Carbide

"This is the most potent robot we have seen thus far in this Grand Final, in this series of Robot Wars, perhaps ever!"

- Jonathan Pearce, during Carbide's Series 8 battle against Thor

Carbide was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 8, 9 and 10 of Robot Wars. Finishing runner-up in its debut series to Apollo, it won the title in Series 9, twice achieving vengeance over the latter and defeating every other Grand Finalist in the series along the way. In doing so, Carbide became the first UK Champion since Chaos 2 in Series 3 to win via knockout, and achieved its championship victory without a single loss. It entered Series 10 as the defending champion, and reached its third consecutive Grand Final after winning rematches against Aftershock and Eruption in its heat.

A collaboration between Dave Moulds and Sam Smith (the latter of whom had previously enjoyed moderate success on Robot Wars with Tiberius), Carbide featured a powerful bar spinner which proved to be one of the most potent weapons in the rebooted series. The spinner was capable of causing substantial external and internal damage as well as immobilising opponents with a few hits. Carbide's weapon proved so destructive that many of its opponents, such as Aftershock, Ironside3, Thor and Crackers 'n' Smash were unable to be fully repaired in time for later battles, contributing to losses resulting from lingering damage and broken weapons.

Design
"At its maximum speed, the impact of a hit from Carbide’s blade has 60 times more energy than a sniper bullet."

- Robot Wars website

Carbide was an invertible black and green robot with two-wheel drive and a large horizontal bar spinner at the front. Carbide's weapon was considered to be the most powerful bar spinner in Robot Wars history, measuring 85cm in length, weighing 25kg and spinning at 2300RPM. The weapon operated at 20 horsepower to inflict massive damage. The robot also features a steep wedge at the rear, used to deflect other spinners and push other robots around if necessary. Carbide's armour consisted of 5mm military grade steel, and 8mm aerospace grade aluminium, as well as a shock-mounted top panel made of soft plastic. Though it started off with black tyres during the Group Battle and Head to Head stages, it wore yellow tyres from the Heat Final onwards, very similar to the tyres of Glitterbomb. For Series 9, Carbide received a new top panel made of bullet-proof glass as well as a new weapon motor and an upgraded clutch assembly for its bar spinner. The new weapon motor - dubbed 'Bille-tek' by the team - is equally as powerful as the former Etek motor, but shorter, lighter and features a custom billet housing. Carbide's top speed was increased from 12mph to 15mph, with the tip speed of its bar spinner was also increased from 200mph to 250mph. The robot also received a revised paint job, with neon green instead of a dark lime green, yellow tips on its spinning bar, and a new logo. "When we started designing the robot, we wanted to make something as destructive as possible, and would be really entertaining as well as being competitive. We didn't want to have to armour against other people as much as they'd want to armour against us."

- Dave Moulds on the inspiration behind Carbide

Carbide returned in Series 10, where it used new top armour, and its structure towards the base was strengthened. Its primary adaptation was its selection of interchangeable bar spinners. Before each battle, Team Carbide could have chosen between three different blades, including the existing blade, a new black-and-green option that was otherwise identical to the original blade, and a heavier blade with curved rear tips. However, the latter was not permitted for use on the show, as its increased weight forced the team to use an aluminium/steel weapon shaft instead of a titanium/steel one. This resulted in the bushing in the centre of the weapon to seize up. A solution could not be implemented at filming, thus rendering this blade unusable.

Series 8
Carbide appeared in Heat 1, where it was drawn against the experienced Behemoth, Team Mute's new machine Bonk, and Third Wars footballer, The General in its first-round melee.

Although it sustained an initial slam from Bonk, Carbide was free to target the opponents of its choice in the first round, with Behemoth specifically avoiding it. Carbide landed its first blow on the exposed tyres of The General, knocking it back. Carbide's spinning bar spent a brief moment inactive after this, and needed to dodge its opponents, but when back at full speed Carbide charged into The General, removing its tyre completely, and also hitting Bonk with the same blow, immobilising it. Essentially victorious at this stage, Carbide grazed Behemoth's scoop before hitting The General one last time, and then landing some full-power blows to the now-inverted Bonk. Carbide qualified alongside Behemoth.

After its first round battle, it was revealed that Carbide's weapon motor had broken, and its team struggled to repair it in time for their next match. However, after some help from John Reid, the motor was fixed in time for Carbide's first battle of the head-to-head stage, against John Reid's own Terrorhurtz. In preparation, Team Carbide added an extra layer of polycarbonate to the top of their robot, as protection from Terrorhurtz's axe, which ironically never worked in the following battle. On the very first charge, Carbide's blade clashed with Terrorhurtz's scoop, sending Carbide reeling into the air, and bounced upside-down when it landed. Carbide was pushed around the arena by Terrorhurtz, although it usually landed a blow on Terrorhurtz's scoop at the same time, bending the HARDOX wedge. Carbide was pushed into the arena wall, pit release tyre, and flame pit. Carbide was unable to drive off the flame pit, so after being burnt, it was freed by Sir Killalot. Regardless, Carbide could not move freely, and Terrorhurtz pushed it onto the lip of the pit. Carbide span its blade up to full speed as a form of defence, but was pitted regardless. "I used to be on John's team, so I knew exactly what his tactics were!"

