Tough as Nails

Tough as Nails (originally Tough As Nails, or abbreviated to TAN) was a Dutch robot that competed in Series 7 of Robot Wars, the 2016 series, and Series 2 of Dutch Robot Wars.

Tough as Nails originally entered the second series of Dutch Robot Wars, but was defeated in the first round by Scrap-2-Saur. However, it did win a major robotic event in the Netherlands prior to the Seventh Wars and was dubbed as a favourite for the series by Jonathan Pearce. Tough as Nails won its heat in the main series, defeating former UK champion Panic Attack along the way. It was eventually defeated in the semi-finals by Bulldog Breed. It also defeated two other Dutch robots to qualify for The Third World Championship at the end of the series, in which it reached the semi-finals and was defeated by the eventual champion, Storm 2.

A favoured tactic which was used by the Tough as Nails team was to immediately activate the pit release button, grab hold of its opponents and dump them into the pit. The team attempted this tactic in many battles, successfully pitting Disc-O-Inferno and Robochicken in the heats (although Robochicken was already through to the next round) and Scraptosaur, Gravity and Rawbot in The Third World Championship, before finally being given a taste of its own medicine as it was pitted by Storm 2, also being pitted in its 2016 loss.

Design
The robot was invertible with two large clamping arms at the front, which the team claim can crush 1,200kg as of 2016. It was described by the team as a "horizontal crusher", one of the biggest in the wars. The robot originated from a sketch of a crushing mechanism. "When offered the chance in 2002 to build a robot as a graduation project, I had half a year time to design and build TAN."

- Jeroen van der Loo

It was the first robot to introduce HARDOX (brand name SSAB Sweden) as armour plating for robots. As a result it had very strong armour, was fast and controllable, but had a limited CO2 supply and electrical problems as well. The robot cost £2,500 to build, and the wheels provided by sponsors were finished by Jeroen who has found his own way to vulcanise HDPE.

In 2016, Tough as Nails' weight increased from 97kg to 107kg, and its former 1600W electric motors were upgraded to 3000W, with its top speed falling by 3mph. Its HARDOX armour is now 3.2mm in thickness.

Qualification
In its qualifier battle for Series 7, Tough as Nails fought German entry I Bot One Beta, Team Death's new robot Metalis, and non-qualifier Skorpizoid. Tough as Nails became immobile after colliding with Metalis, breaking down. The qualifier battle was won by I Bot One Beta. Despite this, Tough as Nails, as well as Metalis, was awarded a discretionary place.

Dutch Series 2
Tough as Nails fought Scrap-2-Saur in its first round of Dutch Robot Wars. Tough as Nails was flipped once before driving over the flame pit. Due to a thermal cut-off from the speed controllers, Tough as Nails's motors shut down, and it was counted out by Refbot. Mr. Psycho put Tough as Nails on the dropzone, where two barrels fell onto it. At this point the speed controllers had cooled down, so Tough as Nails was able to move again (not that it mattered; it had already been counted out). Tough as Nails grabbed one of the dropzone's barrels and carried it around the arena, until Mr. Psycho came in and smashed Tough as Nails's rear with his hammer. The hit caused a small fire, burning out a speed controller and one of the hydraulic tubes, effectively immobilising Tough as Nails again. Dead Metal pushed Tough as Nails, barrel still in its claws, down into the pit. "To repair it the houseroboteers borrowed me a hydraulic tube from Sir. K, but I had to give it back after not being selected for the wildcard."

- Jeroen van der Loo

UK Series 7
In its first fight, Tough as Nails pressed the pit release button, and then grabbed Disc-O-Inferno and dropped it down. It then did the same to Robochicken, however Robochicken had already flipped and immobilised B.O.D., so it still qualified.

In the next round, Tough as Nails faced the seeded Panic Attack. It grabbed Panic Attack, and after hitting the pit release, attempted to push it into the pit, but Panic Attack wouldn't let it. Panic Attack tried to flip Tough as Nails, but Tough as Nails' shape wasn't prone to being flipped. Tough as Nails grabbed Panic Attack again and bent its lifting device. Left without any means of attack, Panic Attack was helpless as Tough as Nails pushed it around the arena. It couldn't get Panic Attack to go into the pit, but it still won the judges' decision.



Tough as Nails had reached the heat final, where it met Robochicken again. Tough as Nails was tossed repeatedly by Robochicken's flipper, but since it was invertible, it was wholly unaffected. Robochicken's gas supply began to dwindle, so Tough as Nails opened the pit and clamped down on Robochicken. It spent the rest of the match with Robochicken in its claws, pushing it around the arena. The judges had to choose a heat winner, and they ruled in favour of Tough as Nails.

