Episode 4 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 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, our only wooden robot learned a hard lesson in physics.

And the youngest driver in the competition

wiped the floor with the opposition.

Who will join them this week,

fighting to become the Robot Wars champion?

This is Robot Wars.

And this is the bulletproof arena where the robots come in search of

fame, fortune and fight.

It's designed to withstand even the most powerful and technologically

advanced robots. The teams must also take on the arena hazards - the Pit,

the Flipper, Spikes and fire.

This is the pits and just like in Formula 1, it's where

the teams make their final preparations before heading up to

the arena. What happens here could ultimately decide

whether they emerge as winners or losers.

We're going to talk to the teams

taking part in tonight's first group battle in a minute,

but before that, here's a reminder of how this show works.

We start with two group battles,

each featuring four robots.

The two winning robots from each

group stage progress to the head-to-heads,

a mini league made up of four teams.

The top two at the end of this

are our worthy finalists in today's show.

Battling it out in the first group are Apollo, Kan-Opener,

PP3D and Sweeney Todd.

Often, you'll find there'll be father-and-son teams,

there'll be teams of people who work in the same engineering company,

for example. These three men, where did you three meet?

We actually started on a holiday park, Pontins, as Bluecoats.

Jazz hands, please.

Excellent. Proper show business.

-You did that very well.

-Thanks very much. I'm a hoofer, really(!) Yeah.

But nonetheless, you built this and what can this do?

This is a flipper, but because it's called Apollo,

-we're calling it a launcher.

-How far can it launch something?

Well, it can launch a 50-kilo robot at least six, seven feet.

It's not always about the size.

-No, no.

-You know, it's fast as well.

There they are - Dominique, Sean and the crew.

Right, talk me through, how do you know each other?

We've all just started working together on a new graduate job since

September and we heard about this and we decided to give it a go.

Now, have you got experience in it?

Well, I didn't manage to get as much practice as I wanted to because

the driving on this is a little bit different due to the fact it can go

in any direction without turning.

OK, so it goes literally backwards, forwards, side to side?

Yeah, side to side like direct crab motion.

OK, great. Let's talk about the weapon.

-Sure, so we have two angle grinders strapped to either side.

-Right.

If we're flipped over, it doesn't matter, everything works the same.

-Brilliant.

-As well, we have the wheels, so we'll hopefully be able to crab ourselves out of trouble.

I can't wait to see you guys waltzing around the arena.

-Good luck, Sweeney Todd!

-OK, thanks.

A lot of these teams will be family teams.

No more than Kan-Opener,

which is one of the father-and-son teams we have here.

You're going to crush some robots?

We're going to cause some damage today, yeah.

How hard can it grip?

About 12 tonnes on the cylinder.

About six on the jaws.

Once they're locked, nothing can part them.

I just want to see somebody's poor robot being picked off the teeth of

-your robot.

-There are a lot of very menacing looking machines around.

-This is quite modest.

-It is, yeah.

It's quite unassuming - folk might look at it

and think, it doesn't look too dangerous but that's a good thing

cos they'll maybe just underestimate it.

-What's the weapon?

-So we have a 31kg spinning disc on the underside

of the robot spinning at 1,800 rpm

-and it's only two centimetres off the arena floor.

-Nice and low.

Undercutter. We're hoping to take out wheels,

take out anything low to the ground.

OK, so we're going straight in?

Spin up, go straight in.

Time, then, for our Group One battle.

Our MC as ever, Jonathan Pearce.

Yes, thanks very much Dara and Angela.

Oh, yes - our Robot Wars D&A team.

If at the end of three minutes there is no clear winner, it's up to our

judges, Professor Sethu Vijayakumar, Dr Lucy Rogers and head judge,

Professor Noel Sharkey to decide our victor.

ANNOUNCER: 'From Aberdeen, PP3D.'

PP3D has the largest spinning disc in this year's competition.

It weighs more than Matilda's.

Oh, no - she's a jealous old thing, too.

Team captain Gary Cairns owns a 3-D

printing company and has 3-D printed

parts on his robot - that's a Robot Wars first.

'From Northampton, Kan-Opener.'

Tom and Andy Kane have produced the most powerful crusher in Robot Wars'

history here with 12 tonnes of

pressure in those electric blue

jaws. Their slogan is,

"More bite than a great white".

'From Oxford, Sweeney Todd.'

Sweeney Todd is the lightest robot in the competition.

The team are hoping their innovative

wheel design will keep them out of

trouble. This team of engineers have

never built a combat robot before,

but have built robot rovers

and autonomous hovercraft.

-Good luck to them.

-'From Birmingham, Apollo.'

Apollo boast 1,000 PSI flipper.

That power comes at a cost, though.

They've only a limited supply

of gas, so they'll have to use

those flips wisely.

The team are affectionately known

in the pits as the boyband

of Robot Wars.

Along with our four competitors for this battle, the mighty Sir Killalot

will be holding court in the arena,

ready to dispatch any robot

that enters the corner patrol zone

with his 2½-tonne crushing claws.

'Roboteers, stand by.'

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'Three,

'two, one...'

-ALL: Activate!

-Come on, let's have some smash and crash.

All those robots have weaknesses.

The Pit's release is already signalled.

Kan-Opener in with the pinchers! Apollo's in orbit!

..but can self-right, but they only have a limited supply of CO2.

Kan-Opener worried about their high ground clearance.

Could they be flipped? Yes, they can.

And PP3D using that undercutter,

already up to speed and look at this -

nuts and bolts and smithereens

and an Apollo wheel has come off, too.

Now, that will really affect their manoeuvrability.

12 tonnes of crushing force.

Mate, I can't drive, I've lost drive.

They've... Oh, they can't drive.

They've lost steering.

They've lost manoeuvrability.

PP3D in trouble.

Kan-Opener has them in their grip.

Driven by two 750-watt motors.

Got go-kart racing tyres.

Yeah, nice one.

This is a real contest, this is great stuff.

This is what we want.

Trying to get that spinner up to spin, oh, onto the floor flipper!

