Episode 2 Robot Wars

Fighting robots represent probably one of the biggest challenges

in engineering because there is no perfect design.

40 robot-fighting teams are about to take on one of the most

intense engineering challenges in the world.

Advice I'd give to roboteers entering the arena is

don't panic and try not to die.

To design, build and battle heavyweight fighting robots

to compete for the ultimate prize.

Through chaotic group battles and fierce head-to-heads,

new and veteran teams of robot engineers must push their

reinforced war machines to the limit.

Their robots are harder, faster, stronger,

designed for one thing -

total destruction in pursuit of victory.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Roboteers, stand by.

Welcome to Robot Wars.

40 teams of brilliant home-made machines hand-built over months,

even years, only to be destroyed in seconds for our entertainment.

And it's not just sparks that will fly in our bulletproof arena,

it's armed with an arsenal of hazards to launch, spike,

or even just set fire to them.

And if they make it past all of that, there's still these -

the house robots!

CHEERING, APPLAUSE AND WHISTLING

But they're not just doing it for the love of engineering.

One amazing machine will become the new Robot Wars Champion.

In the last heat, Aftershock made the competition quake as its

vertical spinner whipped itself a place in the Grand Final.

Tonight, eight more teams will have to survive two group battles.

The four winning robots will fight for points in the head-to-heads,

with three points for a win and two points for a judges' decision.

The two highest-scoring robots will go through to tonight's final.

Let's meet the teams in our first group battle.

They are Hobgoblin, Behemoth, Cobra and Eruption.

Cobra have a robot designed to crush opponents and inflict maximum

damage by ramming them into the arena side wall,

or, of course, one of those furious house robots.

Do you want to talk me through the weapon?

-Well, it's basically very simple. We have the hat.

-Yeah.

It's the Cobra hat. So, er, it's down at the moment for safety.

-It comes up all the way, we can grab the opponents...

-OK.

-..and we take them for a spin.

-And crush them.

-Yes, crush them and take them for a spin.

-OK, toy with them.

-Yeah.

-Please give it up for Cobra. Good luck, lads.

-Thank you.

Eruption was heavily damaged by spinner PP3D last series.

Since then, they've adapted it to the cold conditions of the arena

to maximise their flip power.

-We've even got a new weapon now.

-Oh, what's the new weapon?

We've got our spinner on the top...

You've even got a spinner? You've got a combined spinner and flipper?

Well, it's more like a nibbler, I think, but we hope to get

the robots on there, have a nibble at them, then throw them out.

OK, ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Eruption!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Built and designed by 19-year-old team captain Harry,

Hobgoblin has a unique weapon system.

-The weapon is this beater on the front, which spins up like that.

-OK.

It should take chunks out of other robots.

So what are your ideal opponents?

Erm, very flat, boxy things - no wedges, no flippers.

Zero flippers?

-Can you self-right?

-Erm, in theory, yes. Never tested.

-Good luck.

-Cheers. We'll need it.

One of Robot Wars' most seasoned competitors,

the Behemoth boys are back with their eye on the title

and a range of new interchangeable scoops.

What's this I see in front of me here?

Yeah, we've got a few different attachments for this year.

The new one here, which is mainly for horizontal spinners -

as Carbide last year, this would help us cos it's got the angles.

How thick is the protection here?

This is what you're battling...

-This is actually 0.12mm thick.

-Right, OK.

How many blows from a spinner going full speed do you think it'll take?

Well, hopefully lots, but let's wait and see.

Give it up for Behemoth, ladies and gentlemen!

It's time for the first group battle.

For many roboteers, this is the first time they'll see their

own upgraded, overhauled, and often newly built robots at full power.

To oversee this battle, our very own Jonathan Pearce.

Thanks very much, Dara and Angela.

Who will survive the proving grounds of the group battles?

Only two of these competitors can progress to the head-to-heads.

They'll do so by dodging the arena hazards...

and the house robots,

who this series can be unleashed from their CPZs for ten seconds by

competitors pressing the pit button

in a new hazard I like to call rogue house robots.

Our three-minute battle is presided over by our judging panel -

head judge Professor Noel Sharkey, Dr Lucy Rogers,

and Sethu Vijayakumar.

It goes to the judges if competitors are unable to KO their opponents

by flipping them out, sending them into

the Pit of Oblivion, or by simply smashing them into submission.

From Belgium, Cobra.

Cobra's crusher has a powerful four tonnes of crush in its jaws

that can bend 10mm steel.

It's one of the quickest robots in the competition as well.

When he's not building robots, team captain Marco Van Hek sells fish!

From Warrington, Eruption.

Team captain Michael has built and designed this robot with dad Adrian.

Eruption's armour has been upgraded with angled,

hardened steel side-pods to deflect spinner attacks.

The team say this year their plan is to flip robots out of the arena,

and with a robot that can flip over 1,000kg,

that's a real possibility.

From Surrey, Hobgoblin.

Hobgoblin's primary weapon spins at 2,500rpm

with a tip speed of 80mph.

The drive power comes from two 500W lawnmower motors.

It's the first heavyweight beater robot to compete in Robot Wars.

Will this new-blood robot be able to hand out old-school beatings?

From Hemel Hempstead, Behemoth.

Robot Wars veterans return with their six-wheeled mini-bulldozer.

Behemoth has the ability to pull 1.5 tonnes at a speed of 15mph.

Carbide knocked them out last series. With their upgraded buckets,

will they have a shot at the championship this time?

And the house robot, for the first time tonight,

the robotic commander-in-chief.

It's Sir Killalot!

Roboteers, stand by.

The teams are in the control booths.

It's battle time!

Three, two, one...

Activate!

