BattleBots 2016: The Gears Awaken

Here's the very latest from BattleBots: The Gears Awaken. By which I mean, this is the latest anyone has put out a review for this. Other commitments and difficulty in finding images set me back so far I wasn't going to bother completing and publishing this article. No point in having a near-finished article sitting around though, so I thought 'Why not?'. I'll make sure to get the next one ready good and quick.

With well over 250 applicants for the new series of BattleBots and only time or funds for a 48-entrant competition, the producers had a tough job with the selection. So tough, in fact, that they had to widen the roster by just another few robots. How? Have 12 machines prove their worth in a set of 3-way melees rumbles to earn their places in the competition proper. And so The Gears Awaken was born.

What's up with that name, amirite?

Seriously, is this just me? No one has said it yet but 'The Gears Awaken' doesn't make sense. Gears don't 'awaken' because gears don't sleep. I'd like to think that it's a reference the latest Star Wars film as a subtle nod to BattleBots' angle of sci-fi come to life. In truth, I reckon they couldn't think of a better word for 'start moving'. I can but 'The Gears Activate' sounds a bit wank.

The Gears Awaken logo, featuring a fully awake and alert gear

Source: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/27/battlebots-season-2-poster?xid=entertainment-weekly_socialflow_twitter

What happened in the episode?

If you've seen it then you already know. If for whatever reason you didn't, let me fill you in quickly.

There were four rumbles with three robots each. The winner of each rumble was given a place in the main tournament. We're told the total of 12 entrants are all too evenly matched to pick between but it becomes quickly apparent that this is a lie.

In the first battle, Son of Whyachi tore its way through 4 of the 5 Creepy Crawlies, with a sweet two-in-one for efficiency, as Ultraviolent flailed around in an attempt to crawl along with its arms like a hyperactive torso zombie.

Next up, Blacksmith beat Basilisk like it was snake whacking day (now there's a reference) but couldn't kill clusterbot Gemini. Basilisk's little drone friend Afterbyte bounced off Blacksmith and immediately broke a rotor blade. The clear winner then caught fire but put itself out quickly enough to go through by judges' decision.

Red Gemini took all Blacksmith could give

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yT-uqNA2zk&index=4&list=PL1BtOUP9FASq5U3oVnBFdXNap6echu4s2

Mohawk's pyrotechnics display didn't do too much as Invader pinballed off the BattleBox walls and came to rest in a corner. Lycan rammed its ever-spinning carcass because it seems Canadians are drawn to bright colours, killing its own drive in the process and letting Mohawk take the win.

Finally, Skorpios jammed itself under the screws as Black Ice, which looks like one of the better entries from Robot Wars '96, shoved Bad Kitty into submission.

Why wasn't Son of Whyachi put straight through to the main competition?

Son of Whyachi was the most potent bot out there and definitely wasn't 'evenly matched' with Creepy Crawlies or Ultraviolent. Invader gave them a run for their money but their receiver melted or something. Everyone who knows the old BattleBots knows SoW so why weren't they put straight through?

I have a theory and though I haven't confirmed it, it seems to hold its own pretty well. The full roster reveal showed two Team Whyachi robots. The team brought along Warrior Clan from last year as a kind of unofficial back-up reserve even though they didn't expect to use it, like Team Hardcore Robotics (Tombstone) did last year with Swamp Thing which we never got to see. Fortunately for the Whyachi team, so many competitors pulled out last minute this year that there weren't enough actual reserves to fill the gaps and the few assigned 'back-up reserves' didn't bother turning up. The producers didn't have much of a choice but to fill one of the gaps with Warrior Clan. Putting two robots from the same team straight through to the main competition is a bit unfair though, and knowing that Warrior Clan performed too well last year to be put in the qualifier rumbles, they stuck SoW in one instead.

Highlighted are the Whyachi machines. Also notice Hypershock appears twice

Source: https://sli.mg/a/E9e4eN

Why build something as useless as Creepy Crawlies?

Why? Because Creepy Crawlies wasn't useless, it was brilliant (and that's not just my British bias showing). There are several benefits to having so many parts to a clusterbot; one bot can take a hit and another can move in while the opponent is spinning back up, you can fill the arena and not give your opponent any space and the different parts can help each other out by righting each other or getting each other unstuck. Better yet, having an entire swarm means, when controlled well, all parts of the cluster can attack at once from multiple angles, meaning their opponent doesn't know which way to look and gets caught out.

Problem is, the Crawlies got stuck with the worst draw possible - the 360-degree reach of Son of Whyachi. There's no benefit to striking from all angles when all angles are covered by a 120-pound spinning tribar.

Son of Whyachi achieves bot fission as two Creepy Crawlies collide

Source: http://thirdlawsports.com/2016/05/15/battlebots-season-2-review-gears-awaken/

What was wrong with Ultraviolent?

I genuinely have no idea. For some reason, their drive didn't seem to work. With my tin foil hat adorned though, I can tell you that Ultraviolent is in the main bracket despite losing its qualifier rumble. You can see it twice in that roster image - once in the rumbles and once in the main competition. I suspect the second hole left by all those drop-outs had to be filled by something and for whatever reason the producers thought it ought to be Ultraviolent. Knowing they were through anyway, did the producers tell the team to feign having drive problems to stop them winning their qualifier and hope that no one would notice? Surely the team weren't expected to just take the hits for the sake of television, considering how expensive the damage can be, were they?

Drones?

Let's breeze over the fact that these things are quadcopters, not drones, because this whole blog is dedicated to radio-controlled boxes that we insist on calling robots.

Drones are this year's big gimmick, like minibots were last year. We've only seen the one so far but from teasers and team reveals we know there's a veritable fleet of drones out there. Team MBS Robotics insist that Basilisk's air support Afterbyte had potential, designed to suck on to the opponent and drill into it. My major issue here is that their vacuum sticking method requires a flat surface and few robots have one big enough to land on.

An early Afterbyte in testing

Source: http://www.mbsrobotics.com/#!gallery/lqtv1

Flying robots have actually been allowed for years. The very first one fought in Robot Wars '95, using great big balloons to lift itself into the air - the very epitome of the 'run away for as long as possible' technique up until the balloons popped on an arena light. Up until now, no one has worked out a way to make drones effective so no one has bothered.

With so many this year, I'm holding out for a dogfight in the BattleBox rafters.

Why did Blacksmith have to take out both halves of Gemini?

If you were watching closely, you may have seen that only 3 out of the 5 Creepy Crawlies had to be immobilised for the whole bot to be beaten but only half of Gemini needed to keep going for them to last  to the end of the match. This is because a competitor is only counted out when two-thirds of the clusterbot has been immobilised. Maths fans will notice that three-fifths of Creepy Crawlies is two-thirds but because Gemini's weight is evenly split, one cluster is half and no more, so both bots need to be taken out.