And another one, the flipper's seen some real action -

you're supposed to stay clear of that, boys.

Sweeney Todd has largely stayed out of trouble,

-but done absolutely nothing.

-Dead.

-Dead?

-I think so.

Really? Kan-Opener,

"more bite than a great white".

Or is it small fry?

Sweeney Todd just about alive.

I am just sliding everywhere.

PP3D now closing in on Sweeney Todd

and really causing damage there on the side of Sweeney Todd.

They want it down in the Pit!

They are ghoulish.

And there you can see the way the spinning disc works on top,

it tends to bang into the floor,

which is a worry for the PP3D team if they go through.

I'm sure they will.

Kan-Opener has stopped.

Immobilised.

Kan-Opener is out. Who will survive now?

-Who can walk the walk?

-LAUGHTER

That's great staff.

Balletics from the Apollo boys.

Almost...space flipping.

And there a flip on the underside of PP3D.

Do you want it?

You want it, you're going to get it.

Apollo, great fun.

KLAXON

-'Cease.'

-Applause all round, they deserve it.

Great contest, this.

Went to flip, Apollo flew.

We have takeoff.

Little bit of damage. More sustained.

But look at the power of the flipper

launching Sweeney Todd.

I wonder if that caused irreparable damage to Sweeney Todd?

And Kan-Opener lifted like a leaf!

PP3D!

Nicely done!

Thanks, Maria. Thanks very much.

-They're into it.

-Yeah.

-I mean, the aggression was certainly there.

-You enjoyed it?

-I loved that, that was brilliant.

-Yeah?

-So much fun.

So much fun. What's amazing is when you spend weeks and months building

-these things, and it works.

-It works beautifully.

It works, so, yeah.

Wonderfully done. Right, get ready for the next! Dudes...

I was really looking forward to, you know, seeing yous waltzing around.

-Yeah. It was...

-A bit under pressure from the start.

It was, and it was a bit disappointing, but, you know,

-we came here for fun...

-We've loved having you here, Sweeney Todd.

-Oh, you're too kind.

-And well done to you guys, PP3D.

Through to the head-to-heads!

There were two points there where you had PP3D in your teeth.

-Why didn't you crush it?

-We gave him a little nip,

-but it's his first round...

-You've got 12 tonnes of closing force!

It's not a little nip! Why didn't you just...?

It went totally around the robot.

-Really?

-Yes, so the jaws closed.

-So why did you stop in the end? Jaws broken?

-Yeah, it was to do with the flip from Apollo,

they took out the removable link which basically turns the whole power off.

It was a pleasure to have you here.

-Kan-Opener, ladies and gentlemen.

-Thanks very much.

And now Apollo, you got through!

Good news, boys!

-Sorry for the flip!

-Yeah.

Yeah, there was a flip. But there was also a large period

in that fight where you could only turn left.

Well, literally, the wheels came off.

-PP3D?

-Yeah, I think PP.

PP3D, yeah, he did that wheel, didn't he?

But, listen, you're through, which is the main thing.

Into the next head-to-head.

Apollo, give them a round of applause!

So, success for Apollo and PP3D, who go through to the head-to-heads.

Teams only have two hours to repair their robots

before their next fight.

In the last wars, that's all that was left. So we're just trying

-to get it back in now.

-Basically,

the side of the robot's actually bent in,

so we can't actually get the wheel in,

because it's bent the whole axel as well,

so a lot of hammering at the moment, to be honest.

If we can't make these repairs, we won't be able to go into the next

fight, because we'll only have one wheel driving.

But there are no such troubles for fellow victors, PP3D.

In terms of damage, there's a wee bit scuffed off the tooth here.

This is wear plates, it's a really hard steel wear plate.

You can see it's started to get blunt at the edges there,

so I think when we're upside down,

the disc was hitting the floor quite a lot,

so we think it's just the impact of steel on steel,

just worn it down slightly.

But we've got plenty of depth left in the tooth,

so it won't be a problem for the next battle,

we'll still be able to rip the other robots apart.

Hoping to join them by winning in

the next Group Battle are Eruption,

Sabretooth, Storm 2

and Terror Turtle.

Team Terror Turtle, hello!

How're you doing? I like all the green.

It's very ecological-looking.

I do love a man in uniform, yes!

Talk me through this beautiful little man.

I think he must be the most lovely robot in the place.

-He is.

-And let's hope his looks don't get ruined during the event.

Is that likely to happen? This feels like fibreglass, right?

It is fibreglass,

but fibreglass is quite strong and the important point is at the front

here, there is a big spinning disc and that's the part that's going to

touch the opponent before the opponent touches the fibreglass.

-What about this little dude over here?

-This is the hatchling.

-The clusterbot?

-Yes.

-And some people use them a kind of

for show, a bit of distraction, but this is going to get in?

Yes, hopefully, fingers crossed.

You don't sound that confident about that!

No, we are. We're very confident.

Am I right in saying that this is the most expensive robot that we

-have?

-It probably is - if I had to write a cheque to build a new one,

this would probably cost the most,

-yeah.

-How much?

-Probably about £20,000.

-Really?

-Yes.

-OK. And what do you get for your £20,000 in the robot?

Hopefully, beyond Round One.

-But what's its secret power? What can Storm 2 do that the other robots can't do here?

-Top secret.

No, come on! You're about to go out there, right?

-I'm looking at this thing, which seems to be not connected to Storm 2.

-No, it's because we have...

We've got three different modular weapons, you see,

and we can then pick our weapon depending on who we're fighting

and what we... We know who we've got

in our first round and that's not our best one for that fight,

so that's why we're going for this one over here.

I'm here with the team who built Sabretooth.

So how does it work?

It's spins like this.

Yeah. How fast are we talking?

-3,000 rpm.

-That's pretty fast, right?

-Yeah.

-And what about this guy?

That grabs and pulls.

When we were trying to fix it, it broke!

(So there's a little weakness?)

Don't tell anyone. We can't self-right.

And how's that's going to affect

-your tactics? Cos it's pretty fierce out there.

-I know.

