Bucky the Robot

Bucky the Robot
Participation Information
UK Series	10
Team Information
Team	Team Tomco
Team Members	Tom Lloyd Sabrina Ferriggi Mo Hossaini Harry Lloyd (Bucky the Mascot)
From	Hayes, Middlesex
Associated Robots	Androne 4000 (designed)
Robot Statistics
Weight	109.25kg
Top Speed	18mph
Power	LiPo 34V
Drive	AmpFlow 48v electric motors
Weapons	Guillotine jaw
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"I wanted something that's going to snap down and clamp... and thinking along them lines, I sort of got inspired by - you know the chattering teeth, the comedy teeth? And then, I went for that..."

— Tom Lloyd to Haynes Manuals

Bucky the Robot, often shortened to Bucky, was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 10 of Robot Wars. It was built by Team Tomco, who were accompanied by Bucky the Mascot, a large red mascot 'tooth' with a large mouth and moving eyebrows. In its only appearance, Bucky the Robot lost its Group Battle to Rapid, and was eliminated after losing its Robot Redemption battle to newcomer Vulture.

Design

"Chomp on down!"

— Robot Wars: The Official Handbook

Official shot of Bucky the Robot

CAD of Bucky The Robot

Bucky the Robot's design and weapon is based upon chattering teeth, and the weapon is a large guillotine-type weapon with two large teeth, which snaps down on other robots with a third of a tonne in force, classed to be a crusher by Robot Wars: The Official Handbook, and a 'biter bot' on the Robot Wars website. The teeth can damage robots directly, or hold them in place for Bucky the Robot to push opponents. The jaw also served as a self-righting mechanism if the robot is directly on its back, although Bucky the Robot cannot self-right from all sides. A 'wind-up key' protrudes out of the side of the robot, reinforcing the theme, while an air-horn was used in its Group Battle to signal the jaw weapon firing.

"I like the instant action of a flipper, but I didn't want to do something that someone else has already done, so I thought I could go with the complete opposite of a flipper and try to have something that's got that quick action, but downwards, and use that as a clamping, biting... along them lines, I made a giant mechanical set of teeth!"

— Tom Lloyd to Haynes Manuals

Bucky the Robot in the test arena

Bucky the Robot in the pits

Bucky the Robot's overall design was a very steep wedge, driven by two yellow wheels at the rear, creating top speeds of 18mph through its MPC T-64 gear motors running at 34V. However, its back end is unprotected, with certain components being completely exposed, and the rest of the armour consisted only of 10mm plastic and 10mm polycarbonate, on a steel chassis. Bucky had no base plate, which actually helped it when it fought Rapid.

"At times the mouth is literally wide open to attacks"

— Robot Wars website

Etymology

The robot's name is derived from 'buck teeth', and is printed on the side of the robot as #BuckytheRobot. The full name "Bucky the Robot" was given to differentiate the competitor from its similarly named mascot, "Bucky the Mascot".

The Team

"I'm a mechanical design engineer so making all the things move is fine, I design pneumatic systems at low pressure. This is all high pressure stuff, so that was very difficult, was very dangerous, so getting that safety stuff was all a learning curve. I also had to learn all the electronics as well, because I've never done any of that before, and some of the components can be quite expensive, you can blow them up quite easily."

— Tom Lloyd on becoming a roboteer

Team Tomco with Bucky the Robot in Series 10

Tom Lloyd working on Bucky the Robot

Bucky the Robot was entered by the Middlesex-based Team Tomco, named after its captain Tom Lloyd, a 28-year old mechanical engineer at the company Andron Handling, who sponsored the build process of Bucky the Robot, as well as Androne 4000, which was also designed in part by Tom Lloyd. He also primarily built the robot, and was in charge of maintenance. Tom Lloyd was joined by his housemates, 26-year old events manager Sabrina Ferriggi, and 28-year old maintenance engineer Mo Hassaini, the latter of whom assisted with the electronics of Bucky the Robot.

"Bucky The Robot is the only competitor to have its very own mascot in the team."

— The Robot Wars website on Bucky the Mascot

Bucky the Mascot in the pits

Bucky the Mascot "befriends" Dara Ó Briain

The fourth member of the team was "Bucky", alternatively "Bucky the Mascot", a character dressed as a large red tooth, with a big open-mouthed face. The eyebrows of Bucky could also move, in order to change the mascot's expression, although the character could not speak, despite interacting with Dara Ó Briain in the episode, with the presenter initially being scathing towards the mascot before developing a 'friendship' with Bucky after the team were eliminated. At one stage of Team Tomco's only episode, a sequence of shots showed Bucky the Mascot roaming the pits, and a text box naming the character appeared on screen, an edit that would otherwise only be made when a roboteer was speaking. In actuality, the man in costume was Harry Lloyd, the 23-year old brother of Tom Lloyd, as revealed by the Robot Wars website.

Sabrina Ferriggi: "In these high-pressure situations, the Mascot tends to, erm… wander around a lot."

Mo Hossaini: "Picks up team morale!"

— Team Tomco as Bucky the Mascot wanders around The Pits before Bucky the Robot’s battle with Vulture

Robot History

Series 10

Dara Ó Briain: "Yes, yes, this show is all about engineering and creating impressive robots. Not just about engineering, is it though?"

Tom Lloyd: "It’s about putting on a show."

Dara Ó Briain: "It’s about putting on a show, isn’t it, Tom from Bucky? We’re very, very quickly going to pan to that guy. Who’s that guy?"

Tom Lloyd: "Erm, this is Mo…"

Dara Ó Briain: "I didn’t mean Mo, I meant that guy in the tooth."

Tom Lloyd: "Oh… that’s Bucky the Mascot."

— Dara Ó Briain and Tom Lloyd introduce Bucky the Mascot prior to Team Tomco’s debut

Bucky the Robot falls foul of Fog of War

Bucky the Robot competed in Heat C of Series 10. In its Group Battle, it faced Series 9 returnee Rapid and fellow newcomer Track-tion. Bucky the Robot immediately fired its jaw open and drove past Track-tion, its jaw shutting and opening again as it veered close to Matilda’s CPZ. It lowered its jaw again as it was being pushed by Rapid, and momentarily stopped as ‘Fog of War’ was activated; nevertheless, Bucky the Robot opened its jaw again, and chased Rapid across the arena. The three competitors converged around the Arena Spikes, with Bucky the Robot lingering in an empty CPZ as Track-tion was flipped over by the spikes and thrown out of the arena. As it drove away, it momentarily got caught on the Flame Pit, and proceeded to dodge a few shoves from Rapid.

"False teeth, so far – and we know what false teeth look like!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Bucky the Robot attempts to out-drive Rapid

Bucky the Robot is suspended over the entry gate

Firing its jaw, Bucky the Robot was rammed into the wall by Rapid, but drove away, and continued dodging Rapid until it was steered and flipped against one of the entry gates by the latter. After a few seconds, its jaw - suspended over the trench near the already-eliminated Track-tion – snapped shut on the entry gate, enabling Bucky The Robot to grasp the gate, lift itself off the floor and drop back onto its wheels.

"COME ON, BUCKY!"

— Angela Scanlon as Bucky the Robot frees itself from the entry gate

Bucky the Robot tries to self-right as the Group Battle draws to a close

Bucky the Robot backed away and dodged Rapid once again, but was repeatedly pushed around the arena by the latter, almost being hit by Matilda’s flywheel and falling onto its side in the process. Rapid threw it onto its back close to another entry gate, although Bucky the Robot landed on its wheels and chased Rapid across the arena in response. The two robots charged head-on into each other, with Bucky the Robot firing its jaw and spinning close to Matilda as Rapid got underneath it once more. Matilda hit Bucky the Robot’s side with her flywheel, before Rapid pushed it onto the arena spikes. Already immobile on one side, Bucky the Robot was thrown onto its back by one of the spikes as it tried to drive off, where a depleted gas supply prevented it from self-righting.

"There’s no more gas in Bucky; no more nip in those gnashers! It won’t matter, though, I think – are they going to be saved by the bell?"

— Jonathan Pearce as Bucky the Robot survives to a Judges’ decision

However, with the battle running for the full three minutes, Bucky the Robot avoided a count-out, and survived to a Judges’ decision. Needless to say, the decision unanimously went in favour of Rapid, consigning Bucky the Robot to the Robot Redemption stage along with Track-tion. There, it fought newcomer Vulture, for a chance to remain in contention for a Heat Semi-Final place. Before the battle, Sabrina Ferriggi worked on Bucky the Robot’s wedge in an attempt to bring it closer to the arena floor, while Bucky the Mascot wandered around the Pit area in anticipation.

Bucky the Robot grabs hold of Vulture

Straight away, both robots darted towards each other, with Bucky the Robot pursuing and bumping into Vulture as the latter attempted to get its overhead bar spinner working. Bucky the Robot swung its jaw down, but without getting any purchase, before spinning and driving away from Vulture, dodging the latter as it drove onto the Floor Flipper. It capitalised on Vulture’s mistake by pushing the latter as it self-righted, and used its two front teeth to bite down on a gap behind Vulture's front wedge. Bucky the Robot pushed and dragged Vulture into Dead Metal, before letting go, only to be pushed towards Dead Metal and receiving a hit from the House Robot’s saw. It escaped, and drove away to meet Vulture again close to the pit, before the two robots pushed each other around the arena as Vulture’s weapon motor malfunctioned.

Bucky the Robot is thrown by the Floor Flipper...

...before being tossed by Matilda after getting counted out

Bucky the Robot shut its jaw again, but without grabbing hold of Vulture, and was pushed onto the Floor Flipper by its opponent. This resulted in it being thrown over onto its side; stranded, Bucky the Robot tried several times to shake itself onto its back, but was fully counted out and thrown across the arena by Matilda. As a result, Bucky the Robot was eliminated from Series 10; after the battle, Team Tomco took photos of Bucky the Mascot with the Judges, while Dara Ó Briain held Bucky the Mascot’s arm as they made their way back to The Pits.

"Bucky, toothless in the end… oh, they entertained us. Well done!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Bucky the Robot is eliminated

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 2

Series Record

Series	Bucky the Robot Series Record
Series 1-7	Did not enter
Series 8	Did not enter
Series 9	Did not enter
Series 10	Heat, Round 1

Gallery

Uncropped official photo

Bucky the Robot is taken to The Pits

Bucky the Robot in the arena

Outside Robot Wars

Griffin

Team Tomco with Griffin

In the same year that Team Tomco built Bucky the Robot, the team were invited to compete in the Chinese TV show King of Bots. They competed in the inaugural season with Griffin, a compact, tall robot with a crushing beak weapon, flexible 'wings' and a birdlike design. Team Tomco continued their trend of featuring a comedy mascot in a suit, with the fourth team member dressed as a griffin. As with Bucky the Robot, Griffin's success was limited - in the first round, it lost to Moment on a Judges' decision after the latter's bar spinner damaged Griffin's hydraulics system, front forks and sides. Griffin also fought in a nine-robot Rumble at the end of Season 1, which it lost after getting thrown onto its side by Dark Knight and being left unable to self-right.

Griffin Mk II

For the associated Chinese show, This is Fighting Robots, Team Tomco entered a new version of Griffin, Griffin Mk II, with a completely new design and different jaws. Griffin Mk II also features a four-wheel drive system and a set of interchangeable lifters which are used in conjunction with the crushing jaws, themselves also interchangeable. It first fought a preliminary battle to impress the celebrity team captains, and was selected by Zhang Yishan after clamping and ramming Unlimited Numbers into one of the grinder mounts during the battle. As a result, Griffin Mk II participated in the main competition as a member of Yishan's team. In its main rumble, it fought Blue, Bonfire and Ninja, but was immobilised by a hammer in the corner of the arena. After this performance, Zhang Yishan dropped Griffin Mk II from his team, eliminating it from the competition.

Following a six-year absence from combat, the chassis of Griffin Mark II was acquired in 2024 by Shane Lale, who began operating it at UK live events under the Drive By name. Appearances included the Crawley (7-8 September) and Stoke-on-Trent (26-27 October) legs of the 2024 Robots Live!/MechMania tour, as well as Extreme Robots Colchester on 14-15 September the same year. In lieu of a working lifter mechanism, the ex-Team Tomco Drive By was prepared with hinged front forks and HDPE panels covering the top of its centre bulkhead.

MechMania

At MechMania Crawley (7-8 September), the heavyweight Drive By made its UK combat debut against King Buxton in the main televised competition. Despite encountering control issues throughout, it demonstrated its speed and ramming power to last for the full three minutes, while surviving lifts and an attempted pitting by the Robot Wars veteran. Drive By lost the unanimous decision to King Buxton, but still collected its first competition point regardless.

Lieutenant Bam

Lieutenant Bam

Harry Lloyd, known for dressing as the Team Tomco mascots in Robot Wars and King of Bots, also entered his own machine into This is Fighting Robots. This machine, Lieutenant Bam, was based upon a tank, and was armed with interchangeable overhead weapons inspired by the turret of army vehicles. In its preliminary rumble, Harry Lloyd's machine ironically fought Griffin Mk II, and after being flipped by a Grinder on the side of the arena, Lieutenant Bam self-righted, and was selected to join Sa Beining's team. Lieutenant Bam was chosen to represent its team in a rumble with Mr Hippo, Greedy Snake and Tungsten, and stayed out of the way while Mr Hippo immobilised Tungsten, and Tungsten then threw Mr Hippo into the arena wall. Lieutenant Bam then came in and pounded the motionless Mr Hippo, receiving the credit for its knockout. Lieutenant Bam then landed several blows on Tungsten, which had been rendered weaponless, and won the battle on a Judges' decision. Lieutenant Bam next fought in a Tag Team battle, where it was partnered with Switch to battle the reigning King of Bots champion Spectre and its teammate ORBY Blade, but Lieutenant Bam was pitted by Spectre, and was eliminated from the competition. Lieutenant Bam also fought in the Eight-robot Rumble towards the end of the series, and reached the final four robots, but when the battle was sent to a Judges' decision, Lieutenant Bam was deemed to have been immobilised.

Capers!

CAD of Capers!

Capers! in August 2019

Tom Lloyd also built a new heavyweight robot to compete in live events named Capers!, a 110kg robot armed with a flipping/grabbing wedge, and a swinging chain tail. It made its first combat appearance at Extreme Robots in Guildford, held in June 2018, where it fought against Suspension and ScrappaChucka in one melee which was halted abruptly due to a gas leak from Capers! It also entered into a melee against Suspension and Beast, and a five-way battle with Manta, Eruption, Audacious and Suspension.

In August 2019, Capers! was sold on eBay to Will Owen and Team RcRobotics, who maintained its presence at live events for some time. Notably, it would appear at the FRA UK Championships in Stevenage and the Extreme Robots Cheltenham event later the same year. Capers! would be among the heavyweights in attendance for the Robots Live! Crawley event in October 2021, the first such event to be held in the UK since the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. In July 2022, it was seen again at Robots Live! Stoke-on-Trent, before being rebuilt and renamed Leviathan for the 2023 season.

Capers! after being rebranded to Leviathan

Now sporting a dark blue/purple paint scheme, Leviathan made its first appearance at Extreme Robots Brentwood on 27-28 May 2023, taking part in two 'Fight Club' melees. Team RcRobotics would attend the following month's Guildford event in a similar capacity; their members would also captain Meggamouse in a championship belt challenge against Eruption, and operate Zadkiel's spinner against Aftershock.. After one final appearance at Extreme Robots Newcastle where one of its drive motors would break, the team would start to compete with a repainted Immersion, carrying the Leviathan name over to it.

An updated incarnation of Capers!/Leviathan returned for Robots Live! Stoke-on-Trent on 26-27 October 2024, now painted black and green and named TMI2. TMI2 is known to have exclusively participated in whiteboard heavyweight melees, held separately to the concurrently-run MechMania competitions recorded for Mech+. TMI2 also fought in the 2024 Extreme Robots European Heavyweight Championships at Gloucester (9-10 November), referred to as TM1, finishing second in its opening melee as the twentieth seed. However, it would not progress further upon being defeated in the Losers Melee, and also lost a four-way exhibition melee featuring Gabriel, TR4 and Thor.

Flick

Flick, beetleweight competitor

Tom Lloyd also competed in the web-series Bugglebots with a beetleweight drum spinner, Flick. In its first battle, Flick was able to tear apart the armour of Snippers McGee, and throw it into the pit. Advancing into the second round, Flick was outfitted with extra armour which had been designed to resist undercutting spinners, and faced the undercutter of Rev 2. However, Flick's extra defence was shattered instantly, and its drum immediately came loose from the robot. The battle was eventually halted to avoid Flick's loose lithium polymer battery from being struck, and Flick was eliminated.

Jasper

Jasper

Jasper at BattleBots in 2019

Team Tomco at BattleBots in 2019

Tom Lloyd at BattleBots in 2019

Team Tomco (under the name Tomco Designs) later competed in the 2019 season of BattleBots with the hammer-wielding Jasper. In its first battle, it fought Tantrum and Uppercut in a three-way melee, but Jasper lost the fight to Tantrum and the battle was not televised. Instead, Jasper's only televised battle of the season was a head-to-head against HUGE, where it removed its hammer head in an attempt to use the weapon as a lifter and grappler. Multiple blows from HUGE's vertical spinner immobilised Jasper regardless, resulting in it suffering a second defeat by knockout. A further three-way rumble against Petunia and BattleSaw also saw Jasper lose to the Dutch crusher on a judges' decision, despite immobilising BattleSaw at an early point in the match. This proved to be Jasper's last BattleBots fight, which also went untelevised.

On 8-9 June 2019, Jasper attended Extreme Robots Guildford, with pink HDPE bulkheads and hammer/wedge configurations not seen in BattleBots. It is known to have fought in two melees, one of which involved fighting three spinners, including Team Roaming Robots' own Galactus.

Alongside Capers!, Jasper was purchased on eBay in August 2019, being acquired by Scottish roboteer Daniel Hawksey. Hawksey and his team - Kinetic Energy Robotics (alternatively KE Robotics) - would later repair and bring it to RoboNerd in September 2022 as a static display. Fully rebuilt to working order during this time, Jasper has since become a regular competitor at Mechatrons RoboRiot events held in Dublin, Ireland, finishing in the top 8 in 2022 and making a further appearance in the 2023 running. In its current incarnation, it features a revised purple and green colour scheme and larger wheelguards, while the mace hammer can be exchanged for powerful electric lifting arms.

Jasper in the pits at Robots Live!/MechMania Grantham, July 2024, under the ownership of Kinetic Energy Robotics

A "Mk3" update for 2023 events introduced new wheels and a new selection of interchangeable front end attachments, the latter first seen at RoboRiots. On 20-21 April 2024, Jasper (upgraded to its "version 3.5" specification) returned to Extreme Robots at their inaugural Doncaster event, showing highly competitive performances against more experienced competitors from Robot Wars and the live circuit. Highlights included a Tag Team win in the second show, where it helped The Saint immobilise Leviathan and The Alpha, and the Show 3 final, where it turned Iron-Awe 6 over and caused it to be stranded on its back in an arena corner. The Tag Team win allowed Team Divinity to gain enough points to qualify for and win the overall Show 2 final with Gabriel.

MechMania

On 12 June 2024, Jasper and KE Robotics were announced to compete in the inaugural MechMania tour, run in collaboration with Robots Live! Further upgrades were implemented in preparation for the tour, including more angular wheelguards, making this incarnation "version 4" according to the team.

Jasper first fought at the opening stage in Grantham (13-14 July), facing Audacious in its competition bout on the 14th. A version of its lifter with an inward-facing clamping spike was used, initially allowing it to flip and control Team Ironclads' thwackbot into house robot Goliath. Upon throwing Audacious into the Thunder Drum hazard, Jasper jabbed through the bottom of the former's left wheel well in an attempt to pit it. When another flick prevented Audacious from dropping in, it resorted to flipping and stacking Audacious on the wall to win by knockout. At the end of the same show, Jasper returned for an eleven-way whiteboard rumble, at one point flipping second-place finisher Six - a rebranded Iron-Awe 6 - with its arm.

Jasper continued its strong form at Crawley (7-8 September), with KE Robotics introducing a power increase for the lifter ('up to 50 amps' according to Daniel Hawksey) and additional HDPE layers for its front wedge sections. These upgrades allowed it to secure another dominant knockout win over Mako, where a flip from Jasper's arm caused the former to self-right and get stuck against one of the Thunder Drum mounts.

Chick

Chick with its cutting saw

Chick with its chainsaw

To compete in a South Korean live event, Tom Lloyd built his first 1lb (450g) robot Chick, armed with an interchangeable cutting saw on a moving arm, and chainsaw weapon. Tom Lloyd documented the build of his robot in a YouTube series with Dave Moulds, who was building his own 1lb robot for the same event.

Trivia

• Both Bucky the Robot and Androne 4000 represented the same company, and Team Tomco are credited for designing Androne 4000.
• Team Tomco were one of only two Robot Wars teams to feature a person in costume as a mascot, the other team being the builders of The Grim Reaper.
• Both of Bucky the Robot's defeats involved it getting flipped and being unable to self-right, although it was not counted out in its Group Battle.
• Coincidentally, both of Bucky the Robot's battles had Matilda as one of the allocated House Robots.

External Links

• Tomco Designs Instagram
• BuckytheRobot Twitter
• Tomco Designs YouTube channel
• Bucky the Robot on the Robot Wars website
• Haynes Manual interview with Team Tomco