Eruption

Eruption
Participation Information
UK Series	8-10
Robot Wars Live Circuit	2013-16
Team Information
Team	Team Eruption
Team Members	Michael Oates Adrian Oates
From	Warrington, Cheshire
Robot Statistics
Weight	109.25kg
Dimensions	40cm x 80cm x 80cm
Top Speed	12.6mph
Power	2 x Bosch GPA 750W motors
Weapons	Flipper and interchangeable top weapons
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"Eruption is designed around the weapon - it's all about the flipper"

— Michael Oates

Eruption was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 8, 9 and 10 of Robot Wars. It is the incumbent UK Champion and the last to be crowned on the televised show. Eruption had middling success in its debut series, failing to reach a heat final, though it did defeat the eventual champion Apollo in their head-to-head clash. It achieved considerably greater success in Series 9, reaching the Grand Final by avenging its Series 8 defeat at the hands of PP3D, before finishing second in the UK Championship after being immobilised in the Grand Final by Carbide. As the incumbent runner-up, it fought in Series 10, but an unfortunate draw led to a third consecutive loss to Carbide at only the Heat Final stage. In spite of this, Eruption won its way through the 10 Robot Rumble, and won three straight battles in the Grand Final to become the Series 10 champion, avenging its past losses to Carbide in the title fight. It also entered Robot Wars: World Series as the defending British champion, and contributed to its team's decisive victory.

Eruption was known for its powerful flipper, capable of throwing opponents out of the arena. At the conclusion of Series 10, Eruption's number of out of the arena flips was eclipsed only by Dantomkia, having flipped seven robots out of the arena in televised combat (eight if both Crackers 'n' Smash are included). In addition to its flipping prowess, Eruption's second out of the arena flip on Cherub is ranked as the third shortest battle in Robot Wars history.

Eruption entered the show with much experience from live events, where it enjoyed huge success as a double FRA UK Heavyweight champion.

Design

"Eruption has the ability to launch its opponents up to 10ft in the air and uses a custom-made control circuit to fire its weapon. Unlike other flipper robots, this system allows the amount of CO₂ to be altered for each flip, ensuring it'll never run out of CO₂ during a battle."

— Robot Wars: Build Your Own Robot on Eruption in Series 8

Official photo of Eruption in Series 8

Eruption enters the arena in Series 8

Eruption was a two-wheel drive, wedge-shaped robot painted black, yellow and red, armed with a full-pressure flipper and featuring two red LED 'eyes' behind the wedge. It used its steeply-backed wedge to enable the robot to recoil backwards when flipping, which also allowed it to self-right easier. A pair of long plates, called 'flyers', lined Eruption's back end for stability when flipping, and red anti-spinner plates were welded onto the sides to offer it extra protection against spinning weapons. The robot's armour consisted of 4mm HARDOX wear-resistant steel shell, with 10mm high-density polyethylene impact absorbers on top, and an extra layer of 3.2mm wear-resistant steel on its front. Eruption used a custom built control circuit to fire the flipper, which allowed the team to alter the amount of CO₂ it used for each flip, in the hope that it will never run out of CO₂ mid-battle. Eruption uses custom-built 4:6:1 gearboxes. The flipper itself was activated by an independent punch ram, pushing the flipper upwards in combination with bungee cords attached to the front end of the weapon, softening the recoil of the weapon firing, while allowing the weapon to retract.

Eruption with its spinning weaponry in Series 9

Eruption as it appeared in Series 9 with the Drum of Death

In addition to its flipper, Eruption also featured interchangeable weapons which could be mounted on top of it, although none were used in Series 10. The 'Claw of Doom' was a small pneumatic gripping claw, which could pin opponents onto the flipper and leave them on top of the wedge as Eruption drove towards an arena wall or the Pit. The team called this weapon combination a 'flipper and gripper', and it was Eruption's only optional weapon in Series 8. The second weapon, the 'Drum of Death', was introduced in Series 9. It comprised three parallel discs capable of damaging 4mm HARDOX which intended to damage the leading edge of opponents, enabling Eruption to more easily breach ground clearances.

"The claw actually has a whole second pneumatics system at 150psi, so it would actually be able to grab hold of another robot given the opportunity. Obviously we all know it's not the most effective weapons choice, but as long as it adds something interesting to the show then it's a success as far as we're concerned!"

— Michael Oates on the Unofficial Robot Wars Facebook Group

Eruption in Series 10

Eruption in the arena during Series 10

For Series 9, flame graphics were also added to Eruption's flipper and sides, as well as a new logo suggesting a volcano-inspired theme, but these were not all used in Series 10. Throughout both series it competed in, Eruption's add-on weapons, anti-spinner plates, 'flyers' and decorative spikes could be configured in several ways to suit certain opponents, or be removed from the robot entirely. The anti-spinner configuration proved to be the team's preference, as they only used Eruption's additional weaponry in two of its ten battles in Series 9, and did not use them at all in Series 10, despite the power of its claw weapon being upgraded for the latter series, according to Robot Wars: Build Your Own Robot.

"Eruption returned with an upgraded weapon system providing more pressure behind the claw plus a vertical spinner with a tip speed of 44m/s"

— Robot Wars: Build Your Own Robot on Eruption's interchangeable weapons, at the time of Series 10

Eruption in Robot Wars: World Series

Eruption on the stat boards in the World Series

Also in Series 10, Eruption gained new, black protective HDPE panels on either side of its wedge, each sporting the robot's name, and were meant to absorb hits from vertical spinners. Eruption also gained new flat red side guards that were used in Eruption's fight against Behemoth in the Grand Final of Series 10, and in Robot Wars: World Series. The anti-spinner pods seen in Series 9 also returned. Eruption's side armour panels had been unequally weighted in order to counter the clockwise nature of Carbide's bar spinner, which proved successful in the championship battle.

The Team

• Team Eruption in Series 8
• Team Eruption in Series 9
• Team Eruption in Series 10
• Team Eruption in the World Series
• Team Eruption in the pits during Series 8
• Team Eruption enter the arena in Series 8
• Team Eruption enter the arena in Series 9
• Team Eruption make their way to the arena in Series 10
• The team with the Series 10 trophy
• Team Eruption hold their trophy
• Team Eruption as captains of Team UK

1/11

Team Eruption consisted of a father-and-son team of Michael and Adrian Oates. Michael Oates was the team captain throughout all of Eruption's appearances, and held the more prominent speaking role on television. A highly accomplished driver heading into the series, Michael Oates was the driver of Eruption in all of its battles, and is also credited with designing the robot. Michael Oates was also involved with building the robot, while Adrian Oates was the lead builder of the machine, creating it from scratch in 2012 and lead the repairs process during Eruption's televised appearances. Michael Oates was aged 17 in Series 8 and was still a schoolboy at the time, but as the reboot progressed, Michael Oates (aged 18 in Series 10) progressed to study Engineering at Durham University, while 52-year old Adrian Oates was a full-time electronics engineer at a research laboratory.

"Being involved in the robot community has clearly always been a big part of this father and son’s life. Michael has been driving since he was six years old and is considered one of the best drivers in the robot combat community"

— The Robot Wars website

Robot History

Series 8

Eruption made its Robot Wars debut in Heat 4 of Series 8. In the first round, it was drawn against veterans Storm 2, Sabretooth and Terror Turtle.

Eruption throws Sabretooth over

Eruption flips Terror Turtle out of the arena

Eruption dominated the battle, avoiding the drum spinner of Sabretooth, before flipping it. Sabretooth landed on its wheels, but Eruption's second flip overturned the robot, which had already broken its srimech. Eruption then pushed Terror Turtle into a CPZ and held it there with assistance from Storm 2, also immobilising its clusterbot The Hatchling by wedging it onto the arena wall. Off-screen, Eruption flipped Terror Turtle several times, and also flipped Storm 2. After bringing Terror Turtle towards the arena trench, Eruption launched it out of the arena, becoming the first competitor robot to do so in the new arena.

"Our aim is always to throw them out of the arena, so we're really happy that we got to do that. That's always the prized moment."

— Michael Oates

Eruption and Storm 2 had both qualified for the next round, and then fought head-to-head in the second round.