We've got some big flippers,

so what we need to do is wind the drum up full pelt and just drive

-into them.

-You're one of our father-and-son teams, aren't you,

-that we have so much of?

-Yeah.

And you've been doing this for how long?

Since 2004, when I was just six years old.

So, what can Eruption do?

Well, it's got a very powerful flipper.

-Right.

-But we've also added this grabber.

The robot comes up, the grabber will fire, hold the other robot,

we've got hold of it then,

so we can put it where we want and throw it out.

The moment of truth has arrived,

as our four teams head up to fight for their place in the next round.

Over to you, Jonathan.

Thanks very much. Let's meet the next team to grip and grapple,

Robot Wars style.

'From Suffolk, Storm 2.'

Ed is team captain, supported by

team-mates, husband and wife,

Meryl and Tim. The Storm 2 team run

a live telemetry system to tell them

in real time the status of their robot.

'From Lewes, Sussex, Terror Turtle.'

Captain John Frizell was head of Greenpeace for six years in the '80s

and his love for animals and robots

inspired him to build

a robotic Terror Turtle

made from almost 100% recycled

materials, including old car tyres,

a wheelchair and reclaimed plywood

with a fire pit. Are you sure?!

'From Lymm, Cheshire. Eruption.'

Team captain Michael Oates has been driving robots since he was six.

He's one of the youngest team

captains in the competition,

they say he's one of the best drivers, too,

because they've won many amateur UK Championships.

Eruption's sacrificial red panels

on the front of the robot

are designed to absorb hits from spinners.

'From Guildford, Sabretooth.'

Sabretooth boasts three weapons -

a group, a flipper and a spinning disc.

They might need all of those

weapons, because they've not tested

the robot yet - this battle will be

its first-ever outing.

Those the four mean-looking machines.

Joining them in the arena

will be the Mighty Matilda,

300 kilos of feminine charm -

a killing machine.

'Roboteers, stand by.'

Three,

two,

one - activate!

Here we go, Eruption explosive,

Sabretooth the real tiger, Storm 2, whirlwind force.

Terror Turtle? Hmm, we'll wait and see.

Sabretooth on the attack then backing away, but of course,

we know they can't self-right - that'll come into play,

Terror Turtle being nudged early on.

There's an attack from Eruption...

A potent machine here!

And flipping Sabretooth immediately -

Sabretooth 106 kilos just flipped through the air,

Storm 2 with those fork flippers getting in underneath Terror Turtle.

Don't forget, Terror Turtle made of fibreglass on a wooden frame

underneath that. They think that will help...

Whoa! ..cushion the blows?

But there the blows are for Sabretooth...

..turned on its top and it can't self-right.

The little Terror Turtle hatchling is in play.

Meanwhile, they chase there after the senior Turtle,

which has been turned...

Get the little one out!

The little one is in trouble though, they want it out of the arena.

It seems to be immobilised anyway.

Terror Turtle can't get its weaponry up to any sort of spinning.

Very impressed here with Eruption

and that powerful flipper.

They say it's the most powerful in the country!

Out of the arena!

Out go Terror Turtle!

What a lift!

Really good job.

-Really good job, mate.

-Look at this.

That is 86 kilos being nudged to the side.

That is a powerful flip from Eruption.

We've already seen the power then, but way out of the arena.

That is the biggest blow we've seen struck so far.

Let's visit the winners' enclosure.

These two teams, Eruption and Storm 2.

Congratulations to both of you.

We'll all remember the moment where you picked up a Turtle and

-flung him over a wall.

-Yeah, that was a highlight!

That was quite beautiful, actually.

Yeah. Our aim is always to throw them out of the arena,

so we're really happy that we got to do that.

That's always the prize moment.

We could talk for longer, but you basically ran around a lot

and let them do most of the damage. That's all I'm going to say!

-We chased the Turtle!

-You softened up the Turtle, then?

-We roasted the big Turtle.

-You roasted the big one for a little while, yeah.

You set fire to an inflammable thing.

You both go through, congratulations to Eruption and Storm 2.

We'll see you in the head-to-heads.

Thank you.

From the winners' enclosure to the...runners-up?

Very close, very close.

What happened? You didn't get off the mark at all.

Well...

We're up against astonishingly, incredibly, sophisticated robots.

I'd no idea the sort of machines that would be here.

-But we did pretty well.

-Pretty well.

-We struck sparks off them.

-Yeah.

-Upside-down, kept going...

Sorry to lose you. Sabretooth...

Oh!

That self-right was always potentially a chink in the armour.

-It was.

-And unfortunately, it kicked in earlier than...

We were giving Eruption a good fight,

and I was really pleased that we got flipped and we came back again

and we carried on, but, eventually,

it was only a matter of time before we went over.

Please give it up for Sabretooth and Terror Turtle.

Thank you.

So Eruption and Storm 2 head back to the pits, nearly intact.

We've got a bit of damage, but nothing that we can't repair and we

got both robots out fairly quickly, so that's what we were hoping for.

It is nice to get through the first heat, though.

We've got three more fights to do now, so we're a lot happier.

Not just the most expensive,

but also the most complex robot in the competition,

Storm 2 have caught the eye of judge Sethu.

Tell me a little bit more about your telemetry system.

We've got a system that provides feedback to Tim the driver,

real time, during the fight.

We've got temperature sensors on the motors,

we've got current sensors and voltage sensors.

What it means is that while Tim's driving,

I can keep my eye on that data and we can make decisions based on what the robot's doing.

I think you are one of the few teams who are actually using

live data to change strategy.

-Yes.

-That's great.

-So we now have

our four robots through to

the head-to-head stage -

Eruption, PP3D,

Storm 2 and Apollo.

Our first head-to-head

is between Apollo and PP3D.

But the boys from the holiday camp

are very wary after the devastating

damage caused to Apollo when they first met.

It was only a wheel that was broken, but to get the wheel out,

everything has had to be stripped,

so it's taken quite a while to get it going.

But finally...

It's working. And hopefully we don't

take another knock in the same place.

