Aftershock

"Aftershock's greatest strength is the huge amount of kinetic energy it stores in its weapon. Using that, it can create unparalleled forces in the Robot Wars Arena"

- Will Thomas

Aftershock is a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 9 and 10 of Robot Wars, built by Team Shock as the successor to Series 8 Grand Finalist Shockwave. Armed with a powerful vertical flywheel, it won its first heat to reach the Grand Final of Series 9, defeating former Grand Finalist teams Crank-E and Terrorhurtz along the way. After eliminating the reigning champion Apollo, Aftershock ultimately finished fourth overall, after sustaining severe damage from Carbide and losing its Head-to-Head battles against Ironside3 and Eruption. Its campaign in Series 10 was less successful - despite being the only robot to defeat Gabriel by knockout, it was eliminated in the heats after losing its Heat Semi-Final to Carbide - a rematch of their Series 9 encounter - and the Third Place Playoff to Big Nipper.

Design
"After getting knocked out in the last series, we wanted to build a brand-new robot, and come back even stronger. The day after, I got into CAD and started designing the beast that we've got now. You really don't want to get in its way."

- Will Thomas in Series 9

Aftershock was a silver and blue, four-wheeled robot with interchangeable vertical spinning weapons; these included 24kg (Series 9-10) and 30kg (Series 10) single-toothed discs with a 500mm diameter, a 14kg bar spinner (Series 9), and an 18kg asymmetric bar spinner (Series 10). The 24kg disc was the more commonly used weapon in Series 9, exerting huge energy into its single tooth upon impact, and featured a rotational speed of 2,400rpm which could be reached in under two seconds. The lighter bar spinners were used when facing horizontal spinners, and allowed Aftershock to apply extra armour when necessary, as well as having a reduced likelihood of colliding with a horizontal spinner.

Aftershock's disc was initially planned to use a Rotomax brushless motor, but it was replaced by an LEM motor after the ESC for the brushless motor burnt out two weeks before filming,, which also added weight to the robot. Aftershock was driven by two brushed motors in Series 9, and by a 1,000W 24V scooter motor in Series 10. The two versions of Aftershock seen in Series 9 and 10 were separate builds with new chassis made for each. The Series 10 chassis was 7kg lighter through using a thinner baseplate, but was stronger all round, and was designed to accommodate the LEM weapon motor as well as the robot's revised HARDOX armour. The front of Aftershock used a low-profile wedge with two teeth to lead opponents into its disc, with a much steeper wedge used in the Series 10 chassis. Much of the robot's chassis in both builds was made out of 6mm hardened steel with 15mm hardened steel bulkheads. In Series 9, Aftershock's top armour consisted of 12mm polycarbonate top panels which could be exchanged for 6mm HARDOX panels in its bar spinner configuration; for Series 10, the polycarbonate panels were completely replaced with solid consistent HARDOX panels. 'Anti Carbide' armour was also planned for the Series 10 build, to be used in tandem with the asymmetrical bar spinner, but was not finished in time to be used for that series. The robot also has sets of blue LED lights inside the chassis, which were shown to light up whenever it fought in the arena. Aftershock featured no separate self-righting mechanism - however, its discs and asymmetrical bar spinner were able to reliably right the robot whenever it was flipped. However, the belt driving Aftershock's weapons was exposed on top, with the belt, the discs/bars and weapon motor being left especially vulnerable to attacks from overhead, entanglement and other spinning weapons.

For Series 10, Will Thomas jokingly claimed that Ian Thomas had gained the ability to disable Aftershock using a 'killswitch' attached to the robot's transmitter, to prevent him from causing 'unnecessary' damage to opponents. The 'killswitch' itself was actually the weapons switch for Team Shock's live events competitor Maelstrom.

Series 9
Aftershock made its Robot Wars debut in Heat 1 of Series 9, fighting Sabretooth, TMHWK and Crank-E in its Group Battle. It immediately drove into Crank-E, flipping it over as TMHWK pushed Crank-E it into its disc. Aftershock flipped Crank-E over several times towards Shunt, causing sparks to fly and ripping Crank-E's top panel and left-hand wheelguard loose as it became immobilised. With its disc losing functionality due to an overheated LEM, Aftershock pressed the Arena Tyre and activated the pit, smoke pouring from underneath it as it pushed Crank-E onto the arena spikes. Needless to say, it qualified for the Head-to-Head stage along with Sabretooth.

Team Shock discovered in the pits afterwards that part of Aftershock's wiring had burnt out, which caused the disc to stop working. However, they were able to replace the damaged wiring in time for its first Head-to-Head battle against Rapid. "Bent front forks against blown-up wiring… who has done the best repairs?"