- Dave Moulds

Carbide was then drawn against newcomer Nuts. Despite the team claiming they would only do what was necessary, Carbide did not hold back, and landed two blows within the first few seconds, and disabled one of Nuts' minibots. The third attack from Carbide was a major blow which removed Nuts’ outer rim, as well as literal nuts and bolts, leaving them with no weaponry. Carbide was required to catch a fleeing Nuts, and when it did, two hits threw Nuts towards Sir Killalot. "Oh, look at the power! This is one of the strongest, most venomous weapons I've ever seen!"

- Jonathan Pearce on Carbide's blade

Another blow from Carbide threw Nuts through the air into the pit release at incredible speeds, and the following hit removed Nuts' wheel and put it out of the arena completely. Nuts was counted out, while Carbide chased a minibot and disabled its movement on one side. Carbide was awarded 3 points for its dominant win. During the battle, Carbide had flung a shard of Nuts' armour towards Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon's control room, the subject of several news articles. In its final head-to-head, Carbide met Behemoth for the second time. Carbide wasted no time, and struck Behemoth, sending the large robot spinning away, while Carbide was the robot thrown airborne on its second and third attacks. Spinning around, Carbide landed some lighter blows, still generating many sparks. A slice through Behemoth's scoop was clearly visible, before Carbide's biggest attack yet disabled Behemoth's scoop completely, with a follow-up hit knocking it over. With its srimech already extended, Behemoth could not self-right before Carbide had already pushed it into the pit. With 6 points, Carbide had qualified for the heat final, where it would meet Behemoth once again. In the third meeting between the two, Carbide's very first hit seemed to limit Behemoth's mobility. Carbide landed further blows upon Behemoth, most of which caused Behemoth to remain immobile for seconds at a time before making another small movement. Carbide pressed the pit release, with Behemoth sat right beside it. Thinking its opponent was defeated, Carbide halted its spinning blade, and drove onto Behemoth's scoop to push it towards the pit, though Behemoth flipped in retaliation. Carbide retreated, as Behemoth could only move in circles until Carbide drew nearer, at which point Behemoth reversed into the pit, allowing Carbide to qualify for the Grand Final. In its Grand Final group battle, Carbide faced Apollo and Shockwave. The battle was short, but incredibly destructive. Team Carbide acted on their pre-battle tactics and immediately hit Shockwave, only for Shockwave to get underneath Carbide and push it into Shunt's CPZ, where it spun and hit the side wall blade-first. The impact tore off one of the wall panels, stopping the battle early due to safety concerns. However, before 'cease' was called, Carbide slammed into Shockwave's right-hand side, tearing its side panel apart and causing its rear wheel to become dislodged, before being flipped by Apollo. The battle was due to be restarted once repairs were completed, but Shockwave withdrew due to the damage inflicted by Carbide, so Carbide and Apollo advanced to the next round. In the Head-to-Heads, Carbide first faced wildcard Thor. It deflected Thor's initial charge, and after its opponent was flipped by the Floor Flipper, began hammering and tearing into Thor's armour, ripping off its side panels and buckling, then tearing off, its front 'anti-Carbide plate'. "Well, they’ve put the buffer on, they have the pointed steel top – they are being absolutely savaged and the buffer didn’t last long!"

- Jonathan Pearce watches as Carbide rips Thor’s front plate off

Carbide steered into Shunt's scoop, before charging at Thor again, tearing through Thor's front wedge and sending it spinning on its side. Another hit threw Thor over as it tried to swing its axe, and despite self-righting, Thor became immobilised after sustaining more hits from Carbide's blade, which tore more gashes into its armour and ripped one of its wheels loose. Carbide scored three points for this commanding victory. Next, it faced Apollo. Apollo charged straight into Carbide, turning it over through the recoil of its opponent's blade. However, a second blow immobilised Apollo completely, with Carbide hitting it again and rebounding into Shunt. In the dying seconds, Carbide approached Apollo, and despite Team MAD persuading Team Carbide not to cause any more damage, hit its side as 'cease' was called. "Underhand tactics, there!"

- Jonathan Pearce’s view of Carbide’s extra blow

After the battle, Team MAD appeared to be disappointed with the extra damage inflicted by Carbide. However, this victory gave Carbide another three points, enough to secure it its place in the Final. "Cheap shot!"

- Dave Young to Team Carbide

In its third and final Head-to-Head, Carbide faced the flipper of TR2. Carbide began strongly, ripping parts of TR2’s armour off and causing it to spin into Sir Killalot’s CPZ. It hit TR2 again as it tried to dodge Sir Killalot, leaving a gash in its flipper and sending it flying onto the Flame Pit. However, Carbide's blade stopped spinning as TR2 pressed the pit release button, with TR2 flipping it over and pushing it into the wall, almost propping Carbide up against it. After a few more flips from TR2, Carbide retreated, with TR2 following it around the arena, only to drive onto the Floor Flipper three times in an attempt to re-right itself. TR2 pushed Carbide over the Flame Pit and flipped it again, but failed to flip it over, so it pushed and flipped it into Shunt. "Carbide… is a toy for TR2! Can they survive?"

