6 Million Dollar Mouse

6 Million Dollar Mouse
Participation Information
US Season	1
Team Information
Team	Team Litewav
Team Members	Chris Hannold Greg Hannold Richard Hannold
From	Linwood, North Carolina
Robot Statistics
Weight	220lbs
Dimensions	36" x 26" x 23"
Power	24v Electric Motors
Weapons	Spinning Blade
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"It's going to make all the other robots go "squeak"!"

— The team's introduction

6 Million Dollar Mouse (alternatively spelt as $6 Million Mouse), was a robot from North Carolina that competed in Season 1 of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. Despite being considered a comedy entry, as reinforced numerous times by Stefan Frank, it finished runners-up in the Civil War, although it lost in the first round in the War of Independence and the US Championship.

Its name was a pun on the American television show, The Six Million Dollar Man.

Design

6 Million Dollar Mouse in the arena

6 Million Dollar Mouse was a box shaped robot themed around a bionic mouse, with eyes, fur and fluffy ears on its top panels. It was armed with a spinning lawnmower blade as its weapon, referred to by the team as the "Whiskers of Death" which was designed to resemble the mouse's 'nose' and proved effective in causing damage to other robots. It also had a large "tail" used for self righting, powered by a linear actuator.

The robot was a modified version of the team's first Robotica entry, HandsOFF!, being improved from the original by having the blade at an angle, whereas it was flat on the top of HandsOFF!, and improved speed, which was achieved by changing the gear reduction ratio.

"We were also one of the slower bots in Robotica. We decided to change gear reduction ratios from 16:1 to 10.5:1. This puts us up in the 15mph range I think. I'll have to do the math later."

— Litewav Robotics website on the change to the gear reduction ratio

The robot was powered by four 24 Volt electric motors, and the tyres were from go-karts. The batteries were 3 Odyssey PC545's, it had 4QD Pro-120 speed controllers, and the armour was a mixture of 1/16" stainless steel and 1/2" Lexan.

However, despite being aggressive and potent, 6 Million Dollar Mouse had an unreliable self-righting mechanism and a high ground clearance, as shown in its defeat to Manta in the Civil War Final. The spinning blade also tended to become bent during fights.

The Team

Team Litewav in their introduction

6 Million Dollar Mouse was entered by a team from North Carolina named Team Litewav. The team captain was Chris Hannold, who entered with his brother Greg and their father Richard. Chris Hannold drove the robot.

The team's name came from the team's business, Litewav Productions, a real estate video and photography business. The team used the Litewave Productions logo on a banner in the pits.

Qualification

The team applied for Robot Wars shortly after returning from competing on Robotica Season 1. However, soon after applying, they were informed that someone would come to inspect the robot, forcing them to hurry improvements and get outside help.

"Shortly after we got back from TLC's Robotica, I applied to be on Robot Wars in England. We had some modifications in mind for HandsOFF! and figured that with those done, we would have a good chance at tearing up some other people's robots. Sometime after I applied, the Robot Wars people called and said they wanted to come take a look at the robot in a few weeks. This put us in a bit of a strain to get the mods done but we called in the experts ..."

— Litewav Robotics website on the change to the gear reduction ratio

The robot was finished for when the Robot Wars scout visited, without the self-righting tail. The Robot Wars scout suggested that it should have a srimech added.

"We mounted it in 3 places before we could get it to work but we finally came up with something that gets us over."

— Litewav Robotics website on the self-righting tail

Robot History

Season 1

6 Million Dollar Mouse first fought in the Civil War, representing the Confederacy. In the first round, it faced Union representatives Falcon.

"I've always heard that falcons feed on mice, but tonight we're eating Falcon pie!"

— Chris Hannold before the battle

6 Million Dollar Mouse shoves Falcon towards the flame pit

Both robots started by driving at each other, but as they got close they stopped and turned away from each other, and as Falcon turned and drove past, 6 Million Dollar Mouse hit the back of Falcon with its spinning blade, dislodging a small panel. Falcon retaliated by driving around the back of 6 Million Dollar Mouse and trying to use its axe, but it missed. As 6 Million Dollar Mouse turned around to use its spinning blade, Falcon drove past, then turned around. 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove at the front of Falcon, but the blade merely stopped on impact, Falcon pushed against 6 Million Dollar Mouse and it reversed away.