Can Hobgoblin's egg beater scramble them out there?

Behemoth dancing, a little bit of prancing around...

And pushing there as well on Cobra.

Eruption being chased across the floor by Behemoth

with the mighty scoop.

Hobgoblin in a little bit of trouble.

Behemoth, you can see the power there of the scoop,

lifting Eruption up into the air!

Eruption can get up to 12.5mph. It's just over that, actually.

Has speed to get away.

Cobra using max speed, but sent under the Floor Flipper!

Oh-ho-ho, a tumble!

JONATHAN LAUGHS

Little movement from Hobgoblin at the moment, but this is a good...

a good contest out there between Behemoth, Eruption and Cobra.

Cobra between the two of them.

Eruption looks a good machine here,

Hobgoblin has driven straight into the wall, I think.

No, we're gone.

Behemoth think they've done enough.

They might try and stay out of trouble now.

Pit release...

And, yes, it will mean this time the Dial Of Doom has gone left.

Down goes the pit.

And Cobra have got themselves too tight with Killalot,

and they've done so well, Cobra!

Oh, Behemoth on its side!

Cobra's OK, live to fight another day after the pinchers of Killalot!

Oh, this is a good battle, isn't it?

Three-way tussle, only two can go through.

I like the look of Eruption!

Cobra needs to self-right,

but on the Floor Spikes...

Eruption just dodging those spikes.

Behemoth mighty, huge in the middle.

Sort of just controlling its own urges to get involved,

leaving Eruption to do the damage on Cobra.

Can't see.

Behemoth has gone into that area now to try maybe and flip Eruption.

Couldn't do so.

Eruption turned and got away using good speed there, good technique.

Now perhaps they can flip Cobra.

In comes Behemoth, did a mighty shove with that

7mm grade five titanium lifting scoop!

Again, all the pressure on Cobra.

Double attack, all double Dutch for the Cobra boys.

And Cobra coming back on the attack on Behemoth!

They've got some spirit, the Cobra team!

They've got some venom in those fangs!

But Behemoth wants to go in for the kill.

This is a really good group battle, one of the best we've seen!

Oh, flip! Tried to lift Cobra up and over!

Good armament on Cobra, hardened steel!

It's withstood so much, and they're still in there fighting.

-Taking on Eruption...

-KLAXON BLARES

-Oh, cease is called! Wow, that was terrific.

-Well done.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Really enjoyed that.

Very unusual for a group battle to go to the judges,

but this one will, and they were all very good in their own way.

Cobra took some punishment but seemed to be OK.

Off the Floor Flipper, look at it!

I just wonder whether this moment will count against Cobra.

I'm seeing very nervous faces here,

because that didn't end definitely.

And you're probably both wondering now,

what's the story with Cobra and yourselves?

And this is the first time there's ever been a judges' decision

in a group battle since we've started doing this show anyway,

so it's all very tense. Isn't it very tense?

You'd love me to break the tension, wouldn't you?

Both teams are through. Cobra got knocked out.

Congratulations to Behemoth and to Eruption.

-Well done.

-Well done.

-Well done.

-Well done, congratulations.

-Let me talk to you, though, about how that went.

-Yes.

Because that could've actually been very tight.

I mean, I know poor old Cobra bore the brunt of just about

everything that could've happened.

Man, that was a ding-dong battle for the entire thing!

-How do you think it went?

-It went well.

At one point it looked like we'd lost a rear chain,

so that's why I was having a bit of a problem.

But as soon as I spat that chain back out again I was OK.

Really, so you actually managed to ride out losing

a chain on one of your wheels?

Yeah, there was a lot of redundancy on the drive system, so...

Yes, six-wheel drive, so...

Wow, there we go, OK. Did you go in with the right thing, though,

-of all your many...?

-Yes, yeah, for the robots that we had in there,

-that was the right one.

-And similar for yourselves, it just...

You know, you were just battering into each other.

Yeah, well, we saw Hobgoblin had a really,

really nasty spinner on it, so we wanted to take that out,

so we turned that over and it was just three of us left.

Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Behemoth and Eruption!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Eruption return victorious to the pit

for their two-hour repair window.

For an experienced team like Behemoth,

it's an uneasy start to the competition.

We had a problem almost from the start

with one of the chains failing.

We've just taken that apart so we can actually repair it.

Going to go over the robot with a fine tooth comb and just

check everything is perfect.

In our second group battle,

we have Cherub, PP3D, Draven and Push To Exit.

Let's meet the teams.

This crusher has been internally redesigned.

It is more heavily armoured.

But does its weapon have enough bite

to get them through their group battle?

Do you have to drive it very carefully just to get

-the exact right place to grab somebody?

-No, we can pretty...

As long as something happens between there, we can get hold of it,

-then start...

-Still, you're talking about...

This is a zone of danger, this area, this size of area here...

-And then we can pick them up.

-OK, grand.

-That's it.

-That's it?

-That's the idea.

-Give it up for Draven!

Competing last series with robot Dantomkia,

team captain Shane has built a brand-new flipper.

Can his innovative design push them to victory?

It's a flipper, but it's hinged from the front,

-so it goes forwards, erm...

-And with more control?

More control, so we can flip our enemies into Killalot, Matilda,

-or even the pit.

-Please give a round of applause for Push To Exit!

The older members of the Colliass family competed last series

with their robot Gabriel.

This time, it's the turn of the youngest.

-Cherub does something that no other robot does, am I right?

-Yeah.

-What does it do?

-It does a handstand.

It does a handstand?

That wasn't even the answer I was expecting when I asked the question!

-Are you going to drive it, by the way?

-No, Toby is.

You're going to drive it, OK.

-How quickly can you get it out of tight corners?