So this time, we're going full-on, head-on,

straight into the robot instead of attacking another robot and letting spinners hit us from behind.

We've just got to make sure that

PP3D doesn't come back into our wheel again.

Having done it once, PP3D know

exactly how to take out the huge flipper.

We're going to try and go for the fuse again, because on Apollo,

they're right down low at the back.

Our disc is only 2cm off the ground,

so if we can go round the back again, and take out a wheel,

they'll struggle to move around the arena

and we can just take control of the match from there.

They call them at the Robot Wars boyband.

But are they just a one-hit wonder?

I'm Dave, I'm the team captain of Team Apollo.

I'll be joined by my friends Marc and Ben.

Me, Marc and Ben used to work

together at holiday parks

as Bluecoat entertainers.

I'll be in charge, I'm driving the robot.

The other two will be coming up with the tactics.

They're more logical thinkers.

I can be quite reserved in my approach,

whereas Ben and Marc are quite aggressive and will be the ones

telling me in my ear to keep going and attacking.

The flipper can flip around about a tonne.

Where the robots weigh just over 100 kilos,

we should be launching them about six foot in the air.

Our working as entertainers is a great way to put on a good show,

which is what we're mainly about,

as well as being an aggressive team who are there to put on a good show

for the public as well.

PP3D have made short work of the competition so far.

But have they got the robot to defeat all robots?

We are team PP3D,

based in Aberdeenshire.

I'm Gary Cairns, I'm the team captain for the team.

With me I've got Jamie McHarg.

He's been assisting me with the manufacture of the robot.

And Sarah Dennis, who is our aesthetics consultant.

I'm a director of a 3-D printing company,

Jamie is a gas engineer

and Sarah works in a dog kennel.

So in our machine,

one of the special features that we've got is a lot of 3-D printing parts.

The advantage of that is that you're able to design and actually hold

parts in your hand in what can be as short as an hour or two.

We definitely have one of the most powerful spinners in the world,

so let's unleash that energy in the arena.

Let's get this party started.

Over to you, Jonathan.

Thanks very much, Angela.

Policing this battle, Sir Killalot.

But for the first time tonight,

robots will be pushed and shoved

by the power of Shunt.

ANNOUNCER: 'Three,'

ALL: ..two, one,

activate!

Tactics clear here, then.

PP3D will target that back left wheel of Apollo.

That wheel damaged in the Group Battle,

but Apollo will target the front

of PP3D and simply try and flip it out of

the arena, or down into the Pit.

You can see that they're trying to get in underneath the blade,

so to bend at the blade and we wonder whether

that cutter blade's killing power's been diminished.

-Oh, its wheel's gone.

-The wheel has gone completely,

or the tyre, I should say.

Well, that's really dangerous.

Really dangerous(!) Never mind, carry on!

It's PP3D spinning away.

Now, which is the most mobile robot?

HE LAUGHS

Oh, she's up to speed now, boys!

They're up to speed with the killing blade.

Don't back into it!

20 kilojoules of energy

and it's...flipped!

And that has caused major damage, sparks fly.

They're out! I think that's killed them!

What a turn-up here.

Apollo seem to be in all sorts of trouble.

But they've finished PP3D off with great style,

control and driving skills.

That's brilliant manoeuvrability,

from a position of peril, but they knew what they needed to do.

Get in underneath and flip!

Off went the tyre...

There's the big lift!

That's when the control power came out and that was the end.

Battle over. And PP3D retreat to the pit to assess the damage.

We lost the wheel early on and at that point,

we were just the hockey puck in the arena.

It looks as though the hub's deformed slightly

and allowed the wheel to jump.

In terms of actual damage, there's none,

from what I can see.

PP3D even used infrared cameras to help with their repairs.

The colours basically show the temperature of what we're looking

at on the robot. So you can see here where it's bright red,

where it's a lot hotter

and it looks as though the top panel has depressed slightly

and has actually been rubbing on the weapon shaft, hence why

you can see the hot patch.

It's only about 28 Celsius, so it's not horrendously hot.

Luckily for them, Apollo only sustained minor battle damage.

The chain itself has just come off those wheels.

The wheel's not actually connected to the motor,

so we just need to pop the chain back on it,

possibly make it a little bit tighter, so it doesn't come off,

and that's it. Charge the batteries, fill the gas bottle,

ready for the next fight. Bring it on.

With a knockout win,

it's three points to Apollo,

leaving PP3D on zero.

Next up in the head-to-heads

it's Eruption versus Storm 2.

Father and son team Eruption

are working hard on maintaining their winning streak.

So while Storm 2 may be the most technically advanced robot in

the competition, when faced with brute force, will it be enough?

We're Team Storm from Ipswich.

My name is Ed. I'm team captain of Team Storm.

Tim looks after the driving.

Meryl looks after team morale

and she helps with all the artwork and making sure the robot

looks ready and pristine to go in the arena.

I'm IT consultant. I work for a software company.

Tim works for a telecommunications company. Meryl also works for the

same company. She works as a project manager.

We're not engineers, so there aren't

huge numbers of skills we can transfer over.

So, what we have done is try to bring the skills we DO have,

which is around project management,

how you get things done and how you build a plan to achieve things.

We all work together as one big, happy family

and we get on incredibly well. We complement each other well.

I can be impulsive, Tim can be level-headed,

so the balance is really good.

We're confident we're going to do well.

At 17, Michael's one of our youngest drivers and has impressed

everyone so far, but can he finish the job?

I'm Michael from Warrington in Cheshire. My robot is Eruption.

I might only be 17 years old, but I've been doing this for over ten

years and if anyone underestimates me then they're going to be in for a shock.

My role in the team is driver and designer of the robot,

and my dad is head robot builder.

We work quite well as a team most of the time.

We have our disagreements,

but when we get on and do it together

we normally get some great results.

So, who's in charge of Team Eruption?

That's probably me.

So, with both teams really needing the full three points,

it's over to Jonathan.

Storm 2, the most expensive robot in the competition

at over £25,000, driving on to Eruption.

Storm 2, the quicker of the robots,

but caught by Sir Killalot on to the Flame Pit.

