Deep-Sea Shark

Deep-Sea Shark
Hammerhead Shark
Participation Information
Series	S1 (King of Bots)
Team Information
Team	Harbin Institute of Technology
Team Members	Wei Jin Li Lidong Li Yun Chau Cao Mengyu
Robot Statistics
Weapons	Drum spinner

深海巨鲨 (roughly translated as Deep Sea Giant Shark, officially Hammerhead Shark) is a robot from Harbin, China, which competed in the first season of King of Bots. Entered by a team of students from the Harbin Institute of Technology, it progressed to the second round after defeating Hurricane, despite losing the use of its drum weapon during the battle. There, it lost to Tánshè in a close fight which resulted in a late knockout where Hammerhead Shark was flipped out of the arena. It was succeeded by Wall Breaker.

Design

Hammerhead Shark with the Harbin Institute of Technology team

Hammerhead Shark's optional defence

Hammerhead Shark was an invertible, box-shaped robot armed with a large single-toothed drum at the front. Along with Chinese Aegis, it was the first King of Bots competitor to use tracks as its primary method of locomotion, which featured sets of circular rubber pads to increase the robot's traction along the arena floor. Hammerhead Shark itself sported a two-tone blue and turquoise colour scheme, with the drum finished in black. Two 'feeder wedges' were also present at either side of the drum, to lead other robots into the spinning weapon. In the second round of the competition, the sides of Hammerhead Shark were replaced with white HDPE for added protection.

Hammerhead Shark also had an optional piece of thick top armour, which it would use to defend itself from overhead weapons such as the crusher of Spectre, but this was never seen on television.

Robot History

King of Bots (Season 1)

Hammerhead Shark weathers an early collision with Hurricane's spinner

One of Hammerhead Shark's drum mounts is sheared off

Hammerhead Shark pushes Hurricane over the flame jets

Hammerhead Shark first appeared in Episode 2, where it fought Hurricane in the first round. In the opening seconds, it drove straight into Hurricane, with the two competitors proceeding to exchange several blows with their spinning weapons. One of these collisions resulted in Hammerhead Shark having one of its drum mounts ripped off by Hurricane, causing its drum to hit the floor as it drove into Hurricane again. This stopped both of their weapons from spinning up, but Hammerhead Shark pushed Hurricane away from the red square, before both robots separated. Hammerhead Shark continued ramming and pushing Hurricane around the arena, all while surviving more hits from its opponent’s spinner. It was pushed into the wall spikes by Hurricane, but reversed away as the latter momentarily pinned itself under them. The two competitors continued pushing and dodging each other until time ran out, at which point the battle went to a Judges’ decision. Despite the damage it sustained, the Judges ruled in favor of Hammerhead Shark as a result of it displaying more control throughout.

Gabriel Stroud: "It's the Hammerhead Shark, is it John?"

John Reid: "Yes, a young team. They've been up all night before, all through the night, no sleep."

Gabriel Stroud: "Well, I think we're confident!"

— Tánshè's team on the Hammerhead Shark team

Hammerhead Shark is pinned on the arena wall

Hammerhead Shark smashes the front of Tánshè

In the second round, Hammerhead Shark fought Tánshè. Within the opening seconds of the battle, Hammerhead Shark's team activated a smokescreen in front of Team Legion to obscure their vision, so the British team did the same, preventing both teams from seeing the battle. Regardless, Tánshè was able to drive under Hammerhead Shark and flip it onto its drum, where it then toppled onto the spikes on the arena wall. Tánshè's team believed they had won, while Hammerhead Shark remained pinned on the spike. It constantly spun its tracks and drum, but the referee began to count Hammerhead Shark out. The referee counted all the way up to nine, but then Hammerhead Shark miraculously escaped from the wall and attacked the celebrating Tánshè.

"We thought we'd won, so John was in the middle doing his thing, but then I saw them coming! I went, John, John, they're coming, they're coming!"

— Gabriel Stroud

Hammerhead Shark pressures Tánshè into flipping itself over

Hammerhead Shark is thrown into the commentators

Panicking, Tánshè flipped itself over, and was forced to self-right. This allowed Hammerhead Shark to hit the front of Tánshè directly, and tear away various pieces from it. Tánshè attempted to self-right, but it was too close to the wall, and landed on its back again, losing more parts. Tánshè self-righted, while Hammerhead Shark knocked a loose gear of Tánshè's towards the commentators. Tánshè started to recover, and drove under Hammerhead Shark to then flip it over. With a huge flip, Tánshè then launched Hammerhead Shark into the plexiglass screen straight in front of the commentators, and again into the spiked wall.

Tánshè spins Hammerhead Shark through the air

Tánshè throws Hammerhead Shark into the wall

With Tánshè keeping up the pressure, Hammerhead Shark was flipped onto the top of the arena hammer, and sent was sent spiralling forwards with another flip. Tánshè tossed Hammerhead Shark back into the spikes, although its next flip was noticeably weaker. Hammerhead Shark was shepherded towards the corner of the arena, and Tánshè attempted to lift it over the wall, but lacked the necessary power. It made another attempt, and this time flipped Hammerhead Shark directly into the wall, but not over. In its retreat, Tánshè then drove over a floor flipper and was overturned, allowing Hammerhead Shark to assert its presence.

Hammerhead Shark's armor comes off from ramming into Tánshè

Tánshè flips Hammerhead Shark out of the arena

Hammerhead Shark's drum had slowed but it still pressed a loose piece of armor against Tánshè. Within the last thirty seconds, Tánshè started to rely on its pushing power, pressing Hammerhead Shark against the spikes, but Hammerhead Shark was now approaching the end of the battle. Tánshè only had enough CO₂ on board for one last flip, but it used this well, and flipped Hammerhead Shark over the wall in the corner, putting it out of the arena with barely twenty seconds left on the clock.

"That was the best fight we've ever had, I think, in our entire lives!"

— Gabriel Stroud

This last-second defeat created an emotional finish for the Hammerhead Shark team, who were tearful in defeat, with even Ling Zhou shedding tears of sympathy, but nontheless the team were comforted by the victorious Team Legion, and Hammerhead Shark was eliminated at this stage.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 1

Series Record

Series	Hammerhead Shark Series Record
Season 1	Round 2
Season 1.5	Entered with Wall Breaker
Season 2	Did not enter

Trivia

King of Bots Deep Sea Giant Shark Teaser

• Hammerhead Shark, along with Ink Thorns, Suspension and Scorpion appeared in a teaser trailer for the series.

External Links

• Hammerhead Shark on the official King of Bots website (Chinese)