- "The blade is as sharp as a gator's bite."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Ally Gator was a robot that competed in Series 3 of Robot Wars. It reached the second round of its Heat after defeating the experienced Corporal Punishment, before being flipped over by Berserk 2.
Design[]
Rear view of Ally Gator in the pits, with its official photo
Ally Gator consisted of a low green and silver box-shaped robot themed around an alligator, featuring 6mm aluminium armour, four-wheel drive, a pair of serrated strips along the top panel and a front ramming wedge. The wedge was designed to get underneath other robots, allowing them to be caught by the serrated strips and to be pushed around by Ally Gator without being able to drive off and escape. Spikes were also fitted to the front wedge and rear end in order to cause additional damage, while a toy alligator was also put on top of Ally Gator for both its battles, surviving with only a gash from Dead Metal's saw. The robot had go-kart wheels, sourced from Richborough Racing, and motors from Motobility in Margate. The robot took three months to build, at a cost of £600[1].
Etymology[]
The robot's name was a play on the word "alligator", with the "Ally" in Ally Gator standing for aluminium, which was its armour.
The Team[]
- "The friends, who live in Thanet, used to rave about "Robot Wars" at work and decided to have a go. They sent off for information, but had already started planning their entry before the pack arrived. They looked carefully at the machines on the show and noted their weaknesses before coming up with their own design."
- — Thanet Times on the Ally Gator team[2]
Ally Gator was built and entered by a team of three friends who worked together at Cummins Power Generation. All three lived in Thanet in Kent. The team captain was James Hogben, and the robot was driven by Derek Stupples, an engineer who designed the robot. Steve Everton was the third team member. According to the Thanet Times, Derek Stupples built the robot with help from a friend at B&G Engineering in Minster.
Qualification[]
Ally Gator was selected for The Third Wars after attending the auditions and running the obstacle course. The team attempted to qualify for The Fourth Wars with Ally Gator 2. In its qualifier battle it fought an unknown robot. Ally Gator 2 hit the unknown robot a single time and the latter spent the rest of the battle avoiding contact. It's not known if Ally Gator 2 won the battle, but it failed to qualify for Series 4.Citation?
Robot History[]
Series 3[]
Competing in Heat H of Series 3, Ally Gator immediately got under its opponent Corporal Punishment at the start of its first fight.
Ally Gator gets underneath Corporal Punishment
Matilda intercepts as Ally Gator edges Corporal Punishment towards the Pit
Corporal Punishment got stuck on the spike on the top and could not move therefore remaining there for the majority of the fight. Matilda came out of her CPZ to attack the two robots stuck together. Matilda stopped Corporal Punishment from going in the pit, nearly going in herself. Ally Gator tried to persevere with getting Corporal Punishment towards the pit, but the house robots refused. Sir Killalot tried to free Corporal Punishment off the top of Ally Gator but that did not work. Eventually the match ended with a judges' decision, which went 2-1 in favour of Ally Gator.
Ally Gator then went up against Berserk 2 in the second round.
Ally Gator drives Berserk 2 in towards Shunt
Berserk 2 lifts Ally Gator
The fight started off with Ally Gator trying to get underneath the side of Berserk 2 which took advantage and tried flip Ally Gator but failed to do so. Ally Gator then attempted to push Berserk 2 into the pit, nearly going itself. Ally Gator then pushed Berserk 2 into Shunt's CPZ twice, before Berserk 2 slid beneath Ally Gator from the side, and flipped it over.
- "I've never seen an alligator turn itself up and over...I've never actually seen an alligator, you understand. But can it right itself?"
- — Jonathan Pearce questions its lack of a self-righting mechanism
Berserk 2 hammered at the underbelly of Ally Gator with its axe, and then Shunt, followed by the other House Robots, joined in, securing the defeat of Ally Gator.
- "It's alligator soup by now."
- — Jonathan Pearce after Ally Gator's defeat
Results[]
| ALLY GATOR - RESULTS | ||
| Series 3 | ||
| The Third Wars - UK Championship Heat, Round 2 | ||
| Heat H, Round 1 | vs. Corporal Punishment | Won |
| Heat H, Round 2 | vs. Berserk 2 | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 1
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
| Series | Ally Gator Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Did not enter |
| The Third Wars | Heat, Round 2 |
| The Fourth Wars | Failed to qualify with Ally Gator 2 |
| The Fifth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Sixth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Seventh Wars | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
Gallery[]
Outside Robot Wars[]
Ally Gator being lifted up by Razer at the Sevenoaks charity event
Ally Gator made an appearance at the Sevenoaks 1999 charity event. It fought Razer in the first round of the competition and suffered from power difficulties, ultimately allowing its opponent to punch holes through its bodywork and lift it off the ground, losing the fight as a result.[3]
Trivia[]
- In the list of all the robots that competed in Series 3, Ally Gator was misspelt as "Ally Gaitor". This is also made in the Series 3 results section in Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide.