Deadlock

Deadlock
Deadlock in the pits at Series 10
Participation Information
UK Series	10 (withdrew)
Team Information
Team	Team Cyberwar
Team Members	Mark Mellors Robert Karpinski Rob Berwick
From	Cambridge
Robot Statistics
Weapons	Lifting forks/clamp
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Deadlock is a heavyweight robot which was selected for entry into Series 10 of Robot Wars. However, it was unable to compete after arriving at the studio unfinished, and became the last robot to withdraw from the series. Deadlock previously applied for Series 9, but was not selected to compete. As of September 2018, Deadlock is now fully functional, and an active competitor at live events.

Design

"We wanted a robot that was dynamic, and really put on a show, and would have movement, but wasn't super destructive - we wanted to win by controlling the other robots, so we've gone with a clamp-and-lift weapon."

— Mark Mellors

An initial CAD render of Deadlock. Note the differently-shaped clamp and drive pods with protruding wheelarches

Deadlock is a grey, four-wheeled robot with a wedge-like profile, armed with a combined set of lifting forks and clamping claws. The bottom forks have three prongs, and can rotate a full 360-degrees to function as a self-righting mechanism, with the whole weapon assembly also forming most of the robot's chassis. Deadlock is one of the largest robots ever built for Robot Wars. Prior to assembly, the team created numerous CAD drawings and 3D-printed models of Deadlock to demonstrate the robot's shape, some of which featured a differently-shaped clamp and drive pods with protruding wheelguards which are not present on the finished robot.

The team revealed to Haynes Manuals that the design took inspiration from animatronic robots, Big Nipper and Kan-Opener.

Robot History

Series 10

Deadlock was drawn into Heat 5, and would have faced Thor and Expulsion in its Group Battle. However, as Deadlock was incomplete at the time of recording, it withdrew from the competition, and was replaced by Coyote.

Series Record

Deadlock under construction

Series	Deadlock Series Record
Series 1-7	Did not enter
Series 8	Did not enter
Series 9	Not selected
Series 10	Withdrew

Outside Robot Wars

Team Cyberwar compete at live events with several robots in lighter weight categories. Their featherweights include Come Here And Say That and The UnNamed, while their beetleweights include drum spinner Bourbon and Now You’ve Done It. In 2016, all four robots took part in the Robots Live! event in Stevenage; Come Here And Say That and The UnNamed won a featherweight melee each, while Bourbon and Now You've Done It finished second and fourth in the Beetleweight championship. In February 2018, Bourbon took part in the UWE Beetle Brawl, where it finished fifth overall. Bourbon also appeared in the online web-series Bugglebots, where it immobilised OMG! to progress to the second round. There, it performed strongly against Snappy, hitting and flipping Craig Croucher's machine a few times; however, it was ultimately eliminated after falling into the pit.

Deadlock itself made its robot combat debut in October 2017, where it attended the Robots Live! event in Stevenage. There, it fought a whiteboard battle against Ka-Pow! and The Saint, but was defeated after getting flipped and pitted by the former. Deadlock subsequently appeared at the Extreme Robots event in Gloucester later that month, where it fought The Saint, Thor and newly-crowned FRA UK Champion Manta in a four-way melee.

In 2018, Deadlock competed in various live events, first appearing at the Extreme Robots event in Guildford, held in June. However, it lost its head-to-head battle against Point Blank after losing drive on one side. In September, Deadlock earned more success at the Robots Live! event in Stevenage, winning a whiteboard battle against Luna-Tic and Iron-Awe 8 on a judges' decision.

External Links

• Deadlock – Robot Wars Facebook page
• Haynes Manual interview with Team Cyberwar