Roadblock

"Roadblock was an A level Technology project for Hender...Hender is a very able technology student who has been presented to HRH the Prince of Wales with his technology project."

- Peter Kinsey

Roadblock (also spelled Road Block) was a robot that competed in the British television game show Robot Wars. The robot had a wedge made from several road signs with a petroleum powered circular saw attached to the back. The signs were originally going to be painted over, but time ran out. However, BBC liked the look of the roadsigns, and the look was kept.

The robot competed in the first and second series of Robot Wars, winning the first series and finishing third in the second series. It was constructed by Hender Blewitt and Chris Kinsey, who were Systems & Control students at Bodmin Community College, and Peter Kinsey, their teacher. The team also competed in the third series with Beast of Bodmin which reached the second round of the Semi-Final.

Today, having not been used for several years, the Series 1 champion is mounted on the wall in Peter Kinsey's garage.

Series 1
Roadblock competed in Heat A of the First Wars. In the Gauntlet, it attempted to go over the ramp, but it missed and took the House Robots route instead. Roadblock was able to easily outsteer all of the house robots and reached the end of the course in the third quickest time of the heat, after Grunt and Nemesis. In the Sumo Trial, it was able to get underneath Shunt and shoved it out of the ring. However, because it fell out afterwards it was only awarded third place, but this was enough to progress to the next round. In the Arena Semi-Final against Nemesis, Roadblock used its saw to cut into its opponent's armour and then got underneath Nemesis with its scoop. Nemesis was then attacked by Sergeant Bash and set on fire and Roadblock was announced as the winner. In the Arena Final against Killertron, Roadblock's armour easily withstood the attacks from its opponent's axe and Killertron eventually drove up onto Roadblock's wedge and was tipped over, meaning that Roadblock progressed to the Grand Final.

The Grand Final was contested against Recyclopse, Robot The Bruce, Cunning Plan, Bodyhammer and T.R.A.C.I.E. After Cunning Plan and T.R.A.C.I.E. had been immobilised early on, Roadblock got underneath Recyclopse and pushed it around the arena, causing its opponent's chain to become broken, leaving it immobilised. Roadblock then got underneath Robot The Bruce, which drove too far up the wedge of Roadblock and was tipped onto its side and immobilised. This left only Bodyhammer still running at the end of the battle with Roadblock, but the Bodmin team won on a judges' decision and became the First Wars Grand Champion.

Series 2
Roadblock returned as the top seed to defend its title in The Second Wars. In its Heat, having safely negotiated the Gauntlet, Roadblock was very nearly knocked out in the Trial after knocking down only 34 skittles, but was saved this embarrassment when Limpet was only able to knock down 23. It won in the Arena Semi-Final by immobilising Killerhurtz, cutting into a motor with its saw and then winning the Heat Final due to its opponent, Onslaught, breaking down before the battle started.

In the Series Semi-Finals, Roadblock took the Sentinel route in the Gauntlet, only to get trapped by the house robot. It only managed to travel 5.45m before getting trapped, but this was enough for third place and a place in the next round. In the Pinball Trial, Roadblock scored a very impressive 355 points in a run which included getting the sphere and Matilda into the pit. This score was the highest any robot managed in the second series. In the Arena against King Buxton, Roadblock was able to cause some damage with its saw before both robots came into trouble with the house robots. Although both robots were able to escape, King Buxton had become immobilised and Roadblock progressed to the Grand Final for the second time.

In the Grand Final, Roadblock came up against Cassius and started very promisingly by pushing its opponent into Sir Killalot, who flipped Cassius over with its lance. Cassius self-righted and got underneath Roadblock, flipping it onto its side against the arena wall. Roadblock was unable to self-right and went out of the competition. However, it did manage to win the playoff for third place against Killertron by pushing its opponent around the arena and eventually into the pit.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 7
 * Losses: 1

Series Record

 * Series 1: Grand Champion
 * Series 2: Third Place
 * Series 3: Entered with Beast of Bodmin
 * Series 4-7: Did not enter

Trivia

 * Roadblock is one of 23 robots to have completed The Gauntlet, and, along with Dreadnaut, Mortis and Nemesis, is one of four robots to have completed it twice.
 * It was also the first robot ever to complete it, having been the first competitor in Heat A of the First Wars.
 * Roadblock is the only UK Grand Champion (not including Typhoon 2) to have never failed to reach the Semi-Finals and Grand Final.
 * Roadblock was profiled in Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide.
 * Roadblock is one of only six robots to break 200 points in a Pinball tournament. Others to have achieved this are Gemini, Killerhurtz, Spawn of Scutter, Panic Attack and Razer.
 * Roadblock is one of only fifteen robots whose final appearance on the show was a win.
 * Roadblock was originally given the name Road Rage, but this was changed on request of the BBC before filming took place, as there were a lot of reported road rage incidents occurring at the time. Draven, originally called Anthrax, later faced a similar problem.
 * Roadblock and Tornado were the only third place finishers not to lose to the eventual Grand Champion.
 * Roadblock was one of only two Grand Champions never to face another Grand Champion. The only other Grand Champion never to do this was Panic Attack.
 * Roadblock's battle against Nemesis was the first ever judges' decision.