Clusterbots

Clusterbots, first introduced in the Fourth Series of Robot Wars, are a special type of competitor robot which actually consist of two or more greatly identical robots rather than one, any number of robots could form a clusterbot. Clusterbots would enter the arena together as one machine, before separating and fighting as separate robots when the battle began. The rules governed for such robots state that, although there is no limit to the number of robots a clusterbot can be made of, their combined weight must be within the limit for their weight group (100kg in the case of heavyweights). As a result, clusterbots were rather uncommon. Only four clusterbots ever competed in the UK Series: the heavyweights Gemini (the first and most successful clusterbot) and Black and Blue, the middleweight Typhoon Twins and the antweight Legion. There was also a clusterbot called Share + Destroy, but this robot failed to qualify for Series 4. An additional rule for heavyweight clusterbots states that if 50% of the team (usually therefore one half) is rendered immobile, then the whole robot is classed as immobilised, and therefore defeated. Robots fighting clusterbots would often concentrate on defeating one half of the machine as a result of this rule. Clusterbots from lighter weight classes did not have this rule, and both parts had to be eliminated, this benefited Typhoon Twins in the Extreme Series 2 Middleweight Championship, as one clusterbot was pitted early on in the heats by 259, but the other survived to the end of the battle, to enable the clusterbot to go through to the final.

Although never seen in the UK Series, roboteers from the Netherlands created a three part clusterbot called √3. The rule here was that all three parts of the clusterbot had to add up to the weight limit, and the opponent had to immobilise two parts of the clusterbot to win (half of 3 was 1½, which rounded up). Therefore, even though Matilda threw one section of the clusterbot out of the arena, the other two still managed to win the battle.

Nothing more than a three part clusterbot was ever seen in any wars.

There was a clusterbot called Cy-Clone wich competed at the "KENT ROBOT WARS " 2001 event.