HIGH-5

HIGH-5
Participation Information
UK Series	9
Team Information
Team	Team High-5 (television) ACE Robotics (live circuit)
Team Members	Sarah Malyan Dave Smith Riley Smith Daniel Smith
From	Bristol
Robot Statistics
Weight	109.2kg
Top Speed	12.4mph
Power	Qty 2 LiPo 8000mAH
Drive	2x HP 24v motors
Weapons	Clamping/lifting jaws, interchangeable drum
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"Dave and his sons decided to name the robot High 5 because of his interlocking jaws and the fact that they give each other a high five each night before bed."

— Local press

HIGH-5 was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 9 of Robot Wars, entered by live event competitors ACE Robotics. Named and designed after the cheerful hand gesture, it had limited success, losing its Group Battle to Supernova and Frostbite after being immobilised by Wyrm in the opening seconds of the battle.

Design

"HIGH-5 has a weapon that is designed to entangle spinners with interlocking fingers"

— Dara Ó Briain

HIGH-5's turntable shot

HIGH-5 shared a lot of similarities with S.M.I.D.S.Y., which ACE Robotics also owned, although HIGH-5's chassis was entirely new. HIGH-5 was box-shaped, ran on four wheels with rubber tyres, and was invertible. Its weaponry was a clamping jaw at the front, with five fingers, hence the name. The jaws were capable of clamping other robots and lifting up to 280kg, as well as acting as a battering ram. HIGH-5 also featured a rear drum weighing 14kg as an interchangeable secondary weapon, which ultimately went unused on television.

"HIGH-5 is fully invertible and has a lifter weapon that can lift up to 280kg. Its interchangeable rear drum spinner weighs 14kg."

— Robot Wars: Build Your Own Robot

HIGH-5 in the arena

HIGH-5's spinning drum

HIGH-5's armour consisted of polycarbonate and HARDOX steel, with a chassis featuring 30mm steel tubing, although it had an 11mm ground clearance, making it vulnerable to flippers. Aesthetically, the robot was painted cream and white with handprints on its top panel, the latter in keeping with its name and weapon design.

"HIGH-5 has a four-wheeled tank drive system and a unique pair of lifting arms that combine it to act as a battering ram. HIGH-5 is fully invertible and the lifter weapon can lift up to 280 kilograms and the interchangeable rear drum spinner weighs 14 kilograms. HIGH-5 may find difficulty in the competition, as it has a ride height of 11 millimetres which could make it susceptible to flippers. The team are prepared for any setbacks though with a LV Real-Time monitoring system for diagnosing problems early and quickly, as well as rubber mounted electronics and batteries for shock absorption."

— The Robot Wars website

The Team

Team ACE with HIGH-5

HIGH-5 was captained by then 37-year old aerospace engineer Dave Smith, who also competed on the live circuit in a similar role as part of Team ACE. As well as building and maintaining the machine, he drove the robot in its opening Group Battle.

Smith was joined by Mechatronic apprentice - and long-time Robot Wars fan - Sarah Malyan, who assumed the team's lead speaking role in all of their televised interviews. At the time of Series 9, Malyan's engineering experience was limited, so she learnt from Smith over the course of filming, later becoming an established roboteer in her own right. The official Robot Wars website credited Malyan as team captain and driver, contrary to what was presented in the televised Heat D.

"Sarah and Dave met on a Robot Wars group, and although she had no engineering experience, Dave invited her to become his apprentice, and she now working under Dave’s supervision. Sarah has always been a lifelong Robot Wars fan and she even has a tattoo of classic Robot Wars competitor, Cassius. Dave himself owns other Robots such as S.M.I.D.S.Y. and ACE, Riley and Daniel are Dave’s sons."

— The Robot Wars website

Dave Smith's two sons, Daniel and Riley, also joined the team for Series 9, controlling HIGH-5's weaponry. 10-year old Riley also wrote the software programme used by HIGH-5. In the team's VT, all four team members would frequently high-five each other, referencing the robot's name.

Robot History

Series 9

HIGH-5 competed in Series 9, Heat D, where it faced long-time veteran, and Third World Championship runner up Supernova; newcomer Frostbite, and Team Memento Mori's new robot Wyrm.