"6 Million Dollar Mouse, with that spinning blade, seems to be getting in there but not doing a whole lot of damage with it. The Falcon's just got the arm lifted up, but he's not really doing anything with it, I wonder if it's stuck or something."

— Stefan Frank on the two competitors weapons

6 Million Dollar Mouse nearly gets flipped by Falcon

The two robots charged head-on at each other and pushed against each other, and 6 Million Dollar Mouse got the advantage, pushing Falcon across the arena. 6 Million Dollar Mouse forced Falcon onto the flame pit, but Falcon quickly reversed off. Falcon drove at 6 Million Dollar Mouse, getting under the side and nearly tipping the robot onto its side, but despite pushing against it, Falcon could not topple 6 Million Dollar Mouse over, and Refbot pushed the two apart.

"Look at that, perfect wedge design there, just lifting the Mouse up into the stratosphere! And Refbot comes in to break it up a little bit. Mouse goes away to see another day!"

— Stefan Frank as Falcon tried to overturn 6 Million Dollar Mouse, but then gets pushed by Refbot

6 Million Dollar Mouse drove to the bottom of the arena, and Falcon followed it. 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove back up past the pit, and the two circled each other, trying to get in a good place to attack. The pit descended, and 6 Million Dollar Mouse got at the side of Falcon, but couldn't attack as its spinning blade was no longer working. It tried to push Falcon into the pit, but didn't have enough power, and Falcon turned around 6 Million Dollar Mouse. 6 Million Dollar Mouse quickly turned around Falcon before it could push, but drove into an angle grinder. It reversed, bumping into Matilda, then drove back at Falcon, ramming it against the wall.

"Falcon backing up, that arm hasn't been any use to him all the way through this round. The 6 Million Dollar Mouse has got the Falcon backed up against the rails, and now backed up against Shunt in the Corner Patrol Zone!"

— Stefan Frank as 6 Million Dollar Mouse pushes Falcon around

6 Million Dollar Mouse backs Falcon into the wall

6 Million Dollar Mouse reversed for another charge, and as Falcon drove away from the wall, it pushed it straight into Shunt, who axed the top and pushed it away from the CPZ, lifting it with his scoop. As time ran out, 6 Million Dollar Mouse pushed Falcon against an angle grinder and pinned it there. It reversed a little, and Falcon drove forwards and fired the axe, only for 6 Million Dollar Mouse to push it back against the angle grinder just before Cease was called.

"By the slimmest of margins, the winner, representing the South, the Confederacy, the 6 Million Dollar Mouse!"

— Mick Foley announces the decision

The decision was very close, but the Judges ruled in favour of 6 Million Dollar Mouse

Mick Foley: "Well, you weren't looking too great when that mouse's blade stopped rotating! It looked to me like you take the fall, almost like Lee did at Antietam. How do you feel about that?"

Greg Hannold: "We were just playing possum, we weren't worried about it too much."

— In the post-battle interview

In the second round, 6 Million Dollar Mouse faced Sobek of the Union. Between the battles, the team had to repair the spinning blade, which had become bent and cracked in the centre during its first round battle with Falcon..

Rebecca Grant: "What's your strategy against Sobek?"

Chris Hannold: "We're gonna go out hard and fast, give him a little loving with the blade here."

Rebecca Grant: "Did you fix up the blade there?"

Chris Hannold: "Yeah, it's fixed. We had a big crack in there, we welded it up. It's nice and strong now, we're gonna rip him in half!"

