Self-righting mechanism

The self-righting mechanism (or srimech, derived from the words self-righting mechanism) is something of an essential in Robot Wars. In its simplest terms, it is a device used to flip a robot back onto its wheels if it gets flipped over. The first attempt to self-right was by Chaos, after being flipped over by Matilda in Series 2, but the first successful srimech was used by Cassius also in Series 2, where it used its flipper to right itself after being overturned by Sir Killalot.

Self-righting mechanisms can take one of two forms. Some robots could right themselves using their main weapon. This was particularly common with robots that had flippers or axes, such as Chaos 2 and Dominator 2. Other robots had seperate mechanisms used to right themselves, such as the side-bar of Hypno-Disc and the "wings" of Razer.

Powering
Usually, self-righting mechanisms are powered by either pnuematics (usually as part of a flipping weapon (Chaos 2 and Cassius were some of the first robots to have utilised these systems) or by an electric motor powered by the battery (Hypno-Disc and Panic Attack used these rather rare systems to great effect). However, there are also occasionally self-righting mechanisms powered by other means. Razer's self-righting wings are a good example-they were moved up and down by a steel cable attacked to the weapon, allowing it to self-right, as well as give its infamous "salute".