Limpet

"Lost in the mists of time, ask most of today's fans of Robot Wars if they remember Limpet and they'll look at you with a blank expression..."

- John Denny of Team 13 Black

Limpet was a tracked box-wedge shaped robot entered by Team 13 Black in Series 2 of Robot Wars. The robot was armoured with steel, equipped with a 6 inch saw and was one of the few invertible robots of its time. Its tracks were 1.63m and made from motorcycle chains, the chassis was made out of steel and only cost £28 to build. Limpet qualified from the Gauntlet in its heat, but was eliminated in the Trial after knocking down only 23 skittles.

Limpet Mk 2 was being built for Series 3, similar in shape and size to the original Limpet but with new and improved tracks and a small lifting mechansim. However, it was not finished by the end of qualifying, and Limpet Mk 2 subsequently failed to qualify. After missing Series 4, the team returned to compete in Series 5-7 (and Extreme Series 2) with the far more successful 13 Black.

Series 2
The saw weapon had to be removed to bring the weight down below the maximum 80 kg allowed.

Before its Gauntlet run, the team had stuck a small piece of French Stick to the back of Limpet in an attempt to entice use of the flamethrower equipped House Robot Sergeant Bash in preference to the cutter wielding Sir Killalot (Nemesis would later try the same tactic with a kebab). Limpet had been internally fireproofed using foil from the studio canteen. Limpet slowly trundled out of the starting zone and drove up the seesaw, Sir Killalot then came in and actually drove on top of Limpet, effectively stopping the zebra-striped robot in its tracks, before the House robot cut through Limpet's tracks. Limpet had travelled far enough to beat R.O.C.S. putting it through to the Trial stage.

The Trial was Skittles and Limpet being the last to run had the chance to eliminate defending champions Roadblock from the competition. However Limpet slowly pushed down barrels, but only managed to score 23, which wasn't enough to put it through to the arena stage.

As of 2016, Limpet remains in John Denny's possession.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 0
 * Losses: 1

Series Record

 * Series 1: Did not enter
 * Series 2: Heat, Trial
 * Series 3: Failed to qualify with Limpet Mk 2
 * Series 4: Did not enter
 * Series 5-7: Entered with 13 Black
 * 2016 Series: Failed to qualify with Heavy Metal

Outside Robot Wars
Limpet now resides in the team members' garage, its internal machinery has been removed and its tracks have since rotted away. According to the team, Limpet's empty chassis often acted as a home for mice during the winter seasons. Limpet's successor 13 Black has also been retired.

Some of the team now compete with a featherweight robot called Clank, which is armed with a full pressure flipper, and antweight robots named Ant Ratchet and Ant Clank, which are based on the popular Sony PlayStation series Ratchet & Clank.

They are currently building Nefarious, a horizontal spinner, for the Beetleweight category. Whilst building Nefarious, John Denny built Limpet XS, also for the Beetleweight category, being a four wheeled rambot armed with a wedge, similar to its heavyweight counterpart. It lost both battles that it competed in, being beaten by Anvil and Spinza. It then returned at the next beetleweight event, which was the UK heavyweight championship, in which it won, beating Newton in the final. Limpet XS later competed in The Iron Games, in Wolverhampton, were it was hosted by Kinematic Events, in which won again, defeating Newton once again in the final.

In 2014, John Denny claimed on the Official Robot Wars Facebook page that he was going to rebuild/update Limpet so it can return to combat in 2015. "I`ve got the body of Limpet and its being rebuilt/updated to fight again next year."

- John Denny on the Official Robot Wars Facebook page.

Trivia

 * Limpet is one of 20 robots never to fight in robot combat, having only ever been in the Gauntlet or Trial.