Carbide

Carbide is an invertible heavyweight which competed in the 2016 series of Robot Wars. It was built by Dave Moulds, who was previously a member of Team Hurtz in Battlebots, as well as Sam Smith, who had previously competed in Robot Wars with Tiberius.

Carbide's weapon is the most powerful bar spinner in Robot Wars history, measuring 85cm in length, weighing 25kg and spinning at 2300RPM. The weapon operates at 20 horsepower to inflict massive damage. Carbide's armour consists of 5mm military grade steel, and 8mm aerospace grade aluminium.

According to the Robot Wars website, Team Carbide rate their chances of winning the series at '10 out of 10', and the robot features heavily in promotional trailers. The BBC also listed Carbide as one of the most destructive robot in the series claiming the spinning bar is faster than a "sniper bullet".

2016 series
Carbide appeared in Episode 1, where it was drawn against the experienced Behemoth, new machine from former heat winners Bonk, and Third Wars footballer, The General. in its first-round melee.

Although it sustained an initial slam from Bonk, Carbide was free to target the opponents of its choice in the first round, with Behemoth specifically avoiding it. Carbide landed its first blow on the exposed tyres of The General, knocking it back. Carbide's spinning bar spent a brief moment inactive after this, and needed to dodge its opponents, but when back at full speed Carbide charged into The General, removing its tyre completely, and also hitting Bonk with the same blow, immobilising it. Essentially victorious at this stage, Carbide glazed Behemoth's scoop before hitting The General one last time, and then landing some full-power blows to the now-inverted Bonk. Carbide qualified alongside Behemoth.

After its first round battle, it was revealed that Carbide's weapon motor had broken, and its team struggled to repair it in time for their next match. However, after some help from John Reid, the motor was fixed in time for Carbide's first battle of the head-to-head stage, against John Reid's own Terrorhurtz. In preparation, Team Carbide added an extra layer of polycarbonate to the top of their robot, as protection from Terrorhurtz's axe, which ironically never worked in the following battle. On the very first charge, Carbide's blade clashed with Terrorhurtz's scoop, sending Carbide reeling into the air, and bounced upside-down when it landed. Carbide was pushed around the arena by Terrorhurtz, although it usually landed a blow on Terrorhurtz's scoop at the same time, bending the HARDOX wedge. Carbide was pushed into the arena wall, pit release tyre, and flame pit. Carbide was unable to drive off the flame pit, so after being burnt, it was freed by Sir Killalot. Regardless, Carbide could not move freely, and Terrorhurtz pushed it onto the lip of the pit. Carbide span its blade up to full speed as a form of defence, but was pitted regardless. "I used to be on John's team, so I knew exactly what his tactics were!"

- Dave Moulds

Carbide was then drawn against newcomer Nuts. Despite the team claiming they would only do what was necessary, Carbide did not hold back, and landed two blows within the first few seconds, and disabled one of Nuts' minibots. The third attack from Carbide was a major blow which removed Nuts’ outer rim, as well as literal nuts and bolts, leaving them with no weaponry. Carbide was required to catch a fleeing Nuts, and when it did, two hits threw Nuts towards Sir Killalot. "Oh, look at the power! This is one of the strongest, most venomous weapons I've ever seen!"

- Jonathan Pearce on Carbide's blade

Another blow from Carbide threw Nuts through the air into the pit release at incredible speeds, and the following hit removed Nuts' wheel and put it out of the arena completely. Nuts was counted out, while Carbide chased a minibot and disabled its movement on one side. Carbide was awarded 3 points for its dominant win. During the battle, Carbide had flung a shard of Nuts' armour towards Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon's CPZ, the subject of several news articles. In its final head-to-head, Carbide met Behemoth for the second time. Carbide wasted no time, and struck Behemoth, sending the large robot spinning away, while Carbide was the robot thrown airborne on its second and third attacks. Spinning around, Carbide landed some lighter blows, still generating many sparks. A slice through Behemoth's scoop was clearly visible, before Carbide's biggest attack yet disabled Behemoth's scoop completely, with a follow-up hit knocking it over. With its srimech already extended, Behemoth could not self-right before Carbide had already pushed it into the pit. With 6 points, Carbide had qualified for the heat final, where it would meet Behemoth once again. In the third meeting between the two, Carbide's very first hit seemed to limit Behemoth's mobility. Carbide landed further blows upon Behemoth, most of which caused Behemoth to remain immobile for seconds at a time before making another small movement. Carbide pressed the pit release, with Behemoth sat right beside it. Thinking its opponent was defeated, Carbide halted its spinning blade, and drove onto Behemoth's scoop to push it towards the pit, though Behemoth flipped in retaliation. Carbide retreated, as Behemoth could only move in circles until Carbide drew nearer, at which point Behemoth reversed into the pit, allowing Carbide to qualify for the Grand Final.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 4
 * Losses: 1

Series Record
Team captain Dave Moulds was a newcomer to Robot Wars, so co-builder/designer Sam Smith's record is displayed
 * Series 1-3: Did not enter
 * Series 4: Entered with Tiberius
 * Series 5: Entered with Tiberius 2
 * Series 6-7: Entered with Tiberius 3
 * 2016 Series: Grand Final

Outside Robot Wars
Dave Moulds was a participant in ABC's rebooted series of BattleBots, as part of Team Robo Challenge with Beta, although Beta could not compete due to parts being lost in travel.

Around the same time that Team Carbide developed Carbide for Robot Wars, the same team were also producing a heavyweight for Season 2 of ABC's BattleBots, Cobalt. Both Carbide and Cobalt are extremely similar in shape and design, but Cobalt uses a sharper, axe-like bar spinner, and both robots feature different internals. Cobalt uses a white and blue colour scheme, over the black and green used by Carbide. In its first round battle, Cobalt was drawn against Overhaul, a reasonably successful robot from the previous year. Cobalt's spinner reached top speed very quickly, and a series of attacks were launched onto Overhaul, all of which deflected Cobalt away due to the shape of Overhaul's side armor. A set screw became stuck in Overhaul's locomotion, rendering it immobile, putting Cobalt through to the second round, further than Photon Storm, Team Storm's rebuilt version of Sam Smith's past heavyweight Tiberius. In the second round, Cobalt fought wildcard newcomers, Bombshell.

Trivia

 * Due to the nature of the heats of the 2016 series, Carbide became the first robot to lose a battle in its heat and then go on to win that heat.