Eruption cannot breach the ground clearance of Storm 2

Eruption flips Storm 2 in the late stages

Both robots met in the centre of the arena, but unfortunately for Eruption, Storm 2 had the lower ground clearance. Eruption was unable to get underneath its opponent, and was pushed around the arena, including the floor flipper which threw Eruption. When Eruption self-righted, it somersaulted into the pit release button, activating the pit. Eruption narrowly avoided the clutches of Sir Killalot, and continued to run into Storm 2, but simply rode on top of the precision-milled wedge. Eruption eventually managed to flip Storm 2, though the flip was so powerful that Storm 2 turned right-side up before landing, and pinned Eruption against the arena trench. However, in the final twenty seconds of the match, Storm 2 broke down, and Eruption flipped it twice, and celebrated in the centre of the arena, although this was condensed in the edited battle.

The battle was sent to the Judges, and although one Judge voted in favour of Eruption, the split decision was ultimately in Storm 2's favour.

"If we got another flip in, I think we might've had it!"

— Adrian Oates

Eruption takes early damage from PP3D

Eruption is hit hard by PP3D

Eruption was then drawn against PP3D. The team planned ahead that they needed to defeat PP3D via KO, feeling confident that they could defeat Apollo in their next match. Team Eruption hoped to escape this battle with as little damage as possible in order to be capable of defeating Apollo afterwards. If Eruption lost this fight, it would be eliminated from the competition.

Eruption sustains more damage

An immobile pair of robots

Eruption kept close to PP3D throughout the opening stages, but could not get underneath the undercutter blade, and was sent recoiling away repeatedly. Eruption pressed the pit release, but its next contact with PP3D ripped away one of its anti-spinner plates, and immobilised Eruption's drive on one side. However, this impact had also immobilised half of PP3D's drive as well, and neither robot could make contact with the other. Eruption started to smoke, burning out a motor as it drove in circles, and fired its flipper in an attempt to display mobility, turning itself over and self-righting. However, it was in vain, and the Judges called a winner based on the first minute of the battle, which went in favour of PP3D.

Eruption was eliminated from the competition at this stage, but regardless it fought Apollo at the end of the head-to-head stage. For the battle, Eruption removed its claw and decals, and entered the arena much like its live events appearance, as the team did not have time to bolt the weaponry back on after replacing its motor.

Eruption launches Apollo

Eruption pirouettes on its nose

Eruption fought wisely in this match, driving onto Apollo to lure it into flipping, and then attacking after Apollo missed. It did not fire its flipper until an opportunity was found, missing on its first effort, but launching the white flipper on the second and third flips. When Apollo retaliated with a flip, Eruption span on the surface of its flipper.

"Oh look at the pirouette by Eruption!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Eruption attempts to throw the immobile Apollo out of the arena

Eruption threw Apollo towards the arena trench, which caused Apollo's flipper to jam open, and Apollo had also lost drive at this stage. Eruption attempted to throw Apollo out of the arena to the demands of the crowd, as the latter was counted out. Eruption was declared the winner as it threw Apollo towards Dead Metal, even though Apollo started moving again afterwards.

Angela Scanlon: "Eruption! What a way to go, where was that guy in the previous fights?"

Michael Oates: "It was there, it just couldn't get under the opponent!"

— Too late for Eruption

Because Eruption had defeated Apollo via KO, it earned three points, which put it ahead of PP3D in the league table, though this was still not enough for Eruption to qualify for the Heat Final.

"Infernal Contraption is a very old machine that had been renovated for the 2016 series, it is not something we considered to be a great threat but the team had done a fantastic job and it ended up giving us a very good fight!"

— Eruption - Robot Wars Facebook page on the fight against Infernal Contraption

Eruption's whiteboard match with Infernal Contraption

Invited to remain on-set for the duration of filming, Eruption fought in three untelevised whiteboard matches, to entertain the crowd. The first of these battles was a victory against Infernal Contraption. Eruption got underneath the axlebot and repeatedly threw it into the plexiglass. However, Eruption's wedge consisted of the hastily welded piece of RAEX it used against Apollo, which became stuck on the flame pit, and was dented by Infernal Contraption. Once freed, Eruption threw Infernal Contraption into the air more times, knocking out its weapon link, and eventually its drive link, immobilising it. A clip of the battle was shown in the opening sequence of the series.

"Due credit to the team, for such an old machine it stood up to a huge number of impacts after being flipped and it was only the links that let them down in the end. After the fight it turned out that they had also slightly dented the RAEX front plate, though luckily for us no significant damage."

— Eruption - Robot Wars Facebook page on the fight against Infernal Contraption

The second whiteboard match saw Eruption take on Grand Finalist Shockwave, which the two teams agreed to due to their long-standing friendship.

"The producers gave us the chance to organise the fights amongst ourselves, and having been very close friends for many years, ourselves and Team Shock both said we wanted to fight each other in the new TV arena! They had done a fantastic job repairing Shockwave after their fight with Carbide (despite a few pieces of metal missing here and there!), and Eruption and Shockwave were the first robots loaded into the arena."

— Eruption - Robot Wars Facebook page on the fight against Shockwave

Eruption's wedge was lower than Shockwave's and it got underneath to throw Shockwave around the arena. In return, it was barged into the side wall of the arena. However, after Eruption flipped Shockwave a few more times, Shockwave lost a drive chain to a wheel, partially down to earlier damage from Carbide. Team Shock encouraged Team Eruption to keep attacking, so Eruption threw Shockwave out of the arena, the second time it had done so in this arena, winning the battle.

"Despite being immobilised, Will and Ian told us to continue attacking and we drove underneath Shockwave and flipped it out of the arena, giving Eruption the highest number of OOTAs in the new Robot Wars arena! Shockwave was unfortunately irreparable after this and did not fight again, but getting it back in the arena after the Carbide fight was a feat in itself!"

— Eruption - Robot Wars Facebook page on the fight against Shockwave

Eruption then fought Behemoth in its third and final whiteboard match, with the house robot being Shunt, with the arena spikes also being operated by an audience member. However, both Eruption and Behemoth kept away from the house robot and hazards, as both were due to appear in an upcoming live event.

"After their first whiteboard fights, Shockwave and Gabriel had both broken down and could not be repaired, which totally ruined our fights schedule! We were wheeling Eruption back to the pits to get it ready to fight again after the Shockwave fight, when one of the producers came after us and asked if Eruption could be back in the arena in 5 minutes. We quickly swapped out the Lipos for the A123s and swapped the gas bottle, and believe it or not we made it – that’s 2 fights within 15 minutes!"

— Eruption - Robot Wars Facebook page on the fight against Behemoth

Eruption's ground clearance proved to be superior, and it repeatedly got underneath Behemoth and threw it around the arena, although Eruption was flipped a few times in response by Behemoth. As the robots were mostly fighting near the flame pit, Eruption managed to flip Behemoth into the corner, and due to the fact that Behemoth had lost the use of one of its self-righting arms, it could not self-right. However, Eruption ignored the potential KO kept on flipping in order to prolong the match, eventually ending the battle with both robots still active. A large cheer went for up Eruption, but no winner was declared.

"Had this been a competition fight we would have left them, but this was just for fun and to put on a show, so we flipped Behemoth again and the fight continued! ...There was no judging for whiteboards so we don’t know who won, but there was a large cheer from the crowd at the end as it put on such a great show, so I think we can count that as a win for both of us!"

— Eruption - Robot Wars Facebook page on the fight against Behemoth

Series 9

"The team say this year, their plan is to flip robots out of the arena, and with a robot that can flip over 1,000kg, that's a real possibility!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Eruption returned in Heat 2 of Series 9. In its first-round battle, it was drawn against Belgian robot Cobra, 'egg beater' spinner Hobgoblin, and series veteran Behemoth, which the team fought in their last battle in the Robot Wars arena. It entered the battle with its brand new 'Drum of Death'.

Eruption turns Hobgoblin over

Eruption bosses Cobra around the arena

After starting the battle by free-roaming the arena, Eruption instantly took Hobgoblin out of the competition by flipping over, as that robot had no self-righting mechanism. Eruption was then turned over by Behemoth, but it self-righted and turned Cobra over, leading to a further sequence of flips from Eruption itself and the floor flipper. After lightly flicking Behemoth up, Eruption trapped Cobra over the floor spikes, flipped it, and dodged an attack from Behemoth. It was becoming clear that Eruption and Behemoth had seemingly allied, as Eruption continued to target Cobra and flip it, with little involvement from Behemoth, barring two late flips where Behemoth and Eruption turned each other over. Time expired, and the battle was sent to a Judges' decision, but Eruption safely qualified alongside Behemoth.