- Jonathan Pearce as TR2 harries the weaponless Carbide

Carbide retaliated by charging into TR2, steering it around as Shunt closed in. TR2 landed another flip on Carbide, before driving round the perimeter of the arena and pushing it towards Shunt again, who rammed Carbide against the wall twice and axed its underside. Another couple of shoves from TR2 saw Carbide slammed into Shunt again, who axed it again and propped it against the wall in the closing seconds. The judges' decision unanimously went in favour of TR2, while Dave Moulds revealed in the pits afterwards that one of Carbide’s clutch plates had disintegrated, causing its weapon to fail. Even so, Carbide still scored enough points to secure its place in the Final, where it faced Apollo once again. As before, Apollo charged straight underneath Carbide, tipping it onto its side and deflecting it into Sir Killalot, who grasped it with his claw before Apollo flipped it up against the wall. Carbide recovered, landing a few blows on Apollo which dislodged one of its top panels, before a violent hit sent both robots spinning. Carbide tore another of Apollo's panels off, but its weapon clutch failed again as Apollo launched it into the air, the blade stopping completely as Carbide hit the floor. "They can get in underneath that blade, they can flip, they can cause trouble and they’ve done it! They’ve done it! Sparks flew, as the blade crashed against the arena floor, and Carbide in real trouble!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Apollo begins flipping Carbide over and over

With its weapon disabled, Carbide was left helpless as Apollo flipped it several times around the arena, almost being thrown out at one point. Eventually, Carbide pressed the pit release button, almost getting flipped by the Floor Flipper as it rode up Apollo’s wedge again. The two machines continued nudging each other, with Apollo getting under and flipping itself onto its back trying to flip Carbide again. Carbide was flipped again close to the pit release, but escaped as Sir Killalot closed in to attack both it and Apollo. "And it’s all Apollo, and there is no shuttle to safety, for Carbide."

- Pearce as Apollo and Carbide escape Sir Killalot Apollo's flipper was wedged open by this point, but it used the open flipper to grab hold of Carbide and push it into Shunt. Carbide steered out of Shunt's CPZ, then got flipped by Apollo again, before cornering Apollo into Shunt as it sustained damage from the House Robot. It chased Apollo around as it drove around the edge of the pit, before riding up Apollo and closing its flipper. Carbide steered Apollo into a CPZ before getting flipped by the Floor Flipper, than after one last flip Apollo grabbed hold of Carbide again and pushed it into Shunt, who axed Carbide’s underside as time ran out.

The battle went to a judges' decision, with both robots suffering equal amounts of damage and having lost use of their weapons. However, after a close and thrilling fight, the judges unanimously voted for Apollo, with Carbide emerging as the Series 8 runners-up.

Series 9
"Carbide will start as the favourites, I would imagine."

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide's first battle in Series 9 commences

As the Series 8 runner-up, Carbide competed in Heat 5, where it faced newcomers Crackers 'n' Smash, Meggamouse and Trolley Rage in its Group Battle. Confident that they could defeat their rookie opponents, Dave Moulds planned for the future, knowing that the reigning champion Apollo was in the same episode. "It'd be good to have another crack at Apollo, definitely!"

- Dave Moulds

In the opening seconds of the battle, Carbide immediately slammed into Trolley Rage, ripping one of the latter's front panels loose, before hitting Smash, immobilising Meggamouse's minibot Charles and hitting Meggamouse itself in rapid succession. Carbide continued shredding the sides of Charles before immobilising Trolley Rage with a second hit; ripping Trolley Rage’s front panel clean off and sending it spinning into the middle of the arena in the process. Moments later, it slammed into Smash a few more times, causing more damage to its weapon and already-warped front wedge, before chasing Smash across the arena and attacking Crackers. "You can see here the effect of Carbide. Any impact from that mighty spinning blade will cause so much damage."

- Jonathan Pearce observes the destruction caused by Carbide during the Group Battle

Sparks flew as Carbide's blade hit Crackers' sides and top, the latter attack destroying Crackers' lifter as the two robots drove away from each other. Carbide then attacked Smash once again, before slamming into Crackers and Meggamouse, destroying the latter's wheel in doing so. With both Trolley Rage and Meggamouse now immobilised, Carbide progressed to the Head-to-Head round along with Crackers 'n' Smash, as a result of this commanding performance.

Carbide's first Head-to-Head battle saw it face the defending champion Apollo, in a rematch of the previous series' Grand Final. It immediately dodged Apollo's charge before being pushed around the arena, but survived as Apollo flipped itself trying to throw Carbide over. Carbide drove underneath Apollo as the latter self-righted, and caused substantial damage as it hit Apollo’s sides and flipper. Another succession of hits ripped the top panel of Apollo's flipper off and deflected Apollo towards the Arena Tyre, before Carbide immobilised Apollo completely as the latter tried to push it sideways. "Smash it."

- Sam Smith orders Dave Moulds to deal more damage to the immobilised Apollo

Carbide hit Apollo several more times in spite of this, buckling its flipper and sending showers of sparks flying as it repeatedly damaged its wedge, sides and rear. Apollo regained mobility just as 'cease' was called, but Carbide hit it one more time, causing Apollo to throw itself onto its back, and allowing the reigning champion to be held over the Flame Pit by Sir Killalot. Carbide was declared victorious, and scored three points for this knockout victory. "The champions are in trouble... and that death hum is a glorious noise for Carbide now."

