Composite Fibrous armour was a type of armour used in Robot Wars made out of woven fibres and resin, producing a composite material. Three main varieties were widely adopted throughout the show's history - fibreglass, Kevlar and carbon fibre - along with others used from time to time.
Composite fibres first appeared in The First Wars, mostly in the form of fibreglass on House Robots Matilda, Sergeant Bash and Shunt; and competitors including Psychosprout, Recyclopse and Dreadnaut. The same series also saw the debut of Kevlar on competitor Mortis. Carbon fibre first appeared in Series 3 on Hefty.
As a material that can be moulded into any shape, fibreglass was a common choice for intricately-designed bodyshells and armour pieces. This can be attributed to its frequent adoption for House Robots throughout the show's history, along with more elaborately-decorated competitors such as Twn Trwn and later incarnations of Velocirippa.
Armour made out of composite fibrous materials enjoyed moderate success on the show. Mortis, G.B.H., Panic Attack and Evil Weevil all won a Heat with one of these varieties, while Series 4 Northern Annihilator winner Spikasaurus was also armoured in Kevlar.
Definition[]
Composite fibrous armour refers to any armour made from long strands of synthetic fibres set within a resin to produce a hard sheet. These sheets can either be set flat to be machined like other armour types, or the fibres themselves can be cast into a specific shape using moulding techniques. The latter enables more complex shapes and designs to be produced; an especially advantageous feature prior to the adoption of water/laser cutting and 3D printing techniques.
Fibreglass is a strong, light and easily mouldable sheet, made from strands of glass fibre set in a resin. The strands can be randomly arranged, set in parallel lines or woven into a fabric before setting. However, this is never specified for combat robots, and all armour pieces made from this are classified under the catch-all phrase of "Fibreglass".
Kevlar is a heat and puncture-resistant synthetic fibre, claimed to have a tensile strength up to 5 times stronger than steel. A notable application of this material is in the monocoque chassis and fuel tanks of Formula One cars, helping to maximise crash protection while reducing the car's overall weight.[1][2] Any armour made from sheets of Kevlar falls into this category.
Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP, often shortened to just Carbon fibre) is an extremely light and strong material, incorporating woven strings of carbon fibre set in a resin called a polymer matrix. It is commonly used in various engineering applications, namely in motor racing vehicles such as the aforementioned Formula One cars.[3] The sheets can be layered multiple times to create a thicker and stronger material, and in some cases be combined with other lightweight, high-tensile metal or plastic materials.
Advantages and Disadvantages[]
Advantages
Fibreglass allows complex artistic designs to be created, such as that of the Series 4 Scorpion
- Fibreglass is a very light material, meaning that a complete robot covering can be made to protect a heavy chassis and any internals located within. This contrasts with most other materials which may not necessarily be able to conceal the entire robot's workings.
- Kevlar's puncture-resistant properties make it a strong material to use against point impact weapons, such as axes and spikes.
- Carbon fibre is exceptionally strong and light, meaning it can resist much higher forces than the same weight as other common armour materials.
Disadvantages
Part of Matilda's fibreglass shell is easily sliced off by Corkscrew
Draven's carbon fibre and Kevlar armour shatters upon being hit by M.R. Speed Squared
- Composite fibrous set resin materials are brittle, meaning they often will not bend, but can crack and shatter once their high yield point has been reached. In essence, they are very fragile against more powerful weapons.
- Damage such as cracks, holes and tears are more difficult to repair without replacing the entire sheet or bodyshell, as the strength of a fibre is in the whole length of each fibre. Short fibres cannot spread the force of an impact as well as long fibres.
- Fibreglass offers little protection, and is very susceptible to damage from moderate to powerful weapons.
- Kevlar and Carbon fibre can be expensive to produce and make, pricing some teams out of these materials without donations or discounts.
List of robots with Composite Fibrous Armour[]
Composite Fibres, in their many forms, saw widespread use throughout Robot Wars. As such, a selection of notable or recognisable users of each main fibrous construction variety is listed below in separate tables.
DESKTOP MODE ONLY: Robots which are not heavyweight entries are listed with a green background. House Robots are listed with a gold background.
