

Momentarily, it seemed to me.

King B Remix, we haven't seen anything really of that

20 kilo spinning disc. Get it started!

Get it causing damage!

This is what we want to see!

And I think it is causing damage now!

Yes, the spinning disc is working and it's cutting through the front

of King B Remix!

They're into the corner there now and I don't think they'll get out.

Oh, yes, look at the shards there of the armament coming away!

Almighty power, there.

And the big spinning disc and I think King B Remix have gone.

They have done. They're spinning now.

Spin to win.

Big Nipper. Well done. Very good display.

Good battle. There's the winner.

'Cease.'

Always going to be a question - could they get the weaponry working?

Wasn't working there as King B came on the attack.

You just see it starting to spin.

And once that spinning disc gets up to speed there,

that's when the shards started to fly all over the arena floor.

Looked like dandruff! And that was the final blow.

Brilliant stuff by Big Nipper.

Well done.

What let us down is, as in Robot Wars always, the link came out.

We got two links. We've got the one we've got on the top

but we've got a second link under there. Unfortunately, it...

-Came out.

-It came out. And that was that.

We really did want to do some damage to him,

but his link came out before we got a chance to do the damage, really.

After the fourth head-to-head, TR2

are still leading with six points.

Big Nipper join Dantomkia in

second place with three points,

whilst the initially laidback team

from Portsmouth, King B Remix,

have yet to score.

Next to face each other, it's top and bottom of the league,

TR2 versus King B Remix.

King B next. Four-wheel drive.

Not sure how much push he's got.

So don't open the pit...

-Yep.

-..until we know how much push he's got

because if it can help push us...

-He could put in the pit.

-It can pit us.

Use the arena hazards if we can.

TR2 is a great robot but let's show we are too.

Let's give them a real battle.

Yeah, I mean, I've seen this machine can do better

and I think we should do better.

We'll do our best.

King B Remix versus TR2 here.

King B didn't fare well against the flipper of Dantomkia.

Will they have any success here?

'Three, two, one.

'Activate!'

KLAXON

They have to win it.

TR2 with that low ground clearance floor flipper will

get in underneath whenever they can.

And they're already on to the arena sidewall.

TR2 can flip a one tonne car, don't forget.

And TR2, I think, the most impressive robot we've seen

in this heat so far.

And there goes another flip on King B Remix.

Pointless in the competition so far.

But still full of heart.

I think TR2... Oh, they've manoeuvring them towards

the arena side gate and trying to get them out of the arena.

Oh, they need to get out of the CPZ.

Down goes the pit.

All TR2 needs to do is stay out of trouble because King B Remix

is a beaten robot. He's just a plaything...

Oh, no. Surely not, no.

Not the flame pit, please!

That's cruel. That's horrible.

I'll tell you what, we love it.

Oh, are you allowed out, Killalot? Are you allowed out, Killalot?

Are you? I'm not going to argue, Killalot.

Get back, get back, get back. I'm certainly not one to argue with you.

TR2, I wouldn't argue with that machine either.

-AUDIENCE:

-In the pit! In the pit!

Very impressive over all the battles tonight, really,

considering they had one or two problems.

Oh, and down go King B Remix!

And as soon as they got that flipper working, they have been devastated.

King B Remix driving on.

Little bit suicidal that, but you've got a flipper with this power.

And they can also use that axe when it comes into play.

Haven't seen a lot of that, we won't see much more of King B Remix.

And, eventually, they went down the pit with TR2 coming in,

almost like, "Come on, matador," said the bull of King B Remix.

And the matador had the final say.

So what happened? You didn't turn something on?

-No, actually I thought...

-Sorry, was that you?

-Yeah, I did turn it on.

I think I'd switched it off for a while.

There's a kill switch to make it safe.

But as it turns out, now I've looked at it,

I think actually it was the repair we had to quickly do last night.

-When you see the robots that are out there now, in the pits, it's scary.

-Yeah.

It's incredible technology nowadays.

So King B buzz out of the competition

after failing to score a single point.

But TR2 head to the final on the back of a winning streak.

Whoever's got the best drive system

and the best driver is going to do well.

Now, I think Alex is proving that he's got the skills

to drive this machine well.

We started off the new boys. We think we're now, sort of,

holding our own, we're joining the big boys now.

TR2 score the maximum nine points,

winning all of their battles.

Dantomkia and Big Nipper are in

second place on three points

and must now fight it out

to see who will join TR2

in the final.

Big Nipper have now settled on a winning formula.

They're sticking with their spinner weapon and are primed

for their do or die battle.

Hopefully, with the amount of steel that he's got,

we should be able to get good grips. Hopefully, we'll trash him.

Dantomkia are more than happy to up the ante for this key battle.

We're going to go for it, hell for leather.

It's full-on from now on.

End of story.

For one of these teams, this will be the last long walk into the arena.

One of them will be going through to the final.

One of them will be going home.

Over to you, Jonathan.

Thanks very much.

Big Nipper head-to-head with Dantomkia now.

The winner here will face TR2 in the heat final,

the house robots, the mighty Sir Killalot and there's Dead Metal.

Oh, horrible!

'Three, two, one.

'Activate!' KLAXON

Dantomkia...

..against Big Nipper.

And Dantomkia slamming Big Nipper in on the arena sidewall.

Just there looked to me as if the wheels getting up to speed

even though they were tossed onto the arena wall.

20 kilos of spinning disc that can reach 4,000 rpm.

Killalot has them slammed, Killalot has them pinned,

Killalot has them pinched, Killalot has them raised.

He signals to the crowd.

Will it be thumbs down from the crowd?

They're now trying to get in, I think, behind Dantomkia

and come for a frontal assault.

That's not the right way to do it

because Dantomkia can flip and push from there.

Into the CPZ. They've got out very, very quickly,

Big Nipper can get up to 20mph.

Good speed and manoeuvrability but again shoved back in to the horrible

CPZ, where Sir Killalot can end many a...

What's happened to Sir Killalot there?

Oh man, you're in a jam!

You're stuck onto the arena wall, Sir Killalot.

Wham, bam, you need to get out of that jam

and have another attack on Dantomkia.

The winner goes through to the heat final.

Dantomkia well on top, getting in underneath the flip again.

Look at the sheer power of that flipper robot out there

and of course it can spin so quickly at a rate of 500 rpm

to come again and have another attack

and that's what they're doing on Big Nipper repeatedly here,

in what has been a terrific battle.

Big slam! Massive slam!

Bang! Smash!

-Crash go the hopes and dreams.

-AUDIENCE:

-Ten, nine, eight...

They're counting them down to a judge's decision.

Brilliant, brilliant skill to stay out of trouble

-by Big Nipper in the end.

-KLAXON

They're alive, only just. Dantomkia - superb display.

Well, the judges have to decide on control, damage and aggression.

They're working over the facts and figures.

Let's just give them a clue.

Dantomkia very quick out of the traps to take on Big Nipper.

There you can see the grinder of Big Nipper up to speed,

might have caused damage there.

It did on the side. Was it superficial?

The aggression was dominated by Dantomkia.

Big Nipper just survived but only just.

For me, it's Dantomkia. I don't judge.

Oh, but that big blow could be decisive.

Well, they look pensive. This could be closer than we thought, Dara.

What do you make of it all?

Well, can I thank both of you for what was an excellent bout.

It really was. You, at one stage, I thought were delightful.

You - pick on someone your own size - went after Killalot.

-Yeah!

-And he picked you up and carried you around like a rag doll.

It was impressive. It came to a judge's decision

and it was a unanimous decision that the team to compete

in the final is...

..Dantomkia.

It was worth it just for that coordinated dance move.

Are you happy to be facing TR2 again?

Well, yeah, we've got to face TR2 again. He's a difficult robot but,

you know, we're treating every fight as our last fight now and just going

hell for leather, what the hell.

So, congratulations to Dantomkia and TR2

on making it through to tonight's final.

We ended up going too close to Sir Killalot a lot of times,

so I think that made us lose, really.

Massively exciting fight.

Dantomkia had a very clear strategy of pushing Big Nipper into the hands

of the house robots and this is the first time we actually saw

Sir Killalot come really alive.

You could see the power, you could see him lift the robot up

and toy it back in. Great fight.

So we have our finalists.

