Destruct-A-Bubble

Destruct-A-Bubble
Participation Information
UK Series	4-5
Other Names	Millennium Doom (Original Name)
Team Information
Team	Team Destruct-A-Bubble
Team Members	Bill Cozens Lawrence Cozens Malcolm Burrells (Series 4) Peter Richards (Series 5)
From	Nounsley
Robot Statistics
Weight	100kg
Dimensions	0.94m x 1.00m x 1.20m
Power	36V Wheelchair motors
Weapons	Overhead Spike
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"You will get in trouble, if you mess with the bubble!"

— On a fan's banner

Destruct-A-Bubble was a heavyweight robot, which competed in Series 4 and 5 of Robot Wars, where it was one of the largest robots to appear in these series.

Destruct-A-Bubble was originally named Millennium Doom, but the team changed its name at the last moment. The cause for the name change is unknown.

Design

Offical image of Destruct-A-Bubble from the Fourth Wars

It was a ball-shaped robot made of carbon fibre and Kevlar with a flat bottom which competed in Robot Wars. In Series 4, it had a two foot long pneumatic lance weapon (nicknamed "the mother-in-law's tongue") and was painted yellow with red hair and a cartoon style face complete with titanium eyebrows and occasionally a "hairnet" to snag spinning weapons. Some parts came from a tractor, the robot had a steel chassis and it was bottom heavy which made it difficult to flip over. It was redesigned for Series 5 with an overhead spike weapon powered by an old industrial floor scrubber motor, and new shock activated electronic eyes.

Qualification

In its qualifier for Series 4, Destruct-A-Bubble fought Team EyeEye's walker Miss Struts. During the battle, one of Miss Struts' legs became stuck over the pit, and then the rest of the robot followed, awarding the victory to Destruct-A-Bubble. It then qualified directly for the Fourth Wars, and also qualified for the Fifth Wars in the following year.

Destruct-A-Bubble as it entered the Sixth Wars qualifier

Destruct-A-Bubble (with a different design) at the Sixth Wars qualifiers

Destruct-A-Bubble also attempted to qualify for Series 6. At the qualifiers, it appeared with two different designs, for reasons unknown. At the qualifiers, Destruct-A-Bubble fought Dantomkia, Maximus, and Iron-Awe 2. At the start of the battle, Maximus attacked Destruct-A-Bubble, cutting off a part of its swinging arm, whilst Dantomkia flipped over Iron-Awe. Dantomkia came in and flipped over Maximus, and attacked Destruct-A-Bubble. The two continued battling until the end of the battle, with both surviving to the end. Dantomkia was judged to be the winner, Iron-Awe was given a discretionary place to qualify, but Destruct-A-Bubble failed to qualify and the robot was subsequently retired.

Robot History

Series 4

"Here we have something that doesn't really look like a robot."

— Julia Reed

Destruct-A-Bubble's first round battle saw it go up against the number sixteen seeds Killerhurtz and Eric, both of which lost in the first round of the previous series by driving into the pit.

Eric flips Killerhurtz into Destruct-A-Bubble

Killerhurtz axes the top of Destruct-a-Bubble

Killerhurtz almost pulls Destruct-A-Bubble over

During the battle, Destruct-A-Bubble was initially unable to get up to speed to launch an attack on either of its opponents, who attacked each other. Eric later attacked Destruct-A-Bubble, trying to flip it, but the Bubble was able to shift away. Killerhurtz then intercepted a Destruct-A-Bubble attack on Eric and slammed into into the arena wall a few times, without firing the axe. Destruct-A-Bubble then got away as Killerhurtz and Eric returned to attack each other again. As Killerhurtz then axed Eric, Destruct-A-Bubble tried to deploy its tongue weapon on Eric, before Eric was released. Killerhurtz then attacked Destruct-A-Bubble again, breaking through the bubble with its axe. Killerhurtz was then able to get one more axe blow in on Destruct-A-Bubble before cease was called for a judges' decision. Destruct-A-Bubble was eliminated, mainly due to a lack of aggression.

"A little bit of plastic surgery will do for Destruct-A-Bubble. A little bit like the mother-in-law actually. Oh dear."

— Jonathan Pearce

Destruct-A-Bubble about to drive off the Sumo Basho ring

Destruct-A-Bubble also fought in the Sumo Basho competition of the Fourth Wars, it survived for 11.91 seconds in the ring against Shunt before driving straight off, placing it seventh on the leaderboard overall out of sixteen.

Series 5

"Destruct-A-Bubble's back, as ridiculous as ever."

— Philippa Forrester

In the first round, Destruct-A-Bubble was drawn up against newcomers Axe-C-Dent.