-It's not...

It's not that fast but it's quite easy to control compared to Gabriel.

Promise me you'll do a handstand at some stage when you're in there.

-OK, yeah, we will.

-Give it up for Cherub!

PP3D dealt out some heavy hits last year.

This version is upgraded to fix reliability issues

with the undercutting disc.

The team also have an innovative way of paying for the upgrades.

We've got a brand-new disc.

Now, interestingly enough,

PP3D is the world's first crowd-funded robot.

So, what?!

Other people paid for your hobby?!

Other people pledged money to assist us and help us with our upgrades,

and some of those...

I'm sorry, that must feel like a lot of pressure!

Not only do you have to, you know, do it for the team,

-you've to do it for how many people?

-76 backers.

-76?!

And are these their names on the...?

Those are their names, they've been laser-etched onto the disc,

so they'll be spinning at 2,500rpm in the arena.

Swag your way up to that arena, and good luck.

-Wonderful, thank you very much.

-Slightly terrifying.

They'll all need to play to their own strengths and avoid those

that pose them the biggest threat.

It's the ultimate game of rock, paper, scissors.

Take it away, Jonathan.

Thanks very much, Dara and Angela, our arena angels.

The teams in the second group battle tonight are entering that arena.

From Wiltshire, Draven.

The disciples of Draven have returned with

a harder and faster crusher.

Draven has eight 800W motors for improved speed and pushing power.

Draven has a light but strong carbon fibre chassis,

but will it stand up to the rigours of the Robot Wars arena?

From Mablethorpe, Push To Exit.

Push To Exit is the only front hinge flipper competing this series.

Team captain Shane has overclocked his 24V drive system

to 28.8V, meaning it can hit a top speed of 22mph.

Team captain Shane also manages an amusement arcade, and has performed

driving tests for Push To Exit in the dodgems after hours!

From Essex, Cherub.

Cherub is a team of brothers and sisters from the Colliass family.

13-year-old Toby the youngest driver in the competition.

Cherub gets its strength from a 75 to 1 gear ratio

on its 360-degree lifting spikes,

and according to the team the robot is capable of lifting a house robot!

From Aberdeenshire, PP3D.

Team PP3D are back and more powerful than ever!

This PP3D Version Two has a 31kg spinning disc

and spins at 2,600rpm.

The team say that PP3D is more than capable of

slicing through the arena's side wall.

Yeah? You break it, you've bought it!

And the house robot, for the first time tonight...

He's got an axe to grind, and it's titanium-tipped.

It's Shunt.

After this battle two of these robots will be going home,

and it is battle time.

Roboteers, stand by!

Wave...

Good luck to Toby. Terrific stuff, only 13.

Smile, wave, smile, wave.

Three, two, one...

Activate!

I'm intrigued to see PP3D's spinner here -

very low ground clearance, only a centimetre above the arena floor.

It's a good onslaught early on by Push To Exit,

the blue at the top of that arena.

Meanwhile, Draven, big machine...

There's Cherub with the wings,

getting away there from Push To Exit.

This is a very tight one as well, they all look mobile,

they all look very threatening.

See what I mean about that spinner?

Very low to the arena floor, bouncing up there on Cherub.

Meanwhile, Draven nearly flipped by the Floor Flipper,

this is good stuff!

Draven, frontal onslaught onto PP3D, is that wise?

Onto that 31kg spinning disc?

Draven here, one of the favourites for this heat, completely is

in trouble, and very nearly caught there by the house robot...

And, whoa, punctured!

-Oh, we're out.

-Yeah.

I think that puncture has destroyed them!

In came Shunt, down came the mighty axe, out go Draven! Wow!

The power of that axe is astonishing!

Electrics, bang, gone, finished. See what I mean about that spinner?

Very low to the arena floor.

Push To Exit? Active?

-It's dead.

-It's not that, it's under...

-Oh!

Who's active out there? I don't think Push To Exit are active,

I think the other two will go through.

-Did we win?

-Yeah.

-That was quick!

And well done, Cherub.

Brave enough to take on PP3D, a frontal onslaught.

They took punishment, they didn't mind,

they came back again and again and again.

Something came off Draven there.

They were disappointing, really, to be honest.

PP3D very impressive, looked destructive.

That was the damage to Draven that put them out,

but all the way through Cherub kept coming back.

-Wasn't quite the exit you were hoping for, was it?

-Not quite, no.

What happened? Did a pin come out?

It looked like you just lost your drive...

Yeah, it just... It took a hit, and then I think a wire's come out,

we just lost power straight away.

Thank you, sorry it was so short-lived.

PP3D, on the other hand,

you looked like you literally took the bottom out of Draven.

Relentlessly as well, you did not back up.

Well, that's it, until they stop moving you keep attacking.

We look forward to seeing you in the head-to-heads, well done.

Ye-e-e-es! Very good!

However, what was the one thing you failed to do?

-Handstand.

-Where was the handstand?

It's because, erm, the fork's bent in, so...

Oh, really, so you couldn't get it around the front?

Get that handstand working,

we need to see the only handstanding robot stand on a hand.

That'd be fantastic. But well done, how great is this?

How fantastic is this? Ladies and gentlemen, Draven are going home,

but going through are Cherub!

Yes!

Team PP3D's powerful weapon is creating huge electrical demand

on the battery units, causing the team major problems.

It seems that the connections have fused together...

in the heat going through them. We've been drawing a lot of current.

I'll need to basically give it a full strip out

and check the circuitry.

They now need to strip down, diagnose

and rebuild their robot within the two-hour allotted repair time.

Cherub also haven't escaped unscathed from the group battle.