- Jonathan Pearce as Aftershock's first Head-to-Head gets underway

There, both robots charged into each other straight away, with Rapid pushing Aftershock into the wall and flipping it over. Aftershock landed on its disc, violently recoiling into the wall where it was righted by its disc, before hitting Rapid's open flipper and chasing it a short distance across the arena. Another head-on slam ensued, before Aftershock hit Rapid from the side and sent it spinning into Sir Killalot, only to drive into him itself. Both robots escaped, with Aftershock throwing Rapid onto its back and driving underneath it as it attempted to self-right. As it became apparent that Rapid's flipper had malfunctioned, Aftershock drove away and spun round in victory before Rapid was counted out. "Leave him. Let's not do anything silly, then."

- Ian Thomas advises Will to withdraw Aftershock's attacks on Rapid

Aftershock scored three points following this knock-out victory, which put it joint-first on the leaderboard with its next opponent, Sabretooth. However, its disc had stopped moving freely after striking the arena floor in its previous battle, due to the casing for the weapon motor pulling apart on impact. This resulted in Team Shock needing to replace Aftershock's weapon motor and carry out repairs to the robot's chassis before its next Head-to-Head. Aftershock approached Sabretooth and ripped several of its armour panels off before pushing it onto the Floor Flipper. It briefly got caught underneath the Floor Flipper as Sabretooth was turned over, before repeatedly hitting, flipping and tearing parts off Sabretooth again. Aftershock chased Sabretooth around the arena as it pressed the Arena Tyre, before hitting it several more times, immobilising it near the Floor Flipper. Much to the shock and dismay of Esme Stroud, Aftershock flipped Sabretooth twice more into a CPZ, ripping one of its wheels and motors out, before spinning around in victory as 'cease' was called. As a result, it scored three more points and overtook Sabretooth in the league table standings with six points.

In its last Head-to-Head, Aftershock faced experienced Robot Wars veteran – and original series Grand Finalist - Terrorhurtz. Before the battle, Team Shock fitted extra layers of shock-mounted polycarbonate to Aftershock's armour, in order to offer it extra protection against Terrorhurtz's axe blows. At the start, Aftershock avoided Terrorhurtz's initial charge before clipping its front and rear with the disc, sending sparks and shards of polycarbonate flying as it pushed Terrorhurtz into Shunt's CPZ. Terrorhurtz spun round, only for Aftershock to hit its wedge again, recoiling and sending another shower of sparks flying. Aftershock was pinned against the wall by Shunt and Terrorhurtz as a result, with Aftershock's disc hitting Shunt's scoop before it escaped and pushed Terrorhurtz back into the wall. The two competitors drove away from the wall, with Aftershock hitting Terrorhurtz a few more times as it pushed it towards the Floor Flipper. As the flipper lifted Terrorhurtz, Aftershock catapulted it across the arena, with Terrorhurtz landing upright and with its axe seemingly stuck in the fired position. Aftershock chased Terrorhurtz across the arena, but was flipped by an arena spike, only for its disc to immediately kick it back onto its wheels and allow it to continue chasing. "This isn't the way we thought it would go. I have to admit, I thought Aftershock would win this easy-peasy."