Two for the price of one

Source: https://streamable.com/pbas

Blacksmith managed to Newton's cradle one half of Gemini through the other but since they couldn't kill the second half, it went to the judges.

What happened to Invader?

Invader, just for some background info so you know what we're dealing with, is an updated, upgraded version of SuperMegabyte. This is the bigger, badder version of one of the greatest robots of the 2004-2009 era. Megabyte has the honour of permanently killing Typhoon 2 and helping force Biohazard into retirement. This is why I was looking forward to seeing it fight.

Sadly, they bounced off Lycan in such a way that they caught the screw hazard motor box and went flying. Invader must have hit every single wall panel in the BattleBox, pinging around like an air hockey puck slammed by an enthusiastic twelve-year-old. They came to stop in a corner but didn't spin down, no matter what, becoming a new arena hazard. Got to give it to them, the weapon drive can take a bashing. Thing is, the robot's main drive was dead and the whole robot should have shut down, as per the safety rules. It didn't, though, and from what little I understand about these things I believe part of the signal receiver fused to one of the battery banks, removing the middleman that is the human behind the controls. The weapon drive was basically stuck receiving a positive signal, so it didn't stop. Not for a while, anyway.

Mohawk, hypnotised by Invader's endless spinning

Source: http://battlebots.wikia.com/wiki/File:Invader_arena.png

Invader took 45 minutes to spin down. The entire BattleBots audience and production team had to wait for Invader's batteries to run out of juice. This took so long because batteries in these machines need to take a lot of stop-start and this uses up lots of power. Without hitting things regularly, the batteries weren't losing their charge as fast as they would normally, so it took a long ol' time for Invader to stop spinning. It's worth saying the Robotic Death Company, the team behind Invader, used the same set up in Megabyte for years and never had any trouble.

Why did Lycan keep hitting Invader?

I don't fucking know. Seriously, if it's stopped, why hit it? Perhaps Invader's spinning made it look live and the Lycan team thought they were sitting in one place for the hell of it? Maybe Invader's spinning shell somehow caused it to creep around for a little while but we didn't see it post-production? Maybe the Lycan team have a grudge? Or maybe the pressure got to them. Points for aggression, I guess, and better luck next time. I still want to see what the American Storm 2 can really do.

The scars in Lycan's face, the result of one suicide charge after another

Source: https://www.facebook.com/RoboticDeathCompany/?fref=ts

Why didn't Mohawk do anything?

Mohawk was the third competitor in that battle and we didn't see too much of it. They took a hit from Invader and nudged Lycan to look like they were doing something but only really closed in after both of its opponents had more-or-less died.

What they were actually doing makes a lot of tactical sense. Mohawk's weaponry is quite slow - it's a hydraulic crusher, so it's going to be. That means they're vulnerable when they're biting down, which is fine for head-to-heads but not so good when there's a third bot in the ring. Worse still, Mohawk was never going to get a proper grip on Invader so they'd have to go for Lycan, leaving themselves open to the nasty spinner. What do? Leave your opponents to fight each other until either both are worn down or one is dead, letting you get in there without fear of being attacked from behind.

In the end, this tactic worked too well because Lycan took out half its own drive on Invader, leaving it horribly crippled. In Mohawk came, vulture-like and ready to finish Lycan off, but they were so nearly dead the fight was more or less done. Mohawk just looked like they sat out the entire battle instead of picking it up half-way through as they intended.

Why were Skorpios and Bad Kitty a bit shit?

Black Ice definitely went in as the underdog in this final fight. Hell, even commentator Chris Rose called it a piece from a patio barbecue. They won, though, and I can't help but feel the other two bots let me down.

Skorpios looked pretty cool, in the green & black and with that big saw blade ready to slice down into its opponents. Sparks flew from bad Kitty in their only contact with another robot before they charged into the static screw. Bad luck hit them in their robot's little angry face as the two 'rises' in the front wedge, used to high-centre and hook onto their opponent, were trapped under the screw right where its threads meet. It was stuck in such a way that reversing pulled the screw round and pressed it harder into Scorpios. In an attempt to escape (and maybe out of deserved frustration), Skorpios took it out on the arena hazard by sawing through it, leaving a three-inch-deep scar in it. They would've kept going, too, but the producers didn't want their nice shiny screws cut in half.

Only the screws felt the sting in Scorpios' tail

Source: https://www.facebook.com/RoboticDeathCompany/?fref=ts

That left Black Ice to fight Bad Kitty. The latter of these was built by Team Think Tank, creators of the deadly 'VD' series. The final heavyweight version, VD6, was the Elecric Boogaloo of its day. It was potent, looked great, fought well but never quite won anything. Bad Kitty's design is based on VD6 but it was built from the ground up and despite the terrifying split-headed cat, which looks like it walked out of a Silent Hill knock-off, I expected them to do well. Sadly an important piece of machinery in their workshop gave out, meaning they couldn't get their front wedges built in time. They managed to get some made on-site but only too late and they had to go in with a yawning gap under their front. That meant they couldn't get under anything and that meant they couldn't get their impressive weaponry into play.

With one opponent wedged and the other handicapped from the start, Black Ice had an easy time of it with their lack of proper weaponry but admittedly strong drive.

Was Gears Awaken worth doing?

The Gears Awaken was a nice relief from the wait for the new series and a brief showcase of the rest to come. Bearing in mind that these were the robots that barely scraped through the application process, they gave only a taster of the high standard in this competition, with a lot of brilliantly inventive and solidly-built machines. I hope this teaser special is an indicator that ABC knows it has a hit on its hands and that BattleBots will continue to get more funding, more attention and greater popularity. Ultimately, and as always, I hope it all leads to a new wave of interest and participation in robot combat not just in the US but around the world.

BattleBots 2016: The Competitors

For today's quick little housekeeping bit at the top, I'll say the last post took ages to write because it felt a bit... sterile. And because I was trying to avoid spoilers. I'm going to go with a bit of a different format this time. Enjoy!

The filming of this year's BattleBots competition is right around the corner and almost all of the teams have been building the hype by releasing tantalising teasers and, in some cases, whole pictures of their brilliant creations. There'll be a whopping 56 competitors, more than twice what we saw last year, with some designs so terrifying my microwave shuddered at the sight of them. 56 is a lot of bots to cover, so I'm just going to go through what you need to know, and what you want to know.

For a full visual list of the competitors, have a look here. This, by the way, is the source for most of my images. The rest have a source given.