"We saw Hobgoblin had a really really nasty spinner on it, so we wanted to take that out, so we just turned that over, and there was just three of us left"

— Michael Oates

In the start of the Head-to-Head round, Eruption faced Behemoth individually, so the team swapped Eruption's flipper for one with a wedge blade that was lower to the ground, and removed their additional weapons, using only the flipper.

Eruption throws Behemoth in the corner

Eruption somersaults Behemoth out

Behemoth landed the first attack, turning Eruption over, but on the second attempt, Eruption self-righted. Eruption's flipper was still failing to breach the front ground clearance of Behemoth as it rode up their scoop, being turned over once again. However, Eruption dominated the fight from this moment onwards, as it pinned Behemoth in the corner of the arena, out of the team's view, and launched it skyward. When both robots eventually left the corner, Behemoth made a crucial error, and fired its scoop without Eruption on top of it, and Eruption used this window to sneak under Behemoth, and somersault it out of the arena.

"Sensational stuff! That just lifted 108 and a half kilos there!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Already on three points, Eruption was then lined up to earn more points easily, as Cherub entered the arena with a broken drive train, leaving it unable to move freely in its battle with Eruption. The team equipped the gripping claw to Eruption, which would prove to be the last time they used a secondary weapon in the series.

Eruption launches Cherub up into the air

Eruption tosses Cherub out of the arena

After 'activate' sounded, Eruption drove straight under Cherub and blasted it towards the arena wall. Knowing that its opponent was immobile, Eruption took its time to line up a second flip, making use of the gripper to hold it in place, and threw it upwards. Cherub happened to be exposing its raised ground clearance to Eruption, so Michael Oates turned Cherub around in front of the arena wall, and on the third flip, barrelled it into the trench.

"Two fights in a row now, and that's what Eruption's built to do, so to see it all go perfectly, to exactly what you envisage in your head in the arena, that's a really good feeling!"

— Michael Oates

With six points, Eruption had already safely qualified for the Heat Final, but it first had to face PP3D for the second series in a row, and limit the damage that Eruption would take before its subsequent battle. In order to tackle PP3D safely, Eruption applied extra 9mm HARDOX to the front of its flipper, added thicker side panels, and used no interchangeable weapons on its flipper.

"If you want to set up a backstory or something, that is probably what you'd call our 'arch-enemy', as it took us out last time, and it's a devastating robot!"

— Michael Oates on PP3D

Eruption charges head-first into PP3D

Eruption achieves vengeance

Confident in the extra armour added to Eruption, the team charged head-first into PP3D's disc, and knocked it upwards. Several follow-up charges seemingly took PP3D out of the running straight away, as it could only turn on one wheel, and PP3D Robotics turned off their weapon shortly afterwards. After flipping itself over, Eruption more carefully pushed PP3D onto the floor flipper, but this surprisingly allowed PP3D to run freely when inverted. However, Eruption easily exploited the new ground clearance of PP3D, and drove it straight towards the arena wall, and Team Eruption achieved vengeance for their past loss by flipping PP3D over the arena wall.

"Three flips in a row, three cheers for Eruption!"

— Jonathan Pearce

With three flips out of the arena and nine points, Eruption qualified for the Heat Final unchallenged, where it would face the now fully functional Cherub, once again electing not to use any interchangeable weapons.

Eruption drives Cherub to the arena wall

Eruption wins in just over six seconds

Cherub's repaired drive ironically led to an even quicker defeat, as it rode straight up Eruption's flipper, and in just 6.5 seconds, a huge flip from Eruption threw Cherub out of the arena once again, putting a dominant Eruption into the Grand Final. This also marked the second-fastest battle in Robot Wars and the fastest in the rebooted series' run at the time.

Angela Scanlon: "Have you got somewhere to go? You're in an awful hurry, and it gets progressively quicker every time!"

Michael Oates: "It's a dangerous arena, and if you stay in there too long you can get pushed into House Robots, into hazards, so the best way to get through the competition is to win your fights as quickly as you can!"

— Team Eruption on their six and a half-second battle

A dominant Eruption entered the Grand Final to face another undefeated robot in Aftershock, and the reigning champion Apollo.

Eruption takes damage from Aftershock's landing

However, Eruption was intentionally passive in this Group Battle, avoiding conflict where possible. Its first involvement in the battle occurred when Apollo threw Aftershock directly onto Eruption's flipper, warping it out of alignment. Eruption continued its avoidance until it collided with a broken panel in the arena floor, requiring 'cease' to be called before Eruption drove under the wedged Apollo. After the arena was repaired, Eruption restarted the battle from a neutral position, but there was no further need for its involvement, as Aftershock immobilised Apollo with its next attack. The victorious Eruption cruised around the arena until the battle concluded.

Dara Ó Briain: "...You were in attendance there! Relatively little to do! At what point were you supposed to join in?"

Michael Oates: "Melees are about surviving, really! We saw that they were quite keen to go for each other, and we let them do it!"

— Michael Oates on Eruption's lack of involvement

The damage to Eruption's flipper

Eruption's flipper had sustained damage from Aftershock's landing, but the team repaired this in time for the first of its three head-to-head battles. The first of these matches was against Ironside3. Although Team Eruption were fearful of the damaging bar spinner, they were aware that Ironside3 had to remove its self-righting mechanism, and were keen to win the battle without causing major damage to their opponent for tactical reasons.

"As contradictory as it sounds, we don't want to cause much damage to Ironside, because we're also quite scared about Aftershock and Carbide, so if we can keep them spinning, they've then got to go in with the other two. If they can be spinning and deliver a big hit to them, that could help us out. So you've got to be really tactical at this stage and consider what your best chances are to take out all your opponents, even in the fights you're not in."

— Michael Oates

Eruption launches Ironside3

Eruption's shape turns Ironside3 over

Eruption entered the arena with its anti-spinner plates, and used them to cushion the first blow from Ironside3, affording Eruption the chance to drive underneath it. However, Eruption's first flip missed, throwing the robot over. It self-righted quickly, and this time drove under Ironside3 to launch it high into the air, and charged it with a follow-up hit in the CPZ. Eruption's flipper was buckled but it deflected damage from Ironside3, and chased it into another CPZ, where Ironside3's bar struck Eruption and turned itself over. While Eruption fired its flipper, Ironside3 laid immobile, no longer possessing a self-righting mechanism, so the winner celebrated by spinning in the centre of the arena. Eruption had opened its second round campaign with a win by KO, earning it three points, although there was damage to repair.

"As the flipper's gone up and thrown him into the air, the spinner has caught the side of the flipper and completely bent it over, out of shape."

— Michael Oates

Eruption's flipper was fixed, but it next had to face the reigning runner-up, Carbide.

Eruption deflects Carbide

Eruption sustains the killer blow

Eruption's extra panels were initially effective, allowing Eruption to charge into Carbide twice, sending it reeling into the air, but Carbide's attack on Eruption's wedge caused gas to immediately start venting from the flipper. Eruption's back end was struck by Carbide's bar spinner, immobilising it, and Eruption suffered another damaging blow when the countdown clock started. Eruption flipped itself over and self-righted onto the top of Carbide, taking more damage while the countdown expired. At the end of ten seconds, Eruption lost the battle to Carbide.

"8mm hardened steel, and Carbide's cut straight through it! I didn't think that was possible!"

— Adrian Oates

Although Eruption sustained significant damage from Carbide, it was repaired in time for its last head-to-head of the stage, after sacrificing its broken anti-spinner panel. In order to qualify for the final battle, Eruption had to defeat Aftershock or hold it off until a Judges' decision, otherwise it would be left in the position of a three-way points tie.

Michael Oates: "We've worked out the points and because we beat Ironside in our head-to-head, if we win, or just take it to a Judges' decision, we should get through to the final."

Dara Ó Briain: "You could literally just do laps!"

Michael Oates: "We could do, but I think they'd probably catch us though, at some point! Three minutes is a long time in that arena!"

— Team Eruption still aim for victory

Eruption's opening attack on Aftershock

Eruption survives a blow from Aftershock

Eruption slowly approached Aftershock in the battle and breached its ground clearance. It manoeuvred its way to the back of Aftershock and threw it into the Arena Tyre, activating Rogue House Robot, also forcing Aftershock to self-right. However, the force of Aftershock's disc hitting the floor once again damaged the arena, causing the fight to be halted. Once again, Eruption and Aftershock were returned to a neutral position so the fight could be restarted.

Michael Oates: "They killed the floor again?"

Adrian Oates: "Oh Will!"

