Double Jeopardy was an American robot from Irvine, California which applied to compete in the tenth British series of Robot Wars, but was not selected on the grounds of safety. It would later compete in the 2018 and 2019 seasons of BattleBots.
Design
Double Jeopardy with its team at BattleBots in 2018
Double Jeopardy was a red box-shaped robot with six wheels and a small raised wedge at the front. Double Jeopardy was fully invertible, and its wheels were housed within the main body of the machine. Its weapon was an air cannon that could fire a single slug of metal weighing 2.2kg (5lbs). Although the weapon was extremely powerful, it was limited to a single shot per battle. This weapon was designed to work as an untethered projectile, and in its BattleBots appearance, the cannon fired at speeds of up to 190mph, as it was required to fit within the tip speed limit for spinning weapons - however the team claim that this is less than a third of the weapon's maximum potential. For its application to Robot Wars, Team Double Trouble modified the weapon into a tethered projectile[1]. However, the robot suffered from its single-use weapon, which was capable of missing its target, and the robot lacked a wedge or alternative weapon to give Double Jeopardy means of attack after firing its weapon. Double Jeopardy's armour was also somewhat fragile.
Qualification
Although Double Jeopardy was built to enter BattleBots, the team decided to apply for Series 10 of Robot Wars while the American show was seemingly off-air. In order to fit within the regulations of Robot Wars, Double Jeopardy's projectile weapon was tethered, but the Robot Wars producers still rejected the robot's application on the grounds of safety, fearing that spectators would be in the line of fire.
- "I actually applied to Series 10 with a tethered version of Double Jeopardy. But they didn't want to put spectators in the line of fire, understandably so. It's fully invertible so it would be not terrible against flippers."
- — Evan Woolley on Reddit[2]
Series Record
| Series | Double Jeopardy Series Record |
|---|---|
| Series 1-7 | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Not selected |
Outside Robot Wars
Evan Woolley at BattleBots, holding Double Jeopardy's slugs
After Series 10 was filmed, Double Jeopardy went on to participate in the 2018 season of BattleBots, aired on Discovery Channel and Science Channel. In its first battle, Double Jeopardy took place in a rumble against The Four Horsemen and Gamma 9, but after landing a close-range shot on the front of Gamma 9, Double Jeopardy's armour and wheels were shredded by The Four Horsemen, leading to its immobilisation. Double Jeopardy later fought in a head-to-head battle against Mecha Rampage, and destabilised the horizontal spinner with a cannon shot, but went on to be torn apart by the spinner, losing by knockout in 52 seconds. Double Jeopardy would ultimately not be selected for the top 16.
Double Jeopardy was rebuilt for the 2019 season of BattleBots, boasting stronger armour, and the ability to fire multiple projectiles in a single battle. Its first battle was a three-way melee against Lucky and The Four Horsemen, although it lost the fight to Lucky on a Judges' decision. It came closer to victory in a rumble with Rainbow and Extinguisher, but still lost the Judges' decision. Double Jeopardy claimed its first victory in an untelevised rumble against Foxtrot and Daisy Cutter, winning by knockout.
Trivia
- Had Double Jeopardy been selected to compete, it would have been the first and only competitor in Robot Wars to feature projectile weaponry of any kind.
External Links
- Double Jeopardy Facebook page
- Double Jeopardy (2018) on the BattleBots website
- Double Jeopardy on the BattleBots Wiki