Apollo

"This is a flipper but because it's called Apollo we're calling it a launcher."

- The team describe their weapon

Apollo is a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 8-9 of Robot Wars. In Series 8, it won the UK Championship by defeating Carbide in the Grand Final, becoming the first UK Champion since Panic Attack to win the series in which it debuted. It was one of two robots to flip another robot out of the arena in the new arena, and also flipped three of the four House Robots. It reached its Heat Final in Series 9, but fell to its rival Carbide.

Apollo was built by Team MAD, consisting of Dave Young, Marc Dermott, and originally Ben Bacon. Team MAD's usual captain, Alan Young, owns Apollo and competes with it at Robots Live! events, which are run by Team MAD. However, Alan Young could not be a member of Apollo's team in Series 8, due to his involvement with the production of the programme. Team MAD had previous experience on Robot Wars with various featherweight and antweight robots.

Design
Apollo is a white, black and chequered wedge-shaped robot with a powerful flipper, running at 1000psi. The robot's name and aesthetics are derived from NASA's Apollo space program and the spacecraft used for these missions, which was carried out to allow the United States to land humans on the moon before the former Soviet Union. This also inspired the name of the robot's weapon - Team MAD refer to their flipper as a 'launcher', referring to the idea of a space launch while also remaining consistent with the US name of flippers. The robot's structural design is modelled after Chronic, a BattleBots entry built by Alan Young, although the two robots are completely separate builds.

Apollo's flipper is capable of throwing a 100kg heavyweight six feet into the air, and would cause the robot to somersault when self-righting. For this reason, the flipper also has a half-power option, for ease of use as a srimech. Apollo's ground clearance is the width of a pound coin (around 3mm).

In Series 9, Apollo gained a new 100mm bore ram producing five tonnes of force, and new VEX robotics controllers, but was otherwise relatively unchanged, even bearing some of its battle scars from the previous series.

Rivalry
More so than any two Grand Finalists bar Tornado and Razer, Apollo developed a rivalry with Carbide during the Series 8 Grand Final and was the basis for much of the Series 9 format. Much like most Robot Wars rivalries, most of the spectacle on TV was staged or good-natured.

The two originally fought in Series 8's Head to Head stage, where Carbide emerged victorious after immobilising Apollo's rear. Dave Moulds later landed a punishing blow on the already immobile Carbide, a tactical move to cause Apollo further damage and reduce its threat level later in the episode. Despite this, Apollo reached the Grand Final after defeating Thor and TR2, and, using the same tactics TR2 used in its head to head, managed to stop Carbide's weapon by flipping it repeatedly. The match went to the judges, and Apollo won the judges' decision and the UK Championship title.

In Series 9, much like Ironside3 and Pulsar, the two rivals were deliberately drawn together so that the rivalry could continue. This was highly unusual, as Grand Finalists never drew each other in the heat stage. The rivalry dominated the marketing campaign throughout Series 9, and was referenced several times by Dara Ó Briain, Angela Scanlon and Jonathan Pearce. When the two met in the Head to Head Stage, Carbide won in much the same way as the Series 8 Head to Heads. Though Apollo repaired the damage and defeated Coyote and Crackers 'n' Smash to reach the Heat Final, Carbide won once more and eliminated Apollo at the heat stage.

As of the end of Series 9's heats, Apollo has a single win to Carbide's three.