Is Tombstone returning?

Be honest, this is what you want to know most. Tombstone was absolutely devastating last year, living up to expectations and beyond. Team Hardcore Robotics won the 'Most Devastating Bot Award' last year and will most definitely be back to wreak (and reap) havoc.

"One more?"

Source: http://makezine.com/2015/08/03/6-life-lessons-robot-combat/

Team Aptyx and Bite Force will, of course, be back to defend their title. Also returning is the fearsome flipper of Bronco and Team Raptor's Ghost Raptor (which hopefully won't need a new weapon for every battle). All of the other 8 quarter-finalists will also be back.

Team Raptor still don't know that a sabretooth cat is neither a ghost, nor a raptor

In fact, almost every team from last year is returning for another shot. Only 4 or 5 won't be back: Counter Revolution likely won't which is a shame because I love the double-headed Nightmare thing they've got going on. They've been given a place as a 'back-up reserve', so they'll only get a place if all of the 4 official reserves have to drop out (or more than 4 robots do). Sabotage, anyone? Team Make Robotics also won't be back, focusing on their Robot Wars career because Radioactive was more than a bit rubbish. Sweet Revenge won't be there either because, well, they were somehow even worse. Finally, the veteran teams behind Complete Control and Lockjaw have both been silent, which is very weird.

Splatter, a reserve from last year, is also competing this time. They will hopefully be joined by beta which has so far been in 2 BattleBots tournaments 13 years apart and never fought competitively, after a bag of parts got lost in transit last year. The other reserves, Chronic and Bulldog, will sadly not be returning, though their teams will.

Will a disk on a lifting arm really make a good combination?

A lot of last year's bots are getting rebuilds, as I mentioned in my 'BattleBots 2016: Applicants' post. Most notably, Nightmare is getting a secretive rebuild so that it will be less easily toppled. No idea what the changes are but Nightmare has been completely stripped down, so it seems to be a pretty major alteration. Overdrive 2 will also be there as a successor to Team Cool Robots' last entry. It has been completely changed and is now fitted with a vertically-mounted bar, perhaps to get revenge on Witch Doctor for tossing it like salad last year. Speaking of, Witch Doctor's sidekick Shaman has been given a second flamethrower because the team want it to be a literal fireball on wheels. Finally, Overhaul 2.0 has been built with a more effective lifter, though as a trade-off the crusher is now blunter and more of a clamp. Mohawk hasn't seen much of a major redesign but the flame-injecting crusher has been given self-righting arms. Oh, and in an unexpected turn of events Chomp now has an axe. Less Chomp and more Chop, will it be a chump or a champ?

Overdrive 2, looking intimidating. Already doing a better job than the first one.

Are any other veteran bots going to be there?

Definitely. Team Whyachi are back but instead of Warrior Clan, they're bringing a true legend. Son of Whyachi is back! And you know what else? Plan X was a little... rough around the edges, so Lisa Winter has gone and built a giant Tentomoushi called Mega Tento! Will it be competitive? No. Will it look good as it gets flung across the box? Yes. Will it be a crowd favourite? Definitely.

Ooooohh....

A new heavyweight Mobius Resurrected has also been made, with a conical spinning shell and enormous mash-don't-cut teeth. Ultimo Destructo, the successor to Techno Destructo, will also be there to fight for the under-represented flippers. Team Inferno of Dr Inferno Jr fame have also built a new bot (and I like to think a comment I left on their YouTube channel might have helped). Imagine if Hypno-Disc was built in the what the 70s thought the future would be like, and there you are. Disco Inferno. Team Half-Life of Atomic Wedgie fame are also returning, not with the mad concept described in an earlier post but with HellaChopper, sporting extending overhead spinning flails and a very confusing drive set-up.

It looks like Tony Stark tried to build a BattleBot but gave up half-way through

Megabyte is a lesser-known veteran BattleBots competitor, fighting as MegaBite in 5.0 before taking the live events by storm. It was partly responsible for the retirement of both Biohazard and Typhoon 2. This really was the Tombstone or Last Rites of its day and now its back as Invader, themed around a UFO. The team has been out of it for a little while now and the design is pretty old but this is not a robot to be underestimated.

Chinkilla is still hoping to be accepted as well, though things aren't looking too hopeful.

Will there be as many minibots as last time?

Yes, yes there will. Many bringing a whole new dimension to robot combat.

I've already mentioned Witch Doctor & Shaman. Ground Control is another clusterbot (multibot to you Americans), consisting of a big flipper and a smaller full-body spinner. It's a strange combination but I guess they could tip something over and hit it as it self-rights. Free Radicals is a 50/50 clusterbot, with two equal-sized units, each sporting a wedge on one side and a horizontal disc on the other. For a long time, it looked like they hadn't made it but surfaced images of a frantic build mean the Radicals are in!

They're called Talon and Velociraptor
Because Team Free Radicals don't know what a theme is

The British team Creepy Crawlies (which includes the builders of previous reserve Bulldog) appear to be taking the piss a bit, bringing along not one, not two, not three but five robots along to fight under one name. I hope they've all had some driving practice because they will either show amazing tactical synergy or get strewn to all four corners of the BattleBox and probably caught in the lighting rig.

Now, that new dimension thing. Remember when I talked about a team wanting to use a flying drone way back in my 'BattleBots 2015: The Aftermath' post? And then talked about Team Torch Bears' drone in a later post? Neither has come to fruition. Don't worry though, because some other teams picked up the idea.

The new Son of Whyachi will have a flamethrowing flying drone called Warrior Dragon, the Chaos Corps' Bombshell is joined by the cleverly-named Short Fuse, the flipper Mecha SubZero will be joined by an as-yet-unnamed flying accomplice, the latter half of Basilisk & Afterbyte will be a drone and Caustic Creations' Poison Arrow decided to join the drone party for the hell of it. That's 4 flying drones in the competition. Hopefully, at least two will meet up so we can get some epic flaming dogfights!

The two-headed Warrior Dragon spits flame from both ends

Source: https://www.facebook.com/Whyachi/

What about walkers?

Still holding on in there, the walker design has two representative this year. The first is Wrecks which we saw last year and which has been given one or two modifications, hopefully to make it quicker to turn. Looks like it might be invertible too, which would be a world first. They are joined by Skorpios, about which I know almost nothing. Honestly, I'm still not completely sure it's a walker. The team insignia showed a scorpion tail, so maybe an overhead weapon, like an axe? I'm excited to see how this turns out!

Are there many foreign competitors this year?

