Iron-Awe

Iron-Awe was a collection of robots that participated in Series 4, 6 and 7 of Robot Wars. Its name was a pun on "Iron Ore", a mineral used to make Iron. "When they tested this machine for the qualifiers, right was going left, and left was going right, so fingers crossed."

- Julia Reed

The original Iron-Awe from Series 4 was an aluminium box-wedge shaped robot made mostly from packaging metal. The main axe support and motor shell were made of steel, but with weight being a problem, Iron-Awe ended up much shorter than intended, and holes were drilled everywhere. It featured tracks, which were powered by Bosch motors, and chosen in order to create more traction and a zero turning circle. Iron-Awe's weapon was a 3kg felling axe on a wooden handle, powered by CO2 at 175PSI. It also had an additional cylinder behind the axe head. The power behind the axe led to it being the first robot to self-right by using an axe. Despite control problems in the qualifier, it managed to defeat Bolt from the Blue, but appeared very sluggish throughout the Series. "The batteries, 2 Hawker SBS15’s, were the items that ultimately led to our demise in the wars. The fact that they were 5 years old probably didn’t help combined with the huge amount of power needed just to turn the tracks."

- Iron-Awe website

The team's next robot, Axe-Awe succeeded Iron-Awe and entered Series 5, before being replaced with the Series 6 entry, Iron-Awe 2, It retained the weapon combination of Axe-Awe, albeit with drastic improvements. "After Robot Wars 5 we carried out some modifications to the plumbing on the axe circuit and managed to achieve a significant performance improvement. However, it became clear after this that the axe on Iron-Awe 2 would have to have a counterbalance weight, as without it the robot leaps about 8" in the air on firing!!"

- Iron-Awe website

Iron-Awe was built on a 40mm square aluminium box section frame, originally part of a workshop table and was sourced from a local scrap yard. Kart wheels were chosen to carry the robot, because of the size:weight ratio. The flipper could lift a ton, the robot was manoeuvrable and had self-righting capabilities but was easily flippable. Iron-Awe 2, interestingly, has been flipped out of the arena on both its appearances, one of which was by Chaos 2 in its last Out of the Arena flip, the other by Dantomkia in Extreme Series 2.

The Series 7 entry Iron-Awe 2.1 had improved manoeuvrability and a lower ground clearance, as the team had abandoned the kart wheels of Iron-Awe 2 in favour of small aluminium wheels. Both weapons now operated at approximately one-tenth of a second. Iron-Awe 2.1 was the most successful of the team's machines in UK Robot Wars, flipping the seeded Bigger Brother out of the arena in its second round battle. However, it was then outclassed by Typhoon 2 in the Heat Final and immobilised after several hard blows from the spinner.

Series 4
Iron-Awe had a very slow and ponderous first fight in the Fourth Wars against the 23rd seeds Mortis and fellow newcomers Mazakari, being pushed around by Mortis a few times. In actual fact, a lot of the action involving Iron-Awe was edited out, instead focusing on Mortis pushing Mazakari around the arena. Iron-Awe appeared to be immobilised near the end of the battle and was picked up and nearly pitted by Sir Killalot. In the end, the judges ruled that Mazakari had been eliminated. "Will it be Iron all washed up?"

- Jonathan Pearce

In the second round against the 7th seeds Steg 2, Iron-Awe started slowly again and was flipped numerous times by Steg 2. Although it righted each time, the House Robots eventually closed in and Sir Killalot cut its axe off. The judges ruled Iron-Awe out and the seventh seeds through. Iron-Awe returned to fight in the Celebrity Special, where it was driven by actress Natalie Cassidy. In Round 1 against recent runners-up for the main competition Pussycat, Iron-Awe moved very slowly at the start, firing its axe, but failing to hit Pussycat. After Pussycat rammed it and drove up its wedge, Iron-Awe got a few axe blows in, but failed to do any damage, apart from knocking off Pussycat's decorations. After Pussycat slammed into Iron-Awe, breaking Natalie's vanity plate, Iron-Awe appeared to stop moving. Thought it regained mobility after an attack from Dead Metal, it did not matter; the rest of the house robots joined in, with Matilda flipping it over. Iron-Awe tried to self-right, but just ended up on the flame pit, where its decorations burned off while Sir Killalot snapped off its axe. Finally, Sir Killalot picked up Iron-Awe and finished it off by lowering it into the pit. Natalie Cassidy then later joined her Eastenders co-star Adam Woodyatt with Team Cold Fusion and Pussycat, coming out as the eventual winners.

Series 6
Team Iron-Awe entered Series 6 with Iron-Awe 2 and came up against the 5th seeds Chaos 2, newcomers Destructosaur and veterans Mighty Mouse in the first round. Iron-Awe 2 started fairly well, axing a hole in Destructosaur's armour just as Chaos 2 flipped Destructosaur. However it then moved too close to the arena wall, and began spinning in delight. This allowed Chaos 2 to get underneath Iron-Awe before they could get away, push it against the arena wall, and toss it out of the arena, eliminating it from the competition.

Extreme 2
Iron-Awe 2 took part in the Challenge Belt competition in Extreme Series 2. In the first round against recent heat-finalists Barber-Ous 2, Vader, and reigning fourth place Terrorhurtz, it started by attempting to flip over Terrorhurtz, but Terrorhurtz toppled back onto its wheels. Iron-Awe 2 was then attacked by Barber-Ous 2, the impact turning it over, but it was able to self-right. After being attacked by Vader, Iron-Awe 2 was able to axe through the shell of Barber-Ous 2, and then flipped it over while the axe was still dug in, which turned Iron-Awe 2 itself upside-down. Luckily for the team, Vader was counted out and Barber-Ous 2 was pitted by Terrorhurtz, so Iron-Awe 2 survived. In the second round against previous semi-finalist Dantomkia, Iron-Awe 2 spent the early stages trying to avoid its opponent, but it wasn't long before Dantomkia got underneath Iron-Awe 2, pushed it towards the arena wall, and threw it out of the arena.