Series 8
Apollo appeared in Episode 4, where in the first round, it was drawn against Kan-Opener, PP3D, and Sweeney Todd. After Kan-Opener pressed the pit release, the four competitors hovered around the floor flipper, which then fired and launched Apollo into the air, and landing on its back, after self-righting. "Apollo's in orbit!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Apollo went and flipped Kan-Opener, which also had PP3D within its claws. However, PP3D got underneath and removed the back left tyre of Apollo, leaving Apollo only capable of driving in a circular motion. Apollo still managed to slip underneath Kan-Opener and launch it, which removed the yellow robot's safety link, immobilising it. After some minor collisions, Apollo flipped PP3D against the arena wall. It then went on to flip the already immobilised Sweeney Todd repeatedly, launching the middleweight across the arena. Despite Apollo's inactive wheel, it progressed alongside PP3D. In its first head-to-head, Apollo was drawn against PP3D once again. This time, Apollo kept its front towards the spinner robot at all times, to prevent another tyre being torn off. After a few collisions which did no damage, Apollo got a flip in on PP3D, and this caused PP3D to lose a wheel. PP3D was yet to be rendered immobile, and spun its spinner up to full speed, but Apollo showed no fear, and flipped PP3D across the arena. This knocked out PP3D's removable link, and Apollo was given three points for the knockout win. In its second head-to-head, it faced the highly successful Storm 2. Both started by colliding into each other, but Storm 2's low ground clearance meant that Apollo would merely ride up the wedge. Apollo found an opportunity to flip Storm 2 from one of its corners, meaning it could push Storm 2 around. Apollo pushed Storm 2 on to the floor flipper, which flipped Storm 2, but didn't right it. At this point, Apollo lost one of its chains, but was still able to drive to a reasonable extent. Apollo took time away from its opponent to stray into Dead Metal's CPZ, and became the first robot to flip a House Robot in Series 8. "Apollo drives into the CPZ - ah, ha ha! How dare you!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Dead Metal is flipped When pushed into Matilda's CPZ by Storm 2, Apollo repeated the same trick, first ripping armour away from the rear of Matilda with a missed flip, and then overturning her.

"Houston, we have a problem with Apollo!"

- Pearce, spotting Apollo's drive problems

Eventually, the pit was lowered and Storm 2 nearly pushed its opponent into the pit, but Apollo managed to survive. The judges gave their unanimous decision in favour of Apollo, scoring it 2 points. With enough points to guarantee a place in the Heat Final, Apollo competed against fellow newcomer Eruption, which had failed to score enough points to go through by this stage. Apollo got under Eruption and managed to flip Eruption on to the flame pit. After a tussle, Eruption flipped Apollo, and over-flipping in the process, however they both self-righted. "And Apollo, dancing around. The famous Bluecoats, dancers and prancers and... a tumble in the rumble of Robot Wars!"

- Pearce watches on as Eruption and Apollo flip each other Apollo flipped Eruption, and Apollo over-flipped, and caused Eruption did a pirouette on the blades of its flipper. Eruption flipped Apollo, leaving the white flipper stuck open. Apollo was classed as immobilised, when it failed to self-right quickly enough, despite Apollo self-righting and driving the arena shortly after being counted out. Apollo had scored 0 points, but because it was already on 5, it was through to the Heat Final. At this stage Apollo was drawn against Storm 2 again. Apollo was again struggling to breach Storm 2's ground clearance, and was pushed into Shunt's CPZ. Unfazed, Apollo overturned a House Robot for the third time. Storm 2 pressed the pit release, and Storm 2 started chasing Apollo around. Turning the tides, Apollo got a flip in on Storm 2, and then another. Matilda came in and chased Storm 2 and Apollo out of the CPZ, and then righted Shunt. Storm 2 then drove on to the flipper of Apollo, and was flipped up against the arena side wall. Apollo followed this up with a second flip, throwing the Robot Wars World Champion out of the arena completely, and Apollo qualified for the Grand Final.

In the group battle of its Grand Final, Apollo faced Carbide and Shockwave. Team Carbide addressed Apollo as the bigger threat of the two robots. Hoping that Carbide would attack Shockwave, Team MAD set their sights on Sir Killalot instead. "Start of the competition, we said we had money on them to win it!"

- Dave Moulds on Apollo

Apollo's role in the battle was extremely passive, as before Apollo could even make contact with Carbide or Shockwave, Carbide had destroyed part of the arena wall, causing the battle to be halted for safety reasons. Apollo launched Carbide into the air when it drove onto Apollo's wedge, but cease was called after 32 seconds of action, and Shockwave withdrew from the competition due to the damage they had sustained, putting Apollo through to the next round.

Apollo's first battle in the head-to-heads was against TR2. Apollo's ground clearance proved to be lower than TR2's newly welded wedge, and it threw the flipper into the air. Apollo threw it again, and then flipped TR2 right onto the trench wall, barely failing to flip it out. Apollo's next flip caused TR2 to land on Dead Metal's saw, although TR2 flipped Apollo in response. Apollo lifted Dead Metal once again, not quite flipping it, and was overturned by TR2 for its efforts. Apollo flipped TR2 twice, and self-righted when overturned by TR2. After some final tentative flips, Apollo flipped TR2 onto its back, from which it could not self-right. Apollo won the battle by KO, and earned three points, although the team were unhappy to learn that they would face Carbide next.

In accordance with the team's battle plan, Apollo charged straight for Carbide in an effort to stop the spinning bar. This quickly backfired, as Carbide's second hit knocked the removable link out of Apollo, immobilising it. Apollo sustained some extra attacks from the celebratory Carbide, damaging the vulnerable back end. Cease was called, and Apollo had lost the battle. "Cheap Shot!"

- Dave Young to Team Carbide

Apollo needed to defeat Thor in order to qualify for the final battle. A cartoon plaster covered up some of the damage caused by Carbide. Part of the battle was won without Apollo's input, when Thor was overturned by driving over the floor flipper. Apollo launched the inverted Thor, and vital components fell out of it. Apollo kept its distance, and earned three points, enough to put it into the final battle with Carbide.

"It's more than just the Grand Final, this is our revenge match-up now!"

- Ben Bacon

Apollo drove into Carbide, surviving the initial impact, and pushed it into Sir Killalot. Apollo threw Carbide into the plexiglass, but suffered damage in retaliation, losing pieces of armour but managing to flip again. Apollo threw the deadly spinner five times in succession, stopping Carbide's bar from turning, but after another flip, Apollo's own weapon stopped working, jamming open. The flipper stuck open, Apollo drove into Shunt to have its weapon smashed back into place. "Even though we had thrown him over earlier, we decided to drive into the Corner Patrol Zone purposely and take a hit from the powerful axe of Shunt. Success! The hits from Shunt knocked the flipper back down and we were back in action."

- Dave Young

Apollo managed to flip Carbide again, but its flipper remained open again. Apollo fled, and the two robots drove against one another, incapable of causing damage, with Apollo only lightly lifting its opponent. Apollo trapped Carbide underneath its flipper while driving it into the axe of Shunt. Cease was called, and the final was sent to the Judges. "Before we knew it, cease was called. We thought we might have edged the result and we jumped up and down in the box — more relief than anything else. Waiting for the Judges' decision, I stood there and looked at a very sorry-looking Apollo. Maybe we had taken more damage than we had initially thought, and maybe this would change things."

- Dave Young

The unanimous Judges' decision was awarded in favour of Apollo, making it the Robot Wars champion, and the team were presented with their trophy. "Dara handed us the trophy and we couldn’t have been happier! Out of 40 robots, a team of three Bluecoats that no one took seriously in the pits at first had won Robot Wars."

- Dave Young

Series 9
"The reigning champions can now fire with five tonnes of force. They've got one last House Robot left to flip, and they also have a title to defend!"

- Dara Ó Briain

Apollo competed in Episode 5, where the reigning champion fought a trio of newcomers - Coyote, Ms Nightshade and Rusty. Before even reaching the second round, Team MAD were already mocking Carbide, which was also in the same episode. Much like Robo Savage's team, Team MAD performed 'the dab' in their hero shot. "We've got a few scars from 'can't abide' - err sorry, Carbide, I get that mixed up."

- Marc Dermott

When the battle started, Apollo quickly chose Rusty as its target, and threw it forwards, dislodging the fellow flipper's scoop. The second flip from Apollo caused major damage, removing the back panel from Rusty. Apollo next threw Ms Nightshade into the air, causing the floral robot to 'bloom', while Marc Dermott celebrated, as Ms Nightshade had already lost mobility. "Look at the celebrations already for Apollo, and why not? They're in underneath the ground clearance of Rusty, the big flip, the most powerful flipper in the UK, they say!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Eager to attack every robot in the group battle, Apollo pursued Coyote, and lifted it, not managing to properly breach its ground clearance, but breaking its chainsaw tail. Rusty had beached itself on its back, so Apollo pressed the Arena Tyre, triggering Rogue House Robot. While Dead Metal roamed free, Apollo threw Coyote over, and then tossed the immmobile Rusty towards the arena wall. Already victorious, Apollo still dominated, flipping Coyote and the revived Rusty once again. 'Cease' was called, confirming Apollo's qualification alongside Coyote.

Team MAD revealed after the battle that Apollo was running at only half-power due to the cold weather, which prompted Marc Dermott to mock his teammate for wearing less layers of clothing. The elation and jokes did not last, as Apollo's next battle was a rematch of its Grand Final from the previous championship, fighting the highly improved Carbide. Dave Young was nervous about the match, while Marc Dermott displayed more confidence. Notably, Sir Killalot would be in the arena for this fight, and Marc Dermott performed 'the robot' dance move before the match began.

Apollo stayed true to its tactics, and charged Carbide, but only gained a slight purchase. This lifted Carbide up slightly, but threw Apollo all the way over. It self-righted quite quickly, but even this small window gave Carbide the opportunity to land blows on the side of Apollo. The defending champion slid under Carbide, but did not flip it, and a panel was torn from its launcher. After nudging the Arena Tyre, successive blows from Carbide immobilised Apollo. Team Carbide showed no mercy, and continued to attack its vulnerable rival. "Come on, leave us alone, stop it! He's going for the wheels..."

- Dave Young

Apollo's wheels were in peril as Carbide drew near, until the countdown timer completed. Just before the end of the timer, Apollo surged back into life and drove away, although this was not controlled movement that Team MAD had commanded, and the robot had already been immobile for ten seconds, so Carbide was awarded the victory. Regardless, the moving Apollo was hit again by Apollo, being thrown onto its back. Sir Killalot picked up the beaten Apollo by its flipper, and held it over the flame pit.

Apollo was significantly damaged, and had a large repair job to complete within the two-hour window. The launcher was bent sideways, and would not close back into the wedge. This was only just fixed in time for Apollo's second head-to-head, this time against Coyote.

Apollo drove straight towards Coyote, and easily threw it into the air, directly towards Sir Killalot. Coyote had edged its way to the arena wall, so Apollo tried to throw it out, only failing because Coyote's jaws caught on the wall, although this broke Coyote's weapon. Apollo threw Coyote over, and pinned it near Sir Killalot, before attempting to flip Sir Killalot itself, although it lacked the necessary purchase to get underneath and flip. "Killalot does not like us!"

- Marc Dermott

Apollo flipped Coyote onto its side, which would have immobilised Coyote, but regardless Apollo followed up and threw it out of the arena. 'Cease' was called, but Apollo had unfinished business, and challenged Sir Killalot. However, its buckled flipper could not allow Apollo to fire a decent flip, and the humbled Apollo fled from the pursuing Sir Killalot and Dead Metal.

After using their two-hour repair window to try and straighten Apollo's flipper, Team MAD's final head-to-head match was against the clusterbot Crackers 'n' Smash. Team Conker feared Apollo, but felt they had a chance, having analysed the damage the reigning champion had sustained.

Team MAD's fears about the low ground clearance of Crackers 'n' Smash proved accurate, as Apollo drove straight onto the wedge of Crackers. It freed itself by firing its flipper, but could not breach the ground clearance of Smash either. Apollo struggled to make any notable move for an extended period of time until it finally launched Crackers into the saw of Dead Metal, also turning it over. Smash had been flipped off-screen, so Apollo lunged it through the air, so both halves of the clusterbot were inverted when Apollo activated Rogue House Robot. While Dead Metal sawed into Smash, Apollo and Sir Killalot pensively chased one another. Time was depleting, so Apollo threw the still-inverted Crackers straight into the plexiglass wall, and 'cease' was called. The Judges unanimously voted in favour of Apollo, awarding it the two points it needed to qualify for the Heat Final.

