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The house robots are a set of remote-controlled robots used as obstacles in the television series Robot Wars that were created for increased challenge.[citation needed] They take part in most matches, usually two at a time staying in their Corner Patrol Zones (CPZ), and Refbot to help out competitors or the house robots. If a contestant enters a CPZ, the House Robot may attack it, though rules sometimes differ (see rules). The House Robots were also fitted with video cameras, providing brief 'Kill Cam' or 'Ref Cam' views during the television show. One dutch team described them as "Oversized robots supposed to act as referees".
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Cassius Chrome
Weight - 250 kg (550 lb)
Length - 130 cm (51 in)
Width - 100 cm (39 in)
Height - 85 cm (33 in)
Speed - 20 mph (32 km/h)
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 ineffective unless given time to build up attack.
Cassius Chrome was the last House Robot to be introduced in Series Seven. It was designed by Robin Englebright to look like a heavyweight boxer, complete with a black eye. The robot was named after heavyweight boxer Muhammed Ali's original name Cassius Clay.
Cassius Chrome is powered by 2×24 V magnetic motors, with interchangeable fists, each piercer weighs in at 15 kg.
Notable Moments - It was one of the three House Robots featured in the second 'House Robot Rebellion'. Within the opening few minutes it was flipped before falling into the pit. It also came under attack during the All-Stars opening heat, where it lost an eye from an axe attack delivered by Kat 3.
Dead Metal
Weight - 112 kg (247 lb)
Length - 160 cm (63 in)
Width - 100 cm (39 in)
Height - 70 cm (28 in)
Speed - 12 mph (19 km/h)
Weaponry - 3000 rpm circular saw and pneumatically driven pincers. In the first wars, the circular saw was frequently replaced with a hammer-type tail.
Strengths - Powerful weaponry. Large wheel base makes flipping very difficult.
Weaknesses - Poor maneuverability.
Dead Metal 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 (12 mph). Dead Metal is protected by a steel exoskeleton consisting of jagged armour plates and spiked struts as wheel guards. In Wars 1 and 2, Dead Metal had a more scorpion-like appearance and its circular saw was attached to a tail-like arm that would move forward from the robot's back to attack a foe. In Season 3, it was altered to a larger blade mounted at the front which moved forward to attack. The machine was designed to look like a 'scorpion' that had been animated from a junk yard (hence the name). The pincers were prone to collisions and the original piston powering them would buckle. It was later replaced with the same pnematic piston used to power the floor flipper.
Notable Moments - During the Sixth season, its blade fixtures became loose, resulting in its blade flying across the arena floor before sliding down a gap in the floor between the perspex arena wall. It was also finally flipped by Gravity, following several less successful attempts. It had been overturned previously in the second wars, however this was aided by the ramp in the trials. It was also the first house robot to receive a red card from Refbot by persistently attacking Behemoth in a All Stars battle against Hypno Disc.
Growler
Weight - 375 kg (827 lb)
Length - 152 cm (60 in)
Width - 130 cm (51 in)
Height - 76 cm (30 in)
Speed - 17 mph (27 km/h)
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.
Weaknesses - Difficult to control, usefulness of secondary weapon.
Growler was introduced as Mr. Psycho's loyal but terrifying dog, designed by Robin Englebright, the prototype name for Growler was 'Pitbull' based on Bullseye in Oliver Twist.. The jaws of Growler are capable of creating 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. Growler is based on the skid steer system used in Tornado, and is the only House robot to drive on four wheels
Notable Moments - It was overturned by Gravity, mere moments into the second House Robot Rebellion. In an ironic twist, it happened moments after commentator Jonathan Pierce asked "Gravity thinks he can take on our dog of war. [Growler is flipped] Oh and he can!"
Matilda
Weight - 116 kg (256 lb)
Length - 140 cm (55 in)
Width - 66 cm (26 in)
Height - 66 cm (26 in)
Speed - 8 mph (13 km/h)
Weaponry - Pneumatic lifting tusks and interchangeable rear-mounted weapons bay that can either take a chainsaw running at over 3000rpm or a massive 27 kg (60 lb) vertical spinning disc.
Strengths - Powerful weaponry and tough exoskeleton.
