- "Watch for the spitting venom!"
- — Jonathan Pearce introducing Cobra
Cobra was a heavyweight robot which fought in Series 7 of Robot Wars. It was eliminated early into the main UK Championship after initially losing drive on one side in its opening melee, then being gripped and trapped by Pinser which also became immobilised.
Design[]
Cobra was a flat, invertible machine driven by two spiked wheels. It was armed in thick titanium, providing the robot with good defence as well as a highly reflective silver finish. Cobra's main weapon was a high-pressure pneumatic spike, driven by a large ram and concealed within a plush serpent's head. The weapon itself was capable of up to only six attacks per battle, greatly restricting its longevity during battles, while its limited range and damage potential were also noted by personalities including Jonathan Pearce and Jayne Middlemiss.
Each of Cobra's spiked wheels was made of aluminium and covered in golf shoe studs, similar to Wheely Big Cheese. According to Kevin Stowe, this was intended to aid with the robot's traction over the arena floor, but had the unfortunate side effect of drawing wooden debris into the main chassis.[1]
Etymology[]
The name Cobra is derived from the snake mascot riding the robot.
The Team[]
Cobra was entered into The Seventh Wars by a team based in Taunton, Somerset. The team was captained by Julian Brown, who was accompanied by teammate Kevin Stowe. Team Cobra wore black t-shirts brandishing the robot's logo in green.
Qualification[]
Though limited information is available, Cobra did attempt to qualify for Series 5 and 6.[2] In Series 7, it successfully qualified by winning a battle against an unknown black robot decorated with skull and crossbones. Behind the scenes, Kevin Stowe also provided failsafes for the Richard Huish College team to pass technical checks with their own machine.[3]
Robot History[]
Series 7[]
- "A titanium box. Aluminium wheels with golf shoe studs. Mostly enclosed. A limited range of offence though, an inexperienced team, and our snake charm offence will leave this beaten, I think."
- — Jonathan Pearce on Cobra's chances
Appearing in Heat J of The Seventh Wars, Cobra was drawn against Kronic the Wedgehog, Pinser and The Kraken in its Round 1 melee.
Kronic the Wedgehog flipped Cobra over, then Cobra rammed Pinser before attacking The Kraken, rather unsuccessfully, appearing to have lost drive on one side almost immediately after it was turned over. It ran into the side wall and appeared to have immobilised itself by bashing against the angle grinders. The Kraken then came in and scraped Cobra's titanium shell with its crusher before Pinser took over from The Kraken and crunched into the aluminium wheel of Cobra, before driving over the flame jet and breaking down itself.
- "Cobra has done very, very little to be honest."
- — Jonathan Pearce on Cobra's lack of mobility
Mr. Psycho then drove over Cobra, still stuck in Pinser's grip, before Refbot counted out both competitors together. Mr. Psycho hammered the pair a few times and placed them onto the Floor Flipper, which threw them over in one toss. Mr. Psycho then pushed Cobra and Pinser beneath the Drop Zone, where a television was dropped on both of them. Therefore, Cobra was jointly eliminated from the Seventh Wars in the first round along with Pinser, whilst Kronic the Wedgehog and The Kraken progressed through little input of their own.
- "Pinser guys had to unbolt their beak to separate us at the end of the fight... they had a huge hydraulic ram (it looked 80mm diameter plus! Bigger than some of the pneumatics guys!). Cobra turned out to be a very good shape for them to grab!"
- — Kevin Stowe
Results[]
COBRA - RESULTS | ||
Series 7 | ||
The Seventh Wars UK Championship Heats, Round 1 | ||
Heat J, Round 1 | vs. Kronic the Wedgehog, Pinser, The Kraken | Eliminated |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
Series | Cobra Series Record |
---|---|
The First Wars | Did not enter |
The Second Wars | Did not enter |
The Third Wars | Did not enter |
The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
The Fifth Wars | Failed to qualify |
The Sixth Wars | Failed to qualify |
The Seventh Wars | Heat, Round 1 |
Series 8 | Did not enter |
Series 9 | Did not enter |
Series 10 | Did not enter |
Gallery[]
Outside Robot Wars[]
Cobra also entered the third series of Techno Games, participating in the Assault Course in 2002. Cobra lost in the first round to Hellbound, failing to complete the course after breaking down on one side right at the start, leaving it only able to spin in circles.
Cobra appeared at the Festival of Transport event held in the team's home county of Somerset in August 2003 just a few weeks before the filming of Series 7. It pushed a beer keg around in the arena and battled Bigger Brother, Iron-Awe 2.1 and Wheely Big Cheese in an exhibition battle.[4]
In June 2022, Kevin Stowe revealed that Cobra had been dismantled and its components put into safe storage. As well as requiring new internals, including replacement motors and batteries, Kevin suggested that the robot could potentially be rebuilt within a week. Other components were also obtained for a new robot Kevin had planned to build (including a set of custom-made rams he made himself), though this was ultimately never completed.[5]
Trivia[]
- Cobra is one of the few robots to use the same name on both Robot Wars and Techno Games, due to it appearing on Techno Games first.
- Pinser and Cobra were the only two competing robots in Heat J of Series 7 not to fight Thermidor 2 at any point (due to Kronic the Wedgehog fighting it in Series 4).
- Cobra's official photo featured a snake's tail which was also on the robot in The Pits but removed from the robot before its televised melee. During the aforementioned battle, the snake's head was also dislodged and fell off from the machine itself.
- Cobra's battle was the last time where Refbot counted out two robots at the same time.
References[]
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/groups/UnofficialRobotWars/posts/1942133332733089/
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20020528091205/http://www.cobra-robot.co.uk:80/
- ↑ Facebook post regarding Cobra's Series 7 qualifier
- ↑ Somerset Festival of Transport - Team UK Robotics website (archived)
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/groups/UnofficialRobotWars/posts/1942133332733089?comment_id=1942139572732465&reply_comment_id=1942142299398859