— Team Eruption notice the damaged floor

The battle moves over the Flame Pit

Eruption flips Aftershock over

The restarted match opened with the same tactics from both robots, although this time Eruption did not slip underneath, and the arena spike turned it over. Eruption sustained a blow while self-righting, but then pinned Aftershock in with Dead Metal. When Aftershock broke free, Eruption was smashed by the spinner, but then it slid underneath Aftershock to barrel it across the arena. Both robots traded blows, with Aftershock landing a light hit, and Eruption flipping Aftershock onto its back. When Aftershock finally recovered, it launched a series of attacks, so Eruption pressed the Arena Tyre to open the pit. However, at this point, Aftershock suddenly lost mobility, so Eruption instantaneously earned three points for a knockout.

"I think that was the best fight of the series!"

— Dara Ó Briain

Eruption and Carbide in the final

With a total of six points, Eruption had earned its place in the final battle of the series, where once again it would meet Carbide, the only robot to have defeated Eruption in the series. Angela Scanlon declared that a victory for Eruption would be the biggest upset in Robot Wars history.

"Ever since I was two years old, and we used to sit down as father and son, we used to watch Robot Wars together. Since then it has consumed our entire life for the past twelve years, and so for me... ...it's my dream come true to come this far in Robot Wars."

— Michael Oates

Eruption loses one half of its drive

Eruption manages to flip Carbide

Eruption challenged Carbide head-on, but it could not slip under the bar spinner, and was repeatedly knocked aside, showering sparks. Eruption attempted to flip Carbide twice, but missed on both occasions, throwing itself over. Before this, Carbide had struck the vulnerable side of Eruption, causing it to lose mobility on one side. Eruption's self-righting positioned behind Carbide to try and attack, but the ascendant Carbide smashed Eruption away and onto the floor flipper, which lifted Eruption up. Carbide's assault continued, but Eruption launched its own attack, managing to flip Carbide into the air.

Defeat draws near

Eruption is left in a dismal state

After this, the paralysed Eruption had to absorb more blows from the deadly spinner and could not respond, sustaining significant damage to the flipper and armour. Gas vented, wiring hung loose, and after another slam, Eruption was finally immobilised. It still fired its flipper to show signs of life, but this only led Carbide to land further attacks. Eruption was counted out and 'cease' was called on its campaign for the title. Sir Killalot closed in to pick up Eruption, but the new champion Carbide defended it by challenging the House Robots. Nevertheless, Eruption finished in second place overall.

The ruins of the Robot Wars runner-up

Dara Ó Briain: "It was a much better fight than I think even you were expecting!"

Michael Oates: "Yeah, well we limped Eruption into the final really. It's fought four big spinners in a row now, back-to-back, and we were expecting about ten seconds and something to go wrong, but we kept on going, and we lasted almost two minutes with Carbide which was pretty good, really!"

— Team Eruption, satisfied with their performance

Series 10

"This may be an obvious robot worth looking out for as it was last series Runner-Up but it is undeniably an extremely well built wedge flipper robot, fast and highly manoeuvrable. It is a favourite of mine to do well mainly because of the driving skills of Team Captain Michael. He’s a smart fighter and highly strategic and I am very interested to see what Michael and Dad, Adrian have up their sleeves this series."

— Professor Noel Sharkey

Eruption competed in Heat 2 of Series 10, where it immediately faced a tough draw in its Group Battle, once again facing Aftershock in a rematch from the Grand Final head-to-heads of Series 9, as well as the clusterbot Crackers 'n' Smash. Michael Oates revealed to Dara Ó Briain that he had to postpone his university exams to compete in the series. Dara Ó Briain predicted that Eruption would win its Group Battle, while Angela Scanlon favoured Aftershock's chances.

Dara Ó Briain: "You're supposed to be joining the bingo society or the French history society, or something, or doing other stuff! When's that going to start?"

Michael Oates: "Yeah, but this is more fun though, isn't it!"

Dara Ó Briain: "Do you approve of this, by the way, this bunking away to do this?"

Adrian Oates: "Well, he's worked very hard beforehand, so I'm trusting him!"

Michael Oates: "This is Robot Wars, isn't it! Who wouldn't want to be here, it's amazing!"

— Team Eruption on their sacrifices to compete

Eruption throws the off-guard Aftershock out of the arena

Eruption started the battle passively, only challenging Smash when it was met face-on, but during the course of the battle, Aftershock damaged the arena flipper, creating confusion amongst the roboteers as to whether or not the battle could safely continue. Michael Oates took advantage of this situation, knowing that the battle had not been ceased, and Eruption forced the unaware Aftershock towards the arena wall, and blasted it out of the arena with its first flip of the match.

"Look at the power of Eruption! Michael kept his cool, kept his focus. He saw the perfect opportunity, and he took it. That will cause an upset, I'm sure!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Eruption flips Crackers out of the arena...

...and follows this up by ejecting Smash

Now faced only with Crackers 'n' Smash, Eruption drove Crackers towards an empty CPZ and tossed it upwards twice in succession. In the centre of the arena, Eruption was nudged backwards by Crackers, so the powerful flipper responded by pushing Crackers onto the flame pit, then lined it up against the arena wall, and threw it into the trench. Keen to throw a third robot out of the arena, Eruption quickly pursued the remaining competitor Smash, exposed the ground clearance of the inverted machine, and blasted it out of the arena, causing it to hit the bullet-proof glass entry doors.

"Hat trick! Complete whitewash, brilliant, Eruption!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Although controversy had broken out in the control booth due to the confusion regarding Team Conker's advice that the competing robots should stop moving, Eruption had safely qualified for the next round of the competition, and Adrian Oates defended his son's driving tactics. Angela Scanlon suggested that Team Shock may have felt betrayed, due to their friendship with Team Eruption.

"I mean, best mates! They have, apparently, a little pact where they get rid of the opponents before each other, and it looked like he picked off Aftershock before Crackers 'n' Smash, so maybe the pact has bruised hearts, as well as bruised robots!"

— Angela Scanlon on the friendship of Team Eruption and Team Shock

In the next round, Eruption fought fellow FRA UK Champion Big Nipper, which had applied its vertical disc to attack Eruption with. Both teams understood the importance of having a lower ground clearance, and sharpened the wedges of their robots.

"One of the most interesting things about Robots Wars is - it is a ground war, and often what counts is how low to the ground you can go. You can see both these ones, both Big Nipper there and Eruption have sharpened the very fronts of their robot in order to get under each other. They're right next door to each other, playing the same game at the same time, trying to get their robot as squat as possible!"

— Dara Ó Briain

Eruption's first flip on Big Nipper

Despite the time spent sharpening the front wedge of Eruption, Michael Oates avoided a head-on clash, instead sneaking around the back of Big Nipper to flip it onto the arena spikes. Eruption pushed the self-righting machine towards the wall within a CPZ, and threw Big Nipper against the plexiglass. It pursued Big Nipper across the arena, luring it into the CPZ of Matilda, which flipped Big Nipper on behalf of Eruption. The new arena hazard Fog of War was activated by Big Nipper, but Eruption simply held its position until the CO₂ passed, and directed Big Nipper back into Matilda's CPZ. Eruption sustained damage in a slam from Big Nipper, but as Eruption had already bent the front wedges of Big Nipper, it had the superior ground clearance when the two charged into each other, and Eruption threw Big Nipper back.

"This is a terrific battle! It's not 'wham, bam, slam', not all the time, there's an edge to it."

— Jonathan Pearce on the tactical battle

Eruption continues to flip Big Nipper

Although Eruption briefly drove over the flame pit, it chased Big Nipper from behind, maintaining aggression while launching a small flip. Eruption's next flip was more significant, thrusting Big Nipper into an empty CPZ, before flipping itself over. Self-righting, Eruption flipped Big Nipper onto the pit, once again in the centre of the arena, and then onto the floor flipper in separate attacks. As time was starting to expire on the match, Eruption strongly flipped Big Nipper into the Arena Tyre, where Matilda pressured it until 'cease' was called. Eruption flipped Big Nipper one last time slightly after the battle ended, and the match was to be decided by the Judges.

Professor Sethu Vijayakumar: "Damage was similar on both, I would say, as neither of them sustained massive damage, but aggression definitely--"

Dr Lucy Rogers: "And control."

Professor Noel Sharkey: "Control was the main thing there, as Nipper, Big Nipper, just could not turn there."

