Carbide

Carbide is a heavyweight robot which competed in the 2016 series of Robot Wars. It reached the Grand Final in the 2016 series, finishing runners-up to eventual champion Apollo after a close final round battle.

It was built by Dave Moulds, builder of Turbulence and previously a member of Team Hurtz in BattleBots, as well as Sam Smith, who had previously competed in Series 4-7 of Robot Wars and the second series of Robot Wars Extreme with Tiberius. Turbulence also won the unaired 2016 pilot and fought in a whiteboard match against Infernal Contraption, but lost the latter.

According to the official Robot Wars website, Team Carbide rated their chances of winning the series at '10 out of 10', and the robot featured heavily in promotional trailers. The BBC also listed Carbide as one of the most destructive robots in the series, claiming that its spinning bar delivered more energy at the tip than a "sniper bullet".

Dave Moulds appeared as a mentor in Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars, helping Radio 1 DJs Scott Mills and Chris Stark to build a robot of their own design in Arena Cleaner, which managed to become the champion of Episode 1.

Design
Carbide is an invertible black and green robot with two-wheel drive and a large horizontal bar spinner at the front. Carbide's weapon is considered to be the most powerful bar spinner in Robot Wars history, measuring 85cm in length, weighing 25kg and spinning at 2300RPM. The weapon operates 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 consists of 5mm military grade steel, and 8mm aerospace grade aluminium. Though it started off with black tyres during the Group Battle and Head to Head stages, it wore yellow tyres in the Heat Final and all of the final, very similar to the tyres of Glitterbomb.

2016 series
Carbide appeared in Episode 1, where it was drawn against the experienced Behemoth, new machine from former heat winners 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 glazed 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 CPZ, 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 front 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 runners-up.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 7
 * Losses: 3

Series Record
Team captain Dave Moulds was a newcomer to Robot Wars, so co-builder/designer Sam Smith's record is displayed where appropriate

Outside Robot Wars
Dave Moulds was a participant in ABC's rebooted series of BattleBots, as part of Team Robo Challenge with Beta, although Beta could not compete due to parts being lost in travel.

Around the same time that Team Carbide developed Carbide for Robot Wars, the same team were also producing a heavyweight for Season 2 of ABC's BattleBots, Cobalt. Both Carbide and Cobalt are extremely similar in shape and design, but Cobalt uses a sharper, axe-like bar spinner, and both robots feature different internals. Cobalt uses a white and blue colour scheme, over the black and green used by Carbide. In its first round battle, Cobalt was drawn against Overhaul, a reasonably successful robot from the previous year. Cobalt's spinner reached top speed very quickly, and a series of attacks were launched onto Overhaul, all of which deflected Cobalt away due to the shape of Overhaul's side armor. A set screw became stuck in Overhaul's locomotion, rendering it immobile, putting Cobalt through to the second round, further than Photon Storm, Team Storm's rebuilt version of Sam Smith's past heavyweight Tiberius. In the second round, Cobalt fought wildcard newcomers and eventual runners-up, Bombshell. Cobalt tried to ram into Bombshell's overhead bar spinner with its rear end to open up an opportunity to attack, but Bombshell's very first attack sliced through Cobalt's wheels, defeating it.

After the 2016 series of Robot Wars ended, Carbide attended a Robots Live event in Stevenage in October 2016, appearing as a static display outside the arena.

On the live event circuit, team member Dave Moulds has also fought with various featherweight robots since 2002. He has fought with various different versions of Turbine, armed with a flipper, which has since been retired. In full-combat events, Moulds has fought with a few spinner-wielding robots. These include:
 * 360, a featherweight version of Hypno-Disc, with a horizontal flywheel.
 * 540, a six-wheeled box-shaped robot with an interchangeable eggbeater and rammer configuration. The robot has since been bought and renamed Disturbance.
 * 720, an octagonal-shaped robot armed with a spinning drum.
 * 722, an improved version of 720 with a similar paint scheme to Carbide.

Moulds also won the 2006 FRA Heavyweight UK Championships with heavyweight flipper Turbulence.

Team Carbide member and co-builder Sam Smith also fights in live featherweight events with NST, a horizontal bar spinner. NST won the 2012 Featherweight UK Championships and the 2015 UK Featherweight Annihilator, and still actively competes today.

Trivia

 * Due to the nature of the 2016 series format, Carbide became the first robot to lose a battle in its qualifying episode and then go on to win it.
 * Carbide is the only robot to fight two robots (Behemoth and Apollo) three times within a single series.