They don't want to test the lithium polymer battery there.

The heat getting it away.

Eruption tries to flip.

Storm 2 has the four flipper bars that can flip in 0.3 seconds.

So swift, can be the deadly killer blow.

They're in underneath Eruption now.

That's 109kg of robot they're shoving around.

They can flip Storm 2 ten foot in the air if they get a chance.

Michael Oates, the young driver, just 17 years of age.

He's been a Robot Wars devotee since he was two.

But he needs to do something now and he does!

Eruption, flip, flop, fly!

ALARM WAILS

And thrilling us all by self-righting.

Look at this.

Boing! Up it comes again.

That's brilliant stuff.

And on to the tyre and that releases the pit.

That was the alarm you could hear.

Pit, pit, pit.

CROWD CHANTS AND CHEERS

This is a really good contest.

Oh, that's dangerous. Into Sir Killalot's pincers.

You really didn't want to do. That get away from there.

Sir Killalot, not the most mobile.

Not the prettiest.

Don't tell him I said.

Eruption away now from Storm 2.

Trying to get in underneath again.

Eruption know they need to work on their flipper accuracy.

And they...

Oh, just left themselves open there to a potential flip by

Storm 2, who are worried that their motors might overheat.

That was a problem when they tested the robot.

Ooh. Over it goes.

That's a tremendous feat pulled off by Eruption.

Explosive power of Eruption.

Can they do it again? Nearly caught Storm 2 side on.

Storm 2 with enough power to pull a minibus loaded with schoolchildren.

And you can see the power and they've got Eruption wedged

between a rock and a hard place.

Riding piggyback on Storm 2.

Come for another drive now.

AUDIENCE COUNTS DOWN

They're counting down, the audience.

The judges will have hard work to separate these.

KLAXON SOUNDS

That's the closest contest we've had so far.

Not a lot of action out of Storm 2 late on.

The judges will mark on style, damage and aggression.

Good aggression from Eruption.

Storm 2 flung through the air, but then getting in underneath.

That's a controlled drive.

Judges will mark them highly on that, but not on this,

flipped once again by Eruption.

Let's talk to you guys first. Were you happy?

Really happy. Start of the fight was going really well.

We got underneath them all the time.

Our scoop is precision milled to be on the floor in here.

My aim was to try and get them towards one of the house

robot corners and try and flip them.

But most of the time, had them on top and just rowed them

into a corner and it was to a house robot when I got there, so...

-It was strategic.

-From no flipping, but tactically...

-Strategic.

..to lots of flipping.

If I was judging it, I'd have said they had it for two minutes.

It was close, but I'd have given it to them.

But then, the last minute we came back with a good few flips.

-So I think it'll be...

-And aggression, as well.

Aggression, yeah. It's going to be really difficult.

Like you said, it's going to be really close.

I have the result. The team that scored two points and the win...

-..is Storm 2.

-Yes!

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

There was a split decision from the judges

and that was a battle that was hard to call.

Till about 20 seconds to go, Storm 2 was leading comfortably

and then, last minute, there was some action from Eruption's flippers.

I think that made a huge difference,

but in the end, we feel the right team won.

It wasn't even until Storm stopped at the end.

It was immobile at the end of the fight and we thought that might

swing it for us, but clearly not.

A bit too close to the end, I think.

If we got another flip in, I think we might have had it.

That was a really tight decision, wasn't it? I didn't know which it was going to go.

-They came back strongly at us, but I'm relieved I guess.

-Yeah.

I wouldn't have wanted to have called that cos that was quite close.

It really was close at the end there.

Following the judges' decision.

Apollo are on three points.

Storm 2 are on two and Eruption

and PP3D are level on no points.

Time now for the next head-to-head

and it's a big one.

Top of the table

Apollo verses Storm 2.

In the last fight, one of the switches had come off one of the valves.

So, in theory, the flipper was only firing at half power in the last

fight, as well as being cold.

So it's probably running around quarter of its main power.

Which is good because if we...

Basically, if we flip anybody, it'll be the best we've ever seen.

But I don't know if we can get under Storm 2.

That's going to be the challenge.

We're going to go in exactly the same configuration that we went in

for our last fight because that was also against the flipper.

We're going to use... We've got multiple weapons.

We're going to stick with this front-firing flipper and self-righter.

Because it's so important with Storm 2 to keep the front

of the robot flush to the ground and if Apollo turn us over,

it means we've got no way of getting back underneath him again.

So with both teams really needing the full three points,

it's over to Jonathan.

The house robots for the third head-to-head of this heat -

Matilda and, for the first time tonight,

it's the metal terror himself, Dead Metal,

with the 1.4 metre wide pincer and 450 millimetre circular saw.

Deadly by name, deadly by nature.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

ANNOUNCER: 'Three, two...

'one...

'Activate.'

Storm 2 will try and get this over and done with

as quick as they can.

Apollo, we know, has sustained damage

throughout this heat of one kind or another.

Storm 2 with the FFF for front, floor, flipper.

Worrying, then, as to why they should say if Apollo flipped

they'd be in trouble and they can self-right

and then the floor flipper.

Really strong throw through the air.

Storm 2, good manoeuvrability.

Yes, they're being pushed by Apollo

but they're also dodging away and self-righting there and again.

So, that sort of diminished the power of the Apollo flip.

Not bad, though. Goodness me.

But immediately self-righting and then flipping Apollo.

That's good work by Storm 2.

You know what, I think I might have lost the chain again.

Ooh, I think Apollo are in trouble here.

-ALARM WAILS

-I think the chain's gone again.

The pit released and they're in trouble here.

In the pit, in the pit.

Apollo drives into the CP.

JONATHAN LAUGHS

How dare you!

Dead Metal venting its spleen and steam.

And why not? Goodness me!

HE LAUGHS

Matilda broods.

Matilda, you're not allowed to come out and look for revenge.

No, no, no, no, no.

Matilda coming in for the kiss of life.

Now Apollo flips Storm 2 and goes to flip again.

Matilda, what is she doing?

Oh, dear.

Matilda nudging her team-mate back into life back into life,

it would seem or maybe towards the pit.

Surely not cannibalistic house robots.

Apollo, meanwhile, has to stay away from any damage Storm 2 can cause.

And pushed on to Matilda. Were they going to flip Matilda?

I think they were. I think they got too confident there.

Oh, they've done it!

A KO blow for the second time.

They've taken just about everyone out!

I've never, ever seen it before!

Oh, goodness me and Apollo...

-Flipper's broken.

-..too confident by half. Nearly went in the pit!

Storm 2, canny.

They played possum.

They played dead.

But look at this, suddenly it's Apollo show boating in trouble.

Houston, we have a problem with Apollo.

Storm 2 is being encouraged by the crowd to get them in the pit and

they're going in the pit!

Ooh, no!

We nearly saw...

This is a Robot Wars classic.

An absolute belter.

-'Cease.'

-Cease called. Oh, that was memorable!

It'll go to the judges and if Apollo get it, they're through.

Wow, that was an epic fight.

Not content with taking on one opponent,

you destroyed two house robots in the process.

-Yeah, sorry about that.

-Just for kicks?

We were defending ourselves.

-We were in the corner. We could see Matilda's discs.

-You weren't not!

You went in and literally turfed Dead Metal upside down.

Well, the flipper was working on full power for the first time.

We wanted to show the audience what it can do.

Well, listen. I think they get it. Do you get it?

AUDIENCE CHEER

Storm 2, are you happy with how the fight went?

It was a good fight. We were getting underneath them at the start.

Then they managed to get a good flip on us.

It was all over the place. A couple of times nearly in the pit.

-It was so close.

-I mean, what a fight for us. Thank you, guys.

-Brilliant.

-It was a judges' decision.

-OK.

I can tell you that it was a unanimous decision.

And the win and the two points go to...

-..Apollo.

-Yes!

-APPLAUSE

-Well done, guys.

Well done to Apollo. That's two points and two dead house robots.

Sorry.

This was a unanimous decision.

Apollo won quite clearly.

It did all the flipping.

It was the most aggressive robot in there.

There wasn't a lot of damage, but its control was superb.

I thought one of the most incredible things with that fight was the way

Apollo turned on the house robots.

Didn't need to. It wasn't going to get it any extra points,

but flipping two bots like,

that never seen anything like that before.

Fantastic.

So after the

house-robot-bashing bout,

Apollo scored two points

from the judges,

taking their total to five points.

Storm 2 remain in second place

on two.

PP3D and Eruption are still

to score.

All to play for now.

It is the next battle between joint last place PP3D and Eruption.

Well, I'm not sure what can follow that.

Eruption, are you going to flip any of the house robots?

We only have four.

If we have to, we will.

But we think Apollo's probably twisted themselves

and bent bits by doing that, so it probably wasn't a great plan.

-No, no.

-We need to go for PP3D and we need a knockout.

No points, as well, but this is a good robot.

It'll be incredible if it's one of these robots which

is very good and doesn't get any points.

Are you going to do some damage here?

We need to beat PP3D fairly easily and then we've got to beat Apollo.

We've two more fights to go.

We're thinking ahead and want to get to the heat final.

We can beat Apollo as it is. We've made sure we can get under it. We can beat it.

We need to get out of this fight with at least damage as

possible so we can still do that.

Lovely stuff. Ladies and gentlemen, that's Eruption.

APPLAUSE

So, just like Eruption, PP3D, you guys need a knockout in this round.

-We do.

-How are you going to win?

-Spin the disc up and hit them.

What if they come straight in so you don't get time to build momentum?

We've had a little tweak with the internals

and the tension on the spin-up mechanism.

What kind of tweaking are we talking?

It's very minor things but allows

the disc to spin up a little bit quicker so...

-You'll get pace quicker.

-We're hoping for a quicker spin up.

Are you confident you can take them down?

Quietly. Yes.

Brilliant. Good luck, guys.

-Thanks very much.

-Thank you.

Both teams desperate to take something from this battle.

Over to Jonathan.

Yes, the loser simply goes out.

ANNOUNCER: Activate.

Eruption, good as new.

PP3D re-tyred. Will they be retired in another way at the end of this?

Low ground clearance with the undercutter blade there,

you can see it spinning away.

But Eruption have those side panels... Ooh!

..to stop the blade getting in underneath,

but it's getting up to speed with mighty power.

ALARM WAILS

Bang, smash! Destruction.

Look at this, whoa!

And off comes one of those welded side plates, simply shorn away.

Wow, like shearing a sheep.

We're moving, they're not. We are moving.

They're just about, just about OK.

With the 32-volt battery still retaining some power,

Eruption have got out from the corner.

They can self right but can they steer themselves forward?

At the moment, seems to be one wheel only working on Eruption.

Ho-hum.

Yes, we know you can move it, well, you can fidget.

You're fidgeting. You're not fighting, you're fidgeting.

You guys have got smoke, do you?

Oh!

Oh, that...

I hope you're still alive and kicking out there,

I'm almost losing the will to live myself.

Go on, go on, Dead Metal, get out...

We'll allow you. Go and get.

Fetch! You want some, are you sure?

Taking on the house robot?

It will go to the judges and Eruption have already

controversially lost one decision.

-'Cease.'

-Cease is called.

The judges will decide.

It started so well, head-to-head bash.

Aggression from PP3D and they cause damage to Eruption,

one of the side panels blew off a little bit later on after Eruption

bravely came back for a head-to-head smash.

But the second half of the bout, goodness me!

It was deadly dull.

Well, there's one for the purists.

When the history of Robot Wars is written,

this battle may not be long remembered.

What happened out there?

Well, we spun out beautifully.

-Yeah.

-Then we continued to collide, collide, collide.

-Yeah, we imparted some damage.

-It was a lovely first minute.

You were trying to get around, trying to flip them over.

-Couldn't quite get in there.

-No, the disc was so...

Every time that you hit it,

there's so much energy that both robots just fly apart.

