Robochicken

"I'm not sure if you've heard, in the news in the last few months about factory chickens, not having to have such small cages...Well this is what happens!"

- Philippa Forrester in Series 6

Robochicken was a series of competitor robots which fought in Series 4-7 of Robot Wars and the second series of Robot Wars Extreme.

The first version appeared in Series 4, where it reached the second round despite sustaining heavy damage from Razer; however, it lost to Pussycat there after receiving even more damage from the latter. Later versions of Robochicken enjoyed mixed success after this, losing in the first round in Series 5-6, but jointly winning the Extreme 2 Tag Team Terror competition along with partner Bulldog Breed. The final version entered and reached the Heat Final in Series 7, where it lost to Dutch competitor Tough as Nails on a Judges' decision.

Robochicken (Series 4)
"Brilliantly created, from the pneumatic chicken's beak weapon, to the eyes made of toilet ballcocks, to the crest made from a rubber glove! The shell and chassis are sprung steel, but where's the wishbone? I promise you, we'll have it!"

- Jonathan Pearce describes Robochicken

The initial version of Robochicken was a two-wheeled, reverse wedge-shaped robot designed to resemble a chicken. Its weapons were a small front axe, referred to as the "poultry-powered pecker", which resembled a chicken's beak, decorated with eyes made from ballcocks and a crest made from a red rubber glove, as well as a large rear flipper, referred to as the "poultry flipping device", that resembled a tail feather. Both weapons were pneumatically powered.

The original Robochicken was built using lots of parts from the team's previous machine, which failed to qualify for Series 3. . This version had 2 Electric wheelchair motors, a Vantec electronic speed controller, 24 v dc battery power, and a top speed of 8mph. Both Robochicken's shell and chassis were made from steel box section, sheet steel and aluminium, while the robot was painted yellow, red and silver with various stickers depicting the chicken's 'feathers' and nuclear hazard signs. The ground clearance was adjustable, between 1mm and 10mm. .

Robochicken-Evo
"We've got the poultry-powered pecker at the front, which is basically an axe weapon, and at the back, we've got the fowl flipping device to launch them sky-high."

- Alec Dick on Robochicken-Evo's weaponry

In Series 5, the team entered an improved version of Robochicken called Robochicken-Evo, a 99kg machine which featured a more barrel-shaped body and a narrower rear flipping arm capable of lifting 100kg. The robot's colour scheme was also changed to yellow, black, silver and red. The robot was built from spring steel box section, stainless steel and hard faced aluminium. This version had the same voltage as the previous one, but now had 2 customised 4QD controllers, the wheelchair motors were replaced with 2 bosch 750w motors, and the top speed was increased to 15mph. The robot still had an adjustable ground clearance, between the same heights. Its official weakness on its statistics board stated that Robochicken-Evo "will not be taken seriously". .

Robochicken (Series 6/Extreme 2)
For Series 6, Robochicken reverted to its original name, and adopted a more angular reverse-wedge design closer to its Series 4 incarnation as well as blood-shot eyes. Additionally, its paint scheme was plain yellow and red with missiles painted on its sides, which was changed to a more striking yellow, red and white colour scheme for its Extreme 2 Tag Team Terror appearance. The blood-shot eyes were also swapped with the regular ones for Extreme 2 onwards.

Robochicken (Series 7)
"Good engineering, good weaponry, good fun."

- Jonathan Pearce summarises the Series 7 version of Robochicken

The Series 7 Robochicken abandoned the axe mechanism of its previous incarnations, instead having the chicken head and neck fixed on the top of the flipper so that it 'pecked' opponents when the flipper raised, in a similar fashion to the weapon of 8645T. As this modification still prevented the robot from self-righting, the team enabled the head assembly to be removed from the flipper to allow it to do so, with Robochicken once fighting in the Series 7 Annihilator in this state. Additionally, a vertical spinning disc was added beneath the axe head, which the Robochicken team referred to as the 'Rooster Rotavator'.