- Jonathan Pearce as Aftershock and Terrorhurtz fall foul of the arena hazards The two robots met each other once again, with Aftershock spinning round in an attempt to strike Terrorhurtz once more. Sparks flew as Aftershock hit Terrorhurtz's front again, while Terrorhurtz responded by striking the axle for Aftershock's disc. Aftershock hit Terrorhurtz several more times in spite of this, the last few hits immobilising and throwing Terrorhurtz onto its back. With Terrorhurtz failing to self-right, Aftershock again performed a victory spin, and scored three more points for its third consecutive knock-out. As a result, it finished top of the Head-to-Head leaderboard with nine points, and secured its place in the Heat Final. There, Aftershock faced Sabretooth for the second time, with both robots fighting for a place in the Grand Final. It was initially pushed around from the side by Sabretooth, before throwing Sabretooth across the arena as it hit the latter's side. Aftershock chased after and bumped into Sabretooth as it lay near the Arena Tyre, and clipped behind its wheel as Sir Killalot grabbed, lifted and held Sabretooth over the Flame Pit. Eventually, Sir Killalot lowered Sabretooth, allowing Aftershock to come in and hit Sabretooth again, tearing one of its back panels off, before leaving Sabretooth to be grabbed and spun round by Sir Killalot. Despite Ian Thomas advising Will to spin its disc down, Aftershock attacked Sabretooth one last time as it tried to drive off the Flame Pit, the hits immobilising Sabretooth for good as it was being counted out. This performance enabled Aftershock to secure its place in the Grand Final. In its Grand Final Group Battle, Aftershock faced two full-pressure flippers in Eruption and the defending champion Apollo. It started the battle tentatively, slowly driving around the arena as its opponents charged at each other. Aftershock and Apollo then drove head-on into each other, with Apollo getting underneath and flipping Aftershock over, causing Aftershock to ricochet off the floor upon hitting it with the disc and land on Eruption. "Ooh, Aftershock's left itself open there for an attack, and Apollo flips it!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Aftershock is thrown by Apollo The attack not only twisted Eruption's flipper out of shape, but also damaged one of the floor panels, with Aftershock bending the panel upon hitting it with the disc. Aftershock proceeded to slam into Apollo's side, although unable to cause damage to it with its disc, before ripping into Apollo's back end and almost flipping it forward after the latter got itself wedged underneath one of the dislodged floor panels. The battle was immediately stopped while repairs to the floor were carried out, with all three robots agreeing to resume it without having any modifications or repairs to themselves. On the restart, Aftershock backed and spun around a short distance towards the Arena Tyre, and waited as Apollo and Eruption hesitated to attack it. Eventually, it drove into Apollo's side, launching it into the Arena Tyre with its disc, with the impact immobilising Apollo and rupturing the CO2 system for its flipper. Aftershock and Eruption spent the rest of the battle driving around each other, with both progressing to the Head-to-Head stage as a result. "Now you see, that's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to attack the robot rather than attack the arena!"

- Dara Ó Briain jests about Aftershock's battle-stopping hit on the arena floor

In its first Head-to-Head, Aftershock faced Series 8 runner-up Carbide. For this battle, Team Shock swapped its disc for the bar spinner, with the intention of minimising Carbide's chances of hitting it, and in turn maximising its chances of hitting Carbide first. Team Shock also swapped Aftershock's polycarbonate plates with 6mm HARDOX ones as a result of the lighter weight offered by the bar spinner. "This next fight I think is the one everyone's wanted to see. It's big horizontal spinner vs big vertical spinner, and I think between us we’ve dished out some of the biggest hits this year."

- Will Thomas before the Head-to-Head against Carbide

In the opening seconds, Aftershock and Carbide collided head-on with their spinning weapons, the impact ripping one of Aftershock's top panels off and deflecting it away. Aftershock responded by charging into Carbide again, but became immobilised almost immediately when one of its drive motors shattered on impact. This allowed Carbide to hit Aftershock three more times until it was counted out, the first of which resulted in Aftershock's side panel being ripped off and tearing through one of the bulletproof wall panels. When inspecting the damage for themselves after the battle along with Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon, Will Thomas and Dave Moulds of Team Carbide were both left stunned and impressed with this feat.

Needless to say, Aftershock scored no points as a result of its first-ever loss, and required extensive repairs to its chassis following this battle. The robot also sustained minor damage to its bar spinner, had its right-hand drive jammed after Carbide bent its chassis into it and required two new drive motors to replace the ones that had been damaged. "As long as nothing electrical has gone too badly wrong, we'll be back in the arena and err... hopefully willing to dish out a bit of damage in return."

- Will Thomas expresses confidence about the repairs required for Aftershock

After an extensive and frantic rebuild, including having new braces and panels welded on and its top panels stuck to the chassis with gaffer tape, Aftershock was made ready for its next Head-to-Head battle against Ironside3, with only 30 seconds to spare. "Aftershock have gone into the arena with sticky-back plastic tape. Are you sure?"

- Jonathan Pearce expresses disbelief at Aftershock's repairs as the battle against Ironside3 begins

Still equipped with the bar spinner, it began by chasing Ironside3 across the arena as the latter attempted to get its own spinning weapon up to full speed. Eventually, both robots hit each other with their spinners, with Aftershock sustaining damage to its armour and chassis as Ironside3 was thrust back. Undaunted, Aftershock hit Ironside3 again, sending Ironside3 cartwheeling into the air, but its weapon motor disintegrated as it drove into the wall; a result of Team Shock not being able to fit the shock mountings for the spinner in time during repairs. This caused sparks to fly from inside Aftershock's chassis, and disabled its bar spinner almost immediately. Despite this, Aftershock charged into Ironside3 twice, briefly stopping Ironside3's blade and sending debris flying, before chasing Ironside3 across the arena as the latter struggled to get its weapon spinning. Both robots collided head-on again, before Aftershock was flipped over by an arena spike, leaving it unable to self-right as a result of its earlier weapon failure.

Once again, Aftershock scored no points as a result of this loss, and required more repairs to its chassis and weapon motor in the pits before its next battle.

For its third and final Head-to-Head against Eruption, Aftershock refitted its disc, and with a knockout victory potentially enabling it to equalise Eruption and Ironside3 on points, Team Shock expressed confidence that they still had a chance of facing Carbide again in the Grand Final. Immediately, both robots circled around each other, with Aftershock being pushed and flipped into the Arena Tyre by Eruption, triggering 'Rogue House Robot' mode. Aftershock's disc clipped the Arena Tyre and the floor as it righted itself, causing the battle to be stopped immediately as the floor became damaged once again. Both teams agreed to restart the battle even with the damage sustained to the floor, with Aftershock and Eruption again circling and nudging each other as the battle resumed. Aftershock clipped Eruption as the latter was flipped by an arena spike, and rammed into Eruption as the latter retreated into a CPZ. However, the gyroscopic forces of Aftershock's disc lifted it onto one wheel as it turned, allowing Eruption to manoeuvre it into Dead Metal. "Eruption pirouetting, Aftershock coming in... and dancing balletically there with – oooooohhh, Dead Metal! Ill-advised!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Aftershock ends up in the grasp of Dead Metal

Dead Metal dragged Aftershock back in his pincers before Eruption pushed it into him, with Aftershock's disc buckling one of the House Robot's pincers as it escaped and attempted to attack him a second time. Aftershock was almost knocked onto its back after driving up Eruption's wedge, before hitting Eruption's side three times and sending it spinning away on the third hit. Eruption responded by throwing Aftershock over, with Aftershock skittering into the wall after again using its disc to clip the floor and self-right. Aftershock was pushed by Eruption once more before backing away and hitting Eruption's side, only to be flipped again by Eruption. This time, the rotation of Aftershock's disc prevented it from touching the floor, but Aftershock eventually spun round on its back and kicked itself back onto its wheels. It proceeded to hit Eruption's wedge, sides and flipper, sending sparks flying and Eruption spinning away again at one point. "Two great competitors and still slugging it out this late on in the series! Magnificent!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Aftershock repeatedly hits Eruption

Both robots appeared to lose a considerable amount of speed after this onslaught, with Aftershock suddenly losing mobility altogether when one of its drive chains broke while Eruption pressed the Arena Tyre. "What's happened to Aftershock here? I don't think they can move! I think they're out!"

- Jonathan Pearce notices Aftershock's immobility

With only 20 seconds left, Aftershock was counted out as Eruption gingerly approached it, ending what both teams and Ó Briain considered to be one of the best battles from the entire series. Needless to say, Aftershock scored no points for its third consecutive loss, finishing last in the Head-to-Head standings and securing fourth place overall in Series 9.

Series 10
"Team Captain Will and Dad, Ian showed some great spirit in their journey during the Grand Final last series, with a bit of luck this time, they could be in with a chance."

- Dr Lucy Rogers

Aftershock fought in Heat 2, where it was drawn against Crackers 'n' Smash and fellow Grand Finalist Eruption. "The school days are very regimented, you get in at 8 o'clock, you teach your classes, you go home. When we're doing Robot Wars, it's... chaos!"

- Will Thomas

Aftershock started strongly in the opening seconds, its flywheel completely unperturbed by the entanglement devices of Crackers 'n' Smash. The angled antennae of Crackers was both cleaved straight off on impact, and Aftershock herded the green clusterbot into a vacant CPZ. Smash, retreating from Eruption, interceded and also had its long, thin needles cloven from the body. Smash backed away from Aftershock and onto the floor flipper which fired, hurling Smash away. Aftershock's weapon, however, tore into the floor flipper's exposed underside and ripped a large sheet of metal into a contorted shape. The flipper could not close, and pieces of torn metal littered the arena.

In the control booths, driver Will Thomas was suddenly caught between several competing accounts. The Crackers 'n' Smash team began shouting for the fight to stop, whilst Michael Oates of Eruption continued to fight. Aftershock continued to attack, striking the inverted Smash and buckling the forks of Crackers. Eruption slid its wedge beneath Aftershock and tipped it over, but the flywheel righted it. At this point, Ian Thomas of Aftershock began joining the clamour of the Crackers 'n' Smash team for Will Thomas to stop. Upon hearing his father call for cease as well, Will Thomas hesitated and began to slow, but the fight continued with no siren. The hesitation of Aftershock cost them the fight, as Eruption was able to flip the spinner towards the inner wall, where impact from the spinning disc propelled Aftershock out of the arena in a blast of sparks. "I am sending you an invoice, because you are ruining my house!"