Yep, even more than last year. From America's northern brother Canada comes Lycan, a 35mph rammer with clamping jaws, chunky drum Bucktooth Burl, the aforementioned combination of Basiisk & Afterbyte and the very secretive CM Robotics who haven't even released a name for their entry. And possibly Complete Control but we'll have to wait and see about that one.

The team called this a beaver. I don't think they know what beavers look like.

Weirdly, the United Kingdom is bringing more robots than Canada is. Of course, I'm not going to be biased or anything, but we're totally gonna kick ass this year. The Brits are bringing the ferocious 5-way cluster Creepy Crawlies, the world-infamous beta, an all-star cast from Team Storm, Team Tornado and Team BlazerBotics with Photon Storm, the devastating bar-wielding Carbide, a monstrous 'evilved' Warhead from Team Razer and finally the mind-boggling Obwalden Overlord.

Australia is competing in BattleBots for the very first time this year, too, with the gorgeous crocodile-themed Deathroll. Seriously, this thing looks so good. It even has a working tail. Brazil will also be there, represented by Team Riobotz who disappointed many by not entering last year. Their creation, Minotaur, is likely a bigger, harder version of the biggest of the famous Touro line of robots and last year's Robogames heavyweight champion, Touro Maximus.

It's gharial deal

What is the Obwalden Overlord?

If you've followed this year's line-up closely, you'll have seen this question a few times. The Obwalden Overlord is a collaboration between builders in the UK and France and is named after a place in Sweden. Finally, common ground for the British and the French. This is also France's first foray into fighting robots, as far as I'm aware.

The team have built up some brilliant lore behind their creation. It was supposedly build as part of a train to carry world leaders between North America and Europe through underground tunnels during the Cold War.

Hold your spades up, like the arena can't hold us

The robot itself is 5-foot tall and pretty humanoid as far as combat robots go. It's armoury isn't quite clear yet but involves two lifting arms extending from a torso. These arms intrigue me because at each elbow is a wheel. I thought it was a pully at first but no, wheels. And what do you use wheels for? Riding along the ground. Why have wheels on its elbows then? Is the Obwalden Overlord secretly a transformer?

How many axes are there?

Fine, maybe you haven't been asking this. It's a question worth answering though, because there are a good few. Last year, there was only one axe and it was Radioactive, whose axe flopped onto its opponents and probably couldn't decapitate a fly. Not encouraging then? Actually, it seems teams have taken up the challenge of showing that axes can be potent, after all.

I've already mentioned three of them. beta (yes, it is meant to be a lower case b) is swamped in hype, many wanting merely to see it hit a robot just once, to see how earthquake-inducing it really is. Personally, I imagine the hammer fall happening in slow-motion, with an explosive smash so powerful it shatters the ground and opens a crevasse under the opponent, sending it down to be crushed and melted in the bowels of the Earth. It probably won't really be like that. Probably.

No kitchen appliance is safe

Source: https://www.facebook.com/Betarobot/

Bombshell's axe is also reported to be extremely powerful, but considering it is one of three possible weapons, I can't help but feel the robot's design might be too generalised to suite any one piece of its armoury really well. Chomp has also been given an axe and, once again, I don't know how well it'll perform. If it gets one hit in, Chomp will at least have done better than last year.

There's two other axes/hammers in the competition. One is Blacksmith. Not much confirmed here but it will likely be a bigger version of the team's powerful featherweight. Finally is the oddly-named Road Rash which looks like one of those pecking birds you used to see in offices, but attached to a car tyre. This is a complete unknown for me, though its shape should help reduce blows from horizontals and it looks like it should self-right could and quickly.

Anything else we should know about?

Well, I'd like to talk about all of the other entries but then this would be a looong post, so I'll keep it to the most interesting entries.

The Ringmaster is a sequel to the old robot of the same name and is an invertible ring spinner. Its ring is huge, very heavy and features an enormous tooth. I fear for anything which faces this bot, including the BattleBox walls. Team Artifist and Clockwork l'Orange also deserve a mention for their steampunk-themed creation. Going by their application video, this will be a hugely-characterful team and a potential crowd favourite.

Finally, Red Devil (with a last-minute name change from Hyperactive), which seems to have been built using a suggestion box. The designers just did not know where to stop. From a pair of tracks protrudes a 360-degree lifter, attached to which are two independent clamping jaws, between which sits an actuating arm on the end of which is a circular saw. This thing looks absolutely incredible, like something I'd have drawn in a schoolbook when I was 8, except far better designed and even more bonkers.

...

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Update: An image of Team Razer's entry has been released. It's Warhead, but also not. Seriously, I think the boys went a little beyond mad with this one. I'm pretty much speechless right now. If they hadn't had to de-face Warhead to build it, I'd have been really excited but I actually preferred the old one.

I... what?!
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/BESOmAiySQd/

Robot Wars 2016: The Arena

Before I start, I want to say thanks to the BattleBots subreddit for being my number 1 source of info and a great community for building up the hype, getting excited and geeking out about robot combat. Thanks also to the brilliant Dracophile, creator of the side-splitting satirical BattleBots Update which inspires me to keep going with Blogbotic in the hopes of becoming as good as he is. You should totally go check both of those things out, but only after reading my stuff first because screw you, I worked hard on writing this.

Right, back to business as usual. The filming for the new series has already come and gone and a very lucky few (of which I, alas, was not one) got a look in at the arena and saw the fights live. Of course, the audience were all asked not to take photos and told not to spoil anything before it all goes out on TV. This here is why I like the BBC: they have faith in people. They shouldn't, though, because pictures immediately swarmed Facebook and Twitter. Not that the BBC seem to mind - they're actually posting spoilers all over the place themselves. I'll say that I will not be talking about the competitors here so don't worry about spoilers in that regard.

The Structure

The leaked images got a lot of people worrying about size, including me, because it looked tiny. A small arena would mean the robots would be stuck near each other, with little room to escape, manoeuvre or take run-ups. It would also mean they'd be closer to the hazards at all times. Basically, a small arena is a bad thing. Turns out it will actually be 22 metres squared which is not too bad.

The colour scheme in the arena has changed from the classic warning colours of yellow and black to a mean-looking red and black. A new look for a new series. I'm OK with this.

The floor is steel this time, compared to the wood of old which would catch sharp wedges and get gouged up by spinners. Landings will be heavier (wood soaks up impacts a little more), it should make good sparks and it allows for a feature we've yet to see in British heavyweights: magnets to effectively add weight and pushing power. It won't be all one big slab so hitting seems is a possibility but it shouldn't happen too often, if at all.

The walls are taller, thank Christ, so flippers shouldn't have too great an advantage but they are still just short enough for robots to get thrown out with a very powerful, well-timed flip. There are also lowered sections half-way along each wall which will give flippers, and even powerful vertical spinners, a chance to throw a robot out. Hopefully OOTAs will be rarer and feel more like an occasion again.