— The Judges discuss the battle

The Judges' decision was unanimously awarded to Eruption, allowing it to progress to the Heat Final, where it would once again face Carbide, in a rematch of the previous series' Grand Final - only the winner would directly qualify for Series 10's Grand Final. Eruption was applied with its thickened armour panels designed to resist Carbide.

"If it all goes right for us, we get our chance to revenge from the last series, which is gonna be really great. I think they're feeling a bit less confident, they're panicking a little bit. We've got to try and exploit that."

— Michael Oates

The first hit on Eruption, disabling its drive

Eruption's wheel guard is targeted by Carbide

Eruption quickly drove around the back of Carbide, and edged it forwards, but made contact with the bar spinner, and was sent spinning away. This first hit rendered Eruption incapable of driving in a straight line, and much like the Series 9 Grand Final, Eruption was left to defend it self by pointing its wedge at Carbide, but the reigning champion landed a series of blows to Eruption's flipper. Carbide was fearful of Eruption's proximity to the arena wall, but waited for the chance to inflict more damage to the handicapped Eruption. Eventually, Eruption left itself vulnerable by exposing its side to Carbide, and the side panel protecting Eruption's damaged wheel was ripped away, immobilising the robot entirely. Eruption was left idle as it was counted out, and the reigning runner-up fell in the Heat Final to its 'arch-nemesis'.

"The only way Eruption could have beaten them is if [Carbide] came to the side, but that didn't happen."

— Jonathan Pearce

Regardless, Eruption had qualified for the 10 Robot Rumble, where it faced Apollo, Concussion, Big Nipper, Expulsion, Iron-Awe 6, Sabretooth, Terrorhurtz, Thor and Track-tion, in one last-man-standing battle. Eruption's tactics were clear - to keep out of the action, and allow the competitors to beat each other before joining in at a later stage.

"It is going to be brutal, it could be one of the most epic fights we've ever had."

— Michael Oates

Eruption waits in the corner after a challenge from Iron-Awe 6

Eruption is axed by Terrorhurtz in a pincer attack

Eruption held true to its tactics, and simply reversed from its starting position to sit in a corner, uncontested while Track-tion was immobilised in the opening stages. Iron-Awe 6 was the first to break the stalemate, and drove onto the wedge of Eruption, but quickly retreated, as it lacked a working flipper. Eruption did not pursue it, and continued waiting. It turned to face Iron-Awe 6 after Expulsion drove into the pit, but again remained unchallenged, and sat motionlessly through the first Fog of War, until it was again targeted by Iron-Awe 6, but maintained its presence to avoid its offence, once again surviving Fog of War once it was activated for a second time. Eruption finally left its CPZ when it was caught in a pincer attack, taking a blow to the side from Concussion, and an axe blow from Terrorhurtz while Big Nipper and Iron-Awe 6 prevented its escape, moving Eruption towards Sir Killalot.

"My favourite shot of the entire melee is this one shot, and in the foreground, you can see it's going crazy, and just behind them is you, just standing in the corner, watching it all unfold!"

— Dara Ó Briain after the battle

Eruption throws Big Nipper into the Arena Tyre

Eruption flips itself over

Starting to play a more active role, Eruption flipped Big Nipper into the Arena Tyre, activating Rogue House Robot, forcing Eruption to flee from Sir Killalot. In its panic, Eruption flipped itself over while being pressured by Big Nipper, and Eruption threw itself over when self-righting, landing on its flipper twice, then landing on its flipper blade in a third attempt, before eventually landing on its wheels.

Eruption flees from Thor during Fog of War

Eruption waits for Iron-Awe 6 to self-right

During this period of vulnerability, Iron-Awe 6 activated yet another Fog of War, and Eruption was axed by Thor just as the fog entered the arena. However, the Fog of War allowed Eruption to make its escape to a visible area of the arena. This Fog of War caused Iron-Awe 6 to drive over the floor flipper, landing inverted in front of Eruption, which waited to attack in case Iron-Awe 6 could self-right, but was ultimately left facing a beaten machine. Eruption briefly drove under Apollo, and held off Sabretooth, while Iron-Awe 6 and Concussion were both pitted.

Eruption resists Sabretooth's drum

Eruption is targeted by the rogue Sir Killalot

Eruption was still being challenged by Sabretooth, which threw sparks off the surface of Eruption's flipper, grazing it near the flame pit until Sabretooth shifted its attention elsewhere. Eruption remained in place until the robots entered the centre of the arena, and Eruption drove into Thor, unable to get underneath. Eruption deflected Sabretooth away, and drove under Big Nipper to feed it to Sir Killalot. However, Sir Killalot instead barged Eruption into the Arena Tyre, activating Rogue House Robot again so that Sir Killalot could continue to pursue Eruption, holding it over the flame pit to ensure that Eruption did not leave the CPZ.

"We have Sir Killalot coming out into the fray, he wants Eruption! For some reason, Killalot has a feud with Eruption."

— Jonathan Pearce

Eruption prepares to flip Terrorhurtz

Eruption pushes Big Nipper into the pit

Shortly afterwards, Sabretooth drove into the pit, leaving five active robots. Eruption took an aggressive move and drove straight under Terrorhurtz, tossing it high into the air, and onto its back. Eruption followed the struggling Terrorhurtz, but retreated when Thor activated Rogue House Robot when Sir Killalot was nearby, and preparing to attack Terrorhurtz. Thor pitted itself while pushing Big Nipper towards defeat, and Eruption capitalised by delicately pushing the vulnerable Big Nipper into the pit. With three robots remaining, Eruption flipped Apollo across the arena, which in turn had largely lost mobility.

"Three robots remaining, Apollo, and Eruption surely the favourites now, together out there!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Eruption's knockout flip on Terrorhurtz

Eruption throws Apollo into the CPZ

Terrorhurtz chased Eruption across the arena, but Michael Oates spun his machine in a circle to sneak under Terrorhurtz's wedge, pin it against the Arena Tyre housing, and launch it into the air. Terrorhurtz landed on its wedge against the arena wall, and was thus immobilised, leaving Eruption to fight Apollo alone. Eruption quickly drove under Apollo to flip it into the CPZ, and followed up on the handicapped machine by flipping it into the arena wall, and over. Apollo could no longer self-right, and the victorious Eruption fled from Shunt, having just won the 10 Robot Rumble, celebrating by spinning in the centre of the arena.

"You've got some really nasty spinners in there, but they've only got so much battery. If you can hang back, let them use it up. And everyone else went straight in, and they were straight in, and I was happy for them to do that. If they all take each other out, I'm OK with that!"

— Michael Oates after the battle

Having earned the wildcard, Eruption qualified for its second consecutive Grand Final, where it faced Magnetar and Rapid.

Eruption takes early damage from Magnetar

Eruption's successful flip on Magnetar

Eruption emulated the strategy used in the 10 Robot Rumble, and headed for an empty CPZ to watch the battle unfold, but Rapid disallowed this and drove under Eruption, although Magnetar relieved it by throwing Rapid over. Eruption tried to stay in the CPZ still, but was attacked by both of its opponents, and Magnetar landed several sequential blows on Eruption. Rapid also tried to flip Eruption, but instead flipped itself onto its back, rendering it immobile. Magnetar chased Eruption backwards, driving under it to cause grinding damage with the drum, and also caused Eruption to knock Rapid back onto its wheels. In a chase between Eruption and Magnetar, Eruption flipped its opponent over, albeit without its usual strength.

"It's all about Magnetar taking on Eruption. Eruption has the power of course to flip in that situation to flip, and Magnetar drove in a little bit naïvely on Eruption."

— Jonathan Pearce

Eruption flips Rapid over

Eruption's flipper power wanes

Magnetar self-righted, and after Rapid activated Rogue House Robot, Dead Metal attacked both Eruption and Rapid by trapping them, but after breaking free, Eruption flipped Rapid over, and gently tossed Magnetar backwards while Rapid flipped itself onto the face of its internals, immobilising it. Magnetar's self-righting mechanism had jammed open, so Eruption only required one flip to win, but after being pushed back by Magnetar, it became clear that Eruption's flipper power was waning, only lifting Magnetar lightly off the arena floor despite driving under the wedge of Magnetar to flip it on several occasions. Magnetar pushed Eruption into Dead Metal's CPZ, and slammed into its wedge, then activating the pit. However, when Magnetar pushed Eruption into Matilda's CPZ, it drove onto her tusks, and was thrown over. This allowed the hobbling Eruption to take to the centre of the arena and celebrate its victory.

