Zen Oh was a robot from Portugal which competed in Season 1.5, the debut season of This is Fighting Robots. In its preliminary battle, it was chosen by Zhang Yishan after shattering Raging Moustache in a devastating one-hit knockout blow, advancing to the main competition as a member of the Blue team. There, Zen Oh lost a melee against Vulcan and Firefox, and would be eliminated from the competition after losing a Tag Team battle against Sandstorm and White Tiger Guardian.
Design
Zen Oh in the arena
Zen Oh was an invertible robot driven by two wheels, featuring a low-profile chassis and a blue, purple and yellow color scheme. Its primary weapon was a large horizontal bar spinner, with a high top speed of 2,600rpm, which was used to inflict severe damage upon its opponents.
Robot History
This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5)
Zen Oh was not chosen by any of the celebrities in their initial selection process, requiring Zen Oh to take part in a preliminary rumble in order to impress the celebrities. There, it fought the Indian Firefox, the Turkish Raging Moustache and Stealth from South Korea.
Zen Oh shatters Raging Moustache
Zen Oh slams into Firefox
At the beginning of the battle, all four robots attempted to spin their weapons up to speed. Immediately after the Turkish machine Raging Moustache was chosen by Sa Beining, Zen Oh slammed its bar spinner directly into it. This cast the internals of Raging Moustache across the arena, shattering its armor and immobilizing the robot. This devastating attack impressed Zhang Yishan, who selected Zen Oh for his team. However, while Zen Oh was coasting around the arena, it lost the use of its bar spinner, rendering it weaponless. It bumped into the side of Firefox, causing the Indian machine to prop back into the air. Firefox would later lose part of its wheel to Stealth, so Zen Oh rammed into the side of it. As a result of these attacks, Firefox lost the remainder of another damaged wheel, and stopped moving.
Zen Oh is thrown up by a Grinder
Stealth pressures Zen Oh
With only Zen Oh and Stealth active, Zen Oh was struck by Stealth's spinner, which sent the Portuguese robot recoiling into a Grinder and almost overturned the robot. Zen Oh crashed back down, and took evasive measures, having already qualified. Regardless, Stealth pursued its opponent and struck it with another strong blow, causing Zen Oh's drive belt to fall out. Zen Oh slammed into the wall in its efforts to flee from the South Korean machine, although it managed to avoid Stealth until time expired on a match where all four robots had qualified.
In the main competition, Zen Oh was first chosen to represent the Blue team in the second round, where it faced Firefox again as well as British entry Vulcan. Before the battle, team captain Zhang Yishan conferred and agreed to make a pact with Wu Chun of the Red team, in an attempt to eliminate Vulcan together.
- "It is a good choice, I cannot say that it is the best, but it is a good choice."
- — Guilherme Ferreira on Zen Oh's selection to battle Vulcan
Zen Oh causes damage to Vulcan's wedge...
...while surviving the British machine's initial axe blow
Zen Oh rips one of Firefox's wheels off
Zen Oh eliminates Firefox with a second powerful hit
Immediately, Zen Oh avoided Vulcan as it got its bar spinner up to speed; however, it drove into one of the grinders, and was deflected twice by Vulcan, although not without escaping the latter’s axe blows and damaging its wedge. The Portuguese machine continued to be pursued, pushed and deflected into the corner, but survived Vulcan’s first successful axe blow as it was being shepherded towards Firefox. To Yishan’s despair, Zen Oh turned sharply into the side of Firefox, ripping its opponent’s left-front wheel off and nearly causing it to overturn. It continued to be deflected and pushed by Vulcan as the Indian machine’s left-rear wheel collapsed; Zen Oh spun round and hit Firefox one more time, destroying its electronics and throwing the entire Indian robot upside-down into the wall.
Zen Oh is pinned in the corner by Vulcan
Zen Oh causes Vulcan to recoil onto the circular saws
Zen Oh is sent airborne after hitting Vulcan head-on
Repeated blows from Vulcan's axe immobilize Zen Oh
Zen Oh continued to avoid Vulcan for some time after, only to be deflected and pushed spinner-first into the wall spikes. It sustained two more axe blows and was repeatedly nudged into the spikes as Vulcan tried to prevent its bar spinner from rotating again. Eventually, after more pushing and dodging, Zen Oh got its weapon up to speed again, spinning into and knocking Vulcan onto the circular saws with the spinner. Seconds later, it drove head-on into Vulcan’s wedge, the collision launching Zen Oh into the air and seemingly disabling its bar spinner. Zen Oh attempted to dodge Vulcan again, only to be pinned against another set of wall spikes and repeatedly axed by the British machine. These attacks immobilized Zen Oh completely, resulting in it losing the battle to Vulcan - both Yishan and Chun reconciled afterwards over their failed tactics, amidst ridicule from Yellow team captain Sa Beining.