— Pre-battle interview

6 Million Dollar Mouse breaks Sobek's arm

6 Million Dollar Mouse had the quicker start, driving at Sobek with its blade spinning, but Sobek turned and reversed as 6 Million Dollar Mouse got close, and the blade stopped on impact with the jaw. Sobek pushed against 6 Million Dollar Mouse's side, and 6 Million Dollar Mouse turned a little, got its blade up to speed and hit Sobek's jaw again, but the blade didn't do any damage. It turned away a little and got the blade up to speed again, but when the blade hit the jaw, it merely stopped on impact again. Sobek managed to get its jaws just below 6 Million Dollar Mouse's spinning blade and pushed it across the arena, but then reversed, allowing 6 Million Dollar Mouse to drive away. 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove up the arena, and as it reversed, Sobek charged at it, and 6 Million Dollar Mouse tried to turn to attack Sobek's wheels with its spinning blade, but Sobek turned to avoid the blade and kept pushing. 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove around Sobek and turned to use its spinning blade, but Sobek reversed into it before it was up to speed, so the blade stopped on impact again.

"The 6 Million Dollar Mouse looks like it should get airborne with that rotor blade, maybe it'd be better off mowing lawns, because he's not doing too much damage on Sobek."

— Stefan Frank on 6 Million Dollar Mouse's spinning blade

6 Million Dollar Mouse buckles the jaws of Sobek

6 Million Dollar Mouse reversed, and Sobek drove at it, but missed its charge and 6 Million Dollar Mouse landed a glancing blow on the side as it drove past. Both robots turned around and charged straight at each other. The two competitors slammed into each other, both jumping up a little on impact with the spinning blade, but no major damage was caused and 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove away to the side of the arena. Sobek reversed after it and 6 Million Dollar Mouse turned, but when Sobek drove into the front, the spinning blade merely bounced off when it hit the jaw. However, 6 Million Dollar Mouse managed to get at the side of the jaw, and hit one of Sobek's wheels with the blade, then hit one of the side arms, knocking it askew.

"Oh! The Mouse knocks the self-righting bar off of Sobek! That could be a little bit of disaster if they get flipped upside-down. Fortunately, the Mouse isn't designed for any serious flipping, but that rotor blade's doing enough damage as it is!"

— Stefan Frank as 6 Million Dollar Mouse knocks the side bar loose

Sobek loses a wheel as 6 Million Dollar Mouse comes in for another attack

6 Million Dollar Mouse reversed, but Sobek kept in close pursuit. 6 Million Dollar Mouse tried to drive around Sobek, but drove into an angle grinder, its nose falling off on impact. After pinning 6 Million Dollar Mouse against the angle grinder, Sobek turned away and drove down the arena, and 6 Million Dollar Mouse got away from the angle grinder and charged after it. 6 Million Dollar Mouse slammed into the front of Sobek, the impact knocking off the side arm that had been knocked loose, and when Sobek tried pushing back, 6 Million Dollar Mouse reversed. Sobek reversed for a charge, and 6 Million Dollar Mouse turned on the spot. Sobek drove at 6 Million Dollar Mouse, and 6 Million Dollar Mouse turned around as Sobek got close, hitting it with its spinning blade, before quickly turning and driving away up the arena, only to turn around again and drive back at Sobek, hitting the jaw with the spinning blade, bending it. Sobek pushed 6 Million Dollar Mouse across the arena, then reversed as 6 Million Dollar Mouse pushed back. 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove to the side of the arena and turned, then waited for Sobek to drive at it. Sobek stayed away from its opponent and reversed, but suddenly one of its wheels fell off.

"...but wait a minute, a wheel comes off of Sobek! Sobek's 4-wheel drive system's quickly reduced to a 3-wheel drive! That may be alright for him, he may still have a little bit of power left in him to go and do some damage..."

— Stefan Frank as a wheel falls of Sobek

Sobek is counted out as it burns on the flame pit

Sobek drove down the arena, with 6 Million Dollar Mouse ramming into its side, hitting it with the blade. Sobek kept driving, but was driving unsteadily due to its lost wheel. 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove into its rear, but its blade had stopped working, so it turned away. Sobek reversed, then limped forwards, and Dead Metal came out of his CPZ after it. Dead Metal grabbed it with his pincers and cut into it, but Refbot gave him a yellow card. This did not stop Dead Metal, who dragged Sobek onto the flame pit, but Refbot pushed against Dead Metal, forcing him to return to the CPZ. As Refbot came in to push Dead Metal and Sobek apart, one of Sobek's side arms got caught on Refbot, and Sobek was pulled back as Refbot reversed, but Refbot drove past to separate the two. Sobek was now immobile, and was pushed onto the flame pit, where Refbot counted it out. With Sobek eliminated, Dead Metal and Sir Killalot came over to attack, with Dead Metal cutting into it, before Sir Killalot grabbed it with his claw and pulled it away, span it around, then took it to the pit and dropped it in, sending 6 Million Dollar Mouse through to the Final.

Mick Foley: "I gotta tell you, from a Southern point of view, the war was often known as "The War of Northern Aggression", but today, it was all Southern aggresion, everywhere! Tell me a little bit about that!"

Richard Hannold: "We did it! We had to do it, we did it - we whooped their butts!"

Mick Foley: "They whipped their butts! Can you add anything to that?"

Greg Hannold: "No, I think that says it all. They did real well, they were real strong, but we just took 'em!"

— Post-battle interview

In the Civil War final, 6 Million Dollar Mouse fought against Manta, where both teams represented the Confederacy.

Rebecca Grant: "We have the 6 Million Dollar Mouse over here, what's it going to be against Manta over here, you gonna be man or mouse?"

Chris Hannold: "We're definitely a few men here! We're gonna go in, do our best, they're a really tough opponent. We've seen them in action, we're not scared, we're just gonna go in, have some fun!"

Rebecca Grant: "Whack those whiskers around?"

Chris Hannold: "That's right! Maybe cause some sparks!"

— Pre-battle interview

Manta flips 6 Million Dollar Mouse

Sir Killalot carries 6 Million Dollar Mouse

As the battle started, Manta charged straight into 6 Million Dollar Mouse, knocking off one of the decorations, and got around the side, pushing 6 Million Dollar Mouse into Refbot. As 6 Million Dollar Mouse tried to turn away, Manta rammed into its rear and used its spinning disc, together with its pushing power, to flip the other finalist onto its side. 6 Million Dollar Mouse could not self-right, so Manta rammed it up the arena into Sir Killalot's CPZ. Sir Killalot grabbed 6 Million Dollar Mouse by the blade, lifted it up and paraded it around, carrying it to the flame pit, where he held it over the flames.

"It's a bit of mouse kebab!"

— Stefan Frank as 6 Million Dollar Mouse burns

Manta slams into the burning 6 Million Dollar Mouse

With the fur smouldering, Sir Killalot carried 6 Million Dollar Mouse to the floor flipper, where it was thrown across the arena, its self-righting tail breaking in the process. However, 6 Million Dollar Mouse landed back on its wheels, allowing it to drive away. Manta quickly responded by charging at its front, hitting it with its spinning disc. 6 Million Dollar Mouse tried to drive away, but Dead Metal got it in his pincers. 6 Million Dollar Mouse managed to quickly turn away from the House Robot before he could use his saw, driving into a CPZ, but as it paused, Manta charged at it.

"Look at the damage! It's time for another lawnmower for that Mouse, 'cause he's been mashed, he's been mutilated, he's been mangled!"

— Stefan Frank as Manta rams into 6 Million Dollar Mouse

Manta pits 6 Million Dollar Mouse

6 Million Dollar Mouse drove down the arena, driving near the pit, with Manta chasing after it, but it missed its charge. 6 Million Dollar Mouse paused as it struggled to turn, and Manta drove around it, but when Manta used its spinning disc on 6 Million Dollar Mouse, 6 Million Dollar Mouse was able to turn away and drive past Manta. It drove close to the arena wall, and as it struggled to turn, it reversed into an angle grinder. Manta rammed it, pushing it against the wall. 6 Million Dollar Mouse tried to get away from the wall, but couldn't turn, so merely drove back and forth between two angle grinders, before Dead Metal came over and grabbed it. Dead Metal turned 6 Million Dollar Mouse away from the wall, and it weakly reversed away. Manta rammed it into the side a couple of times, and 6 Million Dollar Mouse turned towards the pit.

