Centurion

Centurion
Participation Information
UK Series	3-4
Other Names	Centurion II (Series 4)
Team Information
Team	Team Centurion
Team Members	Ray Tait Matt Tait David Whorlow (Series 3) Jeff Bradford (Series 4)
From	Dagenham, Essex
Associated Robots	Sir Chromalot (Ray Tait)
Robot Statistics
Weight	78.2kg
Dimensions	0.50m x 1.10m x 0.8m
Clearance	1cm
Top Speed	15mph
Drive	2x Bosch 750W motors
Weapons	Lifting forks and rear axe
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"This Centurion will go Rome-ing the arena floor to Caesar them all!"

— One of many Jonathan Pearce Centurion puns

Centurion was a competitor robot in Series 3 and 4 of Robot Wars. After defeating Excalibur, it broke down against 101 in Round 2 of The Third Wars. It was given a last minute seeding in Series 4, but was defeated in the first round of Series 4 after being ganged up on by Splinter and Small Torque, becoming one of several seeds to fall in Round 1.

After Series 4 of Robot Wars, Centurion was retired. Ray Tait, the captain of the team, joined the Sir Chromalot team and donated many of the electronics from Centurion to the Sir Chromalot machine entered in Series 5 and 6.

Design

"They lovingly hand-crafted that axe, which I find a bit scary."

— Philippa Forrester

Series 3 appearance

Centurion was a blocky wedge shaped robot, built from polycarbonate and aluminium armour around a mild steel chassis, 20mm b 4mm bob section. The armour was the same material used to create riot shields. It had two weapons, one at each end of the robot; front lifting forks powered pneumatically by nitrogen, and a pneumatically-powered axe custom designed by the team. Internally, the robot was powered by two industrial Bosch 750W permanent magnet motors, with two 4qd 150amp Speed controllers and ran on go-kart wheels. Centurion had a high top speed of 15mph.

"We will be giving Centurion another run in Robot Wars but will make a number of improvements to the weapons and drive. Up-ing the pneumatic flow rate and giving the axe more of an angle to pivot on are cheap and simple ways of increasing axe force. With the forks I think we will need to increase the lift height. We are at the ideas stage again so are not ruling anything out, it all depends on time and money."

— Ray Tait, interviewed on RobotWars101

Centurion in the arena during Series 4

In Series 4, Centurion (now written on the robot as Centurion II) remained much the same internally but abandoned the longer lifting forks for shorter prongs on a flipper. The flipper was capable of lifting two feet off the floor and could lift up to 120kg powered by an 80mm cylinder to produce half a tonne of force. The axe was kept, but the linkage mechanism was replaced and the positioning of the axe was changed, with the axle being moved to the back of the robot, giving the axe more room to swing, therefore increasing the power. The axe was capable of producing 15 tonnes of power according to the team. The axe head was also changed, and was now capable of puncturing 6mm polycarbonate.

"The axe head itself will be made heavier and more like a chisel to increase the force and depth of a strike."

— Robot 2000 website - News

Overall, this version of Centurion was 40cm shorter and 1 kilogram lighter than its predecessor. It retained the same motors, wheels and similar armour. Centurion also had a pair of high-beam headlights in both appearances, to point which way the robot was facing.

The Team

"I wasn't aware of robotwars until series 2 - a good friend of mine, Don Davis mentioned it to me, saying "it would be right up your street" and he was not wrong. I was completely taken back by the show and it seemed the obvious opportunity to show what I could do."

— Ray Tait on Robot2000

The team in Series 3

The team in Series 4

Team Centurion were based in Dagenham, and was captained by Ray Tait, the driver and builder of Centurion. He was consistently joined by his brother Matt Tait, who designed the robot, did the artwork and helped the robot's construction. The two brothers were accompanied by their friend David Whorlow in Series 3, and Jeff Bradford, another friend of the brothers, in Series 4. In Series 3, the robot was driven by David Whorlow, and Ray Tait controlled the robot in Series 4.

"David does the driving and has nothing to do with build or design so he has no inhibitions in terms of getting it scratched up and damaged!"