The Team
Team Robochicken was formed by Jason Snow, Alec Dick and Farren White, three friends who all worked in the Maintenance department of the same factory. Jason Snow was the team captain, and designed the electronics for Robochicken, Farren White was the vice captain and driver, and he built Robochicken along with Alec Dick, who did the artwork for the robot and controlled the weapons. .

Farren White was not present in Series 6, and his place was filled by Tyler Booth. In every series bar Series 7, the team wore matching yellow caps with rubber gloves and large eyes on them, which matched the ones on the robot.

Qualification
The team had previously failed to qualify for Series 3 with a robot called Doomsday.

Robochicken fought The Necromancer in the Series 4 qualifiers. The Necromancer's lifter had broken before the qualifier, so it could only push Robochicken around the arena, before The Necromancer suffered radio control issues and drove into the arena barriers, bending its front end. The match went to an audience vote, in favour for Robochicken, but the judges declared the battle as a draw. Ultimately, Robochicken qualified, while The Necromancer did not.

At the Series 5 qualifiers, Robochicken-Evo fought Evolution. The winner of the battle is unknown, but both robots qualified, and Jason Snow later described the battle as the most memorable he ever fought in. .

At the Series 6 qualifiers, Robochicken fought Tip-Top, who had been forced to withdraw from their original qualifier against King B Powerworks after breaking down before the battle. Tip-Top broke down very quickly in the battle, and subsequently failing to qualify, while Robochicken qualified. .

To qualify for Series 7, Robochicken fought Direct Action, Dutch champions PulverizeR and Reptirron the Second. The winner is unknown, but Robochicken and Reptirron the Second both qualified.

Series 4
Robochicken first fought in Heat B of the Fourth Wars, where it faced third seed and then-reigning World Champion Razer, and Series 3 Robotic Soccer finalist Velocirippa. It immediately tried to get underneath Razer with its flipper, but was promptly pushed and grabbed by Razer, thrusting its head and flipper in vain as the World Champions crushed through its side. "Will this be Razer's championship at last? Quickly onto the attack, and don't count your chickens before they're, um... shredded? Demolished?"

- Jonathan Pearce

Velocirippa rammed into Razer's side, and though Razer pushed Robochicken and tried to crushe into it again, Robochicken was able to turn away. Razer chased after Velocirippa, and despite Velocirippa being able to keep its distance from Razer initially due to its fast speed, Velocirippa turned around and drove into the front of Razer, which allowed Razer to grab it by the front spike. As Razer held Velocirippa, Robochicken flipped Velocirippa by the spike, lifting both opponents. Razer released Velocirippa, and turned its attentions back to Robochicken. Ignoring a couple of rams from Velocirippa, Razer crushed into Robochicken's wheel, then into its side, crushing through the baseplate and lifting Robochicken into the air. Robochicken fired the axe and flipper to try and free itself, but to no avail. Razer carried Robochicken towards the Flame Pit, holding it over it over the flames until Velocirippa rammed into the side of Razer, causing it to drop Robochicken. "Mmm, what do you want? A wing, a little bit of breast? Mmmm..."

- Jonathan Pearce as Razer holds Robochicken over the flames

Robochicken continued to circle round the arena before having its front pierced through by Razer, with both robots being momentarily lifted off their wheels as Razer crushed down. Robochicken backed away from Razer, reversing close to Dead Metal's CPZ, with Razer following it. Dead Metal grabbed Robochicken and push it against a wall spike as Razer crushed into Velocirippa and pushed it onto a flame jet. Razer held it there, then let it go. Velocirippa shot forwards into the wall, but then became immobilised. Robochicken was pushed and grabbed once again by Razer before being attacked by Dead Metal a second time, but progressed to the second round anyway as Velocirippa was carried to the pit by Sir Killalot. "Robochicken is still bravlely clucking on."

- Jonathan Pearce as the House Robots attack the immobile Velocirippa

In the second round, a fully-repaired Robochicken faced the nineteenth seed Pussycat. "We survived Razer, we'll survive a lesser mortal."