- Dara Ó Briain

After the battle, Dara Ó Briain took Will Thomas through the arena and highlighted the damage caused by Aftershock to both Crackers and the arena. The rules were properly explained to all teams, and Aftershock were drawn against Gabriel 2 for redemption. "We didn't have enough red mist in the last fight. We've gotta come in, just go for it, like I used to. This time, no holding back."

- Will Thomas

Gabriel 2 bore its entanglement mace into the arena, and had an advantage of height. However, after an opening barrage of scuffs, Aftershock was able to land a blow on Gabriel 2's body, throwing its opponent clean into the air where it landed on its flexible wheels. Aftershock drove into Gabriel 2 and chewed at its underside, where Gabriel 2 could not bring its weapon into play. It made quick, hit-and-run attacks on Gabriel 2, and its flywheel began to suck up the loosening entanglement weapons of Gabriel 2; the ropes ripping the wiring for Aftershock's power switch out and seizing its weapon motor up. As Jonathan Pearce and Angela Scanlon speculated on the effectiveness of the entanglement weapons, Aftershock landed another blow on Gabriel 2's body - throwing it into the air once again - which immobilised the latter. It pushed Gabriel 2 into Sir Killalot's CPZ, and advanced to the Heat Semi-Finals with this victory. "This is a weapon that they've designed specifically to deal with Carbide because they were beaten by them in the Grand Final, so this is payback time. Will and Ian are looking a little bit more worried then they, I think, would like, but they've got more speed, they've got more power, and they're going to try to take down the champions."

- Angela Scanlon There, Aftershock was drawn against Carbide, in a rematch of their Series 9 encounter. For this battle, Team Shock replaced Aftershock's disc with its 'anti-Carbide' asymmetrical bar spinner, as well as its seized weapon motor. In the fight, the initial impacts sent both robots skittering away from each other, but Aftershock's armour began to show more visible signs of damage. Aftershock was briefly overturned by one impact but the bar spinner righted it. It landed a blow on Carbide's side and later got an unobstructed and rare chance to attack Carbide's rear, but was unable to capitulate on the latter until Carbide had pulled away. Another colossal impact sent Carbide flying, but at the cost of Aftershock's weapon, which broke from the impact. Aftershock took two more blows from Carbide before a wheel jammed, at which point Team Carbide called off the damage and allowed the fight to end. "Will is going to be very disappointed with that. That was their Carbide-proof weapon."

- Angela Scanlon to Dara Ó Briain

For its final chance at redemption, Aftershock was drawn against Big Nipper in the Third Place Playoff, equipped with the 30kg disc. The two robots, both wielding very similarly shaped, sized and designed weapons, danced around each other before clashing in several stalemated blows. One clash hurled Aftershock all the way back into the CPZ even as Big Nipper was thrown in the other direction, but both robots shook off damage and drove back out for more. "How are they both still working?"

- Noel Sharkey following Aftershock's head-on collision with Big Nipper

Successive blows began to edge in favour of Big Nipper, with Aftershock's wedge chewed up and another blow knocking Aftershock backwards. The gyroscopic forces of Aftershock's disc managed to return it to its upright position, but the disc itself stopped working seconds later; the weapon motor casing shifted, causing the disc to draw enough current to melt both of its removable links. The two robots hit each other head-on twice more - the second collision sending Aftershock spinning and throwing it onto its back. With the disc disabled, Aftershock was unable to self-right, resulting in Noel Sharkey starting the countdown timer following prompts from Sethu Vijayakumar. With this, it was eliminated from Series 10, ultimately finishing its heat in fourth place.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 7
 * Losses: 6

Series Record
NOTE: Will Thomas' students also entered Series 10 with Track-tion

Trivia

 * Aftershock's design is much like the team's well-known featherweight Inertia XL. The team's beetleweight Inertia B2 served as a close replica of the design of Aftershock and greatly influenced the design.
 * Aftershock's disc was the first such weapon shown to be capable of self-righting in Robot Wars, although self-righting flywheels are commonplace in lower weight categories.
 * Aftershock's disc hit Terrorhurtz with such force that part of Terrorhurtz's HARDOX wedge was instantly welded onto the spinner. Aftershock would later weld part of the arena flipper to its disc in Series 10.
 * In response to a question asked on their Aftershock Reddit AMA on 7th March 2017, Team Shock revealed that they attempted to enter an earlier version of Aftershock into Season 2 of ABC's BattleBots. However, despite reaching the final stage of the selection process, it was not selected to compete in that season.