In another custom build project for channel FIVE’s the Gadget Show, the Robo Challenge crew were called in to help presenter Suzi Perry win an interesting new golf challenge! The presenters were tasked with using gadgetry to score a ‘hole in one’.
The Robo Challenge crew designed and produced a cool grabber which attached to the bottom of a Kasama helicopter!
Using it to grab the golf ball off the tee and fly over to the hole. Suzi Perry was at the controls for the grabber and had to use perfect timing and accuracy to drop the ball when hovering over the target. The wind was buffeting the helicopter which made it very tricky however Suzi was on the ball. She released the golf ball at the perfect time and scored a hole in one!
Robo Challenge Ltd are the flagship robotic combat events company in the UK and host a number of events nationwide.
September this year saw the Robo Challenge UK Championships help at The Fleet Air Arm nr Yoevil and what a awesome event and venue it was! Over 25 teams from all over the UK travelled to the museum for what promised to be an incredible Robo Challenge UK Championships.
In the first round each robot had 3 battles to fight with 2 opponents in each. Points were awarded for coming 1st, 2nd or 3rd. Once all robots had fought 3 times the points would be put into a league table. The top 10 bots would proceed to round 2. After that its 1 v 1 knockout stages right to the finals with 2 opportunities to re-enter the competition through a losers melee.
Robo Challenge UK Champions 2010 - Team Tiny Toon
The event commenced with the first battle which will be remembered just as much as the finals. Beauty 2 started its defence of the title against Tiny Toon (a bulletproof ram bot) and The Toonimator (a deadly spinner).
Beauty 2 in action!
With just 1 minute into the battle, reigning champ B2 took a big hit from the weapon of the The Toonimator which took out the safety link, leaving B2 dead in the corner of the arena. The impact had also disabled Toonimators drive. Ordinarily battle would stop and the robots would get ready for the next round however. Toonimators disc was at full speed and directly lined up with the unprotected rear end of B2. Tiny Toon got behind Toonimator and pushed it into the already immobile B2. It was a massive impact which broke B2’s chassis and ripped out the drive motors. B2 was written off and could no longer defend its title.
The top 10 robots were: -
Tiny Toon
4 4 Toon
Beauty 4
MMM
Boner
Juggernaut
360
Tron
LS2
Satanix
Round 2 brief - Tiny Toon pushed 4 4 Toon down the pit, Beauty 4 Flipped out Boner, LS2 immobilised Satanix, 360 tore apart Juggernaut but died and MMM flipped tron until it was immobile. 5 bots went into a losers melee and Boner won to join the winners in the Quarter Finals.
Quarter Final Brief - LS2 was beating Tiny Toon until they drove into the pit, Beauty 4 flipped out Juggernaut and Boner wrecked MMM. 3 bots went into the losers melee with Juggernaut taking the last place in the semis.
Semi Final Brief - Beauty flipped out Juggernaut and Tiny Toon took some good hits but managed to beat Boner.
The Grand Final - Beauty 4 v Tiny Toon
The grand finals were the closest final in the history of the championships. From the off Tiny Toons excellent manoeuvrability showed up the slow pace of B4 as they pushed the flipped all around the arena. At the half way point B4 came alive and got several sucsessfull flips on the Toon. Again Alex’s driving was immense as Tiny Toon out manoeuvred B4 slamming it into the walls. With the 30 second count down B4 got in a few more great flips with Tiny Toon looking close to being launched from the arena. Cease was called and it came to a Judges Decision. The 2010 UK Champion was announced, Tiny Toon had got it!
“It's been the best day of my life” said Alex in his interview.
Copied in below are the best bits from the 2009 Robo Challenge UK Championships held at Newcastle Life Museum.
We would like to thank all the teams who supported the Robo Challenge UK Championships. There were some fantastic battles which made the audience jump a few times! Congratulations to the Tiny Toon team for winning and well done to B4 for putting up an amazing fight in the finals. Boner made history. Driver Gary Cains 3rd place was the highest ever finish for a spinner robot in the UK Championships since TV’s Robot Wars held the competition.
If you would like to compete in Robo Challenge and would like to know more about how to build a robot please get in touch and our crew will be happy to help. Our online store has most of the parts required to get going. So dust off your tool box, download the rules and we will see you in the Robo Challenge Arena soon!
