Ajjay

Ajjay
Ajjay
Participation Information
UK Series	Extreme 1
Team Information
Team Members	John Shepherd Liam Ryan
Robot Statistics
Weight	100kg
Dimensions	1.10m x 1.10m x 0.25m
Power	12V motors
Weapons	4 x flailing arms
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"Mmm, big words from the pits from the Ajjay team. Big weaponry, four expanding flail arms that retract into the body... yeah, I'll wait to see them in action, these are first time competitors."

— Jonathan Pearce introduces Ajjay

Ajjay was a competitor robot from Tilehurst, Reading, that fought in the first series of Robot Wars Extreme. It competed exclusively in a Wild Card Warriors battle against Series 4 Grand Finalist Stinger, which it lost on a judges' decision.

Design

Ajjay was a circular grey and red robot armed with a set of four flailing arms mounted on its body. These flails were initially intended to form part of a full-body spinner, where they would extend and retract in and out of the robot's body, but the mechanism failed to work as intended, so the robot was converted into a sit-and-spin type before it fought. Needless to say, Ajjay boasted good speed, agility and pushing power in its only battle, but suffered from poor control as a result of the team's lack of experience in the arena.

Robot History

Extreme Series 1

Ajjay meets Stinger in the middle of the arena

Ajjay fought Stinger in the first Wild Card Warriors battle of the series, with the team expressing confidence in the pits about potentially beating the Series 4 Grand Finalist. It started by driving round Stinger and spinning over a flame jet, before ramming Stinger and trying to get its spinning flails to work. With its weapon failing to operate as intended, Ajjay rammed Stinger again twice more, toppling it over and pushing it close to the wall as it slammed into the pit release button. It backed away, slamming into Stinger again, only to drive into a CPZ and narrowly escape an attack from Sir Killalot.

"Where's Ajjay going here? Ajjay! Ajjay...Ajjay? OK? KO? I think so."

— Jonathan Pearce watches on as Ajjay backs into Sir Killalot right after dodging him

Ajjay is lifted up by Sir Killalot

Ajjay dodged Stinger as it tried to hit the newcomer with its mace, but mistakenly backed into Sir Killalot, who grabbed hold of it with his jaws and lifted it before letting it go and allowing Ajjay to escape. It promptly spun over the Flame Pit and around the arena, before slamming into Ajjay again and dodging more of its mace attacks, despite lingering close to the side walls. Eventually, Stinger was grabbed by Sir Killalot after it too backed into his CPZ, and was lifted and carried across the arena before being dumped over the wall seconds after 'cease' was called. The battle went to the judges, who voted 2-1 in favour of Stinger despite this late attack from Sir Killalot.

Craig Charles: "You're a spinner, but you can't drive forward and spin at the same time, you just spin and then drive and then spin"

Liam Ryan: "Well, the way it was supposed to work is that we could do that, but it don't work how it's supposed to work and against these guys, we thought we'd try to just bash them into the pit. That was the tactic."

Craig Charles: "I tell you one thing, though, you don't bring a robot that doesn't work into the Robot Wars arena. It can sometimes end in tears."

Liam Ryan: "Well, no doubt we'll find out, or we have found out"

— Discussing Ajjay's weapons

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 1

Outside Robot Wars

Critter, the team's Techno Games entry

The team also competed in Techno Games 2002, entering the Heavyweight Sprint event with Critter, which lost its first race to eventual champion Scuttle B-Squared.

Critter's successor, Cyborg, was also built for the Heavyweight Sprint event, and competed in the 2003 Techno Games. Although Cyborg once again lost to Scuttle B-Squared, only two robots participated in the event in the show's final year, meaning Cyborg was awarded a silver medal.