— Ray Tait, interviewed on RobotWars101

Ray Tait was an experienced engineer. Team Centurion retired after its loss in Series 4, but Ray Tait would continue to compete in Robot Wars, joining The Hub Nuts and their robot Sir Chromalot, which he overhauled the internals and added a pneumatic flipper of his design.

Robot History

Series 3

"The day before we were due to go on we noticed that Centurion, after months of fine tuning and rebuilding, was suddenly steering erratically. The problem was a burnt out pot which was controlling the drive. You tend to find that when you really need something everyone is sold out. We got a cheap set in the end which got us out of trouble. Also in the first fight we lost control of our forks and the rear lift that sends the robot into a dive. Could have been a weak signal as several sweeps were done of the arena and the entire spectrum was clear."

— Ray Tait, interviewed on RobotWars101

In its first Robot Wars appearance, Centurion was drawn up against Excalibur, the successor to Series 2 heat finalist Disruptor in the first round of Heat J. In order to make it harder for Excalibur to get underneath Centurion, team captain reduced the tyre pressure from 40lbs to 20lbs. However, the batteries in Centurion were not fully charged, and the team did not have time to change them before the battle. The steering pots had also burnt out the day before filming, and the only replacements Ray Tait could find were cheaper, lower quality ones with poor tolerance, though Ray Tait modified them as best he could.

"I think we was seen as the underdog and everyone seemed rather taken by their gothic looking axe. I must say that we wasn't sure of our chances considering the drive problems we had and the fact that if they got under us they could ground us and axe us to death. The excalibur team gave Centurion a good looking over (especially our ground clearance) and seemed to be thinking the same as us."

— Matt Tait on Robot2000

Excalibur's axe punctures the side of Centurion

Centurion was quick around the arena floor, and as the two competitors drove forwards as the battle started, Centurion was much faster then Excalibur, charging across the arena to Excalibur's side. Excalibur turned to face Centurion, and as Centurion charged at it, it drove up the front wedge. Excalibur fired the axe, but missed. Centurion reversed off of Excalibur's wedge, then drove back at Excalibur, trying to get its forks underneath, but Excalibur hit Centurion's side with its axe, puncturing just above the wheel.

"The fight started and we could immediately tell that we seemed to be driving sluggishly and Excalibur went head on as expected, we swerved but they landed a nasty axe blow that penetrated the lexan and sliced up one of our drive wheels! Luckily the robot was managing to drive on the large secondary sprocket (which was now acting as a track)."

— Matt Tait on Robot2000

Centurion wedges underneath Excalibur

Centurion pushed Excalibur, but couldn't push it very far, so as Excalibur pulled its axe back, Centurion reversed for another attack, then drove around Excalibur. Excalibur turned to avoid Centurion as it turned and drove back at it, and drove near Sgt. Bash's CPZ. It turned away from him, but Centurion charged into it, ramming it against the arena wall. Centurion turned around to use its axe, but narrowly missed as it turned around. As Excalibur tried to reverse away from Centurion, Centurion hit it with the axe as it reversed past, but the axe merely glanced off. Sgt. Bash fired his flamethrower at the two competitors, so Centurion drove down the arena, then turned around to the arena centre, turning to face Excalibur.

"Meanwhile, it spins, Centurion. Looks nifty, 15 miles an hour, now that's quick!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Centurion prepares for another attack

Centurion charged at Excalibur, but didn't line up its charge properly, so glanced off the side of Excalibur and crashed into the arena wall. Excalibur was not moving, and Centurion reversed for another attack, but drove behind Excalibur, driving onto the arena spikes, which lifted Centurion up as Sgt. Bash fired his flamethrower at it. The spikes lowered, and Centurion reversed against the arena wall, then turned to avoid Excalibur as it drove at it. Excalibur stopped moving again, and Centurion rammed it against the arena wall, getting its forks under the back. Centurion pulled Excalibur away from the wall, then turned, and rammed Excalibur to the top arena wall, pushing it to a flamethrower. After driving back and forth a little to shake Excalibur off its forks, Centurion reversed to make a charge, then rammed Excalibur to Sir Killalot, who pushed Excalibur to Sgt. Bash. Centurion drove at Sgt. Bash as it pushed Excalibur out of the CPZ, but then reversed away.