Weaknesses - Prone to flipping (especially its humiliation from Recyclopse in Series 1 and Chaos 2 in Series 3), armour can sometimes fall off.
Matilda, based on a dinosaur, is equipped with pneumatic flipping tusks and interchangeable weapons for the rear that can take either a chainsaw or a flywheel weapon. It is powered by a rechargeable battery unit and moves at over 3.6 m/s (8 mph). 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. In the earlier days, it was seen numerous times being flipped and damaged by contestants and was also once betrayed by a few of the other House Robots. Most memorably in series 4, it was rendered completely dead by contestant Razer. Since the flywheel was added, it has become one of the most dangerous of the House Robots, its flywheel having the capability of throwing a contestant robot clear out of the arena. Since then, Matilda has had her flywheel for the remainder of the UK series, but her chainsaw has been used on several occasions during Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. Matilda is the oldest house robot. Her fiberglass 'head' was fashioned by James Davis, who was in charge of looking after the machine. His original thumb prints were what fashioned the grooves that framed the head piece. Early footage of Matilda being tested would suggest she was originally intended to be painted black, before later being changed to purple. She is known as the "Matriarch of Mayhem".
Notable Moments - Matilda was destroyed by Razer in the Fourth Wars (evident by Matilda's configuration and the lack of Refbot), Matilda was heavily damaged and burnt, before being turned on by the house robots. It was none the less repaired shortly afterwards, sporting several bandages on its shell. Following the installation of a flywheel, it was notable as one of, if not the most destructive house robot, in a heat final in the 7th wars it was powerful enough to toss Ceros clean out of the arena. It also OOTA'd Vader and Sir Chromalot in extreme 2,and one part of a 3-part clusterbot in the dutch version named √3 (although the other 2 parts of √3 did enough to win that game). In Heat 5 of Series 2 it had one of its tusks broken off by Spin Doctor in the 'King of the Hill' Trial. In Robot wars extreme series 1, it went out of its CPZ to hit a gash in Steel Avenger in the last second of its Mayhem bout with Tornado and King B3, but the Judges judged that match until then. Steel Avenger won.
Matilda was also reprimanded in Heat 12 of the 5th wars, as it went out of its CPZ to rip out Ming 3's motors against Terrorhurtz. Terrorhurtz won. In the American version, Matilda was flipped by a robot named Tricerabot twice in separate battles, with Tricerabot on fire both times.
Mr. Psycho
Weight - 750 kg (1653 lb)
Length - 163 cm (64 in)
Width - 145 cm (57 in)
Height - 150 cm (59 in)
Speed - 8 mph (13 km/h)
Weaponry - 30 kg (66 lb) heavy pneumatic hammer that travels at 60 mph (97 km/h) and a hydraulic claw capable of exerting pressures of up to 9 tons.
Strengths - Big, heavy and powerful.
Weaknesses - Slow. Occasionally incapable of retracting hammer completely.
Mr. Psycho made its debut in the sixth season, designed by Robin Englebright. Its claws are powered by two 9 ton hydraulic rams running at 3000 psi (21 MPa). The hammer head weighs in at 30 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 ampere speed controllers. The chassis is constructed from thick walled steel box section and the head is fabricated in fibreglass. At 750 kg, Mr. Psycho is the heaviest robot in the history of Robot Wars. Despite this, it is not invulnerable to being flipped, as Firestorm 4 proved in Extreme Series 2. Also Mr Psycho lost its head in a Series 7 heat N match.
Refbot
Weight - 120 kg (265 lb)
Length - 140 cm (55 in)
Width - 90 cm (35 in)
Height - 130 cm (51 in)
Speed - 7 mph (11 km/h)
Refbot was introduced to Robot Wars as the robotic referee of the show in the year 2000. It was built with a 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 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. (Introduced in Extreme 1)
- A fire extinguisher on the right arm, to aid the putting out of fires.
- A pincer grip on the left arm to help robots when jammed.
- A light-indicator system with a red/yellow, 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.
