- "...looked quite good in the way that the saw moved, the arm powered by a wiper motor and the saw via a 25CC petrol engine"
- — Oliver Steeples of University of Reading[1]
Disruptor was a competitor robot in Series 2 of Robot Wars. It made it to the Heat Final, but due to Disruptor's inability to bring its weapon down far enough, it could not defeat the eventual champion Panic Attack.
Design[]
- "A four-wheel drive machine, with a 25CC petrol engine. For weaponry: a 9-inch circular saw on a movable arm on a moveable arm. At 82.1 kilos, it's the heaviest bot in the field..."
- — Jonathan Pearce introduces Disruptor

Disruptor with its saw arm fully extended
Double-wedged in shape, Disruptor was four-wheel driven and powered by five electric motors, with each wheel independently powered to provide four-wheel drive according to Mat Irvine. Disruptor featured a large circular saw on a moving arm as its primary weapon, similar to that of House Robot Dead Metal at the time, and the weapon arm was powered by a 25CC petrol engine. The arm also had three spikes on the top and bottom so that damage could be caused to robots that were too close to be attacked by the circular saw. At 82.1kg, Disruptor was nearly 3kg over the weight limit for heavyweight robots at the time but was still able to compete. Disruptor did not have a solid base to protect it from attacks from underneath, which helped it in its fight against Panic Attack as the Panic Attack team admitted they could not use the forks to lift Disruptor as there was nothing to lift up against.
Unlike most robots, Disruptor was not fitted with a failsafe, which meant the robot was active all of the time, posing the risk of serious injury to anyone working on the robot. The rules were later changed so that all robots required a removable link because of this potential risk.
- "Well Disrupter [sic] looked quite good in the way that the saw moved, the arm powered by a wiper motor and the saw via a 25CC petrol engine. The 4 wheels were also powered by individual wiper motors and the speed control was made by using simple relays. The most disturbing fact about Disrupter [sic] is that it had no safety circuits and no main on/off switch which meant Disrupter [sic] was always live and if you touched the microswitches, well I think you get the idea. Well the idea behind Disrupter [sic] was good, the weapon was good and considering it had wiper motors it seemed quite powerful."
- — Oliver Steeples on Disruptor[1]
Robot History[]
Series 2[]

Disruptor's run impeded by Dead Metal
- "We're going to take the ramp...don't fancy our chances with Killalot!"
- — Anthony Lockwood outlines his strategy for the Gauntlet
Disruptor was scheduled to be the fifth robot in its heat to take on the Gauntlet, but issues for The Parthian Shot saw the Welsh robot face the first challenge earlier. Before going into the arena, Anthony Lockwood noted that the shell of Disruptor had been raised as the ground clearance of just a few millimetres might cause issues when trying to climb the ramp. Disruptor went straight for the central route as it moved towards the ramp, but was very quickly attacked by the spikes in the arena floor. As it recovered and headed towards the ramp Dead Metal attacked the ramp from the other side and shoved it into the path of Disruptor. This put the ramp at a much more difficult angle to navigate which delayed Disruptor's progress and allowed Sir Killalot to come in behind Disruptor. Disruptor was able to scale the ramp and start the incline but only had its right-side wheels on the ramp. It was also being pushed further up the ramp by Sir Killalot's lance as the house robot closed in before Disruptor was pushed up against one of the tank traps and the ramp that was still being moved by Dead Metal.

Disruptor is turned over by Sir Killalot
- "Disruptor's going nowhere here, nowhere fast... the circular saw grinds to a halt... this is a disastrous run!"
- — Jonathan Pearce calling the end of Disruptor's run
With Disruptor now stuck and immobile, Sir Killalot came back in and used the lance to lift Disruptor into the air, and as the clock ticked down into the final ten seconds Disruptor was dragged backwards and left stuck against the ramrig to the visible frustration of Anthony Lockwood. Disruptor's run was the shortest distance covered in the heat to that point, but it was good enough to progress to the next round in fifth place as The Parthian Shot was unable to be repaired in time and was disqualified. The team were visibly relieved when they were informed of The Parthian Shot's exit, with Masayo Kobayashi expressing confidence ahead of the trial given Disruptor's design was much more suited for fighting.
- Masayo Kobayashi: "We could (be) better in the second round."
- Philippa Forrester: "Yeah? You reckon you'll do better in the second round?"
- Masayo Kobayashi: "Yeah, I'm still confident. It's for fighting... not for manoeuvring!"
- — Masayo Kobayashi expresses confidence at Disruptor's chances in the next round

Disruptor fends off Shunt
Disruptor entered the Sumo trial in the next round, where it came up against Shunt. Disruptor moved quickly into the centre of the ring but then stopped as Shunt closed in, as the house robot pushed Disruptor around in a circular fashion. Despite the team's efforts to engage the circular saw weapon arm Disruptor was not able to get any attacks in on Shunt. It used its wedge shape and minimal ground clearance to keep underneath Shunt, and despite Shunt breaking away and coming back in for a charge in the final five seconds, Disruptor stayed on the ring for the full thirty seconds. Regardless, this only put Disruptor through in third place as Corporal Punishment and Panic Attack both pushed Shunt off the ring.
- Craig Charles: "It looked like you were just doing one majestic slow dance for the whole of the time!"
- Wayne Martin: "It wasn't very exciting, but we stayed on!"
- Craig Charles: "It wasn't very exciting... but you had your circular saw going but you couldn't seem to get anywhere near Shunt with it?"
- — Craig Charles interviews the team after Disruptor's Sumo run
Disruptor was then drawn against Adam Clark's Sumo victor, Corporal Punishment in the Arena Semi-Final, with Wayne Martin predicting a shoving match between the two powerful robots.
- Philippa Forrester: "What's it going to be like?"
- Wayne Martin: "I think there's going to be a lot of shoving going on because they're both quite powerful robots."
- — Disruptor's pre-semi-final interview

