Tempest (originally known as Slam during construction) is a British featherweight robot which competed in the 2018 King of Bots UK International Championships. Entered by Matthew Pearman of Team Slam, and built to a design made by Adam Hamilton and Andy Russell, it reached the Top 20 stage of the competition after earning one knockout victory and two second-place finishes in the qualification rounds. However, due to severe damage sustained in its last qualifying battle, Tempest withdrew from the 2018 UK International Championships prior to the knockout round, its place being taken by eventual runner-up Calabash Brothers.
Design
Tempest is an invertible, two-wheel drive robot with a light gray and black color scheme and armed with a powerful horizontal bar spinner. The spinner weighs 3kg, is painted light gray with purple gradient tips and incorporates an asymmetrical design with two bladed edges. The main bulkheads for Tempest's chassis and weapon mounts, as well as the bar spinner itself, were made out of watercut HARDOX.
Some early renders for Tempest, produced when it was still called Slam, depicted the robot with a horizontal flywheel weapon as well as its bar spinner. The robot's planned color scheme also varied between renders, from sand yellow with lilac logos and accents, to white and blue. The final build of Tempest adopted a modified color scheme, and would only use the bar spinner in the 2018 UK International Championships.
Robot History
King of Bots UK 2018
Tempest recoils from an attack by Microswitch
A hit from Calabash Brothers sends Tempest airborne
Tempest's first battle took place in the opening qualification round, where it faced Chinese competitor Calabash Brothers and Kevin Cleasby’s Microswitch. It started tentatively, initially staying away from its opponents in order to get its bar spinner up to speed. Tempest eventually approached Microswitch, and was thrown into the air by the latter’s drum; after hitting Microswitch in response, it spun round and was hit from behind by Calabash Brothers. This catapulted Tempest across the arena, which recoiled as it landed on the floor spinner-first. Tempest lunged at Calabash Brothers shortly after the latter threw Microswitch over, clipping the Chinese robot’s side. However, it then sustained another hit from Calabash Brothers which sent it spinning violently into the arena corner.
A head-on collision sends both Tempest and Calabash Brothers recoiling
Tempest's weapon stops working, just as it is flung into the wall by Calabash Brothers
As Calabash Brothers resumed its attacks on Microswitch, Tempest pursued it across the arena, eventually clipping the front of Calabash Brothers. A second head-on collision sent both robots recoiling violently; Tempest’s spinner struck the floor again, while the impact flipped Calabash Brothers into the wall. As Calabash Brothers gyro-danced over the closed pit, Tempest spun round for several seconds, before dodging a lunge from Calabash Brothers while the latter struggled to right itself using the gyroscopic forces of its own spinner. Tempest held back as Microswitch proceeded to push Calabash Brothers around; however, Calabash Brothers soon self-righted, pushing, hitting and sending Tempest flying into the wall as its bar spinner stopped working completely.
Tempest is thrown across the arena again by Calabash Brothers
Without a functioning weapon, Tempest sustained another hit from Calabash Brothers, and was thrown into the air again after spending some time trying to push Calabash Brothers along. It sustained a few more blows from Calabash Brothers before pressing the pit release button; Calabash Brothers proceeded to hit Tempest repeatedly before throwing it across the arena one last time. As Calabash Brothers attacked Microswitch yet again, Tempest shuttled back and forth before bumping the purple machine again just before time ran out. The battle went to a Judges’ decision, which ruled Calabash Brothers the winner. Being the only other robot still mobile, Tempest scored two points for its second-place finish.
Sparks fly as Tempest lands a knockout blow on Beauty 2
One of several collisions between Tempest and Telekinesis
Tempest (right) emerges victorious as Telekinesis stops moving
In its second qualifier, Tempest faced another horizontal spinner in Telekinesis, as well as veteran UK flipper Beauty 2. As before, it spent the opening moments waiting for its bar spinner to reach maximum speed, before gingerly approaching and clipping the side of Telekinesis. Tempest then slammed into the rear of Beauty 2, sending a vast shower of sparks flying and immobilizing the Team Beast machine instantly. The impact caused Tempest to recoil into an inverted Telekinesis, once again resulting in Tempest’s bar hitting the side of Telekinesis and sending Andy Russell’s robot spinning into the wall. Tempest proceeded to hit the front of Telekinesis several times, causing both robots to recoil across the arena. It attempted to press the pit release button, but missed, forcing it to push the button a second time while Telekinesis stayed out of the way. Shortly after, Telekinesis stopped moving completely, gifting Tempest its first knockout victory and four points.