Dara Ó Briain: "He's hobbling out into a victory here, he has, he's won it!"

Jonathan Pearce: "Eruption have won this on the back of the 10 Robot Rumble, that is staggering! That is incredible! Sheer ability, creativity, great control. What a performance."

— Reactions to Eruption's victory

It was later revealed that the damage to Eruption's flipper was caused by Magnetar snapping one of the fittings which connected one of Eruption's two valves to its pneumatic ram. While one ram worked perfectly, the other ram would simply leak gas when fired, drastically increasing the robot's gas consumption. Nevertheless, this damage was repaired in time for the semi-final.

"We have two valves feeding the ram in Eruption and one of the hits from Magnetar snapped one of the fittings off connecting a valve to the ram. This meant we only had one of the valves feeding the ram, and a massive leak out of it whenever we fired. Basically meaning we lost both a lot of power and gas every time I tried to use the flipper. I think it's fair to say we got quite lucky with the end of that fight!"

— Eruption - Robot Wars Facebook page

Eruption with new side plates for its semi-final

Reaching the semi-final, Eruption fought Behemoth for a chance at the title match, in a rematch from Series 9. Michael Oates was pleased with this draw, as the other semi-final was contested between Carbide and Nuts 2. Eruption did not use its HDPE side panels in this battle, using purely red metal side guards.

Angela Scanlon: "They were very happy to have been pulled against you."

Kevin Cleasby: "I imagine Michael is!"

— Angela Scanlon to Team Make Robotics

Eruption is initially breached

Eruption tosses Behemoth into the plexiglass

Eruption gingerly approached Behemoth, but the latter was able to get underneath the flipper, and drove Eruption into the arena wall, flipping it up. Eruption struggled to self-right in Dead Metal's CPZ, throwing itself over twice before eventually turning itself back over to escape from both robots, fleeing to the flame pit. Eruption exerted its pressure, causing Behemoth to flip at the air, although Eruption was not getting flips of its own. Once Eruption found its way underneath, it barrelled Behemoth through the air, causing it to land by the arena wall, where Eruption launched it into Dead Metal's saw. Behemoth self-righted into the Arena Tyre, releasing Dead Metal through Rogue House Robot. Eruption flipped itself over, and wheelied in its efforts to escape, but as the second minute of the match begun, Eruption steered Behemoth onto the closed pit, and flipped again. Eruption managed to hold Behemoth in the corner, stopping it from self-righting.

"Oh he's just letting him use up the gas!"

— Angela Scanlon on Eruption's tactics

Eruption prevents Behemoth from self-righting

Eruption holds Behemoth in harm's way

When Behemoth eventually righted itself, Eruption tossed it again, sending it twisting through the air. Eruption was now capable of driving under Behemoth's scoop, as it drove it into the Arena Tyre and flipped. Behemoth touched the Arena Tyre in the process, activating Fog of War, but both robots simply waited for their vision to return before continuing the battle, and Behemoth slammed into Eruption. Regaining its composure, Eruption drove under Behemoth and threw it towards the arena wall, then pushed it into Dead Metal for another attack.

"What a good driver Michael Oates, what a brilliant young roboteer he is. No wonder he put off his studies at Durham University, to finish his Robot Wars dream!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Eruption flips Behemoth onto the wall

Eruption's late efforts to flip Behemoth out

Eruption's low ground clearance still proved telling, as it rolled Behemoth into the Arena Tyre, and wedged under it again in the centre of the arena, tumbling it into an Matilda's CPZ, where the House Robot landed a devastating hit. Eruption flipped Behemoth onto the arena wall, narrowly failing to flip it out, and tossed it directly upwards in a second attempt. Behemoth slid away from the arena wall, self-righted, and retreated to the centre of the arena for safety, but Eruption still toppled it using the flipper's wedge shape, and drove it back into the side of the arena. In the last fifteen seconds, Eruption made three efforts to flip Behemoth out of the arena, but lacked the power to do so, and 'cease' was called.

Angela Scanlon: "So determined to get him out!"

Dara Ó Briain: "Desperate to get him out!"

— The presenters in the last ten seconds

The battle went to a Judges' decision, and the Judges unanimously voted in favour of Eruption, allowing it to qualify for a second consecutive Final. This would prove to be a rematch of Series 9's title battle, and the second battle within Series 10 between Eruption and Carbide. Eruption was once again applied with its defensive side plates, and a strengthened flipper plate.

"We're gonna do everything we can. Drive head-on into Carbide and see what happens."

— Michael Oates on his tactics for the final

Eruption sustains early damage

Eruption's first flip in the battle

Carbide had intended to immediately strike the side of Eruption, but Michael Oates foresaw this, and sustained a blow on the more heavily armoured sides of Eruption. In a head-on collision, a hole was gauged into Eruption's flipper, which weathered several more attacks from Carbide. Eruption withstood further attacks from Carbide, although a big hit bent its flipper out of alignment. Regardless, after being knocked away, Eruption pursued the fleeing Carbide, and used its wedge shape to recoil Carbide into the floor, causing Carbide to emit a small amount of smoke. At this stage, Eruption then launched its first flip of the match, throwing Carbide and itself over.

"I'm not too sure the flipper of Eruption is working, the bar spinner of Carbide certainly is, oh it's working!! It's certainly working, we have a fight again. I thought Eruption were out, but that's what this whole programme has been around this time."

— Jonathan Pearce

Eruption's decal is ripped away by Carbide

Eruption achieves another flip

Eruption charged into Carbide to send it recoiling away, and as Team Carbide noticed their smoking machine, the bar spinner powered down, allowing Eruption to throw it high into the air, and over. Eruption pushed the weaponless Carbide towards Sir Killalot, and continued to face the rear of Carbide until its bar spinner powered back up, ripping a decal from Eruption. A blow from Carbide sent it spinning into the Arena Tyre to activate Fog of War, but neither robot made any sort of approach during this period. Sparks flew as Eruption weathered more attacks from Carbide, gradually pushing it towards Sir Killalot, and then onto the floor flipper. Pressing against the bar spinner, Eruption stopped its opponents weapon and flipped it over, to the celebrations of the Robot Wars presenters.

"This is the stuff of Robot Wars dreams, here!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Eruption begins to take the lead

Eruption's late dominance

Eruption was still sustaining damage from the bar spinner, which continued to turn at a fairly dangerous pace, and Eruption failed to attack for a period of time. However it recovered by driving under the side of Carbide to toss it over, and ploughed straight into the spinning bar to flip Carbide over again. In the last thirty seconds, Eruption needed to prove its dominance, and did so by flipping Carbide across the arena, before turning itself over. Eruption recovered quickly, self-righting over Carbide and then flipped it again, tricking Carbide onto the floor flipper. Eruption's greater speed allowed it to catch the fleeing Carbide, easily exposing its ground clearance to thrust it forwards. In the final ten seconds, Eruption chased Carbide constantly until 'cease' was called at the end of three tense minutes.

The damaged Eruption with its trophy

"Carbide the stronger early on, will the Judges decide on that? Eruption the stronger later on, will the Judges go for that?"

— Jonathan Pearce on a decision too close for him to call

The battle had proceeded to a Judges' decision, and after the Judges reviewed the fight multiple times, a winner had been chosen. Angela Scanlon announced that the unanimous winner of the battle was Eruption, and the team lifted the trophy, having become the new Robot Wars champion.

"After all these years spent fighting robots, to win Robot Wars really is a dream come true for us."

— Michael Oates

As the newest British champion, Eruption represented the United Kingdom in Robot Wars: World Series, captaining Team UK in the second episode. Eruption entered the arena brandishing the Union Flag on its side, and in its first battle, Eruption allied with Big Nipper to battle the Dutch robot THE BASH and Russian robot Weber.

Mark Lumb: "If we can get hold of one of them, we'll bring them back to you..."

Michael Oates: "And then we can double team them!"

— The Big Nipper and Eruption teams talk tactics

Eruption's first flip on Weber

Eruption launches THE BASH up

Eruption started the battle for its team, facing Weber. Eruption's ground clearance proved to be lower, as it drove straight under Weber, and tossed it towards the arena side wall. Eruption briefly drove onto the flipper of Weber, and was turned over itself, and its self-righting was blocked by the Russian team. Eruption recovered, and pushed Weber into the CPZ where Eruption's teammate Big Nipper assisted it. Eruption chased the fleeing Weber, which tagged THE BASH into the battle, but Eruption tossed it high into the air, where it landed on the flame pit, immobile. After defeating the Dutch entry with a single attack, Eruption retreated to the CPZ, allowing Big Nipper to continue the battle. Big Nipper toyed with THE BASH, and collected points by attacking Weber until it switched places with Eruption. While Weber pressed the Arena Tyre to activate Rogue House Robot, Eruption flipped Weber into a CPZ, but when the rogue Dead Metal caught Weber, Eruption helped it by trying to flip the House Robot over.