We took a pretty serious hit from PP3D which bent one of the arms,

which was one of the reasons why

we couldn't do the handstands at the end, wasn't it?

Yeah, which we wanted to do.

The team sustained most of their damage from PP3D.

To survive, they'll have to use their unconventional weapon

more effectively next time.

The group battles are over.

The four robots through to the head-to-head stage are

Cherub, PP3D, Eruption and Behemoth.

First to fight are...

After teething problems in their opening fight,

the experienced Behemoth know they need to play to their strengths

to get some points on the board.

Outlast them, I think. We're going to go for the endurance factor.

They're high pressure, we're low pressure,

so our gas is going to go further,

-so let's make every flip count.

-Yeah.

Eruption captain Michael has hundreds of robot fights

under his belt, so he knows how to adapt and change

depending on his next opponent.

In this case, to negate the huge scoop of Behemoth.

We've swapped our flipper arm over.

You can see it's not got any scratches on it cos it's brand-new.

But this is the one that we've been using for the past five years

on Eruption, it's perfect for fighting flippers.

It scrapes the ground, so we should be getting under them quite well.

Eruption's drive to win has led them to build one of the most

powerful flipping robots in the world.

But with limited flips,

it will be up to team captain and driver Michael to make them count.

We're Team Eruption, and we're from Warrington in Cheshire.

On our team is me, Michael, and my dad, Adrian.

I'm an engineering student at university

and my dad works for a research laboratory.

Last year people said we got a bit lucky,

and we were that close to making the heat final.

This year we're hoping to do a lot better,

and Eruption is a robot worthy of being a finalist.

18's a big year for me.

I've moved out of home, I've started university.

Turns out a robot is a lot easier to use than a washing machine!

Eruption's built as one big shell that everything bolts into.

So, if we fight a big spinner and we get a lot of damage

and that twists the shell,

we're going to have a lot of trouble repairing that on the day.

I might have only just started my career in engineering,

but I'm here to teach everyone a lesson.

Behemoth are the most experienced team in the competition,

incrementally upgrading their robot for 18 years.

Can these new modifications bring them glory?

Behemoth - it's big, it's bad, it's back.

I'm the driver of Behemoth.

We have Kane, who does all our pneumatics,

we have Michael, who does our electronics,

and Kevin, who does all our mechanical work.

This time around, Behemoth is going to be a modular-type robot.

The type one bucket is the original.

The type two bucket is a plough type, designed to deflect spinners.

And the type three is going to be an attachment that fits on type one,

but gives us the edge to be able to grab a robot

and to control the fight.

We feel that we've got a robot that is capable, but we just keep

finding those unlucky moments that just keep catching us out.

Behemoth has been 18 years in the making.

We're going to show these new robots how it's done.

For the first time tonight, she WOULD hurt a fly.

It's the 350 kilos of Matilda.

And direct from the scrapyards of hell,

it's the vertical saw of Dead Metal.

Behemoth against Eruption.

Both robots can't deal out a huge amount of damage.

I think we're going to see a very tactical fight.

Driving crucial here in a fight between two experienced teams.

Time will tell.

Three, two, one...

Activate!

Well, someone pulled Behemoth's chain in the first fight

and they didn't like it.

Eruption fought very well in that group battle,

but there's the power of the scoop of Behemoth.

I like the additions they've made,

but I like the tenacity of Eruption as well,

using their improvements there.

They're still concerned about a lack of armour against spinners.

Can't see.

I can't see a thing.

They can't see, the Behemoth team.

-JONATHAN LAUGHS

-Can you see it?

No, I can't!

They're going blind at the moment, they can't see in there!

And they're in real trouble!

As a result, Eruption getting in underneath Behemoth!

Well, that's a tactic we've not seen before,

put a robot out of the line of sight of its roboteers!

Innovative. And they've gone back in there again.

Will Behemoth be suckered in again? No.

More cautionary... Oh, what a flip!

-Yes!

-Yes, Michael!

How about that?!

Sensational stuff!

It just lifted 108.5kg there!

Lack of vision for Behemoth all the way through.

They started well, Eruption was bouncing over the flame pit,

Behemoth on top...

But once they got into that corner area you could see there

the power of Eruption.

They could lift Behemoth and Behemoth didn't learn the lesson.

And out they went.

Eruption have won the battle of the flippers,

but they still have to face their biggest fear.

We've not fought a big spinner yet,

so we've not had too much damage.

So that's still to come, probably, but so far we're in good shape.

Behemoth are smarting from that early defeat

at the hands of Eruption.

We both had a good tussle there.

I was on top to start with, but...

Yeah, just luck of the draw at that one point, that's all it takes.

Surprisingly, for such an experienced team,

Behemoth find themselves chasing points early in the tournament.

But they've identified what they think will be an easy opponent.

Hopefully we get Cherub next

because we want to take on PP3D, er, as fit as we can,

and realistically there's not much that Cherub can do to us.

But Behemoth must wait as Cherub's first head-to-head is against PP3D.

Team PP3D have repaired their electrics.

However, Gary's concerned his machine will prove to be

too powerful for its own good,

creating huge amounts of pressure on the weapon system.

PP3D's biggest weakness is its weapon is so hugely powerful,

that's what it comes down to.

They could hurt us, basically, by taking the knocks that we dish out.

Erm, the shock that goes back through the chassis is

our biggest problem.

Cherub isn't designed to defend against big spinners, but the team

have modified their robot to focus on attacking

their opponent's weak spot.

Our secret weapon is we've got, erm, sharp forks,

which means we're hoping to pop their tyres.

It's a lot pointier than usual.

Should be able to pierce through their tyres.

Last series dad Craig chose not to go in for the killer blow,

and some felt it cost them the competition -

a lesson Cherub don't intend to forget.