Destruct-A-Bubble and Axe-C-Dent lock weapons

From the off, the two robots collided, with Destruct-A-Bubble's weaponry trying to clamp down on Axe-C-Dent, but instead getting trapped with the latter's spinning hammer weapon. The two then separated, with Destruct-A-Bubble then bumping into the Refbot, before attacking Axe-C-Dent again. Destruct-A-Bubble then reversed away and slammed into the arena wall, but then it became apparent that Axe-C-Dent had been immobilised. Axe-C-Dent was subsequently counted out, and Destruct-A-Bubble was through to Round 2.

Craig Charles: "How far do you think you can go in this competition? There's a lot of big boys."

Peter Richards: "We'll go all the way."

— Post-battle interview

This glory did not last long, however. Destruct-A-Bubble was then due to fight the twenty-first seeds Suicidal Tendencies in the second round of the heat, but after the latter broke down and retired, Destruct-A-Bubble found itself pitted against the reinstated Rick.

Rick flips Destruct-A-Bubble

Destruct-A-Bubble is attacked by Shunt who gets a red card from Refbot

Destruct-A-Bubble punctured and pitted

In the battle, Destruct-A-Bubble was flicked up by Rick's flipper a few times before soon afterwards coming to a halt. Shunt came out and axed it, before Rick came in and flipped it right over. Shunt came out again, axing Destruct-A-Bubble and righting it in the process, but it didn't matter, as Destruct-A-Bubble had stopped moving. Shunt also received a red card from the Refbot and then started attacking him. As the Refbot began counting out Destruct-A-Bubble, Rick came in again to flip it down into the pit before the count was up, eliminating the Destruct-A-Bubble from the competition.

"Your bubble's burst."

— Craig Charles to the defeated Destruct-A-Bubble team

After the fight, the team discovered that the cause of their breakdown was a sweet wrapper lodged in the removable link. This was Destruct-A-Bubble's final appearance.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 2

Series Record

• Destruct-A-Bubble in the arena during Series 4
• Destruct-A-Bubble in the sumo during Series 4
• The insides of the Series 4 Destruct-A-Bubble
• Destruct-A-Bubble's name misspelled on the leaderboard
• Destruct-A-Bubble in Series 5
• Destruct-A-Bubble after its Series 6 qualifier

1/6

Series	Destruct-A-Bubble Series Record
The First Wars	Did not enter
The Second Wars	Did not enter
The Third Wars	Did not enter
The Fourth Wars	Heat, Round 1
The Fifth Wars	Heat, Round 2
The Sixth Wars	Failed to qualify
The Seventh Wars	Did not enter
Series 8	Did not enter
Series 9	Did not enter
Series 10	Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars

Destruct-A-Bubble made an appearance on the live circuit at the Uckfield Festival in 2000, where it fought Mincer. Through the use of its spear, Destruct-A-Bubble filled Mincer with holes.

"I am not too sure if the damage was caused by the pneumatic spike or it was self-inflicted by trying to ram it. Looking at the position of the holes, probably a bit of both, still a good humoured battle"

— Team Tristate website on Destruct-A-Bubble's battle with Mincer

Trivia

Destruct-A-Bubble as a counter for Robot Wars: The Game (top-left)

• Destruct-A-Bubble was one of six robots to be a figurine for the board game, Robot Wars: The Game.
• In Series 4, the team intended to equip Destruct-A-Bubble with a "hairnet" specifically to snag spinning weapons. However, entanglement devices were prohibited from the show, so it was not used.
• On the leaderboard for the Series 4 Sumo Basho, Destruct-A-Bubble's name was misspelt Distruct-A-Bubble, a mistake that was frequently made in the original Robot Wars Magazine as well as other publications.
  • Destruct-A-Bubble was erroneously referred to as Destructor in the first issue of the Titan Robot Wars Magazine, during a section on the Series 6 qualifiers.
• Of the fifty robots to return from Series 4 to compete in Series 5, Destruct-A-Bubble was one of only ten to perform better in its Series 5 appearance. The others were Razer, Bigger Brother, Firestorm, Diotoir, Prizephita Mach 2, Kat 3, Reactor, Rick, and Clawed Hopper.
• Both of Destruct-A-Bubble's appearances were in a heat that was broadcast before a heat that Clawed Hopper appeared in.
• All of Destruct-A-Bubble's opponents were robots that either had or would lose in the first round of a UK Championship.
• Two of Destruct-A-Bubble's appearances were in an episode where a robot was reinstated.
  • In addition, two of Destruct-A-Bubble's appearances were in episodes that contained a quick immobilisation, one of which was inflected on Destruct-A-Bubble itself.
• Shunt was present in all of Destruct-A-Bubble's battles.