"Oh, what's happening? Eruption is trying to help Weber out of the claws of Dead Metal, and well, that is gentlemanly conduct for you!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Eruption's killer flip on Weber

Eruption attacks Dead Metal with its partner Big Nipper

Eruption was not able to flip Dead Metal over, but it continued its attack on Weber, tossing it forwards, as Big Nipper illegally entered the fray. Weber, being chased by both robots, was caught by Eruption which threw it from behind, onto the arena wall. When Weber fell off the wall, it was left unable to self-right, and Eruption moved its attention back to the House Robot, also briefly being attacked by teammate Big Nipper. Eruption lifted Dead Metal up, but still could not flip its target over, while Big Nipper sustained damage. Once Weber had been counted out, Eruption and Big Nipper won the battle by KO.

"You're a changed man! You were getting bored of a battle, so you decide to take on the House Robots just to keep things lively!"

— Angela Scanlon

Michael Oates cedes three points to Team Rest of the World

Michael Oates admitted to attacking the House Robots for the purposes of entertainment, and to help Weber, while remaining confident of the UK's victory - indeed, Team UK had opened with three points due to the Tag Team win. Michael Oates was later required to settle a dispute between Team Rest of the World captain Michael Mauldin and the teams of Thor and Concussion, after Concussion made an illegal attack on Cathadh during the second Tag Team battle. Despite Cathadh and Terror Turtle being immobilised in the battle, Michael Oates agreed to forfeit three points to Team Rest of the World.

Dara Ó Briain: "Are you willing to hand over the points because of this disgraceful behaviour?"

Michael Oates: "Yeah, I think, let's even up the score, and let's go into the head-to-heads with a clean slate."

— Michael Oates of Team UK favours the case of Terror Turtle and Cathadh

Michael Oates, as the captain of Team UK, also gave advice to the teams of Thor, Big Nipper and Concussion, ahead of their head-to-head battles with Tough as Nails, Terror Turtle and Weber, respectively, and watched each battle from the control pod. The three British robots won all of their battles, securing the overall victory for Team UK before Eruption was even required to battle again. In spite of the scoreline being 11-3 in favour of the United Kingdom, Eruption still fought the Rest of the World captain and USA representative Cathadh at the end of the episode. For this battle, Eruption applied an entanglement device to its flipper in the form of a wire hoop, and a resistant 'Team UK' armour plate beneath it.

"I think we've proved now that we have got the best flipper in the UK, and we're going to show why the UK is the best in the world."

— Michael Oates

Eruption pushes the fleeing Cathadh

Shunt's axe breaks atop Eruption's flipper

Eruption chased Cathadh around the arena, as the American representative lacked a working weapon. Eruption pressed the fleeing Cathadh against the Arena Tyre, activating Rogue House Robot which pressured Cathadh, allowing Eruption to drive in with a slam. After being briefly stuck on the flame pit, Eruption engaged with Cathadh in the centre of the arena, and finally decided to fire its flipper, but missed its target and threw its own entanglement device from the flipper. After self-righting amidst Fog of War, Eruption was struck by Shunt, but the House Robot's axe fatigued and fell apart upon contact with Eruption.

"Oh look at that, Shunt's weaponry buckled by Eruption! What a strong machine Eruption is!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Eruption causes Cathadh's revived weapon to break

Eruption tosses the immobile Cathadh

Eruption bumped into Cathadh, drawing it into an empty CPZ where Eruption attempted its second flip, but lacked purchase and threw itself over again. After self-righting, Eruption was more successful in its next attempt, throwing Cathadh towards the arena wall. Eruption attempted to launch Cathadh out of the arena, and flipped it again, but this revived the bar spinner of the American machine. Sparks were thrown as Eruption's enforced flipper blade resisted the spinner of Cathadh, and this resistance eventually caused Cathadh's weapon bearings and drive belt to loosen, leaving it without a weapon again. Eruption then tossed Cathadh straight up, loosening its wheel, and another flip completely removed a tyre from Cathadh. Eruption had now won the battle by KO, and it tossed Cathadh into the wall, then celebrated with two further flips before spinning in the centre of the arena as 'cease' was called.

"Very convincing performance from Eruption, and from Team UK!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Eruption earned a further five points for the victorious Team UK, which ultimately won by a margin of 16-3. As team captain, Michael Oates lifted the trophy to celebrate the British victory.

The victorious captain of Team UK, Eruption

Dara Ó Briain: "Michael, I have these conversations with you semi-regularly, in which I am about to present you with a trophy. This was a fight that, well to be honest, he lay low for two minutes and then suddenly awoke, but you were in control for most of this."

Michael Oates: "Yeah, I mean I was thinking he might be playing dead at the start, to like wait util the entanglement fell off, and then spin it up, so that's why I was a little bit cautious with the flipper."

Dara Ó Briain: "How has your team been throughout this competition?"

Michael Oates: "They've been amazing. I mean, they all won, so I can't ask for much more, really!"

— Michael Oates celebrates the Team UK victory

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 18
• Losses: 5

NOTE: Whiteboard matches are not included

Series Record

• Eruption is tended to in the pits
• The team with Dara Ó Briain in the pits
• Eruption's turntable image in Series 8
• Eruption in the arena during Series 8
• The Drum of Death weapon
• Eruption on the stat boards in Series 10

1/6

Series	Eruption Series Record
Series 1-7	Did not enter
Series 8	Heat Round 2, Third Place
Series 9	Runner-up
Series 10	Grand Champion

Outside Robot Wars

Prior to Roaming Robots' acquisition of the Robot Wars brand, Eruption participated in the 2012 Winter Roaming Robots tour, where it finished second overall, behind Ripper.

In 2013, the same year where Eruption won the Robot Wars live title, Eruption also won the FRA UK Heavyweight Championship, hosted by Robots Live!, defeating Manta in the final round. It successfully defended its title in the 2014 UK Championships in Stevenage, before finishing runner-up in the 2015 championship to TR2 at the same venue. Eruption did not return for the 2016 FRA UK Heavyweight Championships, as they were held on the same weekend that Michael Oates was moving into university.

In addition to the FRA UK Championships, Eruption also makes frequent appearances at regular Robots Live! events. Its 2016 campaign ended with a third place finish at their 2016 Reading event, as well as winning a Challenge Nut battle against Manta at the same event. In 2017, Eruption won the Burgess Hill and Grantham events over Meggamouse and Toxic 2 respectively, and would finish runner-up to Manta at the former event in 2018.

Eruption is flipped by Manta in Maidstone

Eruption competed at the first Extreme Robots event, which was held in Manchester in April 2017. It was extremely successful, winning every battle it took part in apart from its last, where untested wheels let it down against Ripper. Among its wins, it defeated Iron-Awe 6 and TR3 in head-to-head combat, and threw HIGH-5 out of the arena. It was similarly successful in Guildford, winning one particular melee by throwing Suspension out of the arena, immobilising Harpy, and then dominating Behemoth. In the final fight of the event, it threw Manta out of the arena, having defeated it in an earlier fight when Manta drove into the pit. At Colchester in the same year, Eruption went totally undefeated. It was generally successful in Gloucester, winning a head-to-head battle against Manta by self-righting out of the pit and then seeing Manta drive itself in, although Eruption was completely immobilised by Two-Headed Death Flamingo in another battle. In Maidstone, Eruption defeated three robots in one battle by overturning Weird mAlice, throwing Trolley Rage out of the arena, then trapping Gabriel under the floor flipper. It also fought Manta on two further occasions. At the Robots Live! event in Grantham, in June 2018, Eruption finished second overall, after losing the final to Iron-Awe 6.

• Eruption in September 2018
• Eruption's rear graphics
• Eruption's achievements as of 2018

1/3

In September 2018, Eruption was decorated with new graphics, displaying its FRA title reign from 2013-14, and its televised Robot Wars win from 2017. The robot also gained new side pods, the fifth iteration that the team had produced, protecting the robot from spinners while also being outlined with steel wedges, for more opportunities to breach a robot's ground clearance. This iteration of Eruption competed at the Extreme Robots event in Colchester, and the 2018 FRA Heavyweight Championship hosted by Robots Live! in Stevenage. In the latter, Eruption secured its third FRA title, beating defending champion Manta in the process.

