House Robots of Robot Wars
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The House Robots are a set of remote-controlled robots used as obstacles in the television series Robot Wars as a means of added destruction. The House Bots are Cassius Chrome, Dead Metal, Growler, Matilda, Mr. Psycho, Refbot, Sergeant Bash, Shunt and Sir Killalot. The House Robots are part of most matches, usually with two at a time staying in their Corner Patrol Zones (CPZ), and Refbot stays in every fight to help out competitors or the house robots.. If a contestant robot wanders too close to a Zone, the House Robot may attack it, though rules may differ (see rules).
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[edit] House Robots
[edit] Cassius Chrome
Weight - 250 kg
Length - 130 cm
Width - 100 cm
Height - 85 cm
Speed - 20 mph
Weaponry - Two interchangeable rotary fists weighing in at over 15 kg each.
Strengths - Fastest House robot and can cause massive damage with speed.
Weaknesses - Weaponry can be inaffective unless given time to build up attack.
Cassius Chrome was the last House Robot to be introduced, as he appeared in Season 7 of Robot Wars. Cassius Chrome is based on the famous athlete, Mohammed Ali, whose real name was "Cassius Clay". It was designed by Robin Englebright to look like a heavyweight boxer, complete with a black eye.
Cassius Chrome is powered by 2×24 V magnetic motors, with interchangeable fists, each piercer weighs in at 1.5 kg.
[edit] Dead Metal
Weight - 112 kg
Length - 160 cm
Width - 100 cm
Height - 70 cm
Speed - 12 mph
Weaponry - 3000rpm circular saw and pneumatically driven pincers.
Strengths - Powerful weaponry.
Weaknesses - Poor manueverability.
Dead Metal's fights by trapping robots with its pincers, and then cutting into them with the circular saw implemented on its "head". It is driven by a battery powered engine, and moves at a speed of 5.4 metres per second. Dead Metal is protected by a steel exoskeleton consisting of jagged armour plates and spiked struts as wheel guards. In series 1 and 2 it had a small saw disc that would lower down on a trapped victim, but by series 3 it was upgraded with a larger disc that would push forward in a more sophisticated way.
[edit] Growler
Weight - 375 kg
Length - 152 cm
Width - 130 cm
Height - 76 cm
Speed - 17 mph
Weaponry - Hydraulic jaws with over 4 tons of power and a rear-mounted flame jet. This Flame Jet was removed for Series 7 as it was unreliable.
Strengths - Speed and massive drive power.
Weeknesses - Difficult to control.
Growler was introduced as Mr. Psycho's loyal but terrifying dog, designed by Robin Englebright. The jaws of Growler are capable of putting out 4 tons of force. Growler's tail was originally a flame thrower, but it was later removed as it did not work as planned. The shell and chassis of Growler is predominantly steel with industrial digger gauge used in the jaw. Growler has two 48 volt 5 kW motors running a 4 wheel drive motive system, 300 ampere speed controllers and 6 batteries.
[edit] Matilda
Weight - 116 kg
Length - 140 cm
Width - 66 cm
Height - 66 cm
Speed - 8 mph
Weaponry - Pneumatic lifting tusks and interchangeable rear-mounted weapons bay that can either take a chainsaw running at over 4000rpm or a massive 27kg vertical spinning disc.
Strengths - Powerful weaponry.
Weaknesses - Prone to flipping.
Matilda, the oldest house robot based on a warthog, is equipped with pneumatic flipping tusks and interchangeable weapons for the rear that can take either a chainsaw or a flywheel weapon that weighs over 60 lbs. It's powered by a rechargeable battery unit and moves at over 3.6 m/s. Matilda is fashioned from fiberglass matting. It is driven by a 12-volt motor and its tusks are operated by a powerful pneumatic carbon dioxide system.
[edit] Mr. Psycho
Weight - 750 kg
Length - 163 cm
Width - 145 cm
Height - 150 cm
Speed - 8 mph
Weaponry - 30 kg heavy pneumatic hammer that travels at 60 mph and a hydraulic Claw capable of exserting pressures of up to 9 tons.
Strengths - Big, heavy and powerful.
Weaknesses - Slow.
Mr. Psycho made its debut in the sixth season, designed by Robin Englebright. It's claws are powered by two 9 ton hydraulic rams running at 3000 psi (21 MPa). The hammer head weighs in at 20 kg and has a hydraulic accumulator and is powered by a 9 ton shoulder and elbow ram. It runs on caterpillar tracks of the same type used for Sir Killalot and are powered by two Briggs and Stratton 5hp electric motors run at 48 volts, which are controlled by two 300 A speed controllers. The chassis is constructed from thick walled steel box section and the head is fabricated in fibreglass.