A great view of the new anti-flipper walls
Source: https://twitter.com/robotwarsuk

The walls are also angled outward at the base, meaning heavy impacts will be deflected upwards, which is a nice touch. I'm also assuming these walls are much stronger than the old ones which couldn't even withstand the stronger spinners from back in the day, meaning their power had to be limited and letting the Americans pip us there. It'll probably take a little time before we catch up but at least we have the opportunity for these designs now.

The shorter wall sections I mentioned earlier double as gates which lower before a battle to let in the competitors and close up again before the fighting starts. Behind them are walkways which extend to the arena like drawbridges over a moat, with a sizeable drop either side. This 'moat' is probably a channel along which the cameras can run. One of the lowered sections looks static and holds the pit release button which, to my delight, is a ol' big tyre, even bigger than before. The more astute of you will realise this means the pit is back, as I'll get on to.

There doesn't appear to be any kind of plinth or balcony for the presenter to stand on, interestingly. The driving bays are big and face into the arena, much like those of the new BattleBots arena. On the opposite side is the judges' booth, allowing the competitors to sense the critical, judgemental glares and musings which may well decide their fate in the competition.

The arena is surrounded by the spectator stands which are so close to the arena some of the audience members could probably spit on the outer wall if they were particularly able.

Robot Wars mosh pit
Source: https://twitter.com/robotwarsuk

The Hazards

A hazard, in case you don't know, is an obstacle or damaging feature of the arena. Stuff like the Pit, the Floor Flipper, screws, killsaws, that kind of thing.

Four hazards are present in the new arena, one in each quarter. The first is the famous Pit of Oblivion which appears to be substantially bigger than the old one, as well as shallower. We might just get to see the first robot to fling itself out and back into the fight - a trick I've seen many times at the live events but that's never been seen on telly.

Opposite the pit is a new Floor Flipper, more rectangular than the old one and angled to face the arena centre. It is also a bit slower this time around and will likely play a more active role, instead of just throwing robots which are already dead.

The Flame Pit, still not actually a pit, is back too. Two columns of fire rise 5 feet into the air through a pair of holes in the arena floor, which will look bad-ass even if it won't really affect the competitors.

Here's the floor flipper, with the flame pit just beyond and to the left
Source: https://twitter.com/robotwarsuk

Finally, there are floor spikes. Floor spikes don't do anything and never have done. These ones aren't even able to flip robots over, so they're basically a downgrade from the Third Wars. All they will actually do is jar up the fight by lifting a robot off its wheels or getting in the way. Fucking floor spikes. I can't believe it.

The House Robots

I was so sure they wouldn't bring the old house robots back. They're icons but they're also a bit past it and, more importantly, probably worth a lot. Like an integral piece of a set from a famous Harry Potter movie. No one in their right mind would put those Mona Lisas of the robot combat world out into the arena, right?

Well, yes and no. The BBC released four teasers (only four) each showing a different house robot being unveiled from under a bed sheet. They looked great, as they should. You could tell they were originals from little details, like the gash in Shunt's scoop inflicted by Hypno-Disc many years ago. Well, I thought, it's great to see them but I guess they won't be around for much longer. Not in one piece, anyway. Technology has come a long way and those old robots would be flung, axed and torn apart by modern machines. Even worse, the competitor weight limit has gone up, putting some of the old house robots under weight.

Shunt's tell-tale scar
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdnVCHefNuE

In fact, as with the arena everything has changed. They may go under the old monikers but these are not the same house robots. They are clones, like the stubby Matilda of the Robot Wars live events.

Tragically, only four of the house robots are returning. They are Matilda, Shunt, Dead Metal and Sir Killalot, all rebuilt and looking... different. Sergeant Bash won't be joining them, sadly, nor are Mr Psycho, my personal favourite Growler or the mighty Cassius Chrome. In fact, even Refbot has been let go.

Now, I don't want to give away the looks completely, which is why I've decided not to include images of the house robots in this post. I will, however, give you a brief run-down. Matilda looks less like a boar and more like the unholy offspring of a Triceratops and a forklift, Dead Metal will make you crap your pants with simultaneous fear and excitement, Shunt appears to have been draped in grilled cheese and Sir Killalot has become a Sci-Fi villain, complete with triangular death treads, huge back spines and Bane-esque face pipes. All of the house robots also weigh three times as much as they did to stop them getting thrown around too much, though we can expect them to end up on their backs occasionally.

The corner patrol zones are back as well, indicating the area in which a competitor can be mercilessly attacked. Two house robots will patrol per battle. Hopefully the producers will stick to this instead of attacking whichever robot looks less exciting. They're bigger than they used to be though, leaving a fairly small area which isn't hazard-filled.

The Judges

There will be 3 judges, as is standard. One of these is back from the old Wars: Professor Noel Sharkey. It seems he's just the right mix of intelligent and eccentric to be given back his rightful place, giving out points to men with death robots. He is joined by Sethu Vijayakumar, Professor of Robotics at Edinburgh University who's name I had to retype twice, and Dr Lucy Rogers who actually wrote the book on rocket science. Well, a book, anyway, which is a damn sight more than I've ever done. She's also a member of various astronomical and engineering societies.

The 3 judges squirming around in the new pit

Source: https://twitter.com/robotwarsuk

Will they make good judges? Yes, I reckon so. Noel Sharkey, we know, will be great. It may have been a while ago now but he was impresive in the old Wars and on TechnoGames. He'll probably be able to teach the others a thing or two about how to judge a battle. Prof. Vijayakumar has published all sorts of sciencey things which I don't understand, except that some of it involved Honda's ASIMO robots and some more of it had something to do with NASA. Dr Rogers is also a rocket scientist and the fact that she writes books suggests she knows how to talk to people, and hopefully the camera.

Does this mean they will be able to make good, fair decisions? Like I said, Sharkey will probably help point them in the right direction. Anyhow, the bar of fairand honest judging wasn't exactly set very high from the old Wars, now was it Typhoon team?

Oh, one last thing. The judging crieteria has changed ever so slightly. It seems they've finally realised that style as a criteria makes very little sense, especially in terms of competitive ability. Dropping that shows this series is going to be all about substance, not just style.

The Pits

Hidden behind the arena, the pits are not too greatly changed from their old appearance. But then what's to change about a bunch of tables?

This area is of course smaller than it was in most of the old series because there are fewer competitors. It appears that the tables are now divided with tall scaffolding arches to which, for whatever reason, television screens can be attached, as has been done with one table, openly displaying one of the competitors. Maybe this is some elaborate way of doing introductions - show a
robot in the pits but away from the others, with stats up on the screens?

