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Mega Hurts 2
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Manic Miner was a proposed heavyweight designed by Team Flash with the intention of applying for the classic era of Robot Wars. Though updates on the archived website date back to October 2000, it is not specified by the team for which series they applied for, or whether the robot was ever completed.

Design[]

Team Flash described several early ideas for Manic Miner, before settling on their final design. Inspired by Killerhurtz, the robot would be powered by a pair of Bosch motors and feature a 10kg hammer.[1] This developed into an "improved spinning axe" for the second design, which could apparently be switched out for a circular saw. This idea was later scrapped, as Team Flash were not convinced by the effectiveness of the saw.

"The axe is improved a bit, because there are two extra spikes enabling ramming. The circular saw is just a waste of time really."
— Team Flash describe the evolution of Manic Miner's design

Eventually, the hammer design would be ditched altogether. The team would instead take inspiration from a pillar drill tool by first leading an opponent onto the spikes at the front, and then pressing the rotating drill down into its top armour, hoping to cause significant damage.[2] Team Flash also claimed to have an emergency removal system which allowed for the drill bit to detach if it became stuck in its opponent.

"The backwards facing spikes at the front are designed to latch onto the underside of a robot. We might have them higher up and add springs so that the victim's underside pushes them down until they reach a gap. When a spike reaches a gap, it will ping into the gap, giving some stability. Our latching platform will have small wheels and will be hinged to swing downwards, so we can tip victims in the pits after we have finished with them. The drill weapon is shown 1/3 of the way out - this should be able to push deep into our victims."
— The team explain Manic Miner's unique pillar drill weapon

Unfortunately, no images are available to illustrate any of these design ideas, and there are no photos of the robot in the build process.

Etymology[]

To explore new sites in mining or to pave a way for an underground tunnel for example, workers often use large drills among other heavy machinery in order to clear space for this to be possible. This would make sense, as the finalised design for Manic Miner featured drill weaponry. Manic Miner was also the name of a platforming video game, originally released for the ZX Spectrum in 1983.

Series Record[]

Series Manic Miner Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Did not enter
The Fourth Wars Did not enter
The Fifth Wars Unknown
The Sixth Wars Unknown
The Seventh Wars Unknown
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter

Trivia[]

  • Manic Miner shares its name with a platformer video game made originally for the ZX Spectrum in 1983 - the first in the Miner Willy series of games released across several home computers in the 1980s.

References[]

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