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide emerges victorious

Next, Carbide faced the clusterbot Crackers 'n' Smash, in their second encounter between each other. Initially, Team Conker were forced to withdraw Crackers 'n' Smash from this battle, as their strategy to remove its weapons contravened the active weapons rule, and would've resulted in it being automatically disqualified. However, when informed by the production crew of these circumstances, Team Carbide requested that the battle went ahead anyway. Carbide immediately hit Smash as all three robots gathered in the centre of the arena, sending sparks and debris flying as it hit both halves of Crackers 'n' Smash. However, it bounced up on top of Crackers in the process, and got stuck as it tried to drive off. In doing so, Carbide's spinner hit Smash’s replacement wedge several times, causing more sparks and debris to fly, before Smash pushed it around to point its spinner away from the arena floor. After spending some time wedged on Crackers, Carbide was pushed off by the inverted Smash, and proceeded to hit both halves of Crackers 'n' Smash several more times. It attacked Crackers as Smash pressed the Arena Tyre and activated the pit, before sending Smash spinning into the wall with a powerful blow. "Well, the Carbide spinning blade is capable of thrashing these two little bots – Whoa-ho-ho! How about that? They caused massive problems to the arena wall as well, look!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide flings Smash into the wall

This was enough to break off a wall panel and send Smash flying into Shunt, which forced the battle to be stopped immediately after Carbide hit Crackers again. While the arena was successfully repaired, Crackers 'n' Smash forfeited the battle in order to prevent both halves from sustaining any more damage, granting Carbide an additional three points. Leading the results table with six points, Carbide faced the newcomer Coyote in its third and last Head-to-Head battle. It drove out of Coyote's way as the latter charged towards it, before the two robots turned round and collided, sending Carbide recoiling and flipping violently into the air as its spinner hit the floor. The impact also caused Coyote to recoil into Sir Killalot's CPZ, allowing Carbide to slam into its front again as Coyote tried to escape. Carbide waited as Sir Killalot grabbed and held Coyote over the Flame Pit, before hitting Coyote a third time; the impact sending Coyote spinning and ripping its left-hand wheel out. Despite Coyote being immobile, Carbide continued to damage its chassis and weapon right until 'cease' was called, and once again scored three points for this knock-out victory. This ensured that Carbide topped the Head-to-Head leaderboard with nine points, comfortably securing its place in the Heat Final. "Apollo took the trophy in the last series. Can Carbide get their revenge? They look the more improved machine here."

- Jonathan Pearce before the start of the Heat Final

There, it faced Apollo for the second time, in what would be their fifth battle together. The two robots drove straight into each other, with Carbide driving up Apollo's wedge and sending sparks flying as the latter pushed it around. Carbide ripped one of Apollo's top panels off as it was deflected away towards the Flame Pit, with more sparks flying as it again drove up Apollo's flipper. It continued hitting Apollo as the latter pushed, drove into and deflected it away, but briefly stopped moving across the arena after this succession of hits. Carbide turned round, however, and eventually immobilised Apollo again after hitting it several more times; at one point, it held its spinner against Apollo's flipper, sending sparks flying and ripping a large chunk of the latter's armour out. "Oh, look at the disc, now up to speed – the banshee hum!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide batters Apollo's front

As a result, Apollo was counted out and sustained more damage from the House Robots, while Carbide advanced to its second consecutive Grand Final.

In the Grand Final, Carbide was first met with competition from Heat 4 winner Ironside3 and series newcomer Concussion in its Group Battle. Carbide got up to speed straight away and darted towards Concussion which backed towards the Arena Tyre. Carbide connected with a hit to Concussion's left-hand side, which severely limited Concussion's mobility. Carbide then moved away from Concussion and towards Ironside3, and as both machines moved past each other Ironside3 exposed its back which Carbide took advantage of by severely damaging Ironside3's srimech. Then, both Carbide and Ironside3 swarmed around the limping Concussion and took turns in creating further damage to the Heat 3 winner. Carbide then lined up an attack from range before charging in on Concussion, with the contact from Carbide's bar sending Concussion spinning into the Arena Tyre, which deflected it into Shunt's CPZ. "Oh, Carbide - goodness me! More pushing power, more venom in the blade."

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide hurls Concussion into the Arena Tyre

At this point, Concussion was completely immobile and the countdown started. In the time remaining Carbide and Ironside3 eyeballed each other from a distance, with a twitch forward from Carbide triggering Ironside3 into a slight retreat. Concussion's elimination was then confirmed when the timer reached ten, and Carbide progressed to the Head-to-Head stage of the Grand Final with Ironside3.

After progression from the Group Battle, thoughts turned towards Carbide's first Head-to-Head opponent, Aftershock. "Our only real option - he's quite well defended - is just go weapon to weapon. Hopefully we'll come out on top. It's going to be a big bang either way."

- Dave Moulds

Both machines made contact in the opening seconds of the battle, with Carbide sending Aftershock aside and ripping away one of its protective panels in the process. Aftershock attempted to recover quickly by darting into Carbide, but two quick slashes from Carbide's weapon left Aftershock immobilised. "Listen to Carbide's death hum - it's a death rattle for Aftershock!"

- Jonathan Pearce

With its opponent unable to move, Carbide lingered around before smashing into the side of Aftershock. This impact sent one of Aftershock's panel arrowing off into the distance where it penetrated one of the polycarbonate arena panels and became embedded, stunning the hosts and teams alike as they inspected the scene themselves after the fight. "I think we should leave it there - a little memento!"

- Dave Moulds

With three points under their belt after dismantling Aftershock in staggering fashion, Team Carbide were keen to double their tally against their next opponents, Eruption. "So we've noticed on Eruption the side armour is attached directly to their wheels and their bearings and shaft, so if we give them a good hit there it should immobilise their drive train. If we can do that we'll be able to come out on top."