Sergeant Bash
Weight - 120 kg (265 lb)
Length - 140 cm (55 in)
Width - 90 cm (35 in)
Height - 90 cm (35 in)
Speed - 8 mph (13 km/h)
Weaponry - Propane-fueled flamethrower mounted on a 360 degree turret, front-mounted hydraulic pincers that exert 8 tonnes of pressure and a rear-mounted circular saw (scrapped after series 3). Notably, flamethrowers are normally against the rules in Robot Wars, with Bash apparently being the exception. In series 1 and 2, the front pincers were originally a series of ramming spikes.
Strengths - Long-range weaponry. Powerful Pneumatic pincers.
Weaknesses - Limited fuel capacity, Extremely poor pushing/pulling power and narrow base makes it a bit vulnerable to flippers.
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. After series 3 the rear saw could be seen buckled at Bash's rear, and was purely ornamental. The flamethrower was originally powered from gas tanks that were positioned in the frontal compartment, whilst the motors for the saw were positioned in the rear section just behind the flamethrower turret. With the introduction of the pincers, the gas bottles were moved back and did not allow enough room for the saw motors, resulting in that weapon being scrapped. In series 2 he had a special event dedicated to him, the inferno insurrection, where 2 flammable robots (Nemesis, and a producer's robot named RamRomBit) were sprayed with Parrafin by Sgt Bash.Sgt bash was never involved in a house robot rebellion.
Shunt
Weight - 105 kg (231 lb)
Length - 130 cm (51 in)
Width - 110 cm (43 in)
Height - 70 cm (28 in)
Speed - 10 mph (16 km/h)
Weaponry - Pneumatically driven diamond-edged axe capable of delivering blows of over 500 kgf/cm² (7,000 psi), and a rear-mounted pneumatic scoop and front snow plough.
Strengths - Very strong pushing power and strong structure.
Weaknesses - Cannot right chassis once overturned. (Chaos 2 demonstrated this in the Series 3 final)
Shunt is armed with a diamond edged axe with a force of over 500 kgf/cm² (7,000 psi). 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.
It should be noted that in spite of Shunt being well known for its pushing and pulling power, it is the lightest of all the house robots, being the only one weighing less than 106 kg. It was the first robot flipped over in the infamous All-stars fight in the Seventh series where the four competitor robots (Bigger Brother, Panic Attack, Kat 3 and Firestorm 5) conspired to attack the house robots instead of each other.
Sir Killalot
Weight - 520 kg (1144 lb)
Length - 120 cm (47 in)
Width - 120 cm (47 in)
Height - 130 cm (51 in)
Speed - 5 mph (8 km/h)
Weaponry - Rotating drill lance and hydraulic cutting claws.
Strengths - Very powerful weaponry and weight advantage.
Weaknesses - Not capable of any formidable accelerations or speeds, topheavy and prone to fire due to gas-powered engine.
Sir Killalot is designed to look like a medieval knight with its name being a play on the name Lancelot, given the nickname of "The Undesputed Titan of Mechanized Warfare". Sir Killalot is armed with a rotating drill and a hydraulic cutting claw, adapted from the cutting jaws 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 (220 lb) 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", even though it was immobilized by Napalm in the 2nd Gauntlet in the first heat of serie 2, and is the only House Robot that has never been flipped but he is top heavy and was tipped over by groundhog in series 2 and also contestant robots have been seen knocking its armor off and setting it on fire. But unlike the other house robots Sir Killalot was often seen as the 'leader' of the House Robots and would often pick up contestant robots on its pike before dropping it into a pit. Despite being very large, Sir Killalot is just the second heaviest robot (behind Mr Psycho), weighing about two thirds as much. He is the only House 'Bot to never have been flipped.
The Sentinel
The Sentinel was a house robot that only appeared in half of the second series. It was the only ever robot on the show to have a person operating it inside the arena. It was a customized JCB Digger that could block a contestant's route and/or knock it into the pit in the Gauntlet. The Sentinel's last appearance was during the battle with Roadblock against Killertron (just before Cassius' and Panic Attack's battle for the championship), when it unsuccessfully attacked Killertron.
Rules
The House Robots may only engage with a competing robot under two circumstances.
- When a robot drives or is shunted into the Corner Patrol Zone (CPZ). 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 immobilised 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.
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