√3

√3 (also referred to as V3 or V32) was a clusterbot that competed in the second series of Dutch Robot Wars. The robot was designed to look like a Formula One racer when the three bots linked together. The three team members each wore large white helmets reminiscent of The Stig from motoring show Top Gear, adding an extent of fun to their entry.

The machine was unique in that it was the only clusterbot seen in any series with more than two robots, requiring two thirds of them to be rendered immobile for the whole robot to be considered immobilized. It was relatively successful, winning two fights (via judges decisions) and reaching the heat final, before losing to eventual champion PulverizeR.

The Team
"...in dutch series 2, we were all three in a different team with the main heavyweights, but in the same team for the clusterbot. That's why we were wearing helmets with black visors"

- WJ Dijkstra

√3 was a collaborative effort between three Dutch robot teams; each part had its own name based on the other robot the respective person had built. Three roboteers from Impact, Gravity and ODT-Zero joined to created the three part clusterbot. The rear section was built by Jeroen and was called S.O.Xbot (Son of Xbot), the midsection was built by WJ and was called Elevation, and the front section was built by Alex and called ODT-0.33. S.O.Xbot and Elevation sported flippers, while ODT-0.33 was a simple driving wedge.

Dutch Series 2
Unfortunately, √3 was plaed against ODT-Zero in the first round, the heavyweight entrance of Alex Ruschen, who was forced to abandon his heavyweight and drive his third of √3, leaving ODT-Zero in the hands of his team members.

In the battle, Elevation immediately pressed the pit release button before all three parts of the clusterbot surrounded their opponent. The wedge of Elevation got underneath ODT-Zero, but did not flip it. ODT-Zero launched an attack and very nearly pushed S.O.Xbot into the pit, with the Elevation in turn pushing ODT-Zero onto the edge of the pit of oblivion. All three robots teamed up to push ODT-Zero down, but they all failed. Eventually ODT-Zero was pushed into Shunt's CPZ and it suffered a few axe blows. √3 qualified for the next round on a judges decision. Pika 3 was √3's opponent in round 2, and it used its power to push Elevation into a CPZ. After S.O.Xbot was pushed into a CPZ, Matilda's flywheel flipped it out of the arena, chipping a camera lens in the process. The other two fought on, ramming Pika 3 against the arena side wall, before Pika got stuck under an angle grinder, and its front spike wedge was damaged when the Refbot freed it. √3 surprisingly won the resulting judges decision. The clusterbot's run ended in the heat final, though. After attacking PulverizeR in a similar manner to √3's first round battle, PulverizeR flipped Elevation with its flywheel, before self-righting it. The real turning point however, was when S.O.Xbot lost a wheel after a PulverizeR attack. Elevation was tossed again, and was unable to self right. Combined with the loss of a wheel on S.O.Xbot, at least 50% of √3 was immobilised, making it lose the heat final.

Results

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