Axlebots

PulverizeR, Dutch Series 2 champion.

Axlebot refers to a type of robot design that features a minimalistic body and two large wheels. They began appearing in Robot Wars in Series 2, with Wheelosaurus being the first robot to be built in this way. The most successful axlebots to appear on the show include Series 4 Grand Finalist Stinger and Dutch Series 2 champion PulverizeR, with other notable examples including S3, General Chompsalot and Gabriel.

Definition

What little base an axlebot has is built around the robot's axle, hence the name. The size of the base can be reduced to virtually nothing by housing the electronics inside the robot's wheels, as famously shown by Stinger, although most of them incorporate their internals into a compact chassis and body which effectively forms the axle, such as S3, PulverizeR and Kill-E-Crank-E. Axlebots are very often the preferred design choice for many Thwackbots, although both subtypes can built with a conventional design. A robot is defined as an axlebot if 75% or more of its wheels' outer rim circumference can touch the ground without any obstruction - the minimum amount needed for it to be capable of running inverted and doing a wheelie.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

Stinger's design prevented Panic Attack's forks from gaining any advantage over it

Attila the Drum proved too tall and offered no flat sides for Razer to crush through its body

Gabriel pounds Beast with its sword

S3 shreds Plunderbird 5 with its vertical flywheel

• Because of their unconventional design, axlebots can offer themselves numerous advantages over many types of traditional weapons:
  • Being inherently invertible, they are not as easily affected by lifting and flipping weapons as conventional designs. Stinger's performances against Bulldog Breed 2, Panic Attack and Chaos 2 in Series 4 showed it as being particularly unaffected by its opponents' lifts, shoves and flips.
  • Most of them have virtually no flat sides or surfaces, making them difficult to be struck and damaged by overhead weapons such as axes and hammers.
  • Depending on their size, their shape could make them difficult - or even impossible - for gripping weapons to grab hold of them. Razer's crusher was noticeably unable to reach Attila the Drum during the Series 4 Southern Annihilator, while during its 2016 Head to Head battle against Chompalot, Gabriel was able to push Chompalot back after the latter's wheels lifted off the arena floor trying to grab its body.
• They could offer potentially devastating damage potential - especially to internal components - depending on the power of their drive systems and overhead or torque reaction weapons. Both Stinger and Gabriel were successfully capable of damaging and immobilising their opponents through repeated blows with their respective mace and sword weapons.
• They were easily compatible with vertical flywheels. Both S3 and PulverizeR were able to use this weapon type with devastating effect throughout their respective performances in the UK and Dutch series.
• Such are their more flamboyant and persistent attacking styles, axlebots could often score highly on aggression, damage and, prior to 2016, style. Again, Stinger's victory against Panic Attack in the Series 4 Semi-Finals was attributed to the judges viewing it as having more sustained aggression throughout that battle.

Disdvantages

Ming 2 breaks The Mangulator's wheel off

General Carnage 2 flips Stinger over

Dead Metal grabs hold of Stinger as he slices into its wheel hub

• An axlebot requires both of the robots' wheels to be completely exposed and the axles unprotected from shocks. As well as making the electronics housed in their wheels vulnerable to internal damage, this design requirement often leaves the wheels and axles themselves prone to being damaged or broken off. The Mangulator and Chimera's losses to Ming 2 and M.R. Speed Squared respectively were especially indicative of this vulnerability.
• Axlebots are always two-wheel drive with a zero turning circle, making them relatively difficult to control. Such control issues were especially crucial in Stinger's defeats at various points during its run, with the latter ending up in the pit or losing judges' decisions directly because of this factor.
• Depending on their width and the size of their axles, they could be easily pushed around or tipped over upon driving over wedges and scoops. Stinger was especially vulnerable to this issue throughout its appearances, as was S3 during its defeats against Bigger Brother and Firestorm 4.
  • Indeed, they were not entirely immune to being grabbed or damaged by gripping or overhead weapons either. Razer was successfully able to grab hold of S3 and Kill-E-Crank-E by their axles, while Stinger was held by Sir Killalot's jaws, Dead Metal's pincers, General Chompsalot's clamp and Behemoth's scoop/axe at various points throughout its appearances.
• They often possessed very little pushing power due to their short bodies and lack of effective wedge, lifting or grabbing weapons. US series competitor General Chompsalot was a notable exception, using a set of hydraulic clamping jaws to grab, push and drag its opponents around the arena.

List of Axlebots

Chimera

Gabriel

General Chompsalot 2

Infernal Contraption

Kill-E-Crank-E

S3

Stinger

Wheelosaurus, the first axlebot to appear in Robot Wars

Robots are listed alphabetically. Non-heavyweight robots are listed with a green background.

Robot	Series Appearances with Torque Reaction weapons	Notes
Armour Geddon	Series 3
Attila the Drum	Series 4	Interchangeable mace and pickaxe
Buzzant	Extreme 2
Chimera	2016
Flip Flop Fly	Series 3
Gabriel	2016	Largest competitor robot in the show's history. Interchangeable swinging blades and weapons, which can operate independently without the robot's wheels moving.
General Chompsalot	US Seasons 1-2
Infernal Contraption	Series 6-7, 2016, Extreme 2	Never went past round 1 in the main competion.
Kill-E-Crank-E	2016 series	Features a 450RPM spinning disc, swings body overhead to increase the robot's damage output.
Mesmer 2	Extreme 2
Mjollnir	MTV Pilot
PulverizeR	UK Series 7, Extreme Series 2, Dutch Series 1-2	Dutch Series 2 Champion.
Rosebud	Series 2
S3	Series 5-6, Extreme 2	Series 5 and 6 Semi-Finalist.
Slamtilt	Dutch Series 2
Stinger	UK Series 3-6, Extreme 1-2, US Season 1	First robot with a torque reaction weapon (along with Weeliwako) Featured a pizza cutter in Series 3 and a mace in all subsequent appearances. Series 4 Grand Finalist.
The Mangulator	Series 4
Weeliwako	Series 3
Wheelosaurus	Series 2, 4	First axlebot to compete in any series.