Glitterbomb

Glitterbomb (alternatively GlitterBomb) is a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 8 of Robot Wars. It lost its Group Battle in its qualifying episode after the weapons system for its axe froze due to cold arena temperatures, leaving it unable to self-right after getting flipped by Dantomkia. It then qualified for Series 9, but was withdrawn due to complications, and completed filming as an unused reserve.

Glitterbomb (Series 8)
Glitterbomb was a pink, black and silver wedge-shaped robot armed with a pneumatic bladed axe, which swings at 120mph with 1.2 tonnes of force and also allows the robot to self-right from any angle. The robot is armoured in laser-cut Raex, and its shape is based on that of a stealth bomber. Glitterbomb was built by James Baker and designed by his daughter April, who is the team captain. The robot was built from scratch in four weeks, after April used the Robot Wars Wiki to search for inspiration with designs. The team also own Series 6-7 and Extreme 2 competitor Edge Hog, which was used to compare dimensions, and Edge Hog's axe mechanism was implemented into Glitterbomb's design due to time constraints. However, the vast majority of Glitterbomb is an original build, using no more than 15kg of Edge Hog's parts. "Due to a supplier being unable to do work in time, we were forced to use the axe link and supports from Edge Hog. We hated doing this, but we had no choice if we wanted to get to Robot Wars on time!"

- Team Glitterbomb

The robot's mascot is a pink fluffy bomb with eyes and a mouth, one of which was given away as part of a competition on their Facebook page.

Glitterbomb (Series 9)
Glitterbomb returned to Series 9 using a pink and black colour-scheme. The robot's bodyshape was now much flatter, to support its upgraded weaponry. The armour was titanium of varying thickness, with 3mm Raex in key places. The robot utilises side skirts and a front wedge. Its speed was also increased from 10mph to 25mph. Glitterbomb was armed with a twin set of axes. Each axe is powered by full bottle pressure CO2 and fires independently of the other. According to the team, each axe fires with 4000kg of force. The axes are 1200mm in length. Each axe head is custom made from titanium blocks, waterjet cut. The process of carving the axe heads took seven hours.

As of February 2017, Glitterbomb weighs 110kg. One CO2 bottle has been removed, though this does not reduce the power. However, Glitterbomb was significantly overweight at its first tech check, weighing 122kg. only reducing its weight to 107kg after Glitterbomb had already been moved onto the reserve list.

Series 8
Glitterbomb participated in Episode 3, facing Overdozer, King B Remix and Dantomkia in its first round. Glitterbomb entered the battle having not tested its axe, and it became clear before activate was called that a part was leaking, and the 10-15 minute delay in starting the battle meant that the leak and cold temperatures had a significant effect on Glitterbomb's axe. "April's driving the weapon in the arena, so if it goes wrong, it's not my fault!"

- James Baker

Glitterbomb was immediately rammed by Dantomkia in an attempt by the yellow machine to flip the newcomers- however, they were not able to get a properly-positioned flip in. Glitterbomb then attacked Dantomkia with its axe getting in two blows, though this caused no visible damage. The axe never returned to its neutral position after this, due to the cold weather freezing the liquid CO2 powering it. Glitterbomb used its wedge shape to overturn King B Remix, and pushed the immobile Overdozer into the arena wall, but Dantomkia flipped Glitterbomb over. King B Remix pushed Glitterbomb back onto its wheels, but in an unoccupied CPZ Dantomkia flipped it up against a corner. A combination of Glitterbomb's lack of gas and the positioning of the wall here meant that Glitterbomb was unable to right itself. This meant Glitterbomb was left immobile, ending its Robot Wars run. "By the time the fight had started, our regulator had frozen, so we got the two hits that we had left in the buffer tank, and then that was it, we had no more gas!"

- James Baker on his inactive axe

Glitterbomb was taken straight to the test arena after its battle, and proved to be in full working order, too late to make an impact.

Series 9
Glitterbomb successfully qualified for Series 9, sporting a new design. It was intended to participate in the first episode of the series to be recorded - which was Episode 5 in broadcast order. However, after a vehicle breakdown that caused Team Glitterbomb to spend seven hours on the motorway, the team did not have time to prepare Glitterbomb in time for its safety check, and the robot weighed 122kg at the time. Although the team eventually reduced Glitterbomb's weight to 107kg, Glitterbomb had already been moved onto the reserve list, and did not gain the opportunity to enter the arena.

"It was simple bad luck that led to us running out of time. It was nobody's fault. Our vehicle broke down on the way to filming, and left us vulnerable to small problems that we had no time to address. The robot was legal, tech-checked and ready to run that day, but not by the time it needed to be."

- Team Glitterbomb

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 0
 * Losses: 1

Outside Robot Wars
Although Glitterbomb does not compete at live events, it made an appearance as a static display at Wales Comic Con, alongside Wheely Big Cheese. April also gave away autographs, beside the two robots.

Around the time of the televised run of Series 8, April appeared on CBBC's Newsround, promoting robotics and the TV show.

April is now the centre of her own series on YouTube, April's Techtalk, which reviews episodes of Robot Wars.

Trivia

 * Although Glitterbomb's VT would go unused on television in its entirety, various clips from it were used in the opening sequences of Series 8, such as April performing a high kick.
 * Glitterbomb is the first known instance of a robot being designed from information on the Robot Wars Wiki. According to team member Rachel Prince, April used the Wiki to determine what had been done by previous users and what colours and weapons looked best, before drawing initial sketches from that research.