Bot Will Eat Itself

Bot Will Eat Itself
Participation Information
US 1994-1997 Events	1997
Team Information
Team	Team UCSB
Team Members	Jason Bardis
Sponsors	UC Santa Barbara (UCSB)
From	Goleta, California
Other Entries	P.A.T. (UCSB, 1996) The General (UCSB, 1996) Rampage (1997) Webster (UCSB, 1997)
Robot Statistics
Power	Cordless drill battery packs
Drive	C & H Sales motors
Weapons	Cutting disc arms Chain flail
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Bot Will Eat Itself was a featherweight robot which competed exclusively in the 1997 US Robot Wars competition. It was entered by Jason Bardis, who entered Rampage into the previous year's event. Bot Will Eat Itself enjoyed moderate success during the event, chalking up a win over Bayou Bengle before losing to Red-Green.

Team UCSB entered numerous other robots throughout the 1996 and 1997 competitions, such as Webster, P.A.T. and The General.

Design

According to Jason Bardis, Bot Will Eat Itself was "based somewhat" on Rampage. Like its predecessor, Bot Will Eat Itself was a trapezoid-shaped robot with dual wedges at the front and back. The robot also featured steel hinges on the sides to act as skirts to deter opponents from getting in underneath, though these proved ineffective in battle.

Bot Will Eat Itself borrowed weaponry from Bardis' 1996 entry - twin Makita circular saws powered by 14.4V Craftsman motors designed to cut into its opposition from overhead. Each saw was attached to a spring-loaded arm which would rise on impact with an opponent, seeking to cause additional damage. Attached to one end was a chain flail, salvaged from an off-the-shelf chainsaw.

It also used a unique drive system consisting of two independent modules directly driving a wheel, each powered by a cordless drill battery and driven by Novak Rooster speed controllers. Both modules were attached to its shell by hinges, allowing for variable ground clearance and for Bot Will Eat Itself to maintain contact with the arena floor even when lifted from one end. The shell would rest on ball castors, which were often broken by the concrete arena floor.

Bot Will Eat Itself also used the same aluminum armour as Rampage, with a more abstract paint scheme utilising white outlines and different shades of green. This was an airbrush finish done by Tom Dragnes, making it look like an "scary robot turtle", according to Bardis.

Robot History

1997 US Championship

Bot Will Eat itself first fought against Bayou Bengle in a dual featherweight battle, in tandem with The Rat vs. TKO. Immediately, Bot Will Eat Itself was charged down by The Rat, but the Team UCSB robot evaded its charge and targeted its intended opponent. The pair met in the middle of the arena, which resulted in Bot Will Eat Itself riding up Bayou Bengle's front wedge and sliding down its side. This resulted in the front weapon on Bot Will Eat Itself locking up as it hit the arena floor, stalling the motor and rendering it useless for the remainder of the battle.

Bayou Bengle slides underneath Bot Will Eat Itself

Now seemingly stuck together, The Rat reversed and separated the pair, allowing their duel to continue. Bot Will Eat Itself sought to attack, but continued to drive up the front of its larger opponent. Bayou Bengle drove Bot Will Eat Itself towards the left-most arena wall, and as it stopped momentarily, turned away. Bot Will Eat Itself returned to life and gave chase, taking advantage of Bayou Bengle's decreased mobility and looking to get its flail arm into play.

As Bayou Bengle slowed, it again threatened to scoop under Bot Will Eat Itself but failed to capitalise. The wedge-shaped robot ground to a halt soon after, nudged by Jason Bardis' machine before turning away from danger. However, Bayou Bengle again stopped moving and Bot Will Eat Itself parked behind it before shoving its opponent across the arena. With thirty seconds remaining, Bot Will Eat Itself also became stationary near the arena wall before showing signs of mobility in the closing moments. By contrast, Bayou Bengle was unable to drive and the Judges declared Bot Will Eat Itself victorious.

