Deadline (alternativey named Deadline 520[1]) was a featherweight robot built for Robot Wars by Team Terrafonics, later known as Team Danby and Team Mowbot. It was the first machine that the Danby family built in their extensive robotics career, competing in the Featherweight Championship of Series 2.
Although Deadline participated in the Featherweight melee which would be showcased as part of the end-of-series episode The Grudge Matches, it was ultimately not included in the very brief highlights of the fight shown on television.
Design[]
- "Our first robot, made from an old shelving unit and 3 cordless drills, 2 for drive and one on the 4bar lifting mechanism. She was 90cm long 35cm wide and a tiny 4cm tall, it was ran off an old 27MHz transmitter than gave us control issues and it never worked properly in the arena despite being very potent in its one and only fight."
- — Team Danby website on Deadline[1]
Deadline was a rectangular-shaped robot with a height of only 4cm, created largely from a steel shelving unit and adhering to the original 11.4kg weight limit for featherweight competitors.[2] Its weapon was a four-bar electric lifting arm with a pronounced front wedge attachment, self-righting capabilities and a lifting capacity of 70kg, powered by a cordless screwdriver drill motor.[2] Two more of the latter motors would be used to power Deadline's drive system (four plus 9.6V Nicad batteries according to a Team Danby Facebook post), resulting in a top speed of 6mph.[2] Much of the angle bar material left over was reused to form the lifting weapon mechanism, with the sides also featuring low extensions at the base according to the CAD drawing. Craig Danby was openly inspired by 1996 and 1997 US Robot Wars heavyweight champion BioHazard in devising Deadline's weaponry and low profile, both of which were also adopted by heavyweight competitor Griffon which appeared in the main competition of Series 2.[2]
Though said by Team Danby to have been 'very potent' during its only battle, the use of an old 25MHz transmitter hindered Deadline's performance during its brief Robot Wars campaign,[1] along with the wedge for its lifting arm which proved suspectible to bending.
Robot History[]
Series 2[]
Deadline competed in the Featherweight Championship of The Second Wars, entering the arena against four-to-five other featherweights in a rumble to determine the Featherweight champion. Its known opponents were Anarchy, Armadillo, Demolisher and The Ripper, with the possibility that another unidentified robot was also taking part.
- "I seem to remember being in a group of 6(?) bots that went and fought, we did ok until the wedge got bent and we couldn't really move."
- — Craig Danby on Discord[3]
According to the team, Deadline started the fight well, despite suffering from control issues caused by its outdated transmitter.[1] It involved itself in the action and attempted to bring its lifter into play, although the extent of its contributions to the battle still remains largely unknown. Over the course of the fight, Deadline's front wedge became bent and hindered its mobility further, which ultimately cost it when Demolisher was declared the winner.
The battle itself was heavily abridged in its televised broadcast and only Demolisher, Armadillo and The Ripper were seen on-screen, leaving the likes of Deadline and Anarchy completely untelevised.
Results[]
| DEADLINE - RESULTS | ||
| Series 2 | ||
| Featherweight Championship | ||
| Final | vs. Anarchy, Armadillo, Demolisher, The Ripper | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
| Main Series | Deadline Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Featherweight Championship |
| The Third Wars | Super Heavyweight Championship with Toxin (event cancelled) |
| The Fourth Wars | Failed to qualify with Vindicare |
| The Fifth Wars | Failed to qualify with TX-108 |
| The Sixth Wars | Failed to qualify with TX-108 |
| The Seventh Wars | Featherweight Championship with Gi-Ant-O Unused reserve with Tanto Failed to qualify with TX-108 |
| Series 8 | Entered with Foxic Not selected with Apex |
| Series 9 | Entered with Foxic (Craig Danby) Entered with Apex (Chris Danby) |
| Series 10 | Entered with Apex Not selected with Foxic |
| Robot Wars Extreme | Appearances |
| Series 1 | Wild Card Warriors with TX-108 (untelevised) Antweight Championship with Anto |
| Series 2 | Featherweight Championship with Gi-Ant-O |
- NOTE 1: Tanto, a robot built by Team Danby, also competed in the untelevised Series 8 Pilot under Team Immersion.
- NOTE 2: Craig Danby also competed in Battle of the Stars as mentor for The Cat.
Trivia[]
- By competing with Deadline in Series 2 and Gi-Ant-O in Extreme 2 and Series 7, Team Terrafonics competed in more Featherweight Championships than any other Robot Wars team, with the first series of Robot Wars Extreme containing the only Featherweight Championship event that the team did not enter.
- Deadline is one of three known competitors in Series 2 to have been omitted from televised broadcasts, alongside fellow featherweight Anarchy, the middleweight Scorpion and an Unidentified lightweight robot. Craig Danby has also suggested that the Featherweight Championship may have contained a sixth competitor, which would present another unidentified machine omitted from the broadcast.
References[]
External Links[]
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