The only shot of the pits I could find that isn't full of pesky tinkering teams

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/48ibl3/battles_are_won_in_the_arena_championships_in_the/

The pits area also has three modes when it comes to lighting. The first is actually useful, with good lighting for tinkering the bots and filming things. The second is lit up with great big neon tubes which are brighter than the surface of the sun and the other is dingy and overshadowed by the epileptic-unfriendly lasers and lights streaming out from the arena area.

Robot Wars 2016: The Applicants

With filming for the brand-spanking new (reboot) series of Robot Wars already underway, it's about time I wrote an entry on what we can expect to see. To avoid spoilers and probably for some weird contractual reasons, the teams aren't allowed to say whether they're in, as per usual, but they can say whether they applied in the first place and whether they're out so we if the teams are quiet (or dropping less-than-subtle hints) chances are they're in. Now, images from filming have been leaked but I want to avoid spoilers, so this is just which bots might be there, without confirmation. Here, then is what we can expect to see fighting on our screens.

The Live Regulars

This being the first reboot series, a lot of the applicants this year are teams who already have robots and are regulars at live events. If you know anything about the UK live scene, you'll know they're mostly flippers but don't worry, Mentorn are meticulous in their selection (and have already made some really weird choices which I'll get onto later).

First on the list is Ripper, entered by Team Ripper/Roaming Robots who also have the contract to the Robot Wars name for live events. Basically, robot combat isn't just a hobby for these guys - it's a job. Expect them to mean serious business, in more ways than one.

Current UK heavyweight champion Toon Raider 2 is also signed up and I'm expecting the producers to play heavily on the father and son theme if they make it to TV. There's also the current Robot Wars European World champions and current UK 3rd place (and a personal favourite for some reason) Toxic 2, as well as previous 2-time champion Eruption, a robot which won twice consecutively and the second robot ever to do so after the mighty Chaos 2.

Side-by-side at the 2015 UK championships
Source: https://www.facebook.com/fightingrobotsassociation/photos/a.357092187780338.1073741834.193612447461647/546515785504643/?type=3

Twice previous UK champions Team Iron-Awe have also applied with both Iron-Awe 5 and Iron-Awe 7. Will the creepy smiles be enough of a gimmick? What about the ones on the robots? (Hah, you see, I insinuated there that the team members themselves have creepy smiles. Humour.)

Team Shock have applied with all three of their heavyweights, one of which is a former UK runner-up and another of which won a winter tour at some point. Their third and newest robot is Shockwave and features an overhead lifting arm. It's also their oldest because it was first built for TechnoGames. Remember TechnoGames? Wish you didn't?

Dantomkia 5.0 may be selected as well and is amongst the most famous robots left in the UK - they got a toy and everything. Not had a lot of success since the old glory days though. They're joined by the ancient Terminal Ferocity, a name that goes way back. This started off as a plastic submarine which, frankly, was no more potent than a microwave and has wound up with a great big flipper on it which leaves it stranded on its side constantly. It does have tracks though, so it's basically a tank, right?

Team Mouse of Mighty Mouse and Meggamouse fame have also applied with... something. Could be Meggamouse but there have been rumours that it will be a new robot. Nothing more to say on that one.

Team ACE are new to the scene with their namesake flipper is1 built from the remains of Turbulence sequel/sister-bot Apocalypse. They have only fought at a couple of live events and, with the best will in the world, look nothing special. Great to see them getting into heavyweights, as ever, but I'm not expecting them to make it onto TV. They're enthusiastic and determined though, so maybe they'll look more impressive next year.

And finally, Thunderchild from Team Ironclads (formerly Team Thundercheese - I guess they're taking themselves seriously now) have applied. Sure, there may be parts of the legendary Envy buried deep inside but they haven't shown themselves to be up to much. Like ACE, I like Thunderchild but with a flipper and without much previous success, I feel their chances aren't great.

Next, lifters. Team Storm and Storm II are virtually guaranteed a place, partly because the company owned by the Team Storm boys (RoboChallenge) is helping out with production and partly because Storm II were enormously impressive in the Seventh Wars, finishing runners-up and Third World Champions. They also update their Twitter regularly with pictures of hard work on Storm II with the hashtag #RobotWars so they're probably in (#NoGuarantees).

A new logo is another unsubtle hint
Source: https://twitter.com/TeamstormUK/status/702052396491534336 

I'll stick Big Nipper in here because they're a lifter first and a crusher second. 2012 champions and 5th Wars veterans, it's a unique robot from an experienced team and they ought to get in. Behemoth stands an equally good, if not better, chance. Alright, Team Make Robotic's BattleBots entry wasn't so great (sorry to remind you of it) but Behemoth is still running strong and is very well known.

The German Lucifer (spiritual successor to the impressive Black Hole) is fast, manoeuvrable, tough and has never won a battle. Here's hoping they'll come good with a bigger arena. It's an odd Sewer Snake clone and I want to see if they're just as effective against spinners; they definitely share SS/Killer Bee's weakness to flippers.

But Sewer Snake doesn't have flaming skulls, or a paint job as good as this
http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/threads/12607-devil-crew-the-new-luzifer/page3?highlight=luzifer

And back to total speculation with Team Saint's entry. They say it isn't Cherub and it can't be Saint because of the active weapon rule. In fact, it's a bot called Angel with which they failed to qualify for BattleBots. Two things come to mind here. First, an angel is sort of like a bigger, more powerful cherub. Secondly, surely Archangel would have been a cooler name?!

On to the axes. Thor is one of the greatest in Britain and came an impressive second in the Robot Wars World Championships last year. They look good, powerful and experienced. I'd be very surprised if they haven't gotten in.

Team Mute are on the list with Bonk, complete with a Robot Wars-themed paint job. I do like Bonk and its big hammer, even though they seem to suffer at the hands of flippers. I will be both surprised and hugely disappointed if they haven't made it in.

Bonus points from the producers for that Robot Wars bevel decor
Source: http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/content/142-bonk

Crushers next, and of the few crusher regulars in the live scene who have been signed up, two are foreign. They are the sleek-looking Alien Destructor, armed with gripping jaws and shiny armour (so we will see every single dent) and veteran axlebot crusher Tough As Nails. Shame the Dutch team were turned down for BattleBots but at least we will hopefully get to see them here.

And finally, a special long paragraph for Team Danby who have entered not one, not two but 3 robots under three different teams. Team Danby itself is running Foxic which is fast, manoeuvrable and has gotten its ass handed to it in every battle it's ever been in. But it's a wedge-lifter and therefore needs to be in a big arena up against spinners to really show itself off and that's not something that's been available in the UK for a long time. The second Danby brother (yes, they are brothers - expect television drama there) has applied with Apex under the name Team Terrafonics. This bot is a descendent of TX-108 which won a New Blood battle against the mighty Hypno-Disc but it was never aired and TX-108 never got its rightful shot in the main competition. Few robots deserve a place as much as Apex, if only for the sake of justice. Team Danby's final entry is Tanto which I'll get on to later.

Out of Retirement

Razer. That's gotten you excited, hasn't it? Yes, they came back for BattleBots with Warhead and they're back for Robot Wars with the legendary Razer. It was retired from combat but is still in working order, having crushed a microwave or two, and is being prepped by the team in a shed somewhere.

Part bird, part reptile, the rest machine with some elbow grease thrown in
Source: https://www.facebook.com/RazerRobot/photos/pcb.584866301671601/584866208338277/?type=3&theater

TerrorHurtz is also coming back, if they've been accepted. This robot has been fighting far more recently than Razer, showing itself off at Robots Live's European Championships in 2013 and looking good. Jonathan Reid flew to the US to fight with Beta (but couldn't because American Airlines managed to lose bits of it) and is likely busily working of TerrorHurtz so that it's even meaner and better armoured. I look forward to seeing it dance.

And there are some surprises. Team Roobarb fought live regularly way back in 2004 and 2005. Considering how long it's been since their signature 'bot last battled, I'd expect them to build something brand new.

The obscure Team Anarchic Engineering who built RW Extreme New Blood failure Draven managed not to qualify for two different series and yet Draven remains one of my favourite original entries. It's sleek, menacing and beautifully elegant. They never saw success originally but Draven has been extnsively rebuilt.

Beautiful metal bitey thing on six wheels
https://www.facebook.com/Dravenrobot/photos/a.1328960663788205.1073741828.1328927507124854/1336793963004875/?type=3&theater

Another of my all-time favourite teams, Team Forsey (Revenge of Trouble & Strife) are also entering, this time with an all-new spinner! A ring spinner, to be precise, with great big dumper-truck-type wheels. The name, M.R. Speed Squared, is incredibly nerdy and comes from the equation for the amount of energy carried by the 20kg disc.

And finally Sabretooth, whose last battle saw them replace the weapon with a motorbike wheel due to damage, supposedly letting the robot get up to 70mph. Well, that never happened. Nevertheless, Sabretooth looked like it could do damage with the blade fitted. I can imagine a new version being Britain's own VD6.

The following teams have also shown interest, though chances are they won't enter this year:

• Team Atomic
• Team Rotraktor (of Barber-Ous fame, who have hinted at a possible Barber-Ous 3)
• Team Cookie Monsters (who built Iron Maidens champion Chompalot)
• Team Nemesis (yes, the black-and-red polka-dotty Diotoir boys)
• Team Thermonuclear Warfare (I'm hoping they'll keep the team name. They built Suicidal Tendencies)

...and, from nowhere, the team who built First Wars entrant Torque of the Devil. Christ knows what they'll come up with.

The Upclassers

Like I've said, a lot of entries are from seasoned live event regulars. Some of these, however, have never fought with a heavyweight. Who, then, are punching above their weight?

Team Ranglebox have applied with something. They also failed to qualify for BattleBots with a robot called Goblin which was essentially a giant version of the team's Sewer Snake-style featherweight lifter Tormenta. Whether that's what they're entering in to Robot Wars is unknown but I'd love to see it happen.

Luzifer team, take notes. This is a top-notch Sewer Snake impression
Source: https://scontent-ams3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/t31.0-8/12525372_982299908505920_415374957867252248_o.jpg

Team Carbide is a collaboration between the minds that built 360 & 722 and Hatchet. I'm really hoping for a big, kick-ass spinner here. The Official Robot Wars RA2 mod features a robot called 900 which is a giant version of featherweight 722 and, considering one of these minds worked on that mod, is that a sign of things to come?

Two more teams who have so far stuck to featherweights are Team Psyclone and Team Riptide. The former has fought with Twister and Shazam and has been planning a heavyweight flipper or axe called Zerstoren for a while now, whilst the latter competes with Hardwired 2, a wedge/drum bot.

The New Boys

Now, this being the first series, there aren't many new people stepping up to the plate. Why would they, with so little time? Not even Team Tornado, who still have a running robot, applied. In fact, there's only one name here, after another new team have had to put their build on hold.

They are The Harwellians and they have built a strafing robot. This has only really been done successfully by the legendary American robot Alcoholic Stepfather and looks fantastic, although this brings drive and grip issues. Oh well, I guess they'll have to give it an exciting weapon that does damage instead of just pushing things around. Never mind.

The Pilots

These have already come and gone. Thanks to leaks, we know 8 robots fought in the un-televised pilot episode and aren't expected to be seen on TV. Two of these are actually the BattleBots competitors Beta and Chronic who had a quick go at one another as practice for the American show (holy crap, we have two robot combat shows again! When does Robotica get a reboot?).

This is Beta, with the lower halves of John Reid and Grant Cooper
I guess we'll have to wait for BattleBots 2016 to finally see that hammer fall
Source: http://battlebots.com/robot/beta/

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the rest of these bots are reserves. I mean, it makes sense. They're there, ready to battle, so why not make use of them if needed? They're Reaper (the old Grim Reaper from the Seventh Wars with new, shiny innards), Merlin (DNQ'd for the Seventh Wars), Ka-Pow! (built by the Onslaught team) and the 'winners' of the pilot, 2006 UK champs Turbulence. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if at least one of these machines gets brought in to the main competition, given how quick builds and upgrades have needed to be.

All but Reaper also fought in a four-robot rumble alongside Tanto, a solid steel doorstop which flings itself around the arena seemingly at the speed of sound. And guess what? To comply with the active weapon rule, they've gone and stuck a spinning drum on it, which is actually a little confusing. See, there are no other arenas in the UK that can hold heavyweight spinners right now so why build one if you're not going for the televised spinner-friendly competition? If the competing robots were left out of the pilot to avoid damage before the competition, wouldn't that mean Tanto's a reserve at best? Or perhaps the risk of damage was outweighed by the benefits of loaners Team Immersion getting some driving practice and we will see it on the telly screen after all.

At least you're seeing it on this screen
Source: http://robotwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tanto?file=Tanto_2016.png

The Rejects

Ok, ok, that's a bit harsh. Many of the rejected robots are great. In fact, the producers have made some really weird choices with participants...