I think that's enough. Leave it, leave it, leave it.

I don't want to damage his robot any more.

My dad was a wimp last year,

and I'm going to make sure that I don't make the same mistakes he did.

Our team is Team Cherub. I'm Sarah, and I'm the captain.

Toby is the driver, Mark is the weapons operator,

and most importantly, Rosie is the cupcake baker.

Our robot's unique because it's a 360 lifter.

That means it can go all the way around,

and that means if it goes on its back it can flip back onto its feet.

I'm most proud of the wings because it makes it look amazing,

and if it didn't have the wings it wouldn't be Cherub.

I like to help out in the garage,

but Dad doesn't like me playing with the power tools, and it really

annoys me, but I can't really do anything about it cos he's my dad.

If my robot got destroyed in battle

I'd be really upset and I'd go up to them

and cry right in their faces so they'd feel guilty.

My dad got to the heat finals,

but we're going to do one better and win.

Team PP3D have one of the most vicious spinners in the competition,

but will it tear itself apart before team captain Gary

can prove its potential?

We are very confident in PP3D's ability to win the competition.

We wouldn't be entering otherwise.

So I run a 3-D printing business,

Sarah runs a smallholding, looking after a variety of animals

including Shetland sheep and Shetland ponies,

and Lawrence is an engineer, and he's very good at taking

things apart and putting them back together again.

So we went for an undercutter design to try and get past

the defence of other robots,

to take out wheels, to try and get behind flippers

and just do as much damage as possible.

During an impact with PP3D,

half the energy of the collision goes back through the robot chassis,

so we had to design the robot to be able to survive that.

So one design decision that people might think is a bit odd

is the fact that we have exposed wheels.

For us, those wheels, very easy to switch out.

If everything is enclosed then it means you basically have to keep on

hitting the other robot until something gets destroyed inside.

PP3D is the most powerful robot that I've ever built.

You're going to have to bring something special

to the arena to beat us.

In the arena for this battle, he's got an axe to grind,

it's Shunt.

And it's the vertical saw of Dead Metal.

Three, two, one...

Activate!

So, Cherub want to leave PP3D tired and emotional,

but let's not forget the team from Essex also have exposed tyres.

You can see them there!

Behind that blade, brilliant from Cherub. So brave, young Toby.

Doesn't shirk a challenge.

Front foot all the way.

Now out come the rogue robots. The Dial Of Doom.

It gives them the opportunity to come into the fray.

Dead Metal has Cherub up, what a shame that is.

-Try to get out.

-I can't.

He's up to speed now, boy!

You can hear the hum of PP3D's spinning blade.

And that's the punishment it can mete out.

Arena side wall destroyed.

There's part of the arena gone.

We have to stop.

Cease is called when the arena is damaged.

Cease is called cos Cherub's been damaged!

"Oh, yeah, we're safe now... Oh, no, we're not!"

One moment they thought they were OK and look at that!

No wonder Gary thinks this is the most powerful machine

he's ever built.

We saw it coming on and we are in the control room

and we heard a smash and we could see a scrape across

the bulletproof glass, but you don't expect it to look

quite as dramatic as that.

You can see just there,

where it all just got sheared off by the power of it.

Plus, we broke the arena.

They're getting ludicrously powerful, these machines.

With the arena now repaired,

the teams will start from where they stopped

and will now share the same control room.

Thanks very much.

Let me explain - they can't touch the robots in that cease period,

so they don't know how reliable they are now.

Off we go again.

Just over two minutes of the fight remain.

I'm coming for you!

Well, how much movement is left in those machines?

They need to be able to turn out of their circumference.

They're just going to toast us like a marshmallow!

Because they're immobile, the countdown has started.

I think they're both immobile.

This will go to the judges to decide who was immobile first.

Cease called. Judges' decision.

Well done. Well done, guys, well done.

Ten out of ten for bravery, Cherub.

The frontal onslaught into that powerful spinning blade,

that's how powerful it is,

the most powerful I think we've seen in the series so far.

But for me they were immobilised,

goodness me, roughly at the same time.

A for effort!

If nothing else you've given Noel Sharkey a headache, so well done!

Shall we get to results?

As you were both immobilised, the judges have gone back and reviewed

the footage from the entire fight,

not just that dismal last ten seconds,

and they have made a unanimous decision.

And the winner of that battle

was Cherub!

-CHEERING

-Well done!

Congratulations!

PP3D have a huge repair job on their hands.

The major damage is that one of our drive motors

has essentially sheared off its mounting points.

That's why we were going in circles,

because the wheel was essentially at an angle.

As feared, the powerful disc is to blame,

but team captain Gary isn't prepared to compromise on power.

I'd never tone down the disc. The disc will spin at its maximum

and we just have to repair the rest of the robot to survive it.

Cherub did well to absorb those hits from PP3D but their chassis

and lifter weapon suffered after taking the brunt of the impacts.

They now have to get it all back fighting fit

to stand a chance in this competition.

So what we need to do is straighten all this up

so it can allow the lifters to rotate 360 degrees,

because in our next battle we're against a flipper

and if we can't self-right then it's going to be a very short battle.

I think that's going to be the first port of call, to be honest.

After the first head-to-head, PP3D and Behemoth have no points.

Cherub have two and Eruption is in the lead with three.

Next up, it's a big one -

first versus second place,

Eruption and Cherub.

Cherub are repairing by cutting away damaged parts

and rewelding new metal in its place.

Cherub's quite unassuming, it's a tough robot,

but we need that three points. So to get a knockout

we're going to have to try and get it out the arena

or beat it with the house robot.

The teams head to the arena.