[edit] Refbot
Weight - 120 kg
Length - 1.4 m
Width - 0.9 m
Height - 1.3 m
Speed - 7 mph
Refbot was introduced to Robot Wars as the robotic referee of the show in the year 2000. It was built in a very humanoid form and was created with the sole purpose of making sure there was fair play in the arena.
While not made for combat, Refbot but comes equipped with a multitude of gadgets:
- A pair of bulldozing shunts in the front and back are made for separating robots that become locked in mortal combat.
- An electronic countdown board is mounted on Refbot's chest to count down the defeat of robots.
- A fire extinguisher on the right arm, to put out fires, and also occasionally as a spray weapon.
- There was also a pincer grip on the left arm to help robots in tight spots.
- A light-indicator system with a red/yellow card, similar to a football referee. This replaced the pincer on its left arm at the start of Robot Wars: Extreme; it would also to show when battles begin and end and also whether robots are mobile or immobile. In addition, if another House Robot "misbehaved" (i.e., attacking a competitor when it wasn't supposed to) Refbot would give the offender a yellow card, and if it persisted, a red card, which forced the house robot to stay in its CPZ for the remainder of the match.
[edit] Sergeant Bash
Weight - 120 kg
Length - 140 cm
Width - 90 cm
Height - 90 cm
Speed - 8 mph
Weaponry - Propane-fueled flamethrower mounted on a 360 degree turret, front-mounted hydraulic pincers and rear-mounted circular saw. Notably, flamethrowers are normally against the rules in Robot Wars, with Bash apparently being the exception.
Strengths - Long-range weaponry.
Weaknesses - Limited fuel capacity.
Sergeant Bash is designed to resemble a military vehicle, and is powered by four batteries running in parallel. Conduits attached to its flamethrower also vent heat to power a secondary steam engine. Its weapons require the inclusion of gas bottles to power the flamethrower, in addition to valves and numerous carbon dioxide reservoirs. The flamethrower and hydraulically driven pincers all contribute to Sergeant Bash's increased weight and it requires an extremely long wheelbase to support the mass of internal engineering. When not in use, the steam engine powers a small rear end saw.
[edit] Shunt
Weight - 105 kg
Length - 130 cm
Width - 110 cm
Height - 70 cm
Speed - 10 mph
Weaponry - Pneumatically driven diamond-edged axe capable of delivering blows of over 500kg per square cm, and a rear-mounted pneumatic scoop and front snow plough.
Strengths - Very strong pushing power and strong structure.
Weaknesses - Cannot right chassis once overturned.
Shunt is armed with a diamond edged axe with a force of over 500 kgf/cm². Its design is reminiscent of a bulldozer, with a rear-mounted scoop and fearsome axe, both powered by pressurised carbon dioxide. Shunt's chassis and scoops are made of steel, while its superstructure is moulded fiberglass. In series 1 and 2, Shunt was used to fight the competitors in the Sumo trial, and was the flag holder in the trial round of Heat 4 of Series 1.
[edit] Sir Killalot
Weight - 280 kg
Length - 120 cm
Width - 120 cm
Height - 130 cm
Speed - 5 mph
Weaponry - Rotating drill lance and hydraulic cutting claws.
Strengths - Very powerful weaponry and weight advantage.
Weaknesses - Not capable of any formidable accelerations or speeds, prone to upending.
Sir Killalot is designed to look like a medieval knight, its name being a pun on Lancelot. Sir Killalot is armed with a rotating drill and a hydraulic cutting claw, adapted from the 'jaws of life' which rescue services normally use to save trapped victims from car wreckages. The hydraulics were adapted and refined to give a much faster cutting speed. The claw is quite capable of lifting over 100 kg of weight, slicing through armour plating and cutting the axles of opposing robots in two. Sir Killalot was built in less than three months and was introduced to the show in 1999. Its description boasted that it had "no weaknesses", though contestant robots have been seen knocking its armor off and setting it on fire.
[edit] Rules
The House Robots may only engage with a competing robot under two circumstances.
- When a robot drives or is shunted into the CPZ (Corner Patrol Zone). The House Robot patrolling that zone may attack. The attack can last for up to fifteen seconds before the House Robot must disengage and let the robot go back to battle, if it still can.
- If a robot is judged to be immobilized for more than thirty seconds either by another competitor or a House Robot, it will be "counted out" by Refbot. The robot has 10 seconds to move, if it fails to do so it is given the "red card" and the fight is over. The House Robots are then allowed to attack the robot in one big group. The robots may attack it and can dispose of it by either dropping it in the arena's pit, putting it on the arena flipper, tossing it out of the arena or placing it underneath the "Drop Zone."
- There were also "robot rebellions", certain events in Robot Wars where several House Robots were pitted in an all-out battle against several contestant robots.
- House Robots were also used to stop contestants in various other contests, such as obstacle courses.