Series 7
"Due to the lack of time available we were unable to build a completely new robot for Series 7. Instead we opted to make a few minor changes to Iron-Awe 2..."

- Team Iron-Awe



The team returned for Series 7 with Iron-Awe 2.1, and started against three newcomers to the UK wars Disconstructor, Xenomorph and Hammerhead 2 in the first round. It opened up by ramming straight into Refbot, before using its flipper to toss Hammerhead 2 and Xenomorph around. After Disconstructor drove into the pit, Iron-Awe 2.1 used its axe and flipper to attack its remaining opponents, doing enough damage to progress to the next round on a judges' decision. Next, it met the 4th seeds Bigger Brother, which was by far the favourite. After being thrown around the arena repeatedly, Iron-Awe 2.1 spun around, got underneath Bigger Brother, and launched it over the arena wall. Iron-Awe 2.1 met the incredibly destructive Typhoon 2 in the heat final, which buckled its flipper after a few blows. Iron-Awe 2.1 tried to hit Typhoon 2 with the axe, but failed. Typhoon 2 then sent Iron-Awe 2.1 flying towards Shunt's CPZ, where it was counted out. Sir Killalot picked it up and carried it to the drop zone, where a gas cooker was dropped on it.

The team put the robot back together to take part in the Axe Attack battle against Hydra and Kat 3. Iron-Awe 2.1 was attacked repeatedly early on by the axe of Hydra and was pushed into the arena wall. Meanwhile, Kat 3 had become immobilised and was counted out. Iron-Awe 2.1 was pushed into the CPZ by Shunt, but escaped. From then on, both robots began to attack the house robots. Hydra flipped over Shunt and Iron-Awe 2.1 attempted to flip over Cassius Chrome, but was unsuccessful. Refbot then activated the pit release button, and Hydra drove onto the pit just as it began to descend and was eliminated, leaving Iron-Awe 2.1 as the winner.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 5
 * Losses: 5

Series Record

 * Series 1-3: Did not enter
 * Series 4: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 5: Entered with Axe-Awe
 * Series 6: Heat, Round 1
 * Series 7: Heat Final

Robot Wars Live Events
The latest versions of the robot, Iron-Awe 5 and Iron-Awe 6, made their first appearances at the new Robot Wars live events in Colchester in April 2013. Both also fought at Widnes in May 2013 where Iron-Awe 6 got to the semi-final only to be beaten by the team's fellow robot Iron-Awe 5, which went on to win the event.

Outside Robot Wars
Although the earlier incarnations had relatively little success, the team's later robots, most notably Iron-Awe 5, have risen to UK fame in its power to throw robots from the arena, doing so five times in a single battle. Thanks to multiple upgrades and flipping large numbers of opponents out of the arena, Iron-Awe 5 has won the Roaming Robots Championship twice in 2008 and 2010, becoming the third robot to reclaim the UK title after Chaos 2 and Terrorhurtz. As a result of this success, Iron-Awe was promoted to The Combat Robot Hall of Fame in 2009.

Trivia

 * Of all of the out of the arena flips, Iron-Awe's was against the highest seed ever to go out, Bigger Brother (4).
 * Iron-Awe is one of only fifteen robots whose final appearance on the show was a win.
 * The Iron-Awe 2 version of the machine is the only robot that went out of the arena in every episode of its career.
 * Alongside Firestorm, Iron-Awe is the only machine to have been thrown out of the arena, and then gone on to perform the action itself later.
 * Iron-Awe is one of three robots to win the UK title twice in Robot Wars/FRA competitions, winning in 2008 and 2010, the third of the three to achieve this feat.
 * Iron-Awe 6 broke the record for the quickest battle involving 4 robots in all FRA competitions, in a Robots Live! event in 2012, flipping Toon Raider, Meggamouse and Puck all out of the arena in just 10 seconds.
 * Iron-Awe 2 was the last robot to be flipped out of the arena by Chaos 2, the pioneer of the OotA flip.
 * Since being built in 2008, Iron-Awe 6 has not ran out of CO2 in four years.

Similarities with Robochicken
Several connections have been made between Iron-Awe and Robochicken. Aside from the similar colour and the fact that both have wielded rear-hinged flipper and a spiked axe at some point in their existence, similarities have been drawn in their combat record across five wars.
 * Both Robochicken and Iron-Awe debuted in The Fourth Wars.
 * Both reached the second round after playing being dominated in the first round but surviving, losing to a seeded machine who then went on to win the heat (Steg 2 (7) and Pussycat (19))
 * Both teams entered The Fifth Wars with a non-sequentially named robot (Axe-Awe and Robochicken Evo) with both of them competing in Heat H.
 * Both reverted to the original name in The Sixth Wars, before being defeated in Round 1 after being flipped (although Iron-Awe went Out of the Arena, and Robochicken did not).
 * Both entered The Seventh Wars with their machines, and reached the heat final (this being the furthest that it had ever reached in the main competition) before being defeated by a non-English robot (Typhoon 2 of Scotland, and Tough As Nails of The Netherlands).