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 petrol-powered circular saw attached to the back with tungsten tipped teeth. The team also had a square shaped saw blade but never used it. The signs were originally going to be painted over, but time ran out. However, the BBC liked the look of the road signs, and the look was kept. The original robot had steel armour, but this was later replaced by more lightweight aluminium in Series 2. Roadblock was also completely rebuilt internally for this war, with its wheelchair motors and other electronics moved to the front and became particularly notable for its two-tone police sirens throughout said war, which sounded whenever it went on the attack.

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
"All the signs suggests that this is a robot to be reckoned with, carrying a deadly circular saw"

- Jonathan Pearce introduces Roadblock to Robot Wars

Roadblock competed in Heat A of the First Wars, and was the first robot ever seen on the televised show as it was the first to be introduced, and to run the Gauntlet. In its run, Roadblock attempted to go over the ramp, but the Cornish machine missed and took the House Robots route instead. Roadblock was able to easily outmanoeuvre all of the house robots and reached the end of the course in the third quickest time of the heat, after Grunt's and Nemesis' speedy runs, this comfortably put Roadblock through to the trial stage of the heat.

In the Sumo Trial, Roadblock was able to get underneath house robot Shunt and shoved it out of the ring. However, because it drove off the ring with Shunt immediately afterwards, Roadblock was only placed third on the leaderboard. Therefore, this was enough for the Bodmin Community College team to progress to the arena stage of the heat.

In the Heat Semi-Final, Roadblock was placed up against Nemesis, who was suffering from a burnt out speed controller. Roadblock used its saw weapon to cut up the polka-dot fur of the Irish machine, and its side armour was pierced by the pneumatic spike of Nemesis at one point. Nemesis was then approached and attacked by house robot Sergeant Bash as Roadblock pushed Nemesis towards Sergeant Bash's CPZ, and the fur was set on fire as a result. Cease was immediately called, and Roadblock was automatically given the win, putting it through to the final round of the heat. In the Heat Final, Roadblock was placed up against Killertron. In this battle, Roadblock's armour easily withstood the attacks from Killertron's overhead axe weapon, so it was given time to work up an attack. Roadblock was unable to offensively attack, until late on in the battle, when Killertron eventually drove up onto Roadblock's wedge, and got stuck. Roadblock began to steer around, with a combination of this manoeuvre and Dead Metal ramming into Roadblock causing the Killertron to topple over onto its back. Killertron was unable to self-right, so cease was then called, meaning that Roadblock progressed to the Grand Final.

"And into the final: from Heat 1; Roadblock, diverting all opponents to take the glory road"

- Jonathan Pearce lists the Grand Finalists

The Grand Final saw Roadblock placed up against Rex Garrod's Recyclopse, Team Chaos' Robot The Bruce, Cunning Plan from the University of Reading, Team Cold Fusion's Bodyhammer and the final heat winners T.R.A.C.I.E. in a six-way melee. In the battle, Roadblock held back for a brief while as T.R.A.C.I.E. and Recyclopse bashed into each other. After Cunning Plan and T.R.A.C.I.E. then immobilised each other by colliding awkwardly, Roadblock got underneath Recyclopse and pushed it around the arena, this eventually causing Recyclopse's chain to become broken, leaving the machine immobilised and out of the running. Almost immediately afterwards, Robot The Bruce then charged head-on into Roadblock, and drove too far up the wedge of the Cornish machine, and was tipped onto its side, and therefore immobilised. This left only Bodyhammer still running along Roadblock, Roadblock swooped in behind Bodyhammer and began pushing it around the arena, using its scoop to guide it towards the arena side wall, before cease was called, resulting in a judges' decision. The decision went in favour of Roadblock, making the Cornish machine officially the First Wars Grand Champion. "Best time of my life, absolutely loved it"

- Chris Kinsey after Roadblock is declared the champion

Series 2
"Returning meaner and tougher"

- Jonathan Pearce introduces Roadblock into Series 2

Roadblock returned to Robot Wars as the number 1 seed to defend its title in The Second Wars. The robot was stripped down completely and rebuilt in readiness for this series, it participated in Heat G of the main competition. In the Gauntlet stage of the heat, Roadblock proved fairly sluggish, but still eventually managed to reach the end, this placed it first on the leaderboard, easily putting it through to the trial stage of the heat, which for this heat was Skittles. In the skittles trial, Roadblock was very nearly knocked out of the competition completely after knocking down only 34 skittles. "But the champions Roadblock, could go out here!"