"Manta still at it! Manta, trying to do anything he can do to immobilize the Mouse!"

— Stefan Frank as Manta chases 6 Million Dollar Mouse

Manta rammed into the back of 6 Million Dollar Mouse, briefly getting under the back, then 6 Million Dollar Mouse reversed away, driving to the bottom of the arena. It moved forwards, but Manta got around the side of 6 Million Dollar Mouse and forced it into the pit.

"Well, we've got ourselves a winner of the Civil War Rebecca, but it didn't actually come down to North versus South, a re-enactment of the war of Northern Aggression, came down to South versus South, which pretty much resembled a couple of drunken Rednecks at a good bar brawl!"

— Mick Foley after the battle

This left Manta as the winner of the Civil War.

Mick Foley: "I gotta say 6 Million Dollar Mouse, I guess Rebecca and I saw things differently. I thought you guys showed an awful lot of heart out there, she said you looked like a bunch of frightened field mice!"

Chris Hannold: "There's no way man, we're still running! We took a big beating, but we drove off the stage!"

— Post-battle interview

In the first round of the War of Independence, 6 Million Dollar Mouse fought against UK representatives and Series 4 runners-up Pussycat.

Rebecca Grant: "They're calling you rodents!"

Chris Hannold: "I saw that, but that's all you can expect from a British pussy."

— Trash talking before the War of Independence battle with Pussycat

6 Million Dollar Mouse strikes Pussycat with its blade

Both robots started by charging towards each other, but Pussycat swerved to avoid 6 Million Dollar Mouse and drove around it. 6 Million Dollar Mouse got its spinning blade up to speed, and Pussycat drove at it, but the US representative turned and hit it with its spinning blade. 6 Million Dollar Mouse reversed, and Pussycat swerved to avoid it as it drove back at it with the blade spinning.

"First there was Tom and Jerry, then Itchy and Scratchy. Could this be another epic Cat and Mouse confrontation?"

— Stefan Frank at the start of the battle

Pussycat's attack bends 6 Million Dollar Mouse's rotor blade

Pussycat attacked the side of 6 Million Dollar Mouse, but couldn't do any real damage with its disc, and as it turned away, 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove down the arena. Pussycat drove after it, and as it got close, 6 Million Dollar Mouse turned to face it. Pussycat hit the front with its disc spinning, flipping its opponent up a little. 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove away and turned around, hitting Pussycat with the blade, but the blade merely stopped on impact, so it reversed to get the blade up to speed again. Pussycat drove straight into the front of 6 Million Dollar Mouse, stopping the blade. 6 Million Dollar Mouse tried to get away, but drove into the wall. As it turned around, Pussycat drove into it, but reared up as it drove into the blade, so could not use its disc, though it did stop the spinning blade again. As Pussycat reversed, 6 Million Dollar Mouse charged at it and hit the side of Pussycat, which turned away. 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove down the arena, but Pussycat chased after it and charged into its back. 6 Million Dollar Mouse turned around, hitting Pussycat with its spinning blade, but the blade merely stopped on impact again. As 6 Million Dollar Mouse turned, Pussycat's disc caught the rotor blade, bending it.

"..and it looks like the spinning blade of the mouse has been bent! The Pussycat has done the damage here! That spinning rotor blade, look at that, it goes around and it gets bent up against his own body! Which means he's got no weapons left to fight with, he better stay out of the way!"

— Stefan Frank

Pussycat cuts into the immobile 6 Million Dollar Mouse

Pussycat charged at 6 Million Dollar Mouse, but merely rode up the front, allowing 6 Million Dollar Mouse to push Pussycat back a little, until Pussycat reversed. 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove up the arena, and Pussycat chased after it, slamming into the back. This slam caused 6 Million Dollar Mouse to stop moving, and Pussycat hit the back repeatedly with its spinning disc, though could not cut through.

"The 6 Million Dollar Mouse, looking more like the 6 Dollar Mouse right now! Is he immobilized or what?"

— Stefan Frank as Pussycat attacks the immobilized 6 Million Dollar Mouse

6 Million Dollar Mouse is pitted by Dead Metal

Whilst Refbot counted 6 Million Dollar Mouse out, Pussycat drove to the bottom of the arena to open the pit. Pussycat drove back up the arena and hit the side of 6 Million Dollar Mouse, hitting the side with the disc. Pussycat rolled over as it pushed against 6 Million Dollar Mouse, and though 6 Million Dollar Mouse started moving again, it was too late. 6 Million Dollar Mouse charged after Pussycat, but the House Robots intervened, with Dead Metal driving between 6 Million Dollar Mouse and Pussycat, before Sir Killalot picked up 6 Million Dollar Mouse with his claw, carrying it around, and dropping it on its back. Dead Metal cut into the base of the beaten US representative, and Sir Killalot grabbed it by the tail and pushed it back and forth, ripping it off. This allowed 6 Million Dollar Mouse to reverse away, but Dead Metal caught it on one of his claws, and finished it off by pushing it into the pit.

"The 6 Million Dollar Mouse is a mouse without a country. But it's got a pit!"

— Stefan Frank

In the US Championship, 6 Million Dollar Mouse fought against Falcon, The Brute, Red Virus, Shuriken and Medusa Oblongata, all in a single battle for a place in the second round.

Rebecca Grant: "One whisker hit with that, and you're outta there, right?"

Chris Hannold: "Your head's coming off!"

— Interview before the US Championship

6 Million Dollar Mouse is rammed by The Brute

6 Million Dollar Mouse immediately spun its blade up to speed, and drove straight into Medusa Oblongata as it drove forwards. The two spinning blades made contact, but both robots kept driving, with 6 Million Dollar Mouse driving at The Brute, which charged into 6 Million Dollar Mouse's front. The blade hit The Brute, but stopped on impact, bending a little. Shruiken drove into the side of 6 Million Dollar Mouse, and 6 Million Dollar Mouse reversed away up the arena. Falcon was fighting Shuriken, and as it tried attacking with the axe, 6 Million Dollar Mouse rammed into the back of Falcon, pushing it onto Shuriken's wedge, leaving Falcon stuck on the wedge and Shuriken stuck underneath. 6 Million Dollar Mouse reversed, and kept away from the other competitors, driving around the side of the arena, but when The Brute pushed Falcon, 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove at Shuriken, hitting the side with its spinning blade.

"There's the Falcon, he's impaled right on top of Shuriken! And the Six Million Dollar Mouse goes and breaks up the melee!"

— Stefan Frank as 6 Million Dollar Mouse hits the side of Shuriken

6 Million Dollar Mouse is left immobile. Note the bent blade

For a while, 6 Million Dollar Mouse stayed out of the action, until Red Virus was pushing Medusa Oblongata near the bottom of the arena. 6 Million Dollar Mouse drove close, but did not attack either robot and reversed. As Medusa Oblongata tried to get away from Red Virus, 6 Million Dollar Mouse rammed into it again, but then reversed away. 6 Million Dollar Mouse rammed into the back Falcon after it limped out of Shunt's CPZ. Falcon had lost drive on one side, so 6 Million Dollar Mouse reversed away. Shuriken was also deemed immobile, and was pushed onto the flipper. Towards the end of the battle, 6 Million Dollar Mouse appeared to have stopped moving, but time ran out before it could be counted out, leaving four competitors, 6 Million Dollar Mouse, The Brute, Red Virus and Medusa Oblongata, to go to the Judges' Decision. Despite having knocked out two of the other competitors, the Judges ruled in favour of The Brute instead, eliminating 6 Million Dollar Mouse.

"Well nobody was bashful from the beginning of this one! They all went in there, and wanted to try and get a piece of each other!"