List of Robots with Fibreglass Armour[]
| Robot | Series Appearances with Fibreglass armour | Details | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alien Destructor | Dutch Series 1-2, Extreme 1 | Fibreglass. | ||
| Beast of Bodmin | Series 3 | Fibreglass body with aluminium spikes. | Series 3 Semi-Finalist; successor to Series 1 champion Roadblock. | |
| Dreadnaut | Series 1-4 | Large fibreglass dome shell. | One of the Series 1 fibreglass pioneers, Dreadnaut had two common styles with highly intricate moulded designs. Shell of the Series 2 incarnation took three weeks to complete. |   |
| Evil Weevil | Series 3-4 | Fibreglass and Kevlar body. | Series 3 Semi-Finalist. | |
| G.B.H. | Series 2 | Fibreglass layers with 1.6mm perforated steel. | Three layers of fibreglass. | |
| Matilda | Series 1-10, Extreme 1-2, US Season 1-2, German Series, Dutch Series 1-2 | Fibreglass shell. | House Robot. Three different shells created for each of Matilda's design incarnations. | |
| Panic Attack | Series 4-5, Extreme 1 | "Bulletproof Fibreglass". | Series 4-5 Semi-Finalist with this material. One of many armour types used on Panic Attack throughout its Robot Wars career. | |
| Psychosprout | Series 1 | 3ft fibreglass sphere. | Formed the robot's locomotion, in tandem with an inner 'proprietary chassis' and RC monster truck.[4] | |
| Recyclopse | Series 1 | Fibreglass Dome | Recycled materials, designed to cause sharp-pointed weapons to "bounce off". Series 1 Grand Finalist. | |
| Scorpion | Series 4 | Fibreglass body, moulded in the shape of the arachnid. | Automatically qualified for the series on the basis of this design alone. | |
| Sergeant Bash | Series 3-7, Extreme 1-2, US Season 1-2, German Series, Dutch Series 1-2 | Fibreglass bodyshell. | House Robot. Replaced steel plating used in the first two UK series. | |
| Shogun | Series 1 | Fibreglass reinforced wooden shell. | First competitor with fibreglass armour to appear in Robot Wars. | |
| Shunt | Series 1-10, Extreme 1-2, US Season 1-2, German Series, Dutch Series 1-2 | Moulded fibreglass middle body. | House Robot. Steel scoops and wheelguards, but the top armour was all fibreglass. | |
| Twn Trwn | Series 3 | Intricately-designed fibreglass body. | Allowed to compete despite being overweight due to the novelty of the bodywork design. | |
| Velocirippa | Series 7, Extreme 2 | Fibreglass moulded Body. | Lightweight body made to stop the robot looking "boring". |
List of Robots with Kevlar Armour[]
| Robot | Series Appearances with Kevlar armour | Details | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attila the Drum | Series 4 | Kevlar chassis. | Barrel-shaped. | |
| Binky | Series 3 | Kevlar bodyshell. | ||
| Cerberus | Series 3 | Kevlar. | Kevlar armour only in Series 3, replaced from Series 4 onwards. | |
| Colossus | Series 7 | Kevlar steel knitted wool. | ||
| Crazy Coupe 88 | Series 8 | Kevlar and carbon fibre plates. | Layered underneath an outer sheet of aluminium checker plate. | |
| Gemini | Series 4-5, Extreme 1 | Kevlar and Fibreglass | Lightweight materials to keep the clusterbot under the weight limit. | |
| Haardvark | Series 3 | Inner layer of Kevlar under 5mm polycarbonate. | ||
| Milly-Ann Bug | Series 2-4 | Kevlar, fibreglass and steel. | Also included Kevlar "hair". | |
| Mortis | Series 1-4 | Kevlar. | Claimed to be using Kevlar "before Formula 1 teams". Series 2 Semi-Finalist; Series 4 War of Independence Champion. | |
| Shadow of Napalm | Series 4 | Kevlar shell. | Twenty-fifth seed; successor to Series 2 Semi-Finalist Napalm. | |
| Spikasaurus | Series 4 | 1.5mm Kevlar plates. | Northern Annihilator champion. | |
| The Morgue | Series 4, Extreme 1 | Kevlar and fibreglass. | ||
| Vercingetorix | Series 4 | Kevlar and Lexan armour. |
List of Robots with Carbon Fibre Armour[]
| Robot | Series Appearances with Carbon Fibre armour | Details | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Black | Series 5 | Carbon fibre and Kevlar body. | ||
| Araknia | Series 7 | Carbon fibre and fibreglass. | Not trusted to be strong by the team, "might as well be cardboard". | |
| Destruct-A-Bubble | Series 4-5 | Carbon fibre and Kevlar dome. | ||
| Draven | Extreme 1, Series 8-9 | Carbon fibre and Kevlar composite shell. | 5mm Carbon fibre bulkheads for Series 8. Also included titanium and polycarbonate armour. | |
| Hefty | Series 3 | Carbon fibre and Kevlar shell. | ||
| Nasty Warrior | Extreme 1 | "Carbon materials". | ||
| Obsidian | Series 5 | Carbon fibre and "aircraft-grade materials". |
References[]
- ↑ https://corex-honeycomb.com/monocoque-chassis/
- ↑ https://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/analysis-f1-fuel-system/
- ↑ https://www.racecar-engineering.com/tech-explained/how-are-composites-used-in-motorsport/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20031004202422fw_/http://freespace.virgin.net/oliver.steeples/series1/robots/sprout.htm
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