It was a fun minute or so and then, yeah, as you say,

it was the two of us just trying to crawl towards one another.

The judges have had to watch back over that first minute.

This could be it now in terms of staying in the competition.

They do have a decision and the decision is unanimous

that the winner of this bout is...

..PP3D. PP3D get the two points.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Back in the pit, both teams get the chance to explore

these catastrophic motor failures.

We've burned the motor out so we need to get the motor out and

replace it with a spare one but to do that we need to get the wheel out

first which is jammed up, take all the main gas tanks out before

we can get to that.

So there's not a huge amount to replace, but it's buried at the

bottom of the robot.

We might be able to get... It depends.

Motors are often the only part that can't be fixed on site.

There is a smell, it's quite a distinct smell.

But we will see how...

it is looking.

Oh, brushes are cracked.

Oh, yeah, that's a nice burnt out motor.

Oh, magnet's shattered.

That's it.

That should be nice and shiny and copper

and you can see these are the magnets inside the motor

and this one here has just shattered.

Yeah, that's a write-off.

So PP3D face an early exit.

However, there may be hope yet with an act of robot cannibalism.

I do have a spare, it is promised to in other, but,

as long as he doesn't need it straightaway,

you are more than welcome.

-But I think you will be buying it.

-I think so.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Eruption remain at the bottom

but PP3D now move up

to joint second place

on two points with Storm 2.

Whilst Apollo, now guaranteed

a place in the final,

sit at the top with five points.

While the teams prepare for the next battle, I'm here with one of our

judges, renowned mechanical engineer, Doctor Lucy...

HAMMERING Bad time to start doing that!

Can you give me a couple of minutes to do this?

Lucy, we have seen robots come down the trolleys

-back to here in fragments.

-Yeah.

And other teams step in to help and assist to rebuild the robot

so they can compete in the next...

Yeah, the community is wonderful. The camaraderie is great.

But the thing that's really got me excited

is the internet community now that's around

all the making things.

Not just robots, but drones and even sewables, wearable electronics.

There's whole community out there and with the internet you don't need

that person to be in your neighbourhood.

They can be anywhere in the world and you can still discuss things with them.

And people are involved in getting together and showing off all

sorted different automated devices.

Yeah. The Raspberry Pi computer for example, it's four years old,

it's sold 8 million of them.

They're only credit-card-sized,

but they've got as much computing power as a computer

from maybe five, ten years ago.

And so the things that you can do with that,

we couldn't have imagined ten, 15 years ago.

And the price of sensors,

the temperature sensors, infrared sensors,

things that maybe would have cost hundreds of thousands of pounds

ten, 15, 20 years ago are down to pence or pounds.

OK, grand. Hopefully we see more and more of this,

-more and more people getting involved.

-Yeah, yeah.

And if people want to get involved, then look online,

find your local communities.

There will be people out there.

If they're not in your local area, they're there in a wider community.

-That's fantastic.

-Wonderful.

Hammer away, lads. Hammer away.

Our next group battle is between the two flippers,

Apollo and Eruption, who have fought so hard for so little reward.

APPLAUSE

ANNOUNCER: 'Three, two, one.

'Activate.'

Apollo already through, but they'll want to stay out of trouble here

because they've sustained chain damage

and they need to fight later in the competition.

Eruption playing for pride, really.

I think they're unfortunate to be pointless thus far.

And they're on the aggressive here,

trying to get Apollo side on to get their flipper

into action now from the rear.

And I don't think that's enough power in Eruption's flipper

to push Apollo up and over.

Ooh, it was!

And Apollo dancing around.

The famous blue coat dances and prances

and a tumble in the rumble of Robot Wars.

What can Eruption do?

Oh, look at the pirouette by Eruption.

Apollo.

Under pressure here, well,

they're through to the final but this is not an infallible machine.

Oh, no. It's all gone wrong.

The flipper is stuck open.

They have a relatively low supply of gas, they know that.

I think they've been mobilised.

They have to be wise using the launcher.

I don't know if there is any activity left in the launcher.

And Eruption here heading for its first bout of

the night and into the CPZ.

Apollo need to get out of the clutches...

-'Cease.'

-..there of Dead Metal, that's for sure.

Really good work by Eruption and Michael Oates,

we know he's a good driver.

Pirouetting there on the blade, oh, lovely stuff.

Really good slow motion, that.

Topsy-turvy, the life of a roboteer.

Eruption, what a way to go.

-Yeah.

-Where was that guy?

In the previous fights?

It was there, I just couldn't get onto the opponent.

I mean, it definitely did it this time.

It was nice to go out on a good fight.

A nice little pirouette right on the nose there. That was pretty...

-Yeah, that was quite stylish.

-Yeah. You guys went out on a high.

Can we get a round of applause, please, for Eruption?

Three points for you guys, well done.

Apollo, were you holding back?

Not really. Once again, we had an issue with the drive.

The flipper was working fine but for some reason,

about a minute into the fight, the drive just stopped on the robot.

I mean, it seems like we see two different versions of Apollo.

One is an absolute master and then one who's, you know,

really quite vulnerable when it's not working.

There's some reliability issues in the drive that we do need to sort

out before the next fight, really.

So despite losing their

final head-to-head,

Apollo on five points are

through to the final.

Eruption's victory gives

them three points.

But with a game in hand

and both on two points,

this next battle between

Storm 2 and PP3D will decide who meets Apollo in tonight's final.

Our next match is Storm 2 so we want to make sure that our robot is

running and running well for it.

Very strong ramming robot, but...

Yeah, it'll be interesting.

It'll be interesting.

We're up against PP3D next so we

put our four bar lifting mechanism on top.

We've measured them and if we can turn them upside down,

because we're so low and they're relatively tall,

their disc just spins above the height of our robot

so that will be our plan.

So here it is, the deciding head-to-head

between PP3D and Storm 2.

And it is absolutely all to play for.

Over to you, Jonathan.

ANNOUNCER: 'Three, two, one.

'Activate.'

Storm 2 go straight onto the attack on PP3D.

Trying to get them over

so that they'll negate the power of the PP3D blade.

