For the Series 3 Robotic Soccer Competitor, see Malfunktion.
Malfunctions occur in Robot Wars when one or multiple components fail spontaneously inside a competitor robot. This causes the affected robot to behave in a way that renders it unable to compete; usually by getting it stuck in one directional drive, removing mobility altogether or leaving it hampered by the failure of its own weapon system.
In some series, this was usually described as a robot breaking down or conking out if the malfunction resulted in it becoming completely immobilised. This is not to be confused with a hostile immobilisation, where one or more components fail as a result of one or many attacks from an opponent, as opposed to an act of random chance.
YES: A malfunction in its weapon motor caused Razer to strand itself on the arena floor in Series 3, without assistance from opponent Aggrobot
NO: Behemoth would not have malfunctioned in Series 7 had Mute not landed on it and caused its receiver to crash
An immobilisation can be considered to be by malfunction if there has been a random failure of one or more components. This cannot be as a direct result of something that has happened during the fight, such as an attack causing a robot to become stuck in forward drive, but may be considered a malfunction if it is as a result of damage caused during a fight, but does not manifest itself immediately.
Having broken down yet still qualifying in both the Gauntlet and Football Trial, Dreadnaut again broke down and billowed smoke during its Semi-Final match against Wedgehog.
Radio control problems, possibly caused by others running on the same frequency, caused Krayzee Tokyo to jump the start and then crash at the first corner, eliminating it.
While crushing and pinning Inquisitor, Razer was briefly forced upwards upon driving its opponent against the side railings. Upon landing, the robot's cush drives sheared, leaving it immobilised in the PPZ and beginning its early run of unreliability.[2][3]
First robot shown to withdraw from the competition, after breaking down before its initial Gauntlet run and failing to move at all during its second attempt. Malfunctions caused by electrical and radio interference issues,[4] as well as driveshaft damage caused while being moved before its re-run.
Stopped moving for unknown reasons, possibly radio control issues. Its opponent, Technophobic, also malfunctioned and caught fire, but Spin Doctor had already been eliminated by that point.
Failed to make The Gauntlet after being unable to start at all during a preliminary test. Subsequently timed out before the team could repair it sufficiently enough to become mobile.
All three remaining robots (Sting, Wizard and GroundHog) became immobilised during the third round of Football, following multiple attacks from the House Robots. As it had been considered immobile for longer, the Judges eliminated Sting.
Suddenly lost drive to one track partway through its fight against Raizer Blade; however, it would receive the Judges' decision after Raizer Blade got itself stranded on the edge of the pit later on.
Drive motors partially burnt out against Razer, severely hindering its mobility. Not announced in the broadcast episode, All Torque still survived long enough for the battle to go to a Judges' decision, as it had not been considered fully immobile.[5]
Immobilised from the start against Suicidal Tendencies; Peter Gibson explained beforehand that it was 'a very sick robot' upon making his way to his control pod.
Lost drive in its left track, suspected by the team to be the result of a seized gearbox. After Wheely Big Cheese accidentally pitted itself, Suicidal Tendencies was ruled to have been immobilised instead.
Overheated after Team Torque could not repair its internal cooling system (which 'broke' during its Eliminator) in time. Wires for one of Small Torque's motors shorted out after a switch became stuck in the 'on' position, causing an internal fire.
Lifting arm jammed open after turning Splinter over, immobilising it in an ironic parallel to Razer's loss against the original Series 3 incarnation. Regained mobility once the arm was forced upwards during attacks by Sir Killalot, but counted out before this could occur.
Similarly to the above Tag Team Terror battle, lost control and went 'berserk' during its grudge match against 101. This state left King B Powerworks spinning around and constantly driving into the walls, angle grinders and Refbot.
Having ripped Pussycat's cutting disc off earlier on in the fight, the robot lost drive entirely next to a flame jet following collisions with the Cold Fusion Team machine. Team Fluffy later reported to Craig Charles that its bar spinner remained active and was 'jammed on' even after the battle's conclusion, suggesting a further weapon-related malfunction.
Pneumatics system for its flipper exploded mid-battle, incapacitating the weapon and later resulting in Spawn Again spearing itself into the arena wall with its damaged ram. Removed the robot's self-righting capability once flipped over by Raging Knightmare, which proceeded to throw the two-time UK Semi-Finalist out of the arena.
A leaking pneumatic component limited the axe's flow rate, preventing the axe from returning to its neutral position. This resulted in GlitterBomb being unable to self-right after it was flipped over by Dantomkia.
Immobilised by a combination of broken drive chains and melted wiring, resulting in Apocalypse being unable to move following a side-on slam from Sabretooth.[7]
The robot's unbalanced bar spinner completely detached from the machine after hitting Track-tion and its own pulley system. The latter caused Apex to be thrown across the arena and become immobile due to a loosened wire.[8]
Elastic cord for its flipper snapped while self-righting, preventing the weapon from retracting on its own. Later on in the fight, this failure caused Rapid to eliminate itself by somersaulting and landing with its flipper completely open.
Drive motors burnt out, resulting in it losing mobility completely against Probophobia. It was revealed in The Pits afterwards that the robot's wiring had also melted as a result.
Smoked and lost drive power partway through against Tyranabot. Probophobia attempted to demonstrate continued mobility by turning itself over with its lifting forks, but was counted out.
