8645T

8645T was a competitor robot from Lichfield in Staffordshire that fought in Series 5 and 7 of Robot Wars. It was named such because the team claimed that squinting at the name's spelling looked like the word Beast, and it was often called such (in Series 7, it was announced as both). In Series 5, it was a long narrow wedge with a full pressure CO2 powered flipper off a hydraulic ram delivering 750PSI pressure that doubled as a rear spike-axe, similar to the design of Robochicken from Series 7. In Series 7, it was known as 8645T 2, and had a flipper that was more similar to Roobarb, still combined with the axe with moderate speeds and good tyre protection. However, it still could not self-right due to the axe. "...a beast of a problem"

- Jonathan Pearce on 8645T 2's inability to self-right

8645T also tried to enter Series 4 and 6 (as 8645T 2 in Series 6). It won two qualifier battles in Series 4, but evidently failed to impress the judges enough. In Series 6, the robot was disqualified from the qualifiers after its axe damaged the arena floor.

Series 5
"We wanted to fight Chaos 2..."

- John Lear

8645T fought in Heat A of the Fifth Wars. 8645T's first round battle saw it go up against Team Roaming Robots' machine T-Bone. 8645T used its axe weapon unsuccessfully, and T-Bone charged into 8645T's side, but its disc was not working. 8645T flipped T-Bone up several times, before finally impaling T-Bone with its axe. The two robots dragged each other around until the end of the battle where it went to a judges' decision, which went in favour of 8645T. In the second round of the heat, 8645T fought S.M.I.D.S.Y., the 24th seed, who stood between 8645T and its dream adversary, Chaos 2. 8645T pinned S.M.I.D.S.Y. with its axe, and S.M.I.D.S.Y., unable to escape, pushed 8645T into the side wall where it was attacked by Shunt. Suddenly 8645T was on the defensive, taking damage from Shunt's axe and with S.M.I.D.S.Y. worming its way beneath it. S.M.I.D.S.Y. then used its jaws to tip 8645T onto its side in Shunt's CPZ. 8645T managed to escape, and charged S.M.I.D.S.Y. once more, with the Cyberspace machine mercilessly charging 8645T and tipping it onto its back once more. 8645T then was seized and taken to the floor flipper, but was not immobilised and managed to flee. However, cease was called, since 8645T had already been counted out. "I wanted to see the beast fly!"

- Jonathan Pearce at the end of the fight

Series 7
8645T 2 went up against Mobot, Mighty Mouse and the 14th seeds Thermidor 2 in the first round of the Seventh Wars. 8645T 2 was immediately targeted by Thermidor 2, who flipped it onto its back straight away in an unoccupied CPZ. 8645T 2 swiftly self-righted, and got away from danger, then deciding to take on Mobot, trying to flip it but missing. But Thermidor 2 then came back with a run-up and threw 8645T 2 back onto its side. 8645T vented huge clouds of CO2 trying to self-right, but ultimately failed. After being counted out, 8645T 2 was righted by Thermidor 2 and assaulted by the House Robots. Pulling away, it charged across the arena, evading the House Robots. Suddenly, the arena floor flipper activated, throwing 8645T 2 through the air and causing it to land on the other side of the arena. 8645T 2 made one final attempt to pit the now immobilised Mighty Mouse, but drove straight into the pit itself. "We got you in the end!"

- Jonathan Pearce's desire to see the Beast fly comes true

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 1
 * Losses: 2

Series Record

 * Series 1-3: Did not enter
 * Series 4: Failed to qualify
 * Series 5: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 6: Failed to qualify
 * Series 7: Heat, Round 1

Robot Wars Live Events
The new version of Beast competed in the first live event of the new Robot Wars at Barnsley in February 2013, where it was thrown out of the arena by Ripper in the first round.

Outside Robot Wars
After Robot Wars, 8645T, renamed Beast properly, was converted to just a flipper robot. This model was retired in 2008 and a new Beast was built, that still competes today in several robotic fighting events such as Roaming Robots. The team also have a featherweight called Beauty which has had its name mentioned in the Robot Combat Hall of Fame after it won competitions like the UK Featherweight Championships twice in a row, the 2007 Roaming Robots Winter Tour and Featherweight Tag-Team Championships 2007.