"Centurion thought about having a little dig at Sgt. Bash and wisely turned away."

— Jonathan Pearce

The axes locked together

Sgt. Bash pushed Excalibur away, and Centurion blocked it. Centurion turned around then pushed Excalibur back to Sgt. Bash. Excalibur axed Sgt. Bash, hooking the armour, and Sgt. Bash pushed it against the arena side wall. Centurion reversed at Excalibur as Sgt. Bash returned to the CPZ, and hit it a few times with the axe, but didn't make much of an impact, and Excalibur fired its own axe on top of Centurion's, causing the two to become caught together as Centurion tried to lift its axe.

"Ah, axes locked! I don't think we've ever seen that before in Robot Wars - axes locked together like that."

— Jonathan Pearce

Centurion drove away from the wall, dragging Excalibur by its axe, until the two axe slid apart. Excalibur could not move away from the wall as it had lost battery power, and Centurion reversed back at it, hitting it with the axe again, as the House Robots came out to attack, Sgt. Bash on one side and Matilda on the other, then Sir Killalot came over.

"Excalibur was unlucky, their axe was awesome it was bolted to a flywheel and a stater motor threw the axe. Seen in the vid they fired their axe into the wheel arch of centurion and it actually punctured our wheel, battery power sadly let them down if my memory serves me, it was 8 years ago."

— Ray Tait on YouTube in 2007

'Cease' was called and Centurion progressed to Round 2.

"Phillipa commented on the speed of the robot, the lights and the fact that we came out largely untouched. The speed comment surprised me as we never went beyond about 50% of her capability and im not sure they realised how devastating the axe blow on us was! Well it was a long drive home in torrential rain and heavy traffic. We was pleased that we didn't go out in the first round but not so happy with the way she performed. We wanted to show what she could do and immediately checked out the forks which fired first time!! A mystery that we could only put down to some sort of radio interference on the stage."

— Matt Tait on Robot2000

Centurion went up against another new robot from a veteran team in Round 2, 101.

"Changed the batteries but forgot about one other important check which takes it's place along with the other 'what if's'. Felt pretty confident with the draw of 101, a low tracked vehicle with a pneumatic stabber. Was more worried with the possibility of facing Weldor or King Buxton. The 101 guys were a nice bunch and it was them that informed us of the draw. Got the impression that they didn't fancy their chances against us and asked if we would push them into the pit before the House Robots got hold of them!"

— Matt Tait on Robot2000

Centurion lifts 101

101 was quicker, charging across the arena at its opponent, but Centurion drove around 101 as it closed in. Centurion got behind 101, and 101 turned around, so Centurion drove beside 101. 101 tried turning to attack Centurion, but Centurion turned with it and turned away before 101 could use its spike. 101 turned away from Centurion, and Centurion quickly drove behind it, getting the forks under the back and lifting up the rear of 101. However, 101 swiftly slid off of Centurion's forks. 101 turned, and Centurion followed it, trying to get its forks under 101's side, but failed to get under the ground clearance. Centurion reversed as 101 turned to face it, then got under the back of 101 as it turned away. Centurion pushed 101 and lifted the forks, but 101 slipped off the forks. Before 101 could get away, Centurion pushed 101 against the top arena wall. 101 turned and reversed, and Centurion drove into the arena wall. 101 drove into the CPZ, and as it got away from Sgt. Bash, Centurion turned and drove down the arena.

"...it's Centurion doing all the work, with the front prongs, lifting up 101! Slamming it against the arena wall! There's Sgt. Bash, a lick of flame too! A lively start to this second round then!"

— Jonathan Pearce

101 knocks Centurion back with its spike

101 got away from Sgt. Bash, driving into Centurion's side, and Centurion turned, getting its forks under 101's side and lifted it up. Centurion turned around with 101 lifted up, but 101 reversed off of the forks using its track that was touching the floor, backing towards the arena side wall. The two competitors charged at each other, and Centurion got its forks under 101's front and lifted the front up. Centurion tried pushing 101 against the arena side wall, but 101 managed to slip off of the forks.

"We had forgotten to pump the tyres back up to 40lbs and Centurion was grounding under the weight of the lifted and prone 101. We decided to release as their was no way we could now carry 101 to the pit. Damn!"

— Matt Tait on Robot2000

101 pushes Centurion into the side wall

Centurion reversed for another attack, then drove down the arena, dodging 101 as it drove at it. Centurion reversed around 101's side as it turned around, then turned to try and use the axe, but missed, the axe falling beside 101, which turned and hit the back of Centurion with its spike. Centurion drove forwards, driving into Sgt. Bash's CPZ, but it quickly turned and reversed out before the House Robot could attack, backing against the top arena wall. Centurion then drove away from the wall, pushing past 101, which drove after it, and as Centurion turned around, 101 got at its side, hitting it with the spike. Centurion drove away from 101, but nearly drove back into Sgt. Bash's CPZ. It stopped in time and turned around, but turned too far and drove into the CPZ, bumping into the wall. Centurion reversed out of the CPZ as Sgt. Bash closed in, brushing past Sgt. Bash. then drove towards the arena centre. 101 drove at it, and Centurion got its forks under the front of 101 and lifted it up, then pushed it into the CPZ, where 101 slid off the forks. 101 got out of the CPZ as Sgt. Bash drove at it, and Centurion span around, then tried to get its forks under 101 as it drove past it. Sgt. Bash came out of his CPZ and hit Centurion, so Centurion turned away, but 101 drove into its side, hitting it with its spike. Centurion tried to reverse away, but 101 pushed it against the arena wall by Sgt. Bash's CPZ, keeping it pinned there.

"Ray Tait wants to go and work for NASA, the space agency. Well, hardly a performance out of this world, for either of these robots so far."

— Jonathan Pearce as 101 pushes Centurion against the arena wall

Sir Killalot dislodges Centurion's forks

One of Centurion's drive chains was dislodged by the Arena Spikes that were emerging from the ground. The weapons continued to fire but Centurion was deemed immobilised, and 101 drove behind Centurion and hit it with the spike, then rammed into its side. The House Robots came out, with Sir Killalot pushing Centurion along the wall, and grabbed the front of Centurion with his claw, damaging the front and almost ripping the lifting claws right off the robot.

"The Roman wars are about to come to an end here! Et tu, Killalote? Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it "in for me"!"

— Jonathan Pearce, referring to Caesar's assassination with two famous quotes, the first from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, the second being from the film Carry On Cleo

'Cease' was soon called, and Centurion was eliminated from the competition.

"Strangely after we lost and Chris Reynolds & the HR (house robot) guys came up to us, genuinely gutted that we went out in the manner that we did. In fact we started having a conversation on stage which really annoyed the floor manager! It was nice to get compliments from the enemy!"

— Ray Tait, interviewed on RobotWars101

Series 4

"Capable of "Rome-ing" the arena, powered by two industrial motors. The pneumatic axe and front lifter can destroy legions! But in the last series, they fiddled whilst their hopes burnt!"

— More Roman puns from Jonathan Pearce

Centurion was granted one of two substitute seeds that was brought in after both Trident and Blade's Big Bruva dropped out of the competition at the last minute. By the time of filming, Centurion was seeded 31st. In Heat I of the Fourth Wars, the seeded Centurion was drawn up against two other veteran teams in Small Torque and Splinter, in the first-round melee. Before this battle, the other two teams had agreed to team up on the seeded Centurion.

Julia Reed: "They've got 15 tonnes of downwards pressure from that axe - pretty scary, and uplift at the front, how much force is that?"

Ray Tait: "120 kilogrammes of lift at the front."

Julia Reed: "That's about 18 stone."

Ray Tait: "Absolutely!"

Julia Reed: "So you could get Killalot over?"

Ray Tait: "We hope!"

Julia Reed: "Bullet-proof bodywork there, ferocious looking beast!"

— Before the battle

Centurion's opening flip on Splinter

Centurion started by driving forwards, and Splinter drove behind it. Centurion quickly turned around before Splinter could attack it from behind, and turned to face Splinter as it turned around. Splinter tried to drive past Centurion, but this allowed Centurion to get its front lifter under Splinter's side and lift it up.

"Big Ray's an alarm technician by trade, no alarm bells ringing for Centurion at the moment and on the attack on Splinter straight away!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Centurion flips Splinter

Centurion's axe comes down on Small Torque

Centurion failed to flip Splinter over, but as it fell back down, Centurion pushed against its side. Splinter turned, getting at Centurion's side, then pushed it towards Sgt. Bash's CPZ. Splinter pinned Centurion by the arena wall by Sgt. Bash's CPZ, but Small Torque charged at Splinter's side, lifting it up on one side using its spinning disc and getting underneath. Small Torque reversed, letting Splinter go, and Splinter reversed away from Centurion, and Centurion pushed against Sgt. Bash then drove away from the CPZ. Centurion drove to the other side of the arena, where Small Torque hit its side with its disc. This immobilised Centurion, though its weapons were still working. Small Torque drove around Centurion's front, and Centurion fired the flipper, but the forks were not under Small Torque.

"Centurion standing idle! Is it too idle I wonder?"

— Jonathan Pearce as Centurion stops moving

Small Torque turned around for another attack, but Splinter charged over and pushed it away from Centurion, pushed it around in a circle and over a flame jet just behind Centurion. Small Torque drove off, pushing past the immobile Centurion, then drove around to the front of Centurion, which fired its flipper, but again this failed as it was not underneath Small Torque. Small Torque drove around to Centurion's side and hit it with the disc, and Centurion suddenly regained mobility, darting forwards, but it crashed into the arena side wall and stopped moving again. Splinter got under the side of Small Torque, and Centurion fired its axe as Small Torque, but despite landing multiple blows on Small Torque, the axe did no damage.

"No great power on that Centurion axe though. 15 tonnes of power? I don't think so, not on what we've seen."

— Jonathan Pearce as Centurion's axe causes only minor damage to Small Torque

Sir Killalot pits Centurion

Splinter pushed Small Torque away from Centurion, turning and pushing it across the arena, then forcing it up the arena to Shunt's CPZ. Shunt axed Small Torque and lifted it up with his scoop, but as he lowered it, Small Torque escaped the CPZ, and drove across the arena, back to the immobile Centurion, pushing it against a spike on the arena wall. Centurion was deemed immobile, and the House Robots closed in. Dead Metal grabbed hold of Centurion and bringing his saw down onto its front. Centurion managed to get its lifter under one of Dead Metal's arms and lift up the House Robot, but Sir Killalot came in behind it and grabbed it with his claw. The Pit opened, and Sir Killalot dragged Centurion towards it, then dropped it in, eliminating Centurion from the competition.

"Centurion, curiously sluggish, immobile throughout really. Don't know what the Judges will have made of it, if it goes to the Judges, but they've hardly moved Centurion! I don't whether the Tait brothers have got a problem there with the controls, the 750 Watt industrial motors. ... "Thrash 'em Killalot" says the message, Centurion about to be thrashed, and smashed, crashed into the Pit any second now! Well that's an upset! Out go the number 31 seeds Centurion! And in the great gladiatorial Robot Wars Coliseum, the thumbs go down for the Roman Centurion!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Centurion is deemed immobile and taken to the pit

This was Centurion's final appearance in Robot Wars. It was later revealed that the safety device's pin had sheared during the battle, and the power from Centurion had been lost as a result.

Julia Reed: "Well we said it was every man for themselves and it was, but did you know that the other two teams were planning to gang up on you?"

Ray Tait: "No, not really, no."

Jeff Graham: "We do now!"

Julia Reed: "But they didn't really, it was the House Robots that ganged up on you!"