Moving away, PP3D can see the power

of the blade if they get it up to speed.

Storm will try and stop them getting up to speed.

And slamming it onto the blade there of Shunt

and crinkling the blade of Shunt.

Look at the bottom of it.

Oh, but there's an awful sound coming out of PP3D now.

Shake, rattle, not exactly rock and roll,

sounds like an old steam engine.

Oh, PP3D, they're trying to get it up to spinning speed

and they've pushed Storm 2 onto the Floor Spike.

Storm 2 need to get off there.

Good smash onto PP3D.

Press the pit, press the pit. Press the pit.

They're on the pit. Oh, they're down the pit!

Storm 2 realised what was going on and they celebrate.

Innovative design on PP3D.

It's a shame they got him anyways,

but that spinning disc kept hitting the floor and damaging itself.

Storm 2 with a drive onto Shunt's blade.

There's the damage caused by the disc,

but the motor immobilised, doom, gloom, pit, out, goodbye.

Oh, that was over far too quickly. Far too quickly.

-No, no, no.

-Congratulations, Storm 2.

-Thank you very much.

Well done, Storm 2, ladies and gentlemen.

Did you feel in any way guilty

when you slowly walked over to drop them down the pit?

Not really, we spotted they were immobilised on there and I just

tapped, literally went, just press the pit button.

Yeah. What a place to lose control on the pit.

Oh, I know, but, well, it happens, doesn't it?

Well, commiserations. PP3D, ladies and gentlemen.

PP3D fought the good fight, but, of course,

in the final it'll be a rematch with Apollo.

-Yes. Revenge.

-You think so?

Yeah, revenge for us and I think the house robots

have a score to settle with Apollo.

Because it was quite the highlight, that particular battle, you know?

-It was fantastic.

-Yeah.

So if we get something of that quality, that'd be very good.

Well done, Storm 2.

After all six head-to-head battles, the table looks like this.

At the top, Apollo and Storm 2

both with five points.

In third place with three points,

it's Eruption and at the bottom

with two, it's PP3D.

Congratulations to Storm 2 and Apollo on making it

through to tonight's final.

If their earlier head-to-head is anything to go by,

this should be some battle.

Apollo started strong in the competition,

making short work of Kan-Opener

and Sweeney Todd in the group stages.

They destroyed most of the opposition

in the head-to-heads before

suffering their only defeat at the hands of Eruption.

But five winning points was enough to guarantee

their place in the final.

Storm 2 also fared well after a slow start.

They took an Eruption in the head-to-heads

and the judges' decision gave them their first win.

It was only against PP3D that they showed their true

potential and joined Apollo at the top of the league table

for a place in the final.

When they first met, it was one of the most dramatic battles

in the series so far.

Storm 2 seemed to have the advantage with their lower front end...

But when it came to flipping power, Apollo took off,

taking out both Dead Metal shortly followed by Matilda.

Storm 2 almost sent them into the pit but Apollo held out.

Will their luck hold as they head into the final or Storm 2 wreak

revenge and settle an old score?

It's Storm 2 versus Apollo.

Only the winner is guaranteed a place in the grand final.

And even the house robots aren't safe.

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

Thanks very much, Dara.

Yes, Dead Metal and Matilda and the house robots

have a grudge against Apollo.

ANNOUNCER: 'Three, two, one. Activate.'

Off we go for a place in the grand final.

Apollo and Storm 2 nervous here,

look, feeling each other out.

Apollo trying to get the lifting mechanism and Storm 2 driving in underneath.

This is what they did when they met earlier on and into the

CPZ and this is where they decide to get revenge now!

Again, a house robot has been flipped.

For the third time in the night, Apollo flips a house robot.

Over goes Shunt.

All topsy-turvy in the Shunt world now.

Dancing a dizzy jig in that corner,

but no extra points for Apollo for that.

Don't forget, Storm 2 has, I think, the more significant drive.

If they can push Apollo towards a pit, they could have a chance.

They're certainly getting in underneath again,

under that front ground clearance of Apollo

when they can nudge it up into the air.

The control and the aggression from Storm 2 but the damage was from

Apollo with the flip.

Powerful surge...

A supply of gas well used there.

They know they have to be sensible with it.

And in the previous fight, that sort of flip caused damage to Storm 2.

No house robot in the CPZ.

Oh, yes, yes!

Storm 2 flying through the air.

And now Apollo is shaping up to have another ram,

meanwhile, Matilda's on the warpath.

Matilda, get out the way!

She can cross into a CPZ if the competitors go in there and once

again, she's now self-righted her compatriot.

Big blow onto Storm 2.

And another one out!

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Apollo, yes, yes!

Storm 2 over and out, Houston control.

'Cease.'

Woo!

What a robot. What a heat. Apollo, deserved winners.

Through to the grand final.

Storm 2 did so well with a nudge and a smudge of hope.

Oh, Apollo's got some front.

Some courage to take on the house robots and look at that,

Storm 2 just tossed through the air,

spinning like dice.

Your luck is out, so are you.

Storm 2, fine finalists, you've done very well.

Although maybe a defensive robot more than anything else.

Very low, very compact and you

probably need to go on the attack a bit more, really.

Is it particularly painful to watch

-your robot be flipped out of the arena?

-No.

-There are far worse ways...

-I believe you're lying.

Far worse ways for a robot to fail than leaving the arena.

-There's got to be something...

-They left it whole and not in a bin bag.

OK, fine. OK, grand.

But in a more correct way, it's also a loss, so...

LAUGHTER

Everybody, it's Apollo!

APPLAUSE

I mean, that is how to win a final.

Yeah, it's the first time the robot has fully worked.

Every time we've gone into a fight,

we've lost a wheel or the entire drive.

So that shows, when it works, 100%, we can take on anyone.

The main thing was just make sure we were entertaining,

that's what we do.

So when we came in to this, every match, we don't want to be boring.

We want to do the best we can.

Hopefully everyone's had a good time watching.

That is the way to do it. You are through to the grand final.

That's all from us tonight on Robot Wars. Goodnight.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE