WJ Dijkstra

William “WJ” Dijkstra was a prominent roboteer in the Dutch and UK Robot Wars. He is best known for Gravity, a series of robots with flippers, the third of which reached the top eight in Series 7. They were sequentially numbered 1-5, although on during their TV appearances, they were known simply as Gravity.

Dutch Series 1
WJ was originally the captain of Team Mad Science, and entered Dutch Series 1 with Project One. The robot was renowned as the favourite to win, but broke down and lost in the first round.

Dutch Series 2
"I knew my weapon of choice was a flipper (why a flipper? Quickly disables an opponent without really destroying it"

- WJ Dijkstra

WJ built two different robots for Dutch Series 2. His main project was Gravity 1, a simple box-wedge with a hydraulic flipper. The other was √3, a 3-part clusterbot, which WJ was responsible for one third of. Despite having just three weeks and no one to assist him, WJ completed both robots in time for Dutch Series 2. Both robots did respectably well, reaching the heat final of their respective heats.

After the Dutch Series had finished, a robotics exhibition was held in The Netherlands, with many Robot Wars experts from England in attendance. One such person was Mike Lambert, who had brought along his robot Dantomkia. He took it apart and showed off the inner workings. WJ made a new version of Gravity, based on the mechanics of Dantomkia. Called Gravity 2, it competed in live events around The Netherlands. WJ intended to use Gravity 2 in Dutch Series 3, but Channel Five did not end up greenlighting a third Dutch Wars.

UK Series 7
WJ stripped down Gravity 2, and converted it into Gravity 3. This version was the most successful yet, with a powerful flipper, capable of throwing opponents high into the air. It was wildly successful in Series 7, defeating the seeded 13 Black and its inspiration Dantomkia to reach the top eight. It also spectacularly flipped Dead Metal, Cassius Chrome, and Growler during the Wars, marking the only time that any of the three had been flipped.

After Series 7, Dijkstra sold Gravity 3 to Marco Van Hek of Team Pika, and built a new version of Gravity, Gravity 4. Though its was not as powerful as it predecessor, it cost less to build and maintain, and met the safety requirements of the live events. This new version of Gravity was a basic box-wedge with a flipper arm, similar to Gravity 1. Dijkstra is currently working on upgrading it, and will call the new robot Gravity 5.

Wins & Losses

 * UK Wins: 5
 * UK Losses: 2
 * Dutch Wins: 4
 * Dutch Losses: 4

Series Record

 * Series 1-6: Did not Enter
 * Series 7: Semifinal, Round 2 with Gravity
 * Dutch Series 1: Heat, Round 1
 * Dutch Series 2: Heat Final with Gravity and √3