- Dave Moulds before Carbide's second Head-to-Head battle

Carbide arched to the side before engaging with the onrushing Eruption, with contact between the two sending Carbide flying away. Carbide was then thrown around again as Eruption crashed into the front of Carbide for a second time. "And the power of the Carbide spinning blade sends both robots rocking across the arena floor!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Carbide then retreated before turning around and connecting with a blow to the front of Eruption. Carbide quickly followed up this attack with a rally of quick blows which collapsed one of Eruption's side panels underneath it and ruptured its CO2 system. With Eruption now showing little signs of movement, Carbide came in again. Eruption desperately fired its flipper in an attempt to defend itself but only managed to throw itself over. Eruption then self-righted but landed on top of Carbide which connected with one final blow. Eruption was left overturned and immobilised, and Carbide spun around in victory as it confirmed another knockout victory and a place in the Grand Final championship battle. "You've won every fight so far. Not one of your fights has lasted over a minute!"

- Angela Scanlon

With its passage out of the Head-to-Head stage navigated, Carbide went into its final Head-to-Head battle against Ironside3 looking to end another battle quickly in an attempt to not sustain damage before the final. "Watching their fights, they're quite slow to spin up. If we can get in there before they're up to speed and damage their bar or chassis, or something around there, hopefully that'll be all it'll need."

- Dave Moulds

Carbide approached Ironside3 backed away slightly to get its own bar up to speed. Ironside3 then turned towards Carbide and the two machines traded blows with each other. Once again Ironside3 moved away, but Carbide continued to pursue its opponent and crashed into it. After Ironside3 was chucked up by the Floor Flipper, Carbide connected with two attacks in a row. Ironside3 then connected with a clean blow to the top of Carbide, but Carbide quickly replied with a strong hit of its own, which also put paid to Ironside3's weapon. "Ironside3 worn down into submission - the weaponry has stopped."

- Jonathan Pearce

With Ironside3 rendered impotent, Carbide thrashed it into Shunt's CPZ and then dealt the final knockout blow after Ironside3 was axed by Shunt.

Despite recording another victory, Team Carbide were concerned with the welfare of their machine, and after trundling it around the arena in the remaining seconds of the fight against Ironside3, the team inspected the damage to their machine.

After Eruption edged out Aftershock in the final battle in the Head-to-Head stage, Carbide's Grand Final opponent was confirmed. Against a flipper for the second championship deciding fight in succession after their defeat to Apollo in Series 8, Team Carbide were eager to right a wrong and come out with the Robot Wars title. "We've been here before; we came a little bit short last year. If we can do it this year it'll be absolutely brilliant. We've got to give it our best shot and dish out some damage hopefully."

- Dave Moulds

Carbide started the Grand Final battle strong, as a hit to the front of Eruption sent it into Shunt. As Eruption moved away from the House Robot's CPZ, Carbide hit Eruption with a couple of glancing blows. Carbide then raced around to the front of a retreating Eruption and Carbide's spinning bar churned out sparks from contact with Eruption's flipper, causing visible damage in the process. Eruption then lost drive on its right side, and Carbide continued to slash away at Eruption, which missed with two attempted flips. After turning itself over with its second flip and then self-righting, Eruption forced Carbide around in a circle, while the Series 8 runner-up continued to sends sparks flying off the front of Eruption. Carbide then crashed into the side of Eruption and hurled it onto the Floor Flipper, which lifted Eruption up before it landed back onto its wheels. "Carbide spinning away. The red-hot favourite for this, slamming in on Eruption!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Carbide attacked the damaged Eruption again, but after a strong hit on the front of Eruption, Carbide left its sides vulnerable and was flipped away by Eruption. With the threat of Eruption still alive, Carbide continued to dish out punishment, ripping away chunks of Eruption's armour. Eruption desperately tried to defend itself with its flipper, but Carbide didn't let up in its mutilation of Eruption and after causing more bodywork and internal damage, Eruption lost drive completely. With only its flipper functioning, Eruption laid beaten, and one final shattering hit from Carbide left Eruption crippled next to the Arena Spikes. With its opponent beaten and the countdown started, Carbide moved into the centre of the arena and spun around in delight.

"Carbide: the strongest of the strong!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide celebrates its Grand Final victory

With its position as champion confirmed, Carbide decided to attack Sir Killalot after he came in to attack the beaten Eruption. Carbide was then attacked in a pincer move by Shunt and Sir Killalot, and although its weapon had now stopped working, Carbide managed to move away and spun around in celebration one final time. Unseen on television, Carbide was also lifted up against Shunt, sending sparks flying, and caused damage to Sir Killalot's claw. Eventually, the battle was over, and Carbide was declared the champion of Robot Wars: Series 9.



Series 10
"Carbide is simply put the most feared machine in the UK. People are scared of it."

- Dave Moulds

Carbide returned for Series 10 as the reigning Robot Wars champion. Competing in Heat 2, it faced former FRA UK Champions Gabriel 2 and Big Nipper in its Group Battle, with Dave Moulds expressing scepticism towards the entanglement weapons used by the former.

Carbide began the battle tentatively, weaving and driving towards Gabriel 2, although without initially hitting the latter. It eventually hit the ropes dangling from underneath Gabriel 2, shredding and scattering them across the arena while dislodging a few of its tyre segments. The two competitors retreated before colliding into each other, with Carbide withstanding a blow from Gabriel 2's mace as it churned into one of its wheels; this resulted in it throwing Gabriel 2 off-balance and sending it spinning into Shunt's CPZ. Carbide spun round as it attempted to line up another attack, before ripping another of Gabriel 2's tyre sections away and clipping the end of its mace. "This is building up to be some struggle for the reigning champions, they haven't had to work quite like this so early on..."

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide struggles to cause terminal damage to Gabriel 2's wheels

It temporarily avoided the action as Gabriel 2 was thrown into the Arena Tyre by a partially-immobile Big Nipper, but inadvertently backed into Shunt, who rammed and axed Carbide simultaneously as 'Rogue House Robot' mode was enabled. Needless to say, Carbide slammed into Gabriel 2 several more times, constantly damaging its opponent's wheels and mace while sending it hurtling across the arena and into the wall. As it continued attacking Gabriel 2, Carbide drove and spun round near the arena spikes – at this moment, its right-hand tyre fell apart, momentarily leaving it unable to drive in a straight line as it was lifted off the floor by the broken tyre segment. After spinning itself free, Carbide charged into Gabriel 2 once again, the impact flipping Carbide completely over and knocking Gabriel 2 off-balance. "Underneath Carbide, something is stuck there, something has come off. It's part of the tyre, of Carbide, so Gabriel 2 has created damage – and flips Carbide over!"

- Jonathan Pearce spots the damage to Carbide's tyre as it attacks Gabriel 2 again

Inverted, Carbide spun itself into Shunt's CPZ, and violently ricocheted over the Flame Pit after clipping the House Robot's scoop. As it struggled for mobility, it turned towards an approaching Gabriel 2, hitting its wheel and launching itself into the air. Spinning, it sustained an axe blow from Shunt, before driving into Gabriel 2's mace once again and retreating into an empty CPZ. "Carbide have never had to work anything like this! This is sensational stuff – this is the 91st Wonder of the World!"

- Jonathan Pearce as an inverted Carbide sustains an attack from Shunt Carbide again launched Gabriel 2 off the floor as the latter briefly drove into Shunt, the impact sending more pieces of tyre and HDPE flying. Another succession of hits tore through Gabriel 2's wheels and sent it spinning into Shunt's CPZ, with Carbide flipping Gabriel 2 twice more after hitting its mace and wheel again. Carbide pursued Gabriel 2 across the arena as the latter struggled for traction on its damaged wheels, before throwing it sideways and clipping the side of Big Nipper in the closing seconds. "Who's going to brush up the arena floor? Six, five – this is going to the Judges, is it? This is unbelievable! This is one of the greatest fights ever, in Robot Wars history!"

- Jonathan Pearce as the Group Battle draws to a close

Carbide hit Gabriel 2 one more time as the klaxon sounded, shards of HDPE flying as 'cease' was called. Team Carbide and Team Saint immediately congratulated each other as the battle went to a Judges’ decision, which ultimately went in Carbide's favour.

With this, it automatically progressed to the Heat Semi-Finals. Further inspections in The Pits, however, revealed that Carbide had not only sustained a damaged tyre, but also burnt its batteries out as a result of fighting the full duration. This lead to concerns that Carbide would be forced to withdraw as a result; nevertheless, replacement batteries were delivered and installed in time for its Semi-Final, a rematch against Series 9 fourth-place finisher Aftershock. "I think Sam and Dave will have to work harder this year, we know that, to keep ahead of the pack. Can they handle the pressure?"

- Jonathan Pearce ahead of Carbide's duel with Aftershock

Immediately, Carbide attempted to drive around the side of Aftershock, with both robots hitting each other's sides with their spinning weapons. Spinning, it withstood three successive blows from Aftershock, sustaining damage to its chassis and causing Aftershock to flip itself over. As Aftershock self-righted, Carbide slammed into its asymmetrical bar, sending sparks flying and leaving Aftershock immobile on one side. It proceeded to slice through Aftershock's front again, but was thrown aside by Aftershock almost immediately. Undeterred, Carbide hit Aftershock's front again, only to be spun round by the impact and exposing its rear wedge to an attack from Aftershock. Carbide drove forwards, turned and charged into Aftershock once more, the collision launching it into the air and disabling Aftershock’s spinner. "The champions here, are up against it... huge impact between both machines!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide is sent airborne by a head-on collision with Aftershock's asymmetrical bar Landing upright, Carbide landed another blow on Aftershock, sending the latter spinning onto the closed pit. Seconds later, it immobilised Aftershock completely, and drove around the arena as its victory was made certain. After extensive repairs to its weapon motor and armour, as well as the replacement of its weapon switch, Carbide faced Eruption in the Heat Final, a rematch of the previous series' Grand Final. At the start, it dodged Eruption's initial charge, and sent it spinning away as the latter got underneath and pushed it across the arena. This impact immediately immobilised Eruption on one side, allowing Carbide to repeatedly drive into Eruption and damage its flipper, wedge and left-hand side panel. With Dave Moulds realising that a side-on attack would leave Carbide vulnerable to getting thrown out of the arena, it powered its spinner down and retreated to the centre of the arena. A few seconds later, Carbide spun its weapon back up again, and drove into Eruption's left side, cleaving the panel completely off. With Eruption fully immobilised, Carbide retreated again, drove around the arena and spun on the spot as its opponent was counted out. This victory ensured that Carbide progressed to the Grand Final for its third consecutive series.

In the Grand Final, Carbide faced Behemoth and Nuts 2 in its Group Battle; both of which it had previously won against in Series 8. It began by turning round and attempting to avoid Behemoth, but was pushed around and into Sir Killalot by the latter while simultaneously damaging its angled plough. Carbide drove away, tearing the side of one of Nuts 2’s minibots off and sending Behemoth spinning with its next attack. It drove into Behemoth’s plough again and hit its side while being pushed into a CPZ, causing both robots to recoil and Behemoth to career into the descending pit. With Behemoth eliminated, Carbide drove into the spinning Nuts 2, its bar spinner seemingly slower than before. The impact with Nuts 2’s chain flails broke the drive chain for its spinner, disabling it, with Carbide attempting to push Nuts 2 back towards the Floor Flipper in response. "…they’ve got nothing, really, now, to use against Nuts 2, apart from the ability to push – and Nuts 2, as you can see, a very, very difficult machine to get close to… to push! You get close to Nuts 2, and you’re gonna be destroyed!"

- Jonathan Pearce as the weaponless Carbide attempts to push Nuts 2 and its minibot

Withstanding numerous blows from Nuts 2’s flails, Carbide continued reversing into its remaining opponent, but was blocked by Nuts 2’s remaining minibot, and pressed the Arena Tyre while evading the minibot. This triggered ‘Rogue House Robot’, with Carbide dodging Sir Killalot and reversing across the arena before Nuts 2 triggered ‘Fog of War’. It reversed into Nuts 2’s minibot, and was lifted off the arena floor after backing into the latter. With its wheels spinning, but not gripping the floor, Carbide was rendered immobile, and was almost counted out by the Judges. However, it spun free from the minibot with one second to spare, and resumed its pushing match with the Nuts 2 minibot. "Sam and Dave look resigned – they’re immobilised, I think! The Judges are ready to count them down and out… Carbide has one wheel spinning, but not the other! They need to move! They’re being counted down – oh goodness me, how did they survive that?!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide is almost counted out

After luring the minibot around the arena, Carbide reversed into Nuts 2 several more times, sustaining more damage to its armour, before continuing to dodge the minibot. With its left tyre damaged, it spun round in the middle of the arena until ‘cease’ was called, with the battle going to a Judges’ decision while Team Carbide and Team Nuts congratulated each other. The decision unanimously went in favour of Nuts 2, marking Carbide’s first loss since the Series 8 Grand Final. "What an upset this is! I have never seen Carbide in this particular predicament… what a performance by Nuts!"

- Jonathan Pearce at the end of the Group Battle

With its title defence severely compromised, Carbide was consigned to the Robot Redemption round, where it faced Rapid for a chance to remain in contention for a Semi-Final place. Immediately, it tried to evade Rapid, but was scooped up and pushed into Shunt’s CPZ, sparks flying as its bar spinner hit the floor and the wall. Carbide drove away, slamming into Rapid’s side and tearing off the remainder of its entanglement device. It drove head-on into Rapid, only for Rapid to scoop it up again and throw it towards an entry gate. Carbide’s bar clipped the floor as it landed, causing it to bounce and be flipped over. Spinning over the Floor Flipper, Carbide drove head-on into Rapid again, tearing one of its side panels clean off, before driving up Rapid’s flipper again. In the process, it hit the side of Rapid’s flipper, the impact causing both robots to recoil and Rapid to start smoking copiously. Carbide pursued Rapid through its smokescreen, before immobilising it with another violent hit. "It’s the old Carbide back with us, though. Mean and merciless… they love their weaponry! Again – oh, please stop, and he’s had enough. Our message to you, Rapid – you’re fired!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide’s place in the Semi-Finals is secured

As Rapid sat motionless on the closed pit, Carbide continued to damage its opponent’s front and sides until ‘cease’ was called; it spun round in celebration shortly before Rapid caught fire as a result of its earlier attack. "Got any marshmallows?"

- Dave Moulds as Rapid catches fire following Carbide’s victory

In the Semi-Finals, Carbide faced Nuts 2 again. To avoid a repeat of their earlier Group Battle, Team Carbide fitted a ‘Nut guard’ to the front of its weapon shaft – in actuality a piece of metal ripped off of Rapid - in order to prevent Nuts 2’s flails from hitting the drive chain for its bar spinner.

Upon ‘activate’, Carbide drove straight into Nuts 2, causing sparks to fly as its bar spinner hit the latter’s flails. It tore into the side of Nuts 2’s blue minibot before again slamming into Nuts 2 itself; seconds later, Carbide tore part of Nuts 2’s ring off, leaving one of its opponent’s wheels fully exposed. "Carbide came in with huge power, and its Nuts 2 sustaining damage!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide removes one of Nuts 2’s flails

Carbide slammed head-on into Nuts 2 again, and waited in the centre of the arena as one of Nuts 2’s minibots activated the ‘Fog of War’. Once the fog cleared, it tore one of Nuts 2’s end panels off, leaving it immobile on one side and unable to drive out of the CPZ. With Team Nuts conceding defeat, Nuts 2 was counted out; Carbide tore the side and left wheel of its red minibot off just before ‘cease’ was called. "Carbide, through to the final! Reputation restored for the champions."

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide progresses to its third-consecutive final

In the Grand Final, Carbide faced Eruption; the fourth time in which both machines faced each other, and in a direct rematch of the previous series final. Immediately, it avoided Eruption, hitting its right side and flipper in rapid succession as the latter attempted to drive behind and get underneath it. Carbide continued hitting Eruption’s flipper and front panels, sparks flying with every impact, before eventually sending Eruption spinning towards Sir Killalot’s CPZ. The two competitors drove head-on into each other, with Carbide deflecting itself off Eruption as its bar spinner slowed down with each successive hit. Carbide spun round as Eruption tried to push it back, before luring Eruption around the arena, turning and hitting its flipper again. The recoil caused Carbide’s spinner to hit the floor; smoke poured from Carbide as it was launched into the air. "Oh! Another big hit from Carbide’s… big bar spinner. Heavy, weighty… devilish! Is the flipper of Eruption still working? I’m not too sure."