HIGH-5 is disabled by Wyrm

The battle was extremely short-lived for HIGH-5. When loading it into the arena, it was discovered that the drive controls were the wrong way round due to being wired up incorrectly. With driving made difficult by the reversed controls, HIGH-5 slowly reached the centre of the arena, turned on the spot, and was reversed into by Wyrm. It was immediately apparent that the reversed controls were not the only electrical oversight by builder Dave Smith, as HIGH-5 stopped moving almost as soon as Wyrm brushed it, lasting just 7 seconds of the whole match. Immobile, HIGH-5 sustained more damage from Supernova, which tore away part of HIGH-5’s back panel.

HIGH-5 receives extra damage from Supernova

"Just one last question for me, Frostbite or HIGH-5, who was active last? For me, HIGH-5 were immobilised first, Frostbite still moving! That's the decision!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Cease was called soon after Wyrm’s immobilisation and Supernova qualified alongside Frostbite. Although Frostbite would later withdraw from the competition, potentially giving HIGH-5 a chance to re-enter the competition, it was confirmed that Wyrm had earned third place within this Group Battle, and HIGH-5 was not reinstated.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 1

Series Record

Series	HIGH-5 Series Record
Series 1-7	Did not enter
Series 8	Did not enter
Series 9	Heat, Round 1 Withdrew with Nelly the Ellybot (Sarah Malyan)
Series 10	Not selected with Mr Emoji

Outside Robot Wars

ACE and Mini ACE (left) alongside H5 (right) in November 2018

ACE

HIGH-5 made its debut on the live circuit at Extreme Robots in Manchester, during April 2017. Initially struggling from drive issues, it was thrown out of the arena by Eruption in its first fight. It then quickly pitted itself in its second fight, before being immobilised by Gabriel in its final match. A new version of HIGH-5, now known as H5 after being converted from Up Vote, competed at Extreme Robots in Cheltenham in November 2018. It was intended to fight Griffalo in the first round, but Griffalo withdrew, and H5 was instead pitted by Gnasher. Nevertheless, H5 advanced to the second round as Gnasher was not an intended participant, and H5 was eliminated by a dominant performance from Gabriel.

ACE Robotics also competed with a heavyweight flipper, ACE, the team's namesake. The robot - originally Apocalypse and An Adorable Kitten - was later sold to Team Shock and currently competes as Poseidon. They also owned S.M.I.D.S.Y. for a period of time, and brought their replica of WALL-E to live events. Additional projects built by ACE Robotics included a lifter named Up Vote, and attempted Series 10 entry Mr Emoji.

ACE Robotics with Iron Strike at RoboGames

Iron Strike is pushed into the wall by NIGHTHAWK

ACE Robotics also competed at RoboGames in 2018, with a new middleweight, Iron Strike, armed with a vertical spinner. It lost its opening battle to the reigning champion General, but defeated Four of a Kind in the losers' bracket, advancing it to a second-round match against the defending runner-up NIGHTHAWK. Although Iron Strike's weapon remained operational for a large duration of the fight, the lower wedge of NIGHTHAWK allowed it to push Iron Strike around the arena, and win a judges' decision. Iron Strike also competes at UK middleweight events held at Extreme Robots, starting with Cheltenham 2018 where it was defeated by Voodoo.

Team ACE Robotics would also build a Middleweight drum named SWEET, which has competed in a handful of Extreme Robots events and was scheduled to take part in RoboGames 2023 as a middleweight entry in April 2023. However, the team ultimately could not attend the latter.

Mini ACE

BANE

Riley and Daniel Smith drove featherweights at the King of Bots UK championship in August 2018. Riley drove BANE, a front-hinged lifter, which lost its first melee to Utopia, finished second in is melee against Aegis, but was immobilised by Calabash Bros in its final battle. Meanwhile, Daniel drove Mini ACE, a scaled-down version of the heavyweight ACE, which entered the main championship as a reserve, filling in for Mad Rush. However, Mini ACE lost its first three-way melee to Naughty Snake after failing to engage for the full three minutes, and was immobilised in its second battle against Neon and Binky. BANE and Mini ACE also competed together in a few side competitions throughout the event, including a whiteboard battle, the Annihilator and the eighteen-way Gladiator battle. In the Annihilator, BANE reached the third round before getting thrown out of the arena by Neon.

For more information on Sarah Malyan's excursions aside from HIGH-5, see Nelly the Ellybot.

External Links

• ACE Robotics Facebook page
• HIGH-5 on the official Robot Wars website