- Jayne Middlemiss: "Disc at the back, flipper at the front, is that a lethal combination?"
- Robert Kenyon: "We hope so!"
- — Pre-battle interview with Jayne Middlemiss in Series 7
Colossus was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 6-7 of Robot Wars. The robot was built as a project during the groups HNC Qualification. It lost in the first round in both appearances after being flipped over by a returning top four seed, Firestorm 4 and Bigger Brother respectively.
Design[]
Colossus in Series 6
Colossus was a chain-driven basic wedge robot running on 11' go-kart wheels and was painted black for its debut. The robot took over 300 hours to build over 18 months, at a cost of £6,000. Local sponsors provided some of the money, the rest was funded by the team. It featured a pneumatic flipper powered by two 100mil bar rams which was capable of flipping a car tyre 10 feet in the air, titanium dural armour, a 19mm square box section chassis and a diamond edged cutting disc at the back running off a 750W motor[1]. The robot was powered by two electric 750 Watt motors. However, the flipper did not function as a self-righting mechanism, which cost it in its first battle.
Colossus in Series 7
For Series 7, Colossus was repainted blue, coated in new Kevlar steel knitted wool inner armour, with a rounded rear end and a new top-mounted rollbar. The edge of the flipper was modified, to help it get under robots with lower ground clearances. Although now able to self-right, it had no more success as the flipper failed to operate, leading to it getting flipped over again.
The Team[]
- "We wanted a challenging project but when we decided to build a robot to enter Robotwars 6 we had no idea the scale of the task on which we were embarking."
- — Robert Kenyon, interviewed for the Lancashire Telegraph[2]
Team Colossus in Series 7
Colossus was entered into Series 6 and 7 by a college team from Preston in Lancashire, known simply as Team Colossus. Robert Kenyon captained the team, and he was joined by fellow students Christopher Hatton and Stephen Bennett in both appearances. The members had all studied a part-time HNC course in mechanical and production engineering at Preston College. Ian Wilson was also part of the team, but was not credited on the statistics boards.
Qualification[]
Colossus at the Sixth Wars Qualifiers
At the Series 6 qualifier, Colossus fought 259, Chip and Splinter. 259 took out all three opponents in under thirty seconds. However, unlike Chip and Splinter, Colossus received a discretionary place to qualify.
- "Needless to say we were thrilled beyond belief when we qualified for the show as this proved all the work was worthwhile."
- — Robert Kenyon, interviewed for the Lancashire Telegraph[3]
Colossus at the Series 7 Qualifiers
At the Series 7 qualifiers, Colossus was drawn against Alchemy, Barber-ous 2'n a Bit and Lightning. Alchemy broke down at the start of the battle, whilst Barber-ous 2'n a Bit broke down after losing a wheel. Lightning won the fight after flipping Colossus over, but both Barber-ous 2'n a Bit and Colossus received discretionary places.
- "Alchemy (spinner & grabbers) broke down going in. Barber-ous (tough uprated spinning Barber's pole design) inflicted damage to our front scoop and a rear spike that can be hammered out and gave us lots of scratches and in the early part of the fight he was winning on damage. But we knocked the wheel off of Barber-ous and he was immobilised after lots of contacts. Colossus was the other robot. Having flipped them earlier and them self-righting, we then got the chance to flip them again and this time they never recovered. So at the end of the fight no other robot was moving. Fantastic!"
- — Laurie Calvert on the qualifier battle (edited)[4]
Robot History[]
Series 6[]
- "Very confident in the pits!"
- — Jonathan Pearce
In its debut battle, Colossus fought the third seed Firestorm 4, and two fellow Lancashire representatives, Series 2 competitor Mega Hurts 2 and fellow newcomer Cedric Slammer.
Firestorm 4 knocks out Colossus
Colossus initially targeted Cedric Slammer, but could not bring its weapon into play. Later, Firestorm 4 pushed Colossus into the CPZ, up against the side wall, flipping it over. Colossus' flipper lacked the power to self-right, despite trying, particularly as the arena wall was in the way. Colossus was attacked by Sir Killalot and Sgt. Bash, sustaining a slice in its armour. By the end of the battle, all four robots became immobilised, but Colossus was the second robot to be defeated, so it was eliminated from the Sixth Wars.
Series 7[]
- "Fought in the Sixth Wars. Lost its first battle though."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Colossus was pitted against fourth seed, Minor Meltdown champion and former runner-up Bigger Brother as well as Typhoon 2 (who fought in the Extreme 2 Annihilator) and newcomer U.R.O. (who had not competed before) in its first round battle. However Colossus was left at a severe disadvantage when its flipper failed to work.
Colossus is flipped over and out by Bigger Brother
Bigger Brother attempts to revive Colossus
Bigger Brother pushed Colossus into the CPZ and flipped it over into exactly the same position that it had been flipped into in Series 6. Colossus was counted out by Refbot, but Bigger Brother, having defeated every robot in the arena, attempted to revive Colossus and put it back on its wheels, but was too late by a margin of seconds. Colossus then attacked Bigger Brother, but was edged towards the Pit by Sir Killalot, eventually backing in itself. It was then followed by U.R.O., confirming the elimination of both robots.
- "What a fight. In all the confusion, Colossus and U.R.O. were counted out. That means Bigger Brother and Typhoon, they go marching on!"
- — Craig Charles
Results[]
| COLOSSUS - RESULTS | ||
| Series 6 | ||
| The Sixth Wars - UK Championship Heats, Round 1 | ||
| Heat B, Round 1 | vs. Cedric Slammer, Firestorm 4 (3), Mega Hurts 2 | Eliminated |
| Series 7 | ||
| The Seventh Wars - UK Championship Heats, Round 1 | ||
| Heat O, Round 1 | vs. Bigger Brother (4), Typhoon 2, U.R.O. | Eliminated |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 2
Series History[]
| Series | Colossus 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 | Did not enter |
| The Sixth Wars | Heat, Round 1 |
| The Seventh Wars | Heat, Round 1 |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
Trivia[]
Official Series 7 photo
- Had Bigger Brother righted Colossus a few seconds earlier in its Series 7 first round melee, the also-flipped future champion Typhoon 2 could have potentially been eliminated, changing the entire course of The Seventh Wars.
- Along with U.R.O., Colossus was the final robot to lose against former runner-up Bigger Brother, and the first to lose against Series 7 champion Typhoon 2, in Robot Wars.
- Both of Colossus' battles featured Sgt. Bash and Sir Killalot as the House Robots.
- Along with Nasty Warrior and Granny's Revenge, Colossus is one of the few robots to have the same two House Robots in all of its battles.
- Both of Colossus' losses involved a robot that would reach the Grand Final of that series.
- In its first appearance, Colossus fought in the second heat and was the last robot to be introduced and in its second and last appearance, it fought in the penultimate heat and was the first robot to be introduced.
- Both of Colossus' battles involved the seeded robot immobilising three of the robots.
References[]
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