- Jonathan Pearce just before Carbide encounters problems with its bar spinner

Again, the two robots collided head-on, with Eruption throwing Carbide a full 360 degrees as its bar spinner struggled to cleave through its opponent’s front. Another head-on collision ensued, with Carbide nearly flipping itself over and smoking a second time as it drove into Eruption once more. This exposed it to another flip from Eruption, this time leaving it upside-down; it soon became apparent that Carbide’s spinner had stopped rotating.

Seemingly weaponless, Carbide was pushed over the Flame Pit into Sir Killalot’s CPZ by Eruption, but escaped the House Robot and fired its spinner up again. It cleaved one of Eruption’s horns off before hitting its flipper once more and spinning into the Arena Tyre. ‘Fog of War’ was activated, enabling Carbide to avoid Eruption and get its weapon spinning again just before driving up its opponent’s flipper. Sparks flew as Carbide hit Eruption while being pushed into Sir Killalot; however, after hitting Eruption’s side one more time, it drove itself onto the Floor Flipper, landing spinner-first on the floor and allowing Eruption to throw it towards the Flame Pit. "This is the stuff of Robot Wars dream here. Carbide and Eruption – what a final!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide hits Eruption after being flipped

Carbide dodged Sir Killalot and hit Eruption’s front several more times; each successive impact once again caused the bar spinner to slow down. The spinner stopped completely as it drove head-on into Eruption yet again, with Eruption throwing Carbide over upside-down before shepherding it over the closed pit. Carbide drove away and hit Eruption, but without causing major damage, and was thrown over once more before luring Eruption around the arena. "All the way to the Judges, at the end of the Final, of the Grand Final? Whoa! You couldn’t have made it up!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Carbide finishes the Grand Final on the back foot In spite of this, Carbide was continuously flipped and chased around the arena by Eruption in the closing moments; at one point getting thrown over by the Floor Flipper again. ‘Cease’ was finally called, with Carbide spinning round and both teams congratulating each other as the Final went to a Judges’ decision. After an exceptionally close battle which was particularly praised by Jonathan Pearce, Angela Scanlon and Dara Ó Briain, the decision went unanimously in favour of Eruption. With this, Carbide emerged as the runner-up of Series 10; before the decision was announced, Team Carbide told Ó Briain their intention to possibly retire it from Robot Wars, as a result of the damage sustained throughout the series.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 22
 * Losses: 5

Series Record
This Series Record incorporates the history of both Sam Smith and Dave Moulds as individual roboteers.

Outside Robot Wars
After Series 8 of Robot Wars ended, Carbide attended a Robots Live event in Stevenage in October 2016, appearing as a static display outside the arena. It has yet to compete at a live event, due to the regulation ban on spinning weaponry.

In May 2017, a top armour panel from Carbide was listed on eBay. The item - signed by team members Dave Moulds and Sam Smith - sold for a final price of £340.

For more information on Team Carbide's achievements outside of Robot Wars, including their BattleBots entry Cobalt, see here.

Trivia

 * Carbide shared a much-publicised rivalry with Apollo during Series 9, with the Series 8 Grand Final rematch dominating the marketing for the show. Apollo and Carbide are one of four occurrences where two teams fought five times during the show's run, alongside Razer and Tornado, Firestorm and Panic Attack, and Ironside3 and Pulsar.
 * Carbide is the only robot to fight two robots (Behemoth and Apollo) a total of three times within a single series.
 * Carbide was the third robot in Series 9 to go undefeated in the Head-to-Head round without requiring a Judges' decision, along with Aftershock and Eruption.
 * In Series 9, it also became the fifth robot to score the full 9 points in the Head-to-Heads, after TR2, Kadeena Machina, Aftershock and Eruption.
 * Carbide is also the only robot to score the full 9 points twice in the Head-to-Head rounds.
 * In Series 9, Carbide scored an unbeatable record of ten victories in a single series.
 * Carbide was one of three UK champions to win its title by knockout, the others being Panic Attack and Chaos 2.
 * Carbide is also one of three UK champions to win all of its fights in its championship-winning series by knockout, alongside Panic Attack and Chaos 2.
 * Carbide defeated all five finalists from Series 9 by knockout at least once during the course of the series.
 * Carbide is the second UK Runner-up (after Hypno-Disc) to reach a subsequent Grand Final, and one of only two runners-up to both reach and win the final itself, the other being Eruption.
 * It is also the only Robot Wars competitor to finish as runner-up twice.
 * In August 2017, Carbide was inducted into the Combat Robot Hall of Fame, due to its successful runs in Series 8 and 9.
 * Carbide is the only robot to have won its heat in all three series of the rebooted Robot Wars.
 * Carbide is the only robot to have reached the final two on three occasions, consecutively and in total.
 * Carbide is one of three robots to have reached the Grand Final three times - the other two are Hypno-Disc and Firestorm.
 * It and Hypno-Disc are the only robots to have reached three consecutive Grand Finals, with Carbide achieving this feat in Series 8-10.
 * Carbide is one of nine robots to win more than twenty battles in UK Robot Wars. The others to achieve this feat are Behemoth, Razer, Firestorm, Tornado, Pussycat, Panic Attack, Chaos 2 and Hypno-Disc.