In Round 2 of the Winners' Bracket, Bot Will Eat Itself faced Jim Sellers and Red-Green. With its front arm raised, Bot Will Eat Itself spun in place and allowed its opponent to approach. Red-Green did not make initial contact with Bot Will Eat Itself, but began ramming from the side before retreating. Bot Will Eat Itself wandered perilously close to the arena flipper, then becoming the aggressor by striking Red-Green with the chain flails attached to its one spinner. Red-Green was unable to lift the UC Santa Barbara team's robot in retaliation, instead opting to reverse into Bot Will Eat Itself, whose mobility had been compromised due to damage sustained to its ball castors in its previous fight.

Red-Green leaves Bot Will Eat Itself to be declared immobile

Bot Will Eat Itself got its spinning flails back up to speed though was unable to make contact with Red-Green as it evaded the chains and threatened to charge Jason Bardis' machine. Red-Green drove away from danger again and Bot Will Eat Itself was swiped by the flipper hazard, knocking it off balance as the motor powering its chain flail weapon shook violently on its arm. Bot Will Eat Itself struggled to escape the corner of the arena, allowing Red-Green to slide its wedge underneath its flank with a pin before lifting Bot Will Eat Itself. Utilising its weapon as a grappling mechanism, Red-Green grabbed hold of one of Bot Will Eat Itself's drive assemblies and pulled it out of place.

As Red-Green backed away, Bot Will Eat Itself could no longer move. Its mobility was assessed and shortly after, Red-Green was declared the winner.

Following this loss, Bot Will Eat Itself returned for the Featherweight Melees. It was joined by C3, Wedge of Doom, TKO, Gorange and once again, Bayou Bengle. Bot Will Eat Itself was quick to flee towards the middle of the arena and charged straight into C3. This proved heavy enough of an impact to disable Bot Will Eat Itself's weaponry for the remainder of the fight, as well as dislocating one of its 'drive units'. Bot Will Eat Itself was temporarily immobile, but was righted by C3 and continued to drive around at half power.

Bot Will Eat Itself is repeatedly slapped by the flipper hazard.

While the other five robots tussled, Bot Will Eat Itself remained largely out of the action until it was nudged by Gorange. TKO was next to attack the wounded Bot Will Eat Itself, then Jason Bardis' machine returned to life and fought back as the pair collided in the middle of the arena. Bot Will Eat Itself attempted to launch attacks, but could only drive intermittently and in counter-clockwise arcs at this point. TKO adopted a sit-and-spin approach as it launched a side attack on the UC Santa Barbara robot before running into Wedge of Doom. Bayou Bengle then looked to take on Bot Will Eat Itself, locking horns before being interrupted by TKO once more.

Gorange became the latest machine to turn its attention to Bot Will Eat Itself, ramming it away from the centre of the arena before TKO chased it down. Bot Will Eat Itself evaded a charge from Gorange and drove itself into the wedge-shaped machine before the three robots were separated by Wedge of Doom carrying C3 across the arena. Again stationary, Jason Bardis' robot was charged at by a reversing Gorange before Wedge of Doom scooped it up and drove Bot Will Eat Itself into the corner and behind the flipper hazard, where it remained for the rest of the melee.

At the end of the fight, Gorange, Wedge of Doom, and TKO were still mobile so moved on at Bot Will Eat Itself's expense.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 2

Series Record

Events	Bot Will Eat Itself Event Record
1994	Did not enter
1995	Did not enter
1996	Entered with Rampage
1997	Middleweight Face-Off, Round 2

The above record reflects that of builder Jason Bardis only.

Gallery

Bot Will Eat Itself being worked on during the event

A bird's eye view of Bot Will Eat Itself

Jason Bardis with Bot Will Eat Itself at the event

Jason Bardis with Bot Will Eat Itself before the event

The underside of Bot Will Eat Itself

External Links

• Bot Will Eat Itself on the InfernoLab website (archived)
• Rampage on the official US Robot Wars website (archived May 2 1997)