Cherub are battle-scarred but rebuilt and ready to go.

They'll need to keep their wits about them if they want to avoid

becoming Eruption's next victim.

In the arena, Matilda, and house robot number two, it's Dead Metal.

Three, two, one...

Activate!

And off we go.

How active is Cherub?

They're looking to get those spikes working there

and Eruption trying to get in underneath.

-Don't get flicked out!

-Try and flip them.

They have custom-made electronics, Eruption,

pulsing the timing of the gas to the flipper...

Oh, no!

..meaning they can reserve their gas for big arena-outing flips.

That's what they're going for here. They've manoeuvred it...

and out they go! Brilliant from Eruption.

CHEERING

We lost in 30 seconds!

Cease!

That was hugely impressive!

This is one to watch.

Cherub trying to do the handstand.

Don't know what he's doing there, to be honest.

Bit of gymnastics.

That's what you call losing.

Having fished the robot out of the moat,

Team Cherub return to the pits

and the reason for their lack of mobility becomes apparent.

Early on, we realised we weren't going to be able to drive anywhere

because one of our wheels wasn't turning.

We're going to have to replace the motor

and hit this back to make it so it doesn't get jammed.

For Eruption, once again, there are no repairs.

They're riding high and their plan of mercilessly launching opponents

out of the arena is working nicely.

We've won two fights in a row now,

and that's what Eruption's built to do, so to see it all go perfectly,

so exactly what you envisage in your head in the arena,

that's a really good feeling.

They may be at the top of the league,

but busy fine tuning in the pits shows there's no time

for complacency with Michael and his dad.

Fighting next is bottom of

the league Behemoth versus PP3D.

Neither robot has any points on the board.

To stay in contention,

they both need the full three points of a knockout win.

The repair of PP3D's motor and weapon continues.

Behemoth are ready to go and have changed their scoop

to one specially designed to deal with spinners.

The idea is it will ride up this here, deflecting the angle

of approach of their spinner.

This is going to get some pretty gouges on it

because it's only aluminium.

It's tougher to take away the actual momentum of their disc.

A critical match for both teams.

Could Behemoth's adaptations give them the edge in this crucial fight?

In the arena for this battle, it's the titanium-tipped axe of Shunt

and Dead Metal.

Three, two, one...

Activate!

PP3D have had frazzled circuitry.

Keep on them!

They've had problems caused by the great power of that spinning blade.

Can they control its force?

Behemoth with the anti-spinner scoop doing a good job so far

and getting in underneath.

Keep front on.

And just about turning away.

Wow!

They tried to get in behind and flip PP3D

and bore the brunt of the spinner, but I think PP3D has exploded!

Back off, back off, back off!

Pit release. Pit release now.

Slowly, slowly, slowly.

Down goes the Dial Of Doom, which means a house robot can come out,

and it is Shunt looking for revenge.

They wanted to be on fire for the series - well, they are!

For the wrong reason.

Get onto them!

Circuitry frazzled again, cease is called. That will be a big win

and three points for Behemoth.

CHEERING

Ho-ho! A tumble!

I can tell you, Ant and Kane dance like that in the discos.

They are winners.

Well, that moment I thought Behemoth might be in trouble

but again it was the power of its own weaponry that did PP3D in

and won Shunt a chance of revenge.

Shunt took that revenge.

Big surprise.

Behemoth's robot gamble paid off.

A battered PP3D is left pointless

and facing their biggest repair job yet.

Our weapon is so destructive

actually taking the shock back through the chassis

is what has done this, and then is what has also...

which then obviously resulted in the sparks

and us essentially losing the battle.

While our teams work on their repairs,

it's time to check in with head judge Professor Noel Sharkey.

Where are we going to see more robots in day-to-day life?

The first thing all these people are going to be seeing

is delivery robots.

A big online company announced they were going to start

doing delivery drones.

They're going to have a 100 foot skyway through London.

They're going to apportion a part of the space above us?

450 feet, just below the helicopter level,

and that will be thick with robots.

There are other schemes as well.

-You've one in your hand.

-This is a pavement robot.

It holds 10kg in here.

They're using them in Greenwich, two cities in Germany.

They're working with the Swiss Postal Service.

It's met two million people so far in these countries.

Some people give it a little stroke or a pet,

they anthropomorphise it, think it's an animal.

But they are only seeing one of them now.

At some point we'll be stepping over them.

Seeing hundreds and hundreds of them.

And then you the consumer, then, how does it know that it's you?

They send you a text message on your phone and you click the link.

It goes, "Bzzz!"

How long before we see this being a standard part of our lives?

-This year.

-Really?

-I would say so, yeah.

-Thank you very much, Noel Sharkey.

APPLAUSE

Next up, it's PP3D and Eruption.

This should be an easy three points

for Michael but he hasn't forgotten

the devastation caused last series.

If you want to set up a backstory or something,

that is probably what you'd call our arch enemy.

It took us out last time.

It's a devastating robot.

We're going to change our configuration of Eruption

completely to try and deflect spinner attacks

but it's just so powerful.

We need to try to come out of that fight with as little damage

as we can to make sure we can take on whoever we are facing

in the heat final.

PP3D know exactly where to aim for.

With Eruption, I'm trying to get around the back of them

because their wheels are exposed there,

so try and get round the back,

give them big hits right the way along, we'll see how we go.

Eruption has shown a ruthless streak,

flipping opponents out of the arena,

but could PP3D prove to be its Achilles heel,

bringing them back down to earth?

Overseeing this fight, the worst cuddle I ever had, it's Dead Metal,

and Sir Killalot.

Three, two, one...

Activate!

Off they go, can they get in round the back of Eruption? Goodness me!

