Merrimac

Merrimac
Participation Information
US 1994-1997 Events	1995-1996
Other Names	The Merrimac
Team Information
Team	Industrial Light & Magic
Team Members	Mark Anderson
Sponsors	Industrial Light & Magic
From	California
Robot Statistics
Drive	2x chainsaw motors & transmission
Weapons	Pneumatic lifting panels
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Merrimac (also referred to as The Merrimac) was a heavyweight robot which competed in the 1995 and 1996 US Robot Wars competitions.

Built by a team of employees from Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), it lost its debut battle to Thor in the main 1995 Heavyweight Face-Off tournament, but successfully qualified for the final of the concurrent Heavyweight Melee event. The latter resulted in Merrimac losing outright to La Machine, a robot originally built for and entered into the middleweight class.

Merrimac enjoyed improved form in the 1996 Heavyweight Face-Off, initially benefiting from a bye to start in the second round. Upon winning against Marvin, it would reach the Quarter-Final stage, before major control problems cost it a chance to progress further against DooMore. In the Heavyweight Melee, Merrimac once again reached the final and lost to La Machine; the Final itself would be one of the matches highlighted in the American Robot Wars 1996 VHS.

Design

Measuring three-and-a-half feet in width, Merrimac was a four-sided, pyramid-shaped robot with a flat top and a copper-brown body finish. The aluminum shell incorporated a set of rear-hinged panels - one on each side - all connected to and operated by pairs of pneumatic rams. In effect, Merrimac was armed with four large and identical lifters, which had the capability to scoop up, hoist and even turn over smaller opponents from any angle.

Internally, the robot's wheels were driven by a pair of chainsaw motors and a 'complex transmission'. While giving Merrimac a high top speed, enhancing its maneuverability, this setup often lead to reliability issues, especially during its Face-Off campaigns. Merrimac's shape and aluminum construction ensured optimal protection against damaging weapon types. The 1996 incarnation differed in having a revised paint scheme; the multicolored schemes for the lifters (using red, blue, green and yellow as secondary colors) were alternated and made to fill the entire panels.

Robot History

1995 US Championship

Debuting at the 1995 US competition, Merrimac first fought fought Thor in the opening rounds of the Heavyweight Face-Off.

Merrimac controls Thor early on

During a tentative start by both competitors, it seized an early advantage by pushing Thor back towards the wall, while billowing smoke from its chainsaw engines. Merrimac flicked Thor to the side while propping it up against the wall bumper, taking advantage of the Schilling Robotics machine's high ground clearance. A bigger cloud of smoke shrouded the arena as Thor, turning anti-clockwise, drove up one of Merrimac's lifters. Merrimac briefly held Thor upwards again, surviving a couple of direct hits from Thor's hammer arm as it darted towards the center, then into one of the arena flippers.

More head-to-head exchanges followed. Again, Merrimac could not hold Thor on its lifters, and was beginning to emit more smoke while struggling to drive away from the arena perimeter. At the start of another exchange between both competitors, it prematurely fired its forward-most lifter as Thor approached. Merrimac took several more hammer blows to the lifter as a consequence, but responded by driving under, lifting and briefly pushing Thor back. As Thor rammed it, it again used one of the lifters as a shield, during a very tentative exchange where Merrimac was again hammered and left struggling to push Thor around.

Merrimac succumbs to Thor's hammer blows

This pattern was sustained as both machines found themselves near the center of the arena once again. Merrimac, taking a further pounding from Thor's hammer, was gradually pushed back into the swinging Ball of Doom, and left with very reduced mobility. Suddenly, it darted into a nearby mousetrap, but managed to lift a reversing Thor as the latter drove up one of its corners. Thor shook itself free; Merrimac briefly hooked one of its lifters on the mousetrap mechanism, then slowly started to creep away to safety.

Back in the arena center, Merrimac suddenly lost mobility again, and was bludgeoned several more times by Thor. This loss of mobility proved terminal, as a countdown clock was soon initiated for the ILM entry. Merrimac, still smoking, was rammed, hammered and positioned next to the other mousetrap by Thor, cementing a knockout loss and its elimination from the Heavyweight Face-Off. The mousetrap pushed Merrimac back shortly after the count-out was finished.

Merrimac and Thor met each other again in the concurrent Heavyweight Melee tournament. In the first round, the duo faced Painful Wedgie and Spirit of Frank for a chance to qualify for the overall Final.

From the outset, Merrimac played a very tentative role from the right-hand side of the arena. After dodging Painful Wedgie, it approached and took more swipes from Thor's arm, now modified with an angled ramming/lifting plate. Merrimac retreated, gently nudging Thor from the side, only to find itself trapped between Thor and a stranded Painful Wedgie. After coming to rest along the side wall, it took a further battering from Thor, briefly responding with another lift of its own.

Cambot approached to examine Merrimac as it lay motionless. After some time, Thor drove Merrimac backwards into the corner, which prompted Merrimac to flick it and retreat into the arena center. Here, Merrimac gently pushed and flicked a pursuing Spirit of Frank; a second flick turned Kua Patten's axlebot onto its side. Merrimac immediately resumed its duel with Thor, by then billowing large clouds of smoke as a legacy of damage sustained in the Face-Off Final. Neither machine attacked each other for several moments, while Spirit of Frank threw itself back upright with the momentum of its free-swinging hammer.

Merrimac waited alongside Thor in the corner. Once Spirit of Frank drove close enough to one of its lifters, it tipped the former onto its side a second time. Merrimac crept slowly from its position to battle Thor once again, while Spirit of Frank self-righted and trundled out of the way. Merrimac and Thor exchanged more attacks with their weapons. Blue smoke billowed from around Merrimac as it surged across to the center, then the left-hand side of the arena. In the closing seconds, it made a final drive underneath Thor, and weathered a final series of hammer blows as time ran out. Through surviving the full five minutes, Merrimac, Thor and Spirit of Frank all qualified for the Final.

Alongside its fellow Round 1 survivors, Merrimac fought the recently-crowned Heavyweight Face-Off co-champion The Master, along with middleweight La Machine, itself having won both the Face-Off and Melee championships in its weight class.

Merrimac once again started very tentatively, showing no movement as it was approached by both Spirit of Frank and Thor. Further rams by La Machine and Thor followed, prompting Merrimac to finally creep away towards the center. Merrimac, brushing past Cambot, later followed Thor as the latter pressured The Master against the wall. Again, it lingered close to the wall, billowing smoke as La Machine pushed Thor into and away from it. Merrimac eventually followed the two machines towards the arena doors, narrowly avoiding a mousetrap in the process.

After this, Merrimac again lay stationary close to the center, where a recovering Thor nudged and prepared to attack it once more. It continued to creep across the arena at low speed, while Thor again suffered hydraulic leaks and erupted into smoke. By the end of the match, both robots were deemed to have lost the 1995 Heavyweight Melee championship to La Machine.

1996 US Championship

As in the previous year, Merrimac started its 1996 campaign in the Heavyweight Face-Off. Having benefited from a first-round bye, it initially fought Marvin in the second round.

Both robots started tentatively, with Merrimac backing into the side wall while raising its front and side flaps. Smoke began pouring from Merrimac's chainsaw motors as it initially avoided, then weathered a few blows from Marvin's swinging chains. It continued to be pressured by Marvin as it drove into the bottom-right corner, with Marvin proceeding to spear under one of its opened flaps. Regardless, Merrimac nudged Marvin aside, though it would continue to suffer control issues while driving around Willis Wong's machine.

Merrimac hesitated as a consequence, giving Marvin more opportunities to attack with its spike and chains. No major damage was inflicted; Merrimac crept slowly away from the arena wall, all while firing its lifters in thin air, before nudging and parking itself close to Marvin. After again being hit by Marvin's chains, Merrimac rammed it a second time, before lifting and holding it in place opposite the wall. More blue smoke poured from Merrimac as the two robots locked together; regardless, this late pin was sustained long enough for Merrimac to emerge victorious.

Through to the Quarter-Finals, Merrimac faced Scott LaValley's DooMore.

Both robots rammed each other in the opening moments, with Merrimac repeatedly firing its flaps as it scooped and pushed DooMore into the wall. Once DooMore escaped, it again suffered major control issues, driving into and remaining in the lower-right corner. Merrimac struggled to escape as DooMore attempted to spear it with its own pneumatic spike. Once it attempted to drive out, it caught itself on a nearby flipper and sat immobile for several seconds after. Clouds of blue smoke rose from within Merrimac as it rammed the wall panel, and lifted the approaching DooMore.

Merrimac shuffled back and forth between the flipper and the wall, as DooMore gave it another ram and again tried to damage one of its lifters. As it became apparent that it could not move out of the corner under its own power, Merrimac was left alone by DooMore, and ultimately eliminated by knockout.

Merrimac returned for the Heavyweight Melee tournament, fighting Namreko 3000, Red Scorpion and Tazz in the first round.

