Milly-Ann Bug

"Milly is a Yorkshire lass, each of her body sections driven independently by 6 12-volt batteries. The blade and mandibles can gnaw and nibble.This robot could be more dangerous than the Millennium Bug!"

- Jonathan Pearce in Series 2

Milly-Ann Bug was a competitor robot which appeared in Series 2-4 of Robot Wars. It was eliminated at the Trial stage in Series 2 and in the first round in Series 3, but reached the second round in Series 4 before having its wheels pulled off by Razer. The robot's name was a pun on millennium bug.

Although it never reached a Heat Final in its appearances, Milly-Ann-Bug was a seasoned competitor and notable for its unique articulated design. It was a personal favourite of Series 4 pit reporter Julia Reed and received the Most Original Entry Award in Series 2.

The team captain was Geoff Warren, who was joined by some of his fellow employees at the electronics company Datong, who sponsored the robot, apart from Series 4, when he was joined by his parents. "The first series of robot wars has just finished and yet again they've flashed up that telephone number on the screen. I ring up and leave my name and address on the answering machine. Twice in fact because I spent so long anxiously spelling my address the first time, the machine cut out! Weeks later the application form arrives and our first meeting ensues. We began by asking everyone to fill out questionnaires sketching their robot designs. These were than presented and discussed together from which it was decided that Simon's design was what we would head for due to it's telegenicity, low centre of gravity and ground clearance."

- The Milly-Ann Bug website on the origins of Milly-Ann Bug

Design
Built and themed to resemble a caterpillar, Milly-Ann Bug featured two hemispherical pods connected by a flexible cord and featuring independent four-wheel drive, giving the robot a unique ability to "articulate" itself whenever it moved. Its armour was made from kevlar, fibre-glass and resin giving it a green colour, as well as a steel chassis. In Series 2, the robot was equipped with wooden mandibles and a horizontal circular saw, but the mandibles were replaced with static spikes from Series 3 onwards and the saw discarded. Its colour scheme also changed from dark brown and yellow in Series 2 to green, yellow and brown to resemble the colours of the Royal Naval Air Service - even sporting 2nd SS Panzer Division markings along its body. Additionally, Milly-Ann Bug also sported Kevlar hair in Series 2 and 4, which was intended to snag chainsaws and other spinning weapons, but proved flammable. The Series 2 version would be classed as a Middleweight now.

Series 2
"I once knew a Milly who could articulate in all directions, but that's a different story. Same sort of hair, though"

- Innuendo by Jonathan Pearce

First to tackle the Gauntlet in its heat, Milly-Ann Bug opted for the Ramrig route. Milly-Ann Bug struggled to negotiate past the angle grinders, but eventually made through them before being cornered by Shunt, who axed one of its eyes. Milly-Ann Bug escaped, driving into Sergeant Bash who set its hair alight, and covered enough distance to qualify for the Trial stage. After having its hair restyled by one of the make-up stylists, Milly-Ann Bug took part in the Football Trial alongside Razer, Behemoth, Elvis and Inquisitor. It started well, using its pincers to control the ball, but was attacked by the House Robots and Elvis, the latter trying to flip it. Milly-Ann Bug's hair was set on fire again by Sergeant Bash, and was on the verge of elimination as Razer, Behemoth and Inquisistor scored. Sergeant Bash and Dead Metal continued to attack Milly-Ann Bug and set its hair alight again, leaving the goal open for Elvis to score and secure its place in the Arena stage. Milly-Ann Bug was therefore eliminated from the competition. "Bye bye to the Nicky Clarke of Robot Wars"

- Philippa Forrester

At the end of the series, Milly-Ann Bug was awarded with the Most Original Entry Award for the Second Wars.

Series 3
"Do you remember this glamorous robot from last year? She now has no hair, although they (the team) promise they have wigs and her own range of jewellery!"

- Philippa Forrester, introducing Milly-Ann Bug in Series 3

Milly-Ann Bug's first round battle in Series 3 was against Bumblebot. It began by spinning around Bumblebot, avoiding its opponent's axe in the process. Milly-Ann Bug rammed Bumblebot several times more, even coming close to steering it into the pit. More bumping and pushing ensued, until Milly-Ann Bug shoved Bumblebot towards the pit again, but overshot the edge and tumbled in itself. Despite dominating this battle, Milly-Ann Bug was eliminated. "Oh no, silly miss Milly! Into the Pit! Dear oh dear!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Milly-Ann Bug falls into the pit.

Series 4
In its first round eliminator, Milly-Ann Bug fought against the nineteenth seed Pussycat and newcomers Reptirron. In the battle, Pussycat went after Reptirron first, severing its hydraulic fuel lines, immobilising it and causing hydraulic fluid to spill onto the arena floor. Sergeant Bash then set the fluid, and Reptirron, on fire, as Pussycat punctured one of Milly-Ann Bug's wheels and ripped one of its wheel hubs off. Milly-Ann Bug's hair caught fire after it strayed too close to the blazing Reptirron, but was quickly extinguished by Refbot. "Milly-Ann Bug trying to get a little piece of the action, which is ill-advised really. If I was Geoff Warren, I'd get that team out of there, out of danger"

- Jonathan Pearce

Milly-Ann Bug then ran into Shunt, who overturned one of the articulating domes, but was soon righted again, and with Reptirron immobilised, Milly-Ann Bug progressed to the next round along with Pussycat.

Milly-Ann Bug's next battle saw it go up against the third seed Razer. "I've seen this thing [Razer] in action, so we'll give it our best shot!"

- Geoff Warren before the battle

Razer started by piercing through Milly-Ann Bug's rear dome, lifting it and dragging it across a flame jet, setting its Kevlar hair alight yet again. It then tried to sever the connection between Milly-Ann Bug's domes and crushed through the front dome, before deciding to remove Milly-Ann Bug's wheels. "What a horrible torture this is! Its like watching some maniacal, horrible schoolboy pull the legs off a spider."

- Jonathan Pearce as Razer pulls Milly-Ann Bug's wheels off

Milly-Ann Bug became immobilised as Razer pulled three of its wheels off, then its domes were attacked by Shunt and Dead Metal as cease was called. Milly-Ann Bug was eliminated, and retired after this series.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 1
 * Losses: 2

NOTE: Milly-Ann Bug's Gauntlet and Trial runs are not included

Appearances in Merchandise

 * Milly-Ann Bug/Robot Wars: Metal Mayhem

Trivia

 * The team got the idea for Milly-Ann Bug by distributing a questionnaire amongst their work colleagues to get ideas for robots, then picked the most interesting suggestions.
 * Milly-Ann Bug was originally going to have 3 domes, but the team though it would have been too expensive and complicated to construct, and it would have had a very large turning circle, so the team chose to have two domes.
 * Milly-Ann Bug's name may have been inspired by the 19th century Australian bush-ranger, Mary Ann Bugg.
 * Milly-Ann Bug never had a judges' decision in its time on Robot Wars.
 * Milly-Ann Bug, along with Razer and the Cold Fusion Team, appeared in both Heat D of Series 2 and Heat B of Series 4.
 * Milly-Ann Bug, at 53.0kg, was the lightest robot to enter the main competition of the Second Wars.
 * Before the competition was cancelled, Milly-Ann Bug was due to be paired with Agent Orange in the Tag Team Terror competition in Series 3.
 * Milly-Ann Bug's rear right wheel was destroyed by Pussycat in its first battle of Series 4. Upon being repaired, it was the first to be destroyed by Razer in the next round.