For its third and final qualification round, Tempest was to face the axlebot Straddle 2 and front-hinged flipper Strix. However, a technical issue forced Strix to forfeit the battle at the last minute, leaving the two spinner-wielding robots to fight alone. On the night before the final qualification round, Adam Hamilton of Team Immersion welded extra bracing onto Tempest’s chassis, in an effort to prevent it from bending easily against the impacts of Straddle 2’s weapon.[1]
Tempest and Straddle 2 recoil following their collision
Tempest, badly damaged and without its weapon
The damage sustained to Tempest's bulkhead forced the Team Slam machine to withdraw from the knockout round
Both competitors approached each other tentatively as they got their spinners up to speed. Tempest soon got itself underneath Straddle 2 and turned round a few times, in an attempt to protect its weapon bulkheads from Straddle 2’s vertical bar. However, in doing so, Tempest sustained a heavy blow from Straddle 2, which flung both robots across opposite sides of the arena, damaged Straddle 2’s left wheel and bent Tempest’s top bulkhead. Tempest’s bar spinner completely detached upon hitting the wall, with the robot itself recoiling and coming to rest near the pit. With both robots immobilized on impact, Tempest and Straddle 2 were counted out simultaneously, and were later taken out of the arena for post-battle interviews. Straddle 2 was subsequently declared the winner, relegating Tempest to second place and two more points.
With a total of eight points, Tempest still scored highly enough to qualify for the Top 20, and was scheduled to fight Barghest in the knockout round. However, the damage sustained in its previous battle proved too great for Tempest to be repaired in time, resulting in it withdrawing from the 2018 UK International Championships at this stage. Tempest’s place in its knockout round would be taken by one of its previous opponents, Calabash Brothers, which in turn would fight Utopia when Barghest also withdrew from the same battle.
Results
| TEMPEST - RESULTS | ||
| King of Bots UK 2018 (Insomnia 63) | ||
| Main Championship Knockout Round | ||
| Rumble | vs. Microswitch, Calabash Brothers | Lost (2 points) |
| Rumble | vs. Beauty 2, Telekinesis | Won via knockout (4 points) |
| Rumble | vs. Straddle 2, Strix | Lost (2 points) |
| Knockout | vs. Barghest | Withdrew |
| NOTE: Tempest withdrew from its knockout battle and was replaced by Calabash Brothers. | ||
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 1
- Losses: 2
NOTE: Tempest's withdrawal from its battle against Barghest is not considered to be a loss.
Series Record
| Series | Tempest Series Record |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | Did not enter |
| Season 1.5 | Did not enter |
| Season 2 | Entered with Tempest |
Outside King of Bots
As well as competing in live events as part of Team Slam, Matthew Pearman also competed in the 2016 FRA Featherweight International Championships as a member of Team Immersion, entering with his own vertical spinner Surveyor. Surveyor was subsequently sold by the end of the year, so that Pearman could obtain funds for later robot projects.[2]
Pearman also became a member of Team Nebula – a collaboration between Team Immersion and Snappy Robots - when they competed in the pilot episode of Robot Wars: Series 8 with Tanto. Unable to use its disc weapon due to the arena being unfinished, Tanto enjoyed limited success in the pilot, losing its removable link in its first-round battle after driving over the top of Ka-Pow! Pearman also briefly became part of Team Nelly when they attempted to enter Series 9 with a heavyweight version of Nelly the Ellybot. However, time and financial constraints resulted in Nelly the Ellybot being withdrawn from the show when the team were unable to finish it before filming began.
In October 2016, Matthew Pearman became the current owner of former two-time Robot Wars semi-finalist Dantomkia, and has competed with it at live events under the Team Slam name. Modifications carried out to Dantomkia under Team Slam’s ownership included the addition of revised armor and a larger flipper plate; in this form, it attended the Robots Live! Stevenage event in October 2017. On a Facebook post uploaded in December 2018, Team Slam revealed that they were upgrading Dantomkia’s drive system and flipper mechanism, in anticipation of building a new version for live events.[3]
At various times, Pearman also owned several other competitors from the original series of Robot Wars, including S.M.I.D.S.Y., Bulldog Breed and The Grim Reaper.
References
- ↑ Correspondence with Adam Hamilton, 16th December 2018.
- ↑ http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/threads/13314-for-sale-surveyor-chassis-and-weapon-system
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/Dantomkiarobotwars/photos/a.453087658450173/557907667968171/?type=3&theater
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||