Zen Oh causes significant damage to White Tiger Guardian
Zen Oh is pinned against the spikes by Sandstorm
Zen Oh (bottom) rams Sandstorm into the spikes
Sandstorm carries Zen Oh into the pit
Zen Oh would later be selected again for the Tag Team round, where it was paired with Golden Hoops of the Yellow team. Together, they fought Sandstorm of the Green team and White Tiger Guardian of the Red team. Immediately, Zen Oh drove around the pit and hit the back of White Tiger Guardian, tearing the latter’s rear panel open and causing it to shed several pieces of debris. It proceeded to hit White Tiger Guardian a second time – this time targeting its vertical spinner – but was deflected upwards and pushed into the wall spikes by a charging Sandstorm. Once freed, Zen Oh drove round in circles in pursuit of Sandstorm, only to be deflected again by the latter’s lifting wedge. The early attacks seemed to disable Zen Oh’s bar spinner; undeterred, it rammed Sandstorm against the wall spikes, enabling Golden Hoops to escape from the British machine.
A re-joining Zen Oh comes under further attack from Sandstorm
Zen Oh attacks White Tiger Guardian again
Zen Oh drives itself into the pit
However, as it tried to drive away, Zen Oh drove itself into the spikes, allowing Sandstorm to slam, lift and carry it towards the pit. Zen Oh slid off Sandstorm’s lifting bars as the latter turned, hitting the bottom of the pit and sliding fully in. Temporarily immobile, Zen Oh eventually re-joined the battle after being raised out of the pit, only to be deflected upwards as it tried to ram Sandstorm. Sandstorm proceeded to push Zen Oh towards the corner; Zen Oh attempted to retreat, but was pinned against the spikes and lifted by Sandstorm. Zen Oh was pushed and steered across the arena a few more times by Sandstorm, all while sustaining hits from Golden Hoops’ hammer. Spinning round near the flame jets, Zen Oh dodged a few more lunges from Sandstorm, all while getting its bar spinner rotating at a very slow speed. While evading Sandstorm, it turned round and briefly pushed White Tiger Guardian sideways using its spinner. Smoke poured from one of Zen Oh’s wheel spacings as it reversed over the flame jets; suddenly, it drove straight into the pit while avoiding Sandstorm, while receiving a light tap from one of Golden Hoops’ hammers.
- "It’s not a good feeling, and I expected more from me driving that robot. And this was very silly – the robot was working good, and then I just throw the robot to the pit. I was very disappointed with that."
- — Guilherme Ferreira of Zen Oh laments his driving error
Crucially, this mistake eliminated Zen Oh from the battle, while Golden Hoops survived to a Judges’ decision alongside Sandstorm and White Tiger Guardian. The decision subsequently went against Zen Oh and Golden Hoops, eliminating both robots from the competition.
Results
| ZEN OH - RESULTS | ||
| This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5) | ||
| Main Championship | ||
| Preliminary Rumble | vs. Firefox, Raging Moustache, Stealth | Selected |
| Episode 4, Rumble | vs. Firefox, Vulcan | Lost |
| Episode 6, 2v2 (with Golden Hoops) | vs. Sandstorm, White Tiger Guardian | Lost |
Wins/Losses
Team Zen Oh logo
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 2
NOTE: Zen Oh's preliminary rumble is not considered a win or a loss.
Series Record
| Series | Zen Oh Series Record |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | Did not enter |
| Season 1.5 | Zhang Yishan's team (0-2 record) |
| Season 2 | Did not enter |
Outside King of Bots
Team REC originally started competing in the featherweight division. Their first robot was Rabid M6, a box-shaped robot with four wheels, also armed with a crusher. This was succeeded by Rabid M8, a two-wheel driven wedge-shaped robot, armed with a small vertical crusher. The team also compete with the featherweight Galactus, an invertible robot armed with a spinning drum. It competed at each UK Featherweight Championship held across 2012-15, reaching the fourth round in its peak performance in 2014, collecting wins over Conker 3 and Loki.
Rabid M8 at Robot Wars
Based on this prior experience, Team REC were invited to compete in Robot Wars: World Series, an international special aired during the British show's tenth series. Team REC were unable to build their own heavyweight competitor, but borrowed a thwackbot previously known as Dee, and modified the robot, renaming it Rabid M8 after their featherweight competitor. In its opening Tag Team battle, it fought alongside the Irish Diotoir, but after this was immobilized by Terrorhurtz, Rabid M8 fought Sabretooth and was promptly immobilized by the drum spinner. In its head-to-head battle against Gabriel 2, Rabid M8 held off the fellow thwackbot until a Judges' decision, which was won by the Portuguese team on a split decision.
Trivia
- Zen Oh was the only Portuguese machine in the competition.
- Zen Oh was the team's first heavyweight robot that they built from scratch.
External Links
- Team REC website
- Zen Oh - This is Fighing Robots Facebook page
- Robot Extreme Competition Facebook page
- Robot Extreme Twitter
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