It's the battle of the flippers - TR2 versus Dantomkia.

Dantomkia has been a powerhouse since the beginning

of the tournament, taking out Glitterbomb

and Overdozer in the group stages.

And taking no prisoners in the head-to-head.

First against King B Remix,

and then putting Big Nipper well and truly in their place -

the victory that confirmed their spot in the final.

The undefeated TR2 has become the robot to beat.

After an issue with CO2 in their group battle,

they fought weapon free, relying purely on strength

and driving skills.

They also proved to be a tour de force

in the head-to-heads when it came to shaming Big Nipper

and King B Remix, claiming their rightful place in the final.

When they first met it was a well matched battle as the two powerful

flippers went head-to-head.

TR2 had Dantomkia on the ropes but not for long.

Scooping the opposition time and time again,

before delivering the knockout blow.

Both robots have fought tooth and nail to get here,

so can TR2 continue their amazing unbroken run

or have Dantomkia held enough back to take the fight?

It's TR2 versus Dantomkia.

Up for grabs is a place in the grand final.

Yes, get ready for some hot flipper-on-flipper action.

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

Thank you very much. Competing now in the final, TR2 and Dantomkia.

The winner here will go through to the grand final

with Dead Metal and Matilda in the CPZ.

Who will flip, flap, fly or flop?

Because as good as the first battle between the two,

this could be sensational.

KLAXON

And TR2's straight on the aggressive.

Down goes the pit. TR2 doing the pushing.

Dantomkia the heavier and quicker machine

but they do have that vulnerable ground clearance.

But there's a hit from the floor flipper on TR2 and has

that caused damage? It nearly got pinned by Matilda and her gruesome

tusks in there. And the Matilda flywheel comes out,

nearly saws into Dantomkia.

And they stay out of that CPZ. Oh, this is a worthy battle.

This is worthy of the grand final itself and the winners go through

to that grand final.

And it's TR2 on the offensive, again getting in underneath Dantomkia

and every lift, every shove, surely is causing damage.

There's the horrible pink rear end of Matilda

that no-one wants to see - even in their wildest dreams, I can tell you.

And I've had a fair few about Robot Wars.

What a battle this is!

Flipper against flipper.

Good control and oh,

that's a mighty bash by Matilda there!

Dantomkia get away again.

Are they venting?

Can we see gas being vented from Dantomkia, I wonder?

Spinning wildly to try and get away from TR2.

At 500 rpm that spin,

TR2 might have got a bash from the floor flipper but, I tell you what,

Dantomkia certainly did and now I don't think there's enough power

in Dantomkia to self-right.

I wonder if we did see gas is being vented.

I wonder if that's the end of their power

and for all their tank, armour, grace, steel armaments,

they're not going to withstand any pressure here.

-'Cease.'

-Cease called.

Brilliant heat final. Brilliant.

Worthy winner for me, TR2.

Terrific stuff.

Shane Swan and Dantomkia, great, great competitors.

Right from the start.

Turned, flipped, back again, crashing down.

TR2 not bothered.

Nearly got themselves into trouble, there.

Careless steering by TR2 but you can see the repeated flicks,

and in the end Dantomkia had to self-right once too often, I think.

They tried to spin away, Dantomkia, but there caught the floor flipper

and I think that was the ultimate damage.

Yes. Giving it up for TR2... Stop that. Giving it up for TR2.

No, it's too late to trash talk, you've lost the battle.

It's a boring doorstop. Look at it.

-How did that win?

-You can't now suddenly start picking on them in a

verbal battle. Robots is where we fight, my friend.

Listen, what went wrong, what went wrong?

-Matilda, really, I think.

-Basically lost your weapon entirely there.

Huge holes and gashes all over poor old Dantomkia.

You've given us so much. One last time, one more Brucie for good luck.

Sweet.

Storming their way into the grand final,

make some noise for TR2!

That was awesome!

Flipper on flipper. This flipper got involved as well.

-Did it go the way you planned?

-Yeah, following from the fight earlier on,

every fight's won by knockout so far.

Undefeated. Keep confident but not get cocky.

OK, that's the plan. Wonderful. Give it up for TR2, please!

CHEERING

That's it for this week.

From all of us here at Robot Wars, goodnight!