- Jason Snow's confidence as Julia Reed asks them about their chances of victory

Both robots immediately charged at each other, with Pussycat trying to cut into the front of Robochicken, but didn't have its blade in the right position, and Robochicken reversed. Robochicken opened its flipper and turned so its flipper was facing Pussycat, and Pussycat got its blade under the flipper. Robochicken held Pussycat's blade and pushed its opponent back, but Pussycat managed to reverse, getting its blade out of the flipper. Robochicken tried to get its flipper under Pussycat, but mistimed its flip and missed. It turned around and tried flipping again, but did not have the flipper under Pussycat, so failed to flip. Pussycat drove at Robochicken, but rode up the side and over the top, flipping itself over. Pussycat managed to turn itself back the correct way up as it charged at Robochicken, but the blade was facing away from Robochicken and Pussycat drove straight onto the flipper. Robochicken flipped Pussycat onto its side, only for Pussycat to immediately get itself down. Robochicken tried to get the flipper under Pussycat again, with Pussycat reversing to avoid it. Pussycat turned, getting its blade to attack the side of Robochicken, but then Robochicken turned to get the flipper under its opponent and flipped it onto its side. Pussycat turned into Robochicken, the turned itself the right way up. Robochicken fired the axe at Pussycat, but missed, with one of the eyes hitting Pussycat's blade and being ripped off. "Something's gone there ... oh, eye aye, what's happened?! ... Give it a pair of specs, someone, if they've got any! Only contacts we're seeing here, contacts of metal on metal!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Pussycat drove at Robochicken's flipper again, and Robochicken could only flick its opponent up a little. Pussycat attacked the sides of Robochicken where one of the wheels was, ripping away the armour and leaving that wheel exposed. It rode up the flipper, hit the other wheel guard with its disc, then reversed off before Robochicken could flip. Pussycat drove onto the flipper again, but this time Robochicken managed to flip it, leaving it standing upright. Pussycat quickly got itself down again, driving around the sides, cutting into them with the disc, and ripping up the metal on the flipper. Robochicken was only moving on one wheel, and Pussycat rammed into the front, getting the spinning disc caught in the armour. "Dear oh dear, battered!"

- Jonathan Pearce describes Robochicken

Pussycat forced Robochicken into the arena wall, and as it pushed against it, it lifted Robochicken onto its side. Robochicken could not move away from the wall, and Pussycat continued to tear into it. "It's ... eggs-cruciating, for Robochicken now!"

- A pun from Jonathan Pearce

Pussycat pushed Robochicken into Sir Killalot. The House Robot pushed Robochicken away from the wall, but it could still not move, and Pussycat continued to attack. As Robochicken fired the "poultry-powered pecker", Sir Killalot knocked the remaining eye with its lance. Sir Killalot speared Robochicken with his lance and pushed it onto the floor flipper, where it was tossed. "But we're not...frying tonight. We're... flying tonight!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Robochicken is tossed by the Floor Flipper

After being thrown a full 360 degrees over, Robochicken was axed by Shunt, and attacked by Pussycat as 'cease' was called. and was eliminated from the Fourth Wars. "These days, free-range farming is very trendy, that was more like an assault and battery chicken, wasn't it?"

- Craig Charles to the Robochicken team after the battle

Despite this early exit, its performance and novelty design saw it being nominated for the 'Best Newcomer' and 'Most Original Entry' awards at the end of the series, which it lost to Tornado and Gemini respectively. "Plucky, brave, fun design, but it had an axe and a flipper too. This was no featherweight, but chickens don't survive when a cat's in the roost."

- Jonathan Pearce, reading Robochicken's nomination for the Best Newcomer award

Series 5
Robochicken-Evo competed in Heat H of the Fifth Wars, and faced newcomer Crushtacean in its first round battle. It started tentatively, slowly approaching its opponent with the flipping arm, trying to get under its side. Robochicken-Evo flipped Crushtacean onto its side, but Crushtacean fell straight down. Crushtacean tried to get away, but had control problems, spinning on the spot. Robochicken-EVO pushed it as Crushtacean tried driving past the flame pit, with Robochicken-EVO driving over the flame pit. Robochicken-EVO tried to get the flipper under its opponent, but missed its flip. Crushtacean briefly got a hold of Robochicken-EVO, holding onto the metal bar below the flipper whilst the flipper was open. However, Sergeant Bash came in, so Crushtacean let go of Robochicken-EVO and turnd away, as Sergeant Bash blocked Robochicken-EVO. "...the "poultry-powered pecker" and "fowl flipper"? Imagine puns like that on Robot Wars!"

