Magnetar

Magnetar was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 10 of Robot Wars, and was the successor to former Grand Finalist Pulsar, entered by Team Ranglebots.

Design
Magnetar is very much an enhanced version of the design precedent set by Pulsar, the robot’s predecessor. It runs on two pairs of wheels at either side of Magnetar, powered by brushless skateboard motors and a 50V lithium polymer battery, the highest voltage seen on the show. This drive makes Magnetar invertible, but it can use its self-righting mechanism to ensure that its steep wedge, which features the robot’s name in Pirulen, the font used by Robot Wars, is always on the arena floor.

This wedge leads into Magnetar’s bronze spinning ‘drisc’, using two large teeth on each side of the thin spinning drum to create maximum contact. It is heavily armoured, using 8mm HARDOX and 3D-printed parts.

Magnetar differs from Pulsar because of its reworked internals, and also a reduction in speed to 13mph, to make the robot more controllable. Its front wedge also features an extra blade, bolted onto the surface for a lower ground clearance. According to Robot Wars: The Official Handbook, Magnetar can flip itself over.

Series 10
"In it’s previous iteration as Pulsar, this incredibly well engineered machine startled us all with the power of its drum and that scary siren sound it makes when getting up to speed. It didn’t do as well as I thought it would last series and was let down by a couple technical problems. Now, as Magnetar, it has had a major upgrade and I think that Team Captain Ellis could be onto a winner."

- Professor Noel Sharkey

Magnetar competed in Series 10.

Results

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Outside Robot Wars
Although Magnetar has never competed outside of Robot Wars, Team Ranglebots have competed with various robots of lower weight classes. For more information, see Team Ranglebots.