Disruptor pushes Corporal Punishment

Disruptor and Corporal Punishment clash head-on
Corporal Punishment reacted quickest at the start of the battle and rammed into Disruptor's circular saw as the Welsh robot paused in the centre of the arena. This attack stopped the saw of Disruptor for a moment but as the two robots came apart it powered up again. A second attack from Corporal Punishment yielded similar results, but on the third attack Disruptor's arm raised up and behind the machine as Disruptor turned. These attacks began to buckle the prongs and hampered Corporal Punishment's movements and Disruptor came in from behind to attack the rear armour of Corporal Punishment with its saw. Disruptor did try to attack the right side of Corporal Punishment but again the saw blade had stopped spinning.

Disruptor attacks the damaged Corporal Punishment
Corporal Punishment then reversed into the House Robots where it was immediately caught by Sergeant Bash and Matilda, keeping it caught there as Shunt also came in to attack. Disruptor and Dead Metal also tried to cause more damage as Corporal Punishment escaped, but it had been in the PPZ for too long to make any impact on the rest of the battle. After some final clashes cease was called and Corporal Punishment was eliminated on a Judges' decision, putting Disruptor through to a now all-Welsh heat final. During the battle, Disruptor had stripped the cogs from two of its gearboxes, and the team lacked spares, giving Disruptor an immediate disadvantage in its next battle.
- Philippa Forrester: "How did you feel that went?"
- Wayne Martin: "I thought... it was very, very close, but, uh... I didn't know until he said that we won I didn't know."
- — Wayne Martin's post-fight thoughts on how close the semi-final had been

Disruptor unable to attack Panic Attack
In the heat final, Disruptor met the eventual series champion Panic Attack. In addition to troubles with gearboxes, Disruptor's moving arm was unable to go low enough to damage the eventual champions. Disruptor was unable to defend from the head-on charges by the faster Panic Attack but did absorb the first few hits. However, Disruptor struggled as Panic Attack came in to attack from the sides, being spun around and struggling to get any offensive moves in of its own.
- "How low can the saw go? It seemed to me it couldn't get down to create damage there to Panic Attack."
- — Jonathan Pearce highlights the problem Disruptor had in attacking Panic Attack

Disruptor is pitted
Disruptor was able to get underneath Panic Attack and push it slightly, but Panic Attack quickly responded by pushing Disruptor around in a circle and back towards the pit, all while having its front wheels off the ground after Disruptor's attack. Panic Attack reversed away and came back in for another push, this time using its power to push Disruptor to the edge of the pit. Now caught on the edge of the pit, Disruptor was helpless to resist as Panic Attack pushed it straight into the pit.
- "Down, down, down, out! ...and the end is nigh, and come for Disruptor... a spinning spider's web..."
- — Jonathan Pearce documents Disruptor's demise
Results[]
DISRUPTOR - RESULTS | ||
Series 2 | ||
The Second Wars - UK Championship Heat Final | ||
Heat F, Gauntlet | 5.5m (5th) | Qualified |
Heat F, Trial (Sumo) | Survived (3rd) | Qualified |
Heat F, Semi-Final | vs. Corporal Punishment | Won |
Heat F, Final | vs. Panic Attack | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 1
- Losses: 1
NOTE: Disruptor's successful Gauntlet and Trial runs are not included
Series Record[]
Series | Disruptor Series Record |
---|---|
The First Wars | Did not enter |
The Second Wars | Heat Final |
The Third Wars | Entered with Excalibur |
The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
The Fifth Wars | Did not enter |
The Sixth Wars | Did not enter |
The Seventh Wars | Did not enter |
Series 8 | Did not enter |
Series 9 | Did not enter |
Series 10 | Did not enter |
Gallery[]
Outside Robot Wars[]
Team captain Anthony Lockwood once built a hang glider out of scaffolding and tarpaulin and made his sister test it.
In 2014, it was reported that Anthony Lockwood had half-completed an as-yet unnamed new robot, capable of running inverted and armed with a front vertical disc and rear flipper. The project was conceptualised before spinning weapons were banned from live events, with Lockwood stating that it was planned to compete in later series of the original Robot Wars and abandoned following Channel 5's acquisition of the show.
- Anthony Lockwood: "I hope they do heavyweight spinners then I will finish my new robot."
- Nate Franklin: "What kind of bot are you building? "
- Anthony Lockwood: "I half built a vertical spinner with a flipper at the back. I put a lot of design into it, it runs both ways up and can crawl lol. 100kg."
- Nate Franklin: "Why would you build it if you knew you wouldn't be able to compete with it?"
- Anthony Lockwood: "I built it years ago when spinners were allowed. My third robot; I had Disruptor on Series 2 and Excalibur on Series 3, old school stuff, my third machine took me a while to build then BBC sold the show and I never finished it."
- — A conversation from the Official Robot Wars Facebook group on Anthony Lockwood's new robot
In 2016, the team expressed interest in completing a heavyweight robot named KONG, having missed out on Series 8 of Robot Wars.