- Jonathan Pearce on Robochicken-EVO

The House Robot did not attack, reversing back into the CPZ, and Crushtacean reversed into Robochicken-EVO's flipper. Robochicken-EVO fired the flipper, but missed as it was not under Crushtacean. Crushtacean turned around and grabbed onto the flipper with its claws, but Robochicken-EVO flipped it up, allowing it to get free. Robochicken-EVO span over the flame pit, the drove into Sergeant Bash. The House Robot pinned Robochicken-EVO against the wall, before returning to the CPZ as Crushtacean closed in. Crushtacean had some more control problems, spinning on the spot. Robochicken-EVO tried to get the flipper under it, but Crushtacean dodged and turned, getting the claws at Robochicken-EVO's side, grabbing the flipper with one claw and pushing it up the arena. Crushtacean let it go, and Robochicken-EVO got the flipper under it again and tried to flip Crushtacean, but the flipper was under the claws, so Crushtacean was able to get under the flipper. Crushtacean was stuck on the support for the flipper, so reversed off. lifted it up onto its own top. Robochicken-EVO was close to Sir Killalot's CPZ, and the House Robot dragged it into the CPZ and crushed one of its eyes. "...and this is a very difficult battle to gauge, who is going to topple the balance of ... urgh, the natural habitat, down there? Robochicken is pecked by Sir Killalot, and the boggling eyes are still intact, but only just. "Fowl" tackle by Killalot, surely!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Sir Killalot drags Robochicken-Evo into the CPZ and crushes its eye Sir Killalot let Robochicken-EVO out of the CPZ, and Robochicken-Evo recovered by flipping Crushtacean over, before Crushtacean got under the flipper and shoved Robochicken-Evo into another CPZ, pinning it in the corner. Sergeant Bash came in and pinned Robochicken-EVO against the wall. "Really tense out there, this is a good tussle. Crushtacean pushes Robochicken into the CPZ, which means now, 1n comes Sergeant Bash, and I think we were about to have some roast chicken out there! Have they ran out of "c-luck"?"

- Jonathan Pearce

The House Robot blocked Robochicken EVO's escape as Crushtacean opened the pit. Sergeant Bash allowed Robochicken-EVO to escape the CPZ, but Robochicken-EVO drove straight into Sir Killalot. However, the House Robot did not attack, carrying on into a CPZ, and Robochicken-EVO tried to get under Crushtacean, which was waiting by the flame pit. Crushtacean was able to grab Robochicken-EVO by the flipper after Robochicken-EVO drove at it at the wrong angle. "We've not seen great damage. No, it's not been an "eggs-rated" performance by Robochicken."

- Jonathan Pearce

Robochicken-EVO lifted Crushtacean with the flipper, and Crushtacean let go. Crushtacean turned away, but started spinning again, and Robochicken-EVO got the flipper under it. After pushing Crushtacean up the arena, Robochicken-EVO started spinning, allowing Crushtacean to reverse away. However, it span around again, and Robochicken-EVO nudged it into Sir Killalot. Sir Killalot picked Crushtacean up and span it around as time ran out.

The battle went to a judges' decision, which went 2-1 in favour of Crushtacean, eliminating Robochicken-Evo from the Fifth Wars despite a strong performance.

Series 6
"This is top of the food chain from now on!"