- Jonathan Pearce, right before the final skittles run

However, Roadblock was saved from complete embarrassment when Limpet was only able to knock down 23 skittles, as Team 13 Black's machine lacked the power and grunt required for the trial. "...and the most relieved men in the building are the Roadblock team, champions of the last war, and only just through to the next round"

- Philippa Forrester at the end of the trial

Roadblock was put through to the Arena stage of the heat, and was placed up against newcomers to the wars Killerhurtz in the heat Semi-Final. Roadblock made up for its shocking Skittles run by reversing into its opponent and cutting into one of Killerhurtz's motors with its saw weapon. This immobilised Killerhurtz, allowing Team Hurtz's machine to be ganged up on and attacked by the house robots, before eventually being pitted. Roadblock was subsequently put through to the heat final, where it was placed up against another newcomer to the wars in Onslaught. In this battle, the Cornish machine had nothing to do at all, due to Onslaught breaking down before the battle started. The reigning champions pushed the immobilised Onslaught onto a nearby arena spike, before pulling back to let the house robots cause further damage. Whilst the other House Robots focused on attacking Onslaught, Roadblock took the time to fight against Dead Metal, coming off second-best after Dead Metal snapped off its strimmer motor chain with its pincers. Cease was eventually called and Roadblock was put through to the Series Semi-Finals.

"The only option we can fit down now is the Sentinel, every other route's got some kind of width restriction"

- Chris Kinsey prior to the Semi-Final Gauntlet run

In the Series Semi-Finals, Roadblock took the Sentinel route in the Gauntlet stage, only to get intercepted by the house robots, stopping the reigning champions in their tracks. Roadblock only managed to travel 5.45m before getting trapped and cease then being called, but this still was enough for Roadblock to be placed third place on the leaderboard overall, giving it a place in the next round of the Semi-Final. In the Pinball Trial, Roadblock scored a very impressive 355 points in a run which included getting the sphere and even house robot Matilda into the pit of oblivion. This score was the highest any robot managed in the second series, therefore meaning that Roadblock finished first on the leaderboard, subsequently giving it a place in the arena stage of the Semi-Finals.

In the Arena, Roadblock was placed up against newcomers King Buxton. In the battle, Roadblock was able to cause some damage to its opponent with its saw before both robots came into trouble with the house robots, lingering too close to the CPZ. Although both robots were able to escape, King Buxton then became immobilised after catching fire. The house robots closed in to cause even more damage to King Buxton, before cease was called. Roadblock was the clear winner of the battle, and therefore progressed to the Grand Final for the second time in succession. "You tore the wheels apart!"

- Craig Charles, to the Roadblock team, post-battle

In the Grand Final, Roadblock was placed up against the number 5 seeds Cassius in the eliminator round, this was seen as a grudge match for Recyclopse's defeat at the hands of Roadblock in the Grand Final of the First Wars. In this battle, Roadblock 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 side wall. Roadblock was unable to self-right and deemed immobilised, and instead of being brutally attacked by the house robots, it was cut some slack as cease was soon called, ending the defending champion's run. As some consolation, Roadblock did manage to win the play-off battle for third place after it was placed up against the number 4 seeds Killertron, this was seen as a grudge match for the Series 1 Heat A Final, but Killertron did not gain vengeance. "Roadblock and Killertron, no strangers to each other, this, a repeat of a battle in the First Wars"

- Jonathan Pearce prior to the Play-Off battle

In this battle, Roadblock managed to push its opponent around the arena with ease, with little retaliation from Killertron. Eventually, Roadblock pitted Killertron, securing the victory and third place for the Bodmin Community College team. This was Roadblock's final appearance on Robot Wars before being succeeded by Beast of Bodmin.

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.
 * Roadblock was also the first robot ever to complete it, having been the first competitor in Heat A of the First Wars, therefore also the first ever robot seen on the televised show.
 * Roadblock is the only UK Grand Champion (not including Typhoon 2, which failed to qualify for Series 6) to have never failed to win reach the Grand Final.
 * Roadblock Thing is one of only nine robots to fight in more than one UK Championship and never fail to win its Heat.
 * Roadblock was profiled in Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide despite retiring four wars before the book's release.
 * Roadblock is one of only seven robots to break 200 points in a Pinball tournament. Others to have achieved this are Gemini, Killerhurtz, Spawn of Scutter, Panic Attack, King B3 and Razer.
 * With a very impressive score of 355 points, Roadblock achieved the largest ever score in the pinball.
 * Roadblock is one of only fifteen robots whose final appearance on the show was a win.
 * Roadblock was the only Grand Champion whose final appearance on the show was a standing win (Razer won, but later gave the victory to its opponent).
 * 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.
 * The road signs that made up Roadblock's armour were originally going to be painted over, but time ran out before filming. However, BBC liked the look of the road signs, and the look was kept.
 * Roadblock was the only Cornish machine in the first two wars.
 * Roadblock had the least amount of losses out of all of the Grand Champions, with 1.
 * Roadblock was the only Grand Champion to have a heavyweight successor.