"The bluecoats are making a song and dance out of making it into the Heat Final again"

- Jonathan Pearce

There, it faced Carbide for the fifth time. Apollo's previous tactics still stood, as it ran straight into the spinning bar, but suffered repeated glancing blows until a panel was torn from its top. A strong lunge from Apollo was able to off-set the balance of Carbide, but once the spinner recovered, Apollo sustained more damage. Apollo was turned away by a strong hit from Carbide, and the following hits from the bar were strong enough to consistently push Apollo's wedge away. As time progressed, a strong blow to the side of Apollo limited its ability, and Carbide's finishing blow was an extended grinding attack onto the launcher. "Argh, we didn't get any flips then at all!"

- Marc Dermott

Apollo was counted out, having lost the battle, although this did not stop the House Robots from exacting their revenge. Sir Killalot picked up Apollo by its flipper and dropped it when Apollo fired its weapon, then Sir Killalot pushed it over to break the launcher out of alignment. Apollo was burnt over the fire, gripped by Sir Killalot, and likely placed into the newly opened pit off-screen. Apollo had once again lost to its rival Carbide, and although it remains in contention for the wildcard position in the Grand Final, the robot would require extensive maintenance to get there.



Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 11
 * Losses: 4

Outside Robot Wars
Apollo's history is embedded within Robot Wars competitor Kronic the Wedgehog. After Kronic competed in Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars, it was rebuilt by Team Kronic as Kronic 3, with a considerably improved flipper. It enjoyed much success, winning the Roaming Robots Winter Tour in 2005. In May 2010, Kronic 3 was sold to Team BlazerBotics, who earned the robot much success, having become the Annihilator Champion in 2010 and 2011. The team's ABC BattleBots Season 1 entry, Chronic, was based on Kronic 3, and in turn, Apollo was based on Chronic.

Following on from Apollo's Robot Wars victory, Team MAD appeared on CBBC's Newsround with the robot, promoting robotics and celebrating their success.

In October 2016, Apollo made its first Robots Live! appearance at their Stevenage event. It took part in and won four whiteboard battles, including one against BattleBots competitor Photon Storm and another where it threw Behemoth and The Saint out of the arena in the same fight.

The brand new version of Apollo made its debut at the Burgess Hill event run by Robots Live! in April 2017. After throwing Bigger Brother out of the arena and defeating Behemoth, Apollo then proceeded to flip the tour's one-tonne House Robot, Goliath.

Trivia

 * Apollo was the first competitor to flip a House Robot since their rebuilds, flipping over Dead Metal, Matilda and Shunt in both of its battles with Storm 2.
 * Apollo is one of two competitors to flip Matilda over while she wore her flywheel, the other being Tricerabot, and one of two to flip Dead Metal, the other being Gravity.
 * Due to the structure of Series 8, Apollo is the first Robot Wars champion to have lost at least one fight in the same series it won, and also the first champion to lose more fights than a competitor who did not win the championship (TR2).
 * Also due to the structure of Series 8, Apollo has contested more fights (10) than any other Grand Champion on its way to winning the title.
 * More negatively, Apollo is the only Robot Wars champion to be eliminated during the heat of its title defense.
 * Apollo and TR2 are the only robots to have fought three robots on multiple occasions during a single UK Championship run (fighting PP3D twice, Storm 2 twice, and Carbide three times), though Apollo is the only robot to fight one of those robots three times.
 * In February 2017, the official Apollo Twitter account stated that Apollo did not take part in Series 9 due to 'problems'. However, it was revealed shortly after that this was a prank, and that Apollo did take part.
 * Apollo's VT for Series 9 was filmed at Pontins, Prestatyn, where Marc Dermott performed a pantomime display, dressed as a horse, while Apollo approached him from behind.