October 2010 saw Robo Challenge help Gadget Show presenter Jason Bradbury take on a Kung Fu master by creating the ultimate fighting robot. From the initial design right through to build and software programming team Robo Challenge utilised their vast expertise to deliver a completely unique pneumatic Kung Fu training simulator.
The robot has 5 attacking limbs powered by pneumatic rams which were programmed by Robo Challenge to fire in sequence or random and at different speeds. The power of the punch can also be increased by raising the air pressure to the cylinders for the ultimate fighting experience.
Each limb is lined with a super hi-tech (and expensive!!) material which is sensitive to impacts and can detect not only when the robot has been hit but exactly how hard! Software was then programmed to process this information so the robot strikes back with a series of appropriately high power blows!
It is fair to say that to beat this merciless machine you need Jedi speed reactions coupled with fists of steel.
It took the Robo Challenge engineers 3 weeks to produce and it was featured on channel FIVE's the Gadget Show on 1/11/10. The producers specifically didn’t want a 'toy' and came straight to Robo Challenge with their spec for a serious training device to help Jason develop his skills.
The robot was no push over and after 8 weeks solid training, the robot had dished out some damage. Jason’s hands were cut, it had given him a swollen ankle and knocked out one of his teeth! This was a real mean machine that prepared Jason for his Gadget Show challenge, take on a Kung Fu Master! You can see some of the testing footage below. This is on it minimum setting! Also watch the episode online here.
Should you want to find our any further information about Robo Challenge's capabilities, the Kung Fu Robot or any other Robo Challenge projects (including media enquiries) please email info@robochallenge.co.uk . Alternatively you can visit http://www.robochallenge.co.uk/
Constantly updated news, reviews and project diaries from our expert engineering team. Featuring all things at the cutting edge of robotic combat, from bespoke engineering to our unique gadget filled TV projects.
Robo Challenge Ltd is the flagship events organiser of robot combat in Europe. Our 2.5 ton Arena is the only arena in the UK fully sealed in bullet proof polycarbonate which meets the safety requirements for hosting full robot combat. Our portfolio includes some of the highest profile events since TV’s Robot Wars.
Robo Challenge Ltd also specialise in exciting, hands-on educational workshops for schools, youth groups & science museums across the country. Having over 6 years experience working with children and adults of all ages Robo Challenge has proven an excellent way to inspire learning.
Robo Challenge also offer a bespoke design and engineering service to the highest standard. All of our own equipment, including the arenas and robots, have been designed and produced in house by our crew.
April 2010 saw Team Robo Challenge commissioned by The Gadget Show to produce a gadget filled fighting robot like no other! This robot would be driven in combat by Gadget Show presenters Jason Bradbury & Ortis Deley. The Robo Challenge team were really up against it with just 3 weeks until we started filming the episode for TV.
With no time to waste, Robo Challenge expert engineers Grant and John got straight to work. designing the robot on Autodesk Inventor (sponsored by Autodesk). This excellent CAD package allowed our team to design Satan's Mutt from start to finish in 3D! The excellent software features also meant we could run simulations of the weapons and multiple stress analysis on different components to make sure they would take the strains & stresses of robot combat.
As soon as the initial design stage was complete the Robo Challenge crew worked night and day to get this special bespoke project ready for the strict filming deadline. If Satans Mutt wasn’t ready in time for battle in 3 weeks the episode would have to be pulled from the schedule.
Using only the best materials, a number of bespoke and precision engineered Robo Challenge components combined with the team's vast expertise Satan's Mutt was built in time for the strict filming deadline.
Despite the odds being stacked against them Team Robo Challenge prevailed delivering a revolutionary machine with a pneumatic system that had never before been seen in robot combat! Satan's Mutt also sported rare earth magnet DC motors (sponsored by AstroFlight), super light weight lithium polymer batteries (sponsored by Thunder Power) & a custom Wii-mote control system using software written and created by Robo Challenge Ltd. Not to forget the awesome secret weapon - a remote activated smoke bomb!
On the day of filming Satan's Mutt was driven into the arena for the first time. Jason and Ortis were bouncing around with excitement as they took the Gadget Shows very own fighting robot into battle.
You can watch the full Robo Challenge episode on the Gadget Show here.
You can also watch some of the video animation which was produced on Autodesk Inventor during the design process on our website www.robochallenge.co.uk
For further information on Robo Challenge Ltd events and services please email info@robochallenge.co.uk
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