Eruption looking for revenge against their old enemies.

Up to speed.

Up to speed, they wanted that blade to work so frenetically.

Eruption using what they call the anti-carbide PP3D side pods

to deflect blows.

They come in underneath PP3D.

Trying to get an angle to flip them.

Has the blade stopped working? It has.

No weaponry on PP3D.

Go! Go! Get it on!

Don't think they had any ground clearance, but now, upside-down,

maybe they can get that blade working.

No, they are out!

For a minute there I thought they had hope.

Three flips in a row, three cheers for Eruption.

Cease.

Eruption on the attack early on.

Tossed PP3D in the air,

so too did the Floor Flipper.

And that was the end of it all.

There's no exit like a Robot Wars exit

and PP3D are out of the competition.

That's 9mm thick Hardox.

To put a decent slice in that is pretty impressive.

They've taken some nice gashes out the side, but compared with

last year when we fought them,

they tore a massive slot through the side, took the wheel out.

They ripped one of these panels completely off last time.

Compared to that, we're quite happy with it.

So, Eruption are our first finalists.

Who joins them comes down to this,

the last head-to-head

between Behemoth and Cherub.

Team Cherub aren't underestimating the threat posed

by the experienced Behemoth.

Got Behemoth next, who are really skilled.

They've been building up their robot...

-For 15 years!

-..for 15 years!

They've spent a lot of money getting the drive perfect.

I think it's going to be hard to beat it.

I do feel the pressure a little bit.

I think since Toby's done such a good job of driving it,

I want to make sure he's got a robot to actually drive.

Meanwhile, their opponents seem confident

that their battle-hardened robot will secure them the points

needed to put them in the final.

There's even plans to try out their new experimental grabber.

Should be a fun fight.

We are pondering whether to go with the original bucket

or give the grabber a try,

so you have to wait to see what we decide, I think.

It's Cherub versus Behemoth.

A biblical battle. You've got your new weapon here.

We have. They're the right size to fit in there.

-You're just going to pick them up?

-Hopefully. Give them a good hug

and drive them around the arena and control the fight.

If you get through this,

it will be a rematch, of course,

and that was a hell of a battle.

-It was.

-And they flipped you out.

Got a bit of payback there so I want to get into that final.

Fabulous, this is building up wonderfully!

Give it up for Behemoth!

CHEERING

Well, you heard them, the winner of this battle goes through

to the final against Eruption. Please tell me you've got a plan.

I think I might try and use the arena hazards,

try and block their path with the fire and the spikes.

OK, so feeding them, using their own tactics on them.

-Yeah.

-That's the plan. Please give it up for Team Cherub!

-CHEERING

-Good luck!

In the CPZ for this battle,

what happens when you cross a radioactive spider with a blender?

Dead Metal, that's what.

And Matilda!

Just have fun.

Three, two, one...

Activate!

OK, so the fun young lady. Didn't Behemoth say there's not much

Cherub can do to us earlier on in this episode?

Behemoth looking for a smash and grab victory with that grabber,

lifted up there.

Cherub looked like a winged angel earlier on.

Little bit like a Robot Wars gargoyle in matches now.

Behemoth using the six-wheel drive there,

superior drive than all other robots, really.

They've gone over the top of Cherub.

It's a dangerous place to be with Dead Metal right behind!

Well, well, well.

Anthony Pritchard left himself open there for attacking.

Now needs work to get back on top in this bout and working hard

to try and shove Cherub across the arena floor.

Using the extra... Ah!

I can't ever remember seeing that before!

I cannot ever remember someone being stuck underneath the Floor Flipper.

We're stuck in there! I didn't even know you could get in there!

Neither did I!

You're not supposed to go in there

and the flipper's not supposed to do that.

This is going to have to be restarted.

Cherub chomped. We'll go again.

Three, two, one...

Activate!

We restart, then, with two minutes to go now.

Behemoth was slightly on top for me early on.

Ooh, the house robot will come out now.

I think this is a brilliant addition.

Rogue robots, love it.

Attacking Cherub. Trying to lever Cherub out, perhaps.

Dead Metal couldn't do so

and got banged by Behemoth and will remember that.

Behemoth has got tagged by Dead Metal.

Getting out now, Behemoth.

Don't think Cherub can cause too much damage

unless Behemoth drives with a full frontal and once again

gets on the top of Cherub.

Could be flipped.

It's very, very tense, it's very close.

Again, good turn by Toby at the controls of Cherub

to attack Behemoth.

Haven't seen much of the grabber so far.

Who's on top at this stage? Away go Cherub.

-Just try and...

-You've only got 30 seconds to try and make it.

Get round the side, that's it.

Trying to look impressive, aggressive, ooh, and again,

Behemoth, don't think that's the greatest bit of driving

to get on the top of Cherub.

Left Behemoth vulnerable, but perhaps an aggressive move

by Ant at the controls.

If this goes to the judges, and I'm sure it will now, it's going to be

very, very close and this could be the decisive moment!

Both of them taking damage from Dead Metal!

Who has sustained the most damage?

Cease is called. Judges will decide.

-Have we won?

-I've no idea.

I'm really nervous.

-It just didn't work. We couldn't get under them.

-No.

No, they couldn't get under them.

Oh, handstand attempted!

Aggression from Cherub, control by Cherub,

not very controlled by Behemoth.

I don't know.

Behemoth, there was loads of talk about cuddling and hugging.

Cherub, the only hugs that were being doled out were from Dead Metal

as he sliced you. What...went wrong?

We've never tried it before. We tried innovation over function

and it's not worked very well.

I mean, I think it was there, in theory it worked.

You just couldn't seem to get under Cherub,

it was too low to the ground.

No, the bottom part moved up slightly. It lifted up too high.

So there was no coming back from there.

We got them pushed under the arena flipper as well

but apparently that doesn't count!

I mean, they did well to come back from that, I thought.

They were squashed, and obviously the flipper is there

to flip and not squash in the opposite direction.

So, Cherub went in there as the underdog, really.

Did you realise that Behemoth's weapon wasn't working,

that whatever their plan was, it wasn't quite going?

I don't really know what their weapon did, to be honest!

You didn't know!

What would your weapon have done had it been working?

I don't know. Ideally, I wanted to go with the original scoop.

-OK.

-That's all I'm saying.

Were you worried while little Cherub was lying underneath the flipper?

Did you think she'd be able to come back?

Yeah. Because she's strong.

She is strong!

OK, shall we go to the results?

There was no clear winner, obviously,

because there was no knockout,

no immobilisation, so it went through to a judges' decision

and the result has come through. The decision was unanimous

and the fight and the two points are going to go to...

Cherub!

Which means that you're going through to the final, guys!

-APPLAUSE

-Do your little wing thing!

Hard luck, guys. Well done, always a pleasure to have you in.

-Thank you so much.

-Try something new.

-We lost someone.

-Ant. Stressful.

Is he upset?

Of course he is.

Team captain Ant returns alone to the pits.

It was a gamble to experiment with a brand-new weapon

for such a crucial match.

Was it one that cost them their place in the final?

Putting a grabber of that type onto the robot for a critical match

was a very poor decision there.

Main reason I walked out was I was so annoyed with the rest of the team

for making that decision not to go with a guaranteed win

with using the scoop.

It's proven, and sometimes innovation doesn't pay out.

Sometimes it's best to use what you know works.

For Team Cherub, however, this is a dream come true.

I'm really happy. I'm surprised we've got this far.

So, our finalists tonight are Eruption.

Upgraded from last series,

this flipper has tossed aside the competition,

dashing the hopes of team after team.

We're so happy with how it's gone so far,

it's gone exactly to plan

and it's exactly what we dreamed of happening with Eruption.

In the head-to-heads, Michael's masterful driving

helped him flip all three opponents out of the arena.

-Yes!

-Yes, Michael!

They face Cherub,

an unconventional and incredibly hard-wearing lifter bot.

In their group battle, they proved they weren't afraid

to take the deadliest robots face on.

-Did we win?

-Yeah.

-Yeah!

Since then, Cherub have taken serious damage in every fight,

but in the pits, big brother Mark worked tirelessly

to repair their broken chassis and weapon again and again.

Since Toby's done such a good job at driving it,

I want to make sure he's got a robot to actually drive.

Work that paid off, as Cherub took judges' decisions

with their controlled and aggressive driving,

twice winning fights against the odds.

Can Cherub defy expectations one last time?

Tonight's final is a fight of young blood.

In one corner, 18-year-old Michael from Eruption has designed

and built a robot capable of launching their rivals

out of the arena.

In the other corner, 13-year-old Toby from Cherub

has proved himself to be amongst the best drivers in the competition.

It's time to find out who goes through to our Grand Final.

Two young guns. Last time they met

Cherub suffered the old flip-flop and fly,

but they did have technical problems.

Both robots now at full strength, though, for this final fight.

Roboteers, stand by.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Three, two, one...

Activate!

Cherub needs to dance around Eruption

but I don't think Toby knows the meaning of the word retreat.

-Sorry, guys.

-We died in two seconds!

And that's the result!

Job done. Made it look easy.

The job was done so very, very early on.

Wow.

-That's the shortest fight we've ever done.

-We flew so high!

Well, he was brave enough to attack but...

foolhardy, a little bit naive.

Let's not say that because he's been brilliant, Toby.

But from that moment on, you know what's going to happen, don't you?

Watch for Eruption in the Grand Final.

This is a robot that could win this series.

The explosive power of the Eruption

and they did the job in five seconds.

APPLAUSE

Every time I click my finger, an angel gets its wings.

And that's what happened to Cherub, even though you wrote the words

"don't flip me" in marker on top of Cherub.

They didn't... I know. AUDIENCE AWWS

Oh, stop, come on!

You fought brilliantly.

By the way, this introduction is now taking longer than the fight did.

-Thanks(!)

-I'm sorry.

-How well have you guys done, though?

-Well.

-Did you expect to get all the way to the final on this?

-No.

No, none of you expected to go all the way to the final.

None of you expected to get all the way through the melee

and then through all the head-to-heads

and to pick up loads of points and get all the way to the final.

You came up against this thing,

which is on a hot streak at the moment.

-You should feel very proud of that, I presume.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

It was over fast but that was quite impressive.

Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Cherub, please,

and the fantastic job they did. APPLAUSE

You genuinely should be very proud of you all.

-I mean, I think they're a little shellshocked.

-Yeah.

Have you got somewhere to go?

-You're in an awful hurry...

-Yeah.

..and aggressively quicker every single time.

I think it's a dangerous arena and if you stay in there too long,

you can get pushed into house robots, into hazards.

So the best way to get through the competition is to just

win your fights as quickly as you can.

-So that was the plan.

-Absolutely.

-Short...

That's the great thing about a flipper,

you can just throw them out of the arena

-and just get the fights done with.

-So, can a flipper win the final?

-Again.

-A flipper can win.

Whether it will not, we don't know, but it can.

OK, well, listen, we look forward to seeing you again in the final.

Please give it up for Eruption. Well done.

APPLAUSE

Some great competitors here but that's all from Robot Wars tonight.

Goodbye.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Next time on Robot Wars...

Is this the first-ever fight?

Ever.

-Yes!

-CHEERING