Team Eruption's newest heavyweight robot for 2019

Eruption also competed at various Extreme Robots events in the second half of 2018, but did not enter the main competition where it would be required to fight spinners. At the end of 2018, it was confirmed by Team Eruption that while Eruption would not be entered into the Extreme Robots Battles where it would battle spinners, they are currently in the process of building a robot for the battles that can cater for spinners for 2019. This robot will have a front-hinge flipper, bearing a similar appearance to that of Push to Exit.

Explosion, Team Eruption's featherweight champion, in 2016

Team Eruption have also competed in live events with several featherweights. Their most successful robot in this category is Explosion, a high-pressure flipper which initially featured a design similar to that of Eruption. Like its heavyweight counterpart, Explosion has achieved several victories in live events, winning the FRA Featherweight Championship in 2013 in its original form. A second version - with a wider flipper - won the 2015 Featherweight World Championship, as well as the 2016 and 2017 FRA Featherweight International Championships, defeating Django and 722 in the final rounds of each respective year. Explosion's most recent appearance came at the Robots Live! Stevenage event in September 2018, where it competed in various featherweight battles.

• Explosion in 2013
• Invasion
• Annihilation
• Combustion
• Explosion in September 2018 with Amnesia

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Other featherweight robots built by the team include:

• Invasion, a four-wheel drive pushing robot which was built in 2006. Made a cameo appearance in Series 10, as part of a family photo.
• Annihilation, a second ramming robot with a two-wheel drive system and a much broader front side.
• Combustion, the team's fourth featherweight, a two-wheel driven robot armed with a vertical spinning disc.

Robot Wars Live Events

Eruption's profile at Robot Wars live events

Prior to its appearance on television, Eruption has seen much success at Robot Wars live events, and other live robotic events, winning several shows, throwing many competitors out of the arena, and twice earning the title of Fighting Robots Association (FRA) UK champion.

Eruption first appeared at Robot Wars live events in 2013, winning its debut event at Portsmouth and going on to attend several more events throughout the year. In doing so, it became the first ever Robot Wars live events champion at Newport, after defeating Behemoth in the final round. Eruption would go on to attend several more Robot Wars live events between 2014 and 2016.

In 2015, Eruption also fought at the Robot Wars World Championships, held in Colchester. Eruption performed well in the first round, where Tomahawk broke down, allowing Eruption to throw Behemoth out of the arena. Eruption qualified alongside Cherub, which Eruption also flipped out of the arena in the same battle. In the second round, Eruption faced TR2 and Thor. Eruption immobilised TR2, flipping it over while it was low on gas, so could not self-right. Despite this, Eruption lost the Judges’ decision to Thor, having sustained too many axe blows. Eruption was given a second chance to qualify, through a battle against Tiberius and Tough as Nails. Eruption immobilised Tiberius in the opening seconds, stranding it on the arena wall. Eruption then fought Tough as Nails head-to-head, with Tough as Nails gaining the upper hand, grabbing Eruption from behind while it was self-righting. Later into the battle, Eruption pitted Tough as Nails, although the Dutch robot was able to drive back out. Surprisingly, the defeated Tiberius proved to be Eruption's undoing, as once Tiberius was freed, it gained revenge by pushing Eruption into the pit, eliminating it.

Eruption had a successful year in 2016, the final year of Robot Wars live events. It won the first event of the year in Manchester, defeating Ripper on a Judges' decision despite losing to it twice in succession in the first show. It also won the Colchester event, defeating Manta to take home an Extreme Robots trophy. In its final appearance at the events, it fought Manta and The Saint in Gloucester.

Trivia

• Eruption's repeated out-of-the-arena flips earned the robot many records:
  • It matched Atomic's record for the most out-of-the-arena flips in consecutive fights.
  • It was the first competitor robot in the rebooted show to flip another competitor out of the arena, doing so to Terror Turtle in its first round battle. While King B Remix had been flipped out in a previous episode, it was done so by House Robot Matilda, and was chronologically filmed afterwards.
  • The latter flip on Terror Turtle enabled Eruption to become one of four Robot Wars competitors to have thrown another out of the arena during its first televised battle. The others to achieve this were Combat Ant, Raging Reality and M2.
  • By flipping Cherub out of the arena in both the Head-to-Heads and the Heat Final, Eruption became the first robot to flip the same robot out of the arena multiple times.
  • Throughout its entire Robot Wars career, Eruption became the highest-performing robot to flip another robot out of the arena without having been flipped outside itself in televised combat. In doing so, it bested a fourteen-year-old record held by both Atomic and Thermidor 2.
  • Eruption is one of only four robots (alongside General Carnage 2, Behemoth and Big Nipper) to throw a robot out of the arena in a series where they did not reach the Heat Final.
  • Eruption was the only robot to throw each individual segment of a clusterbot out of the arena in one battle.
  • By extension, if each flip on Crackers 'n' Smash is counted separately, Eruption was the only robot to throw three robots out of the arena in one battle.
• As the 2013 and 2014 FRA UK Heavyweight Champion prior to its Series 10 victory, Eruption is one of five robots to have won the UK Championship at least twice. The others are Chaos 2 in Series 3-4 of the original Robot Wars, and Terrorhurtz, Iron-Awe 5 and Big Nipper, also in FRA-sanctioned heavyweight competitions.
  • Only Eruption and Chaos 2 have won their titles back-to-back in their successive competitions.
  • With its Series 10 victory, Eruption became the first robot to have won the UK Championship three times, which it achieved in both Robot Wars and FRA-sanctioned competitions.
  • Eruption's victory in the 2018 FRA UK Championship also made it the first quadruple UK champion.
• Eruption is one of only three FRA UK Heavyweight Champions to have qualified from a heat and reached a Robot Wars Grand Final, the others being Terrorhurtz and TR2.
• Having won Series 10, Eruption was the most successful wildcard in Robot Wars history, and thereby the only Grand Champion to win a series despite losing its heat.
  • By winning Series 10, Eruption became the third robot, after Tornado and Carbide, to become champion after defeating the then-reigning champion.
• Eruption's participation in Series 8 was first revealed through two teaser trailers released on June 25th, where Eruption can be seen flipping Sabretooth and Storm 2.
• Eruption was one of eight robots whose silhouette was used as a placeholder when demonstrating the Series 9 episode format. During this demonstration, Eruption qualified alongside Terror Turtle and PP3D (despite it not being possible for three robots to qualify from a four-way melee). It then lost to Kan-Opener on a Judges' decision, tied with Terror Turtle (each team receiving two points) and then defeated PP3D by knockout to meet Terror Turtle in the heat final.
• Team Eruption brought a total of four flippers to the filming of Series 10, providing three spare weapons.
• Three of Team Invade's featherweights - Annihilation, Explosion and Invasion - made a cameo appearance in the Series 10 Grand Final, where a photo of them with a young Michael Oates was shown immediately before the final between Eruption and Carbide.
• Eruption is one of two Robot Wars champions to have lost at least one fight in the same main competition it won, the other being Apollo in Series 8.
• Eruption and Apollo are the only machines to fight each other in three consecutive series.
• Excluding any robots which had to withdraw, Eruption was one of four robots to win their last Head-to-Head battle before being eliminated from that stage in series which used the round-robin format. The others were Terrorhurtz, TR2 and Jellyfish.
• In its World Series battle with Cathadh, Eruption was involved in the final Robot Wars battle to be filmed and aired.
• In August 2018, HEXBUG revealed that Eruption was in consideration to be made into a RC toy, alongside Apollo and Carbide, allowing Twitter users to vote on which toy they wanted to see the most. Eruption was the least popular of the three choices with 14% of the votes - note that 12% of the votes were for a fourth 'Other' option.
• In 2013, Eruption received an Honorable Mention in The Combat Robot Hall of Fame, in recognition of its popularity and combat record in live events held up to the year of its selection. Team Invade's featherweight, Explosion, was also inducted into the Hall of Fame during the same year.

External Links

• Team Eruption's Facebook page
• Team Eruption's Twitter
• Eruption (Series 8) on the Robot Wars website
• Eruption (Series 9) on the Robot Wars website
• Eruption (Series 10) on the Robot Wars website