Most shockingly, PulveriseR, the second Dutch robot wars champion, has been rejected. Why though? It's foreign (which makes Robot Wars seem like a bigger, more global deal), it has a sodding great vertical flywheel (!!) and this is paired to an axlebot chassis, making it a really unusual design matched only by S3 to my knowledge.

Both versions of the great robot here.
And of course the team captain always dressed as Elvis. Obviously.
Source: http://robotwars.wikia.com/wiki/PulverizeR?file=PulverizeRx2.jpg

The mighty, famous Gravity has also been rejected. Alright, Gravity 5.5 hasn't seen too much success recently (though they won their heat at the Robot Wars World Championships last year) but the pedigree speaks for itself. Gravity 2 was terrifying, the most impressive flipper of the old series (flipping the 375kg Growler on its back with ease and the only robot to overturn Dead Metal) and its descendant deserves at least a little TV time.

And sticking with foreign robots, Brutus (which I consider as a modern, faster, bouncier Tornado) has been denied. Sure, it never used to have an active weapon but it never really needed one and anyway, apparently the robot was always built to have something, so presumably the team have given it one (I always figured it would be a drum and we'd end up with a modern, more powerful Tetanus Booster). Team Frogbots' Bullfrog, an invertible flipper, is also out. I'm glad there are fewer flippers but I always had a soft spot for that robot, if only because its name is a bad pun on Bulldog Breed, the more famous British flipper.

And there are many others. I want to keep this section brief so here's a round-up of the rest: Dutch axe TMHWK, snake-headed flipper Rattler, the mad concept of The Big Bamboo (yes, it will have a bamboo chassis and yes, the team are still building it for the live events), Team NI's front-hinge flipper Rybot, as well as Halo which was to be loaned to them from the Ripper team and finally another currently un-built concept in Dino-Saw, a spinner as suggested by the name.

So basically:

There will be fewer flippers and fewer foreign robots than there are at the live events. There will also be a few spinners, which makes a much needed change, as well as the return of some classic famous faces. There should be a great mix of weapons and of original legends fighting alongside the new generation.

However it turns out, the likely line-up looks great! I can only imagine the contest being close, tense and brilliantly entertaining. Bring in on!

Robot Wars is coming back to TV!

Despite what I've said recently, I really do like Robot Wars, including as a company. That is why I am absolutely ecstatic that the show is going to be returning to BBC 2 soon!

Couldn't have put it better myself
Source: https://twitter.com/BBCTwo/status/687261658855649280

What We Know

The show will be broadcast on BBC 2 and will consist of 6 hour-long episodes. Teams will have to apply and the selection process will likely be like that of BattleBots (i.e. applications are reviewed, then teams are selected to compete) but we can't be sure of that just yet. We also know that application forms are already going out to teams. The BBC promises "a new structure with more robots, more battles..." which may be difficult considering the limited number of episodes but it may be like the original Robot Wars, with lots of applicants trying to get through the qualifiers and only some getting through to the televised rounds.

The famous original logo
Source: https://twitter.com/robotwarsuk

Only one weight class will be featured and, just like BattleBots, it will be heavyweights plus a bit of weight. 110 kilograms is the weight limit apparently. On the one hand, robots built to that limit won't be able to enter live events (even under alter-egos) according to the current FRA rules. On the other hand, it might mean that there's enough weight to add that some current heavyweights can be altered and armoured up for full combat without too much redesigning. Unlike the live events, there won't be any other weight classes like featherweights. There will be a 10 kilogram weight bonus for shufflers and a 25 kilogram weight bonus for walkers. This might just encourage an extra bit of imagination, especially for shufflers which I wouldn't expect to get a weight bonus (it could be tricky to explain on TV the difference between a shuffler and walker). Images of Anarchy are flashing before my eyes right now, although at 167 kilos it would have been too heavy for the new series.

The most dangerous and successful shuffler in the old Robot Wars
Anarchy was one of the most underestimated robots but lost its heat final to Tornado
Source: http://robotwars.wikia.com/wiki/Anarchy

What We Hope

One of the most iconic features of the old show was the house robots. Personally, I don't much like the idea of house robots - I feel like they allow the producers to intervene too much and that they can alter the competition too greatly. We know that all of the old house robots have been rediscovered but, just like Matilda's clone in the live events, the old house robots wouldn't be too menacing any more. Even back in the day, some competitors were able to frankly embarrass the house robots, flinging them on their backs. These days they'd most likely end up out of the arena. The question is, will new house robots be built or will the old ones get rebuilt so that they pose a threat again? I frankly doubt it, although the media refer to the old house robots so perhaps they will feature. Once again, we don't really know.

These two bots were found back in February 2015
We now know they were joined by the rest of the old guard
Source: https://twitter.com/lucyhedges/status/566250094346133504

The arena will also be new. But of course it will, since there aren't any heavy-spinner-proof arenas in the UK. The admission of a new arena might mean a new layout though, perhaps with higher walls which don't benefit flippers too much so that we see plenty of variety (*ahem* more than we do at the moment *ahem*). Spinners ought to help the variety thing as well, since there's a bit of rock-paper-scissors theory in weaponry and I reckon most of the time spinner beats flipper. But then lifter beats spinner. And axe beats lifter. And so on.

What the BBC has said though is that there will be '...more science than ever before." This is absolutely fantastic news! Looking back at the show and when comparing it to BattleBots, both the old and the new, I can't help but feel it got a little bit reality-ish and a bit too kiddy. That was reinforced when I saw Robot Wars Live in Gloucester a few months ago. The promise of more science though, that means this is not going to be a show for children. Nor is it going to be all show and no trousers. It's going to look not only at the fights themselves but how the robots fight. Finally Robot Wars can see its target audience: the nostalgic and techy adults. And those who want to see machines break each other, of course.

Thanks to Robot Wars I knew hydraulic and pneumatic before I knew my left and right
Source: http://robotwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tomahawk

What About Live Events?

If you want to see it live, you can. The show will be filmed somewhere in Glasgow. When? Guess what: we don't now yet. You can bet that I'll be getting a seat though.

If Robot Wars is going to become a television show again, what does this mean for the rest of the live shows? Will they continue and suddenly have a lot more funding? Will they be a subsidiary and carry on more or less as normal but with more exposure? Will they reduce the number of live events or stop running them completely? RoboChallenge is also getting itself involved in the new Robot Wars so will they still be able to run their events at the Gadget Show? What will happen to the featherweight championships?

One way Robots Live could find even more competition in Robot Wars whilst the other way Robots Live could suddenly become the major live events company in Europe. Oh, and I imagine a lot of new people and veteran teams are going to see this and decide to get involved so whatever happens, we'll probably see a sudden great big influx in the popularity of the sport, both on and off the screens.