Ray Tait: "It was indeed, yeah. I think, because in the previous wars we did have a little go at Bash, and we think they was trying to get their revenge back on us!"

— Post-battle interview

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 2

Series Record

Main Series	Centurion Series Record
The First Wars	Did not enter
The Second Wars	Did not enter
The Third Wars	Heat, Round 2
The Fourth Wars	Heat, Round 1
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
Robot Wars Extreme	Appearances
Series 1	Did not enter
Series 2	Did not enter

NOTE: Ray Tait would compete in Series 5, 6 and both series of Extreme with Sir Chromalot. Sir Chromalot also attempted to enter Series 7, although Ray Tait had left the team at this stage.

Gallery

The CAD for Centurion

A partially-complete Centurion in testing

Centurion pushes a car in testing

The Series 3 version of Centurion outside

Official Series 3 photo

Outside Robot Wars

Centurion at the High Wycombe charity event in 1999

Centurion took part in the High Wycombe charity event organised by Bledlow Ridge CC School in June 1999, with its forks having four prongs instead of two. It took on other robots such as Panic Attack, Griffon, Miss Struts and both versions of Inquisitor. Centurion also fought at the Sevenoaks 1999 charity event, where its only known battle was a loss to Razer.

After many of its components were used for Sir Chromalot, the frame of Centurion was scrapped due to being damaged though Ray still kept a few pieces of the robot, such as the wheels, forks and axe among others.

"Sadly there's not much left of Centurion apart from some poly body panels, front armour plate, lifting forks, Axe and the wheels. Centurions framework got cut up as it sustained some damage, the motors, batteries and airvalves went into Sir Chromalot."

— Ray Tait

Ray Tait also built three other robots that appeared on various other television shows;

• Skeletron, (often called Skelly), an innovative humanoid robot originally entered into the rope-climbing events of Robot Wars' sister show Techno Games. Based on a human skeleton, Skeletron relied on articulated arms and legs, along with a pneumatic system, for locomotion, using this to win multiple gold, silver and bronze medals throughout its appearances on the show. In July/August 2000, and October 2002, it was present at both Robot Mayhem 2000, and filming for Extreme Series 2 respectively, performing demonstrations to audience members as part of the 'Hall of Champions' section of the Robot Wars Experience. Skeletron remains in working order to this day, making various appearances at UK and international events such as those organised by Roaming Robots.
• Mechatron, another humanoid-style robot for Mechanoids.
• David Wreckem, a further humanoid design appearing on Blue Peter, where it acted as a waiter, and Innovation Nation.

Skeletron climbs a rope at a live event

Skeletron when it appeared on Scottish news

Ray Tait's Mechanoids entry, Mechatron

David Wreckem on a 2003 episode of Blue Peter

Trivia

Centurion's introduction in Series 3. Note that Matt Tait is facing away from the camera

• Centurion used go-kart tyres, chains and sprockets, provided by Kamikazi Karting, and the polycarbonate armour was provided by Talbot designs
• Centurion's introduction in Series 3 took four takes, though strangely, he was still looking away from the camera throughout the introduction, the only roboteer in all of Series 3 to do so.
• Like Steg-O-Saw-Us, Centurion faced sideways from its opponents at the start of each of its battle in Series 3.
• Both of Centurion's appearances were in the same Heat as Eric.
  • King Buxton was also present in both of Centurion's appearances, although it only appeared in the Pinball in Series 4.
• In the Robot Wars Official Sticker Collection, Centurion was listed as Centurion II. Apart from on the front flipper panel in Series 4, this name has not been used outside of the book.
• Team member Matt Tait went on to work for the Robot Wars production company Mentorn, was a member of the first steering group and managed the Robot Wars website and forum from Series 4-7. Ray Tait was also part of The Steering Committee.
• Two of the robots that beat Centurion (101 and Splinter) would then go on to win the heat and then lose to Hypno-Disc in the series semi-finals.
• Out of all 11 Seeded Robots to fail in the 1st round, Centurion has the lowest seeding at 31.

External Links

• Ray Tait's YouTube Channel
• Robot 2000, Team Centurion's website (archived)