- Alec Dick in the pre-first round interview

In its first round melee in Heat B, Robochicken was drawn up against former Tag Team Terror runners-up in Spirit of Scorpion, former Series Semi-Finalists X-Terminator and newcomers Barbaric Response. In the battle, Robochicken started quite well by lifting Spirit of Scorpion up with its flipper several times, whilst also axing off all attacks from X-Terminator. Unfortunately, its aggression was all for nothing, as X-Terminator flipped Robochicken over with its axe, into the clutches of Dead Metal. The flipper of Robochicken was not powerful enough to allow it to self-right. Robochicken was left alone for a while, until Sir Killalot plucked Robochicken by the head and put it down into the pit of oblivion, along with an already pitted Barbaric Response. But Sir Killalot then decided to take it out and put it on the Drop Zone, where a washing machine fell on it. Robochicken survived that, as it was back onto its wheels, and as its motors were still working, the machine started spinning around on the spot after "Cease" had been called. The judges ruled that Spirit of Scorpion and Robochicken had been immobilised for too long, before Barbaric Response was pitted by X-Terminator. This meant that X-Terminator and Barbaric Response were put through to the second round, eliminating Robochicken from the competition in the first round again.

Extreme 2
Robochicken partnered up with Bulldog Breed in the Tag Team Terror tournament in the second series of Extreme. The team were unfortunate to find that they would be fighting the reigning Tag Team Terror champions, Pussycat and Diotoir, in the first round. Robochicken did not have to do anything in this match; Bulldog Breed flipped Pussycat out of the arena almost straight away after flipping it around a few times, before flipping Diotoir over onto its back up against the arena side wall, before flipping Diotoir onto the flame pit. Bulldog Breed then finally decided to tag Robochicken, allowing them to then come out of the corner. Robochicken did nothing more than lifting and axing Diotoir on and off the flame pit, allowing Diotoir to catch fire for one last time. The Refbot then came in and counted out Diotoir, putting Robochicken and Bulldog Breed through to the Semi-Final round. At this stage of the competition, the chicken and the bulldog met previous Tag Team Terror finalists The Steel Avenger with their new partners Lightning. Once again, Robochicken stayed out of the action all together for most of this battle as well, only joining in when its partner Bulldog Breed had already finished off Lightning by flipping it over and pushed The Steel Avenger into the CPZ where it was lying in wait. Robochicken and Bulldog Breed both started flipping The Steel Avenger together, with Robochicken eventually flipping The Steel Avenger onto it back where it couldn't self-right. This rendered The Steel Avenger immobile, putting Bulldog Breed and Robochicken through to the final. "They have a teammate, Bulldog Breed, called Robochicken. You wouldn't believe it, would you? We haven't seen much of that."

- Jonathan Pearce

In the Tag-Team Terror final, the duo went up against Hydra and Barbaric Response, Robochicken once again stayed in the corner while Bulldog Breed did the lion's share of the fighting. Hydra was flipped over, and unable to self-right straight away, and Barbaric Response was soon immobilised as well, so Robochicken pecked Barbaric Response's carcass a little, after Mr. Psycho had battered it for a while. In spite of its minimal contribution to the entire tournament, Robochicken had become one half of the new Tag Team Terror champions. Bulldog Breed celebrated overall victory by flipping the chicken robot over before cease was called. "What, have Tony and Robert Somerfield done with their teammate Robochicken?"

- Jonathan Pearce points out the overturned Robochicken

Series 7
Robochicken returned for the Seventh Wars with an improved flipper and a vertical spinning disc; however, the new head was mounted on the hinge of the flipper to act as an axe, so the robot was still unable to self-right. In its first round melee, Robochicken was drawn up against New Blood Competitors B.O.D., Dutch representatives Tough as Nails and former Annihilator champions Disc-O-Inferno. In this battle, Robochicken effortlessly withstood the blade of B.O.D. as the two competitors immediately collided, but Robochicken then scuttled away into the distance, as Tough as Nails activated the pit release button, and pitted Disc-O-Inferno. Robochicken suddenly demonstrated its power by effortlessly flipping B.O.D. clean over, in a desperate attempt to survive the melee, before Tough as Nails could pit them. After using the flipper to fight off Tough as Nails, Robochicken was eventually grabbed by the Dutch machine. "Now Tough as Nails has Robochicken! Can they push and drive Robochicken?!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Robochicken is grappled by Tough as Nails

Robochicken dug into the arena floor much better than Disc-O-Inferno did, and managed to keep away from the pit long enough to surpass B.O.D.'s countdown to elimination. "...still Robochicken digs in...just survives...but will make the second round of this heat..."

- Jonathan Pearce, as Robochicken is pitted

20 seconds after B.O.D. was counted out, Tough As Nails finally managed to pit Robochicken, but both robots had already qualified for the next round.. The second round battle for Robochicken saw it go up against Mega Morg. In this battle, Mega Morg's shape made it very difficult for Robochicken to flip; Mega Morg was also agile enough to escape any incoming Robochicken attack. However, the Welsh machine could not put its flipper to any use whatsoever. Eventually though, Robochicken scored an impressive knockout by flipping Mega Morg from the front, causing it to land flat on its back, meaning it could not roll back onto its wheels. Robochicken then hit the pit release button before Refbot counted out Mega Morg as Mr. Psycho hammered it. Mr. Psycho then carried Mega Morg over to the drop zone, where a washing machine was dropped on it. "I think Robochicken has won it here!"

- Jonathan Pearce, as Mega Morg goes over

This convincing victory put Robochicken through to its heat final, where it was drawn up against Tough as Nails again. Robochicken had an explosive start to this battle, flipping Tough as Nails through the air several times. However, its efforts had little effect on the match, as it couldn't flip Tough as Nails out of the arena, nor immobilise it, since the Dutch machine was invertible. Later on in the fight, Robochicken lined Tough as Nails up against the arena side wall in a perfect position to flip it out, but had run too low on CO2 and was unable to do more than lift it. Soon after, Robochicken was grabbed by Tough as Nails, and was pushed around the arena for most of the remainder of the match. Tough as Nails was able to haul Robochicken into Shunt's CPZ, where the chicken suffered an axe blow from the house robot, before being towed away by Tough as Nails. It later looked like Tough as Nails would pit Robochicken, as both were very close to the pit, very near to the end of the battle. But Robochicken held on, and the battle went to a judges' decision. The decision went in favour of Tough as Nails, eliminating Robochicken from the competition, after such a promising run. "We've got a cunning plan, we're going to remove the head from the chicken, and go in there, and nobody will recognise us!"

- Alec Dick before the Annihilator

Robochicken also took part in the Annihilator at the end of the series, where it was put up against recent Semi-Finalists Raging Knightmare, American representatives Flippa, Team Roaming Robots' Ripper, Ewe 2 and the reigning Annihilator champions Kan-Opener. Robochicken went in as one of the favourites, due to its experience and what it achieved in the corresponding main competition. The team removed the head in hopes that Robochicken would be able to self-right without it. However, they never got a chance to test it, as in the first round, the robot broke down almost immediately. Ripper quickly flipped Robochicken over onto its back, and with no power, Robochicken was immobilised. Ewe 2 was almost flipped out of the arena by Ripper, and was propped on the arena wall, on top of a similarly immobilised Flippa. However, eventually, Robochicken was brought over to the arena side wall, still upside down, and was counted out by the Refbot. 'Cease' was called after the count was complete, and Robochicken was eliminated from the annihilator, despite Kan-Opener then bringing Ewe 2 off the arena wall and pitting it. "Well, we had this cunning plan that if we took our head off...it would self-right, lovely, but it didn't, didn't even work"

- Alec Dick explains their plans more seriously, post-battle

Results

 * }


 * }


 * }

Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 6
 * Losses: 5

Trivia

 * In both even-numbered series it took part in (Series 4 and 6), Robochicken fought in Heat B of the main competition.
 * In both odd-numbered series it took part in (Series 5 and 7), Robochicken was eliminated via a Judges' decision.
 * Robochicken fought a seeded machine in both of its battles in Series 4, but never in any other series afterwards, even in side competitions and Robot Wars Extreme.
 * Robochicken was the first robot to be hit with an item from the Drop Zone in the UK series.

Honours
Nominations
 * Most Original Entry - Robot Wars: The Fourth Wars
 * Best Newcomer - Robot Wars: The Fourth Wars