Random Violence Technologies

Random Violence Technologies was the name given to the team that entered the widely known robot Mortis, as well as the less known Super Heavyweight Minotaur. One of the first teams to enter Robot Wars, and coming from two universities, this team was always heavily fancied to win the main competition, but Mortis, which cost in excess of over £100,000 throughout its combat history, failed to produce its fabled success, only reaching the Semi-Finals once in four attempts and losing in the first round of the Super Heavyweight championship. However, the team did have one final success in its final tournament, winning the War of Independence of Series 4. The team also won the Best Engineered award in Series 1 and the Most Aggresive Robot award in America after competing in Battlebots. Mortis was also given an Honourable Mention in The Combat Robot Hall of Fame. All of the team's robots were given to Team Bud in late 2009.

Popularity
"The robot everyone loves to hate"

- Jonathan Pearce, on Mortis

The team's competitive spirit and their technological boasting made them very unpopular throughout Robot Wars, which often lead to good-natured booing from the audience and other roboteers in the pits whenever they won a battle, and cheering whenever they lost. In Series 1, the roboteers in the pits were cheering Recyclopse as it came back into the pits after defeating Mortis in the heat final on a judges' decision, and the Mortis team did even protest that they should've won, though the decision still stood. In Series 2, their unpopularity was greatened when they passed the semi final trials at the expense of Napalm after being a second chance after one of the tracks of Mortis broke in the first run and the House Robots having scored points for them in the second try. However, Rob Knight did protest at this act of producer interference, complaining that a second run would be unfair on the other competitors. His pleas went ignored, although Rob Knight refused to drive Mortis so team member Ben Impey controlled it in the second trial run and the subsequent battle against Panic Attack. In Series 3, the roboteers booed in the pits when they easily beat Ming the Merciless but then cheered on Gravedigger in the next round and applauded when Gravedigger pitted Mortis.

Hands-Free Operating System
"Is that over the top enough for you?"

- Arthur Chillcot as the team unveil the Hands-Free device

For Series 3, the Mortis team developed a Hands-Free Operating System, so named because it freed the operator from having to hold the controller in his hands. The device itself is relatively simple. It is designed like a parachute, with two parallel rods in place of a chute. A pullcord that deploys the rods, which point forwards relative to the wearer when fully opened. The controller is fitted to a tray like structure, which can be slid onto the rods, providing a flat and stable surface that it can be rested upon. Since the operator no longer has to hold the controller in his hands, his forefingers and thumbs can be used to grasp and move the analog sticks, as opposed to just pushing them around with his thumbs. One possible benefit of this setup is relief from "Roboteer's Thumb," a painful sensation in the thumb's distal phalanx, caused by pushing the sticks with one's thumbs. In theory, the hands-free device also allows the operator greater control over the robot and increased precision of movements, however it is unknown if the device had any effect on Mortis's performance. Nevertheless, it demonstrated the ingenuity of the Mortis team and how Robot Wars helped to develop new technology.

Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 13
 * Losses: 6

Series Record

 * Series 1: Heat Final with Mortis
 * Series 2: Semi-Finals, Arena with Mortis and Super Heavyweight, Round 1 with Minotaur
 * Series 3: Heat, Round 2 with Mortis
 * Series 4: Heat Final with Mortis
 * Series 5-6: Did not enter
 * Series 7: Failed to qualify with Mortis