— Stefan Frank whilst reviewing the highlights

Results

Wins/Losses

The chassis of 6 Million Dollar Mouse

• Wins: 2
• Losses: 3

Series Record

US Series	6 Million Dollar Mouse Series Record
Season 1	Heat (Round 1)
Season 2	Did not enter
Nickelodeon	Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars

• Void
• XAK
• RipOff, the team's BattleBots entry
• RipOff at BattleBots
• HandsOFF!, the team's first Robotica entry
• MiniRip

1/6

The team's first robot was Void, an invertible, two-wheeled robot armed with a rotating/lifting arm with saw blades and a stainless steel spike. Built in 1999, it was not entered into any competitions.

Chris Hannold then built XAK (Which stood for eXtreme Ampere Killer), a 50lb robot built to compete in DragonCon Robot Rumbles 2000. It had no weapon, instead relying on pushing power.

The team competed in the second series of BattleBots in 2000 with RipOff, a robot armed with a large blue vertical saw, but it lost its only battle to Atomic Wedgie. It was originally intended to be brought to Robotica after repairs were made, but when the rules were revised, the team realized they were not going to be able to get the robot down to the new weight limit in time.

The team also competed in Robotica, entering the first season with HandsOFF!, which would later become 6 Million Dollar Mouse. It lost in Heats, losing all three of the preliminary stages to Ram Force. HandsOFF! had a Police theme because

After not being accepted to compete in Robotica Season 2, Chris Hannold worked together with Douan Bigham to build Zero for Robotica Season 2.

"I had a fun time when we were in Series 1 and decided I'd sign up again. I realized that they would want some old faces and some new ones so I didn't think I'd be chosen. The announcements came and went and I was right. We weren't going to be in Series 2 or 3. We had been chosen for Series 4 if they got around to taping it. In the mean time I started working on the rebuild of RipOff, our super-heavyweight BattleBot competitor. I hadn't done a lot when Douan Bingham called me from Wilmington. He had been chosen to build and compete something in Series 2. There was only one catch. He didn't know where to start. He had an idea of the bot he wanted to build but didn't know how to go about it. He asked if I would help. I hadn't really planned to go to BattleBots because it was being held in San Francisco again. Too expensive. I agreed to help and Project Zero by Team TSR was born..."

— Chris Hannold on working with Douan Bingham

The team later competed in the third season with a different robot, MiniRip, which proved more successful, beating Hammerhead to win the preliminary stages, then beating PSHHHT! in the Fight to the Finish, before losing to Ultra-Violence in the final Gauntlet. Mini-Rip used the four EV Warrior motors and gearboxes, as well as the tyres, that were previously used in 6 Million Dollar Mouse.

Team captain Chris Hannold also published two books in 2003, Combat Robot Weapons and Combat Robots Complete, providing information on the build process of a combat robot.

Trivia

• The materials and precision welding/machining for 6 Million Dollar Mouse were provided by Wilson's Welding of Linwood. In return, the team put up a banner advertising the company in their pit area, as well as crediting them on the team's website.
• During construction, the team originally had two half-inch spikes on the front as part of the self-righting mechanism. To prevent the blade hitting the spikes, the team built a washer so the blade cleared the spike. However, during a test drive, the blade flexed due to it not being tightened enough, causing it to hit the spikes, bending them, and ripping off two grade 8 bolts, forcing the team to change the way the blade was mounted, rebuild the shaft, remove the spikes and alter the self-righting tail.
• After Round 1 of the Civil War, where the blade bent and broke in the centre, Team Litewav got a member of Cold Fusion Team to weld the blade and add support to the edges. Later, the two teams would fight in the War of Independence.
• Due to the spinning blade becoming bent in several of 6 Million Dollar Mouse's Season 1 battles, the team intended to upgrade it to a titanium blade for their next appearance, although it ultimately never appeared again.

External Links

• Team Litewav's Combat Robotics website (archived)

See Also

• HandsOFF! (Robotica)
• MiniRip (Robotica)
• RipOff (BattleBots)