In the Semi-finals, Tough as Nails met Bulldog Breed, sporting part of Robochicken's head. Tough as Nails was flipped a few times, but did manage to get its pincers around Bulldog Breed. However, it couldn't get enough traction to push Bulldog Breed, and so its opponent pushed it around instead. Tough as Nails was nearly flipped out of the arena, and the two robots continued pushing each other until time ran out. The judges ruled that Bulldog Breed had won, eliminating Tough as Nails. Tough as Nails also competed in the Third World Championship. In its qualifier battle, it employed its usual tactic of pressing the pit release button at the beginning of the match. After doing do, it grabbed Scraptosaur and pushed it into the abyss, avenging its first round loss in the Dutch Series. It was flipped once by Gravity, but it still managed to grab the Dutch flipper bot, and push it into the pit too. Through to the, Tough as Nails went straight for the pit release, and Rawbot could not resist Tough as Nails' pushing power, so found itself prey to the pit. In the semifinal, it found Storm 2 to be a much more difficult opponent. Indeed, Storm 2's speed and traction made it nearly impossible for Tough as Nails to grab and hold Storm 2. Storm 2 slammed Tough as Nails against the wall until one of its tyres came off. Tough as Nails got its pincers around Storm 2, but it was Storm 2 in control, pushing and pulling Tough as Nails around the arena. When it tried to put Tough as Nails into the pit, Tough as Nails refused to loosen its grip, allowing it hover over the pit and stay in play just a little while longer. However, it eventually let go, and plunged into the pit, taking The Netherlands' hopes with it. "The wheel's finally come off Tough as Nails' drive for world domination"

- Craig Charles

2016 Series
Tough as Nails competed in Episode 2 of the 2016 series, the only Dutch entry to qualify. In the first round, it fought newcomers Shockwave, and veterans DisConstructor and Thor.

When the battle started, Tough as Nails replicated its first UK battle by targeting the spinner, DisConstructor, although Tough as Nails was deflected backwards by the spinning disc. Tough as Nails dodged an attack from Thor, but was caught by Shockwave, which allowed Thor to come in and attack. Tough as Nails was wedged upwards slightly, and grabbed the top portion of Thor, waging an even battle. When Thor gained proper purchase, however, Tough as Nails was slammed into an empty CPZ, and only missed Thor's axe blows due to its shape. This turned into a two-way attack, as Shockwave helped to push Tough as Nails into the wall after having pitted DisConstructor, although this put Thor on top of Shockwave, allowing Tough as Nails to push both robots backwards. In retaliation, Tough as Nails was pushed into the corner by Shockwave. Tough as Nails grabbed Thor and pushed it towards Shunt, as Tough as Nails was too lengthy to be hit by its opponent's weapon. Yet when Tough as Nails grabbed Thor, Shockwave would respond and assist Thor with its push, this time sliding Tough as Nails up the arena wall. Thor pushed back, and held Tough as Nails against another wall, and Shockwave helped create the position where Tough as Nails would sustain axe blows from Thor. These repeated blows had immobilised Tough as Nails, which lifelessly rolled across the arena. Thor pushed Tough as Nails onto the lip of the pit, and edged it on on a second attempt, with just eleven seconds left on the clock.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * UK Wins: 5
 * UK Losses: 3
 * Dutch Wins: 0
 * Dutch Losses: 1

UK Series

 * Series 1-6: Did not enter
 * Series 7: Semi-Finals, Round 1
 * 2016 Series: Heat, Round 1

Dutch Series

 * Series 1: Entered with Arena Killer
 * Series 2: Heat, Round 1

Robot Wars Live Events
Since the launch of the Robot Wars Live Events in 2013, Tough as Nails has attended only a few of the events due to the team residing in The Netherlands. It first competed in the second live event of the new Robot Wars at Portsmouth in March 2013 where it fell in the heats after being flipped out the arena by Maelstrom.

In 2015, Tough as Nails fought in the Robot Wars World Championships, held in Colchester. In the first round, it was drawn against Rybot, Kan-Opener and Maelstrom. Rybot was quickly flipped over, and a combined attack from Tough as Nails and Kan-Opener immobilised Maelstrom, allowing the two pincers to qualify for the second round, although Kan-Opener was able to immobilise Tough as Nails by trapping it in the arena wall. In the second round, Tough as Nails fought Beast and Gabriel. Tough as Nails damaged the tyre of Beast, and pitted it, but regardless lost the Judges' decision to Gabriel, the more aggressive robot. Tough as Nails had a second chance to qualify, in a losers' melee against Eruption and Tiberius. Tiberius was quickly stranded on the wall by Eruption, leaving Tough as Nails and Eruption to fight alone. Tough as Nails fought well, grabbing hold of Eruption while it was self-righting, and dragged it around. Eruption eventually pushed Tough as Nails into the pit, but the Dutch robot escaped. Tiberius was freed from the wall, and it pitted Eruption, leaving Tough as Nails as the winner, which also pitted Tiberius. However, in the quarter-finals, Tough as Nails was flipped out of the arena in seconds by Manta.

Outside Robot Wars
Tough as Nails is still attending live events in the Netherlands and in the UK. The design has hardly changed, although the inside has had several upgrades. Tough as Nails is still using the first set of jaws, with only minimalistic repairs, proving the resilience of the 1/8" thick Hardox 450.

Tough as Nails won the Fighting Robots European Championships twice in a row in 2003 and 2004, and also won the International Special held in the 2011 UK Championships held at the O2 Arena, London.

Trivia

 * Tough as Nails' main tactic was to grab robots and then dump them down the pit, however, ironically, Tough as Nails was the last robot in Robot Wars history to lose a battle by being pitted for twelve years, until the series was rebooted.
 * Tough as Nails is one of two semi-finalists from the Seventh Wars that lost its original qualifier battle and had to rely on a discretionary place from the producers. The other was the eventual champion, Typhoon 2.
 * The basic materials for the wheels were arranged by Maddox's former employers.