Early on, it was swatted by Tazz's arm, while catching and getting pinned by a mousetrap nearby. Merrimac was thus vulnerable to an attack from Namreko 3000, which grabbed and started to lift it opposite the hazard. As the mousetrap descended and toppled Namreko 3000 onto its side, Merrimac was left beached on its now-immobile opponent. Firing its lifters into the air, it eventually broke free to ram Tazz and Red Scorpion, then jostle the latter around with its weaponry. In response, Tazz whacked Merrimac again; Merrimac rammed both opponents simultaneously, only to drive into the upper mousetrap again.

A few moments passed, before Merrimac broke free and resumed its attacks. After a ram on Red Scorpion, it again drove into and was attacked twice more by the mousetrap, while it and Tazz nudged the long-stranded Namreko 3000. Donald Hutson's machine capitalized by hooking and carrying Merrimac to the space between the mousetrap and upper-right flipper, with Red Scorpion also coming in to prise Merrimac off the arena floor. All three competitors locked together; Merrimac remained trapped between the hazards while Tazz pulled free and resumed its own attacks on Red Scorpion. Merrimac and Red Scorpion took further swipes from Tazz's arm, until the ILM machine finally broke free. Thick smoke poured from inside Merrimac once again as it escaped the scene. As the Melee entered its final minute, it nudged Tazz and Red Scorpion, only to drive into and catch itself on the mousetrap hazards yet again. Merrimac and Tazz pinned Namreko 3000 against the wall. Upon surviving the full five minutes, the former two qualified for the Heavyweight Melee Final alongside Red Scorpion.

For the overall 1996 Heavyweight Melee title, Merrimac and its fellow Round 1 survivors entered a twelve-way skirmish. Other robots included La Machine, The Master, South Bay Mauler, DooMore, Punjar, Nemesis, Killbborg, Marvin and Gutrip.

Merrimac (center) is pinned between Punjar and South Bay Mauler

Merrimac started the battle by wedging underneath DooMore, in a mirror of their Face-Off clash. Both were joined by Nemesis and Marvin from the left-most side, and La Machine and Killbborg on the right. In the ensuing pile-up, involving South Bay Mauler, Merrimac's ground clearance was breached by Punjar. Upon recovering, it attempted to lift and pin La Machine, but without success, and would become one of the competitors to be shovelled around by Greg Munson and Trey Roski's entry.

Merrimac pushes Killbborg across the arena

Merrimac next duelled with Killbborg. After getting hooked by the Semborg Corp competitor, it pushed Killbborg back towards the other side of the arena, while Red Scorpion briefly drove up one of its lifters. This exchange prompted Killbborg to divert its attention towards and push Red Scorpion back. Merrimac, meanwhile, stayed out of the action for some time, until it rammed the flailing South Bay Mauler from the side. The flails slowed as they clattered against Merrimac and the still-pinned La Machine. Another multi-robot pile-up grew as Nemesis and Tazz surrounded the trio. A nudge from Tazz pushed Merrimac sideways, while also freeing La Machine from a prolonged pin on The Master and the upper-left flipper. Merrimac proceeded to push Punjar towards the right-hand side of the arena, moments before Ramiro Mallari's machine was thrown over the wall bumper by La Machine. In turn, La Machine tipped it up on its side against South Bay Mauler, though Merrimac survived without getting flipped completely over.

""Munch" gets the La Machine treatment!"

— Paul Vallis, as Merrimac is forcibly scooped up by La Machine

Seemingly unfazed, Merrimac gently pushed Nemesis from the side, as La Machine rammed South Bay Mauler into the pair. It then pressured Gutrip, while the latter struggled with mobility issues on its way into the center. Merrimac was rammed further by La Machine, even as it followed and started to push Nemesis again past Marvin. An encounter with DooMore left both robots at the mercy of the upper mousetrap. Merrimac continued to exchange rams with La Machine and Nemesis as the Melee passed the three-minute mark; at one point, all three competitors took turns at ramming an overturned Tazz.

Merrimac later idled in the center alongside South Bay Mauler, moments before DooMore, Punjar (still carrying The Master) and Nemesis all piled into the latter. Merrimac retreated into the space beside the upper mousetrap, before returning to the action to pressure Punjar, and giving La Machine a cursory ram. Again, it proceeded to drive underneath Killbborg, before closing in on another pile-up involving six of its fellow surviving opponents. In the process, Merrimac wedged underneath South Bay Mauler, just before the robots started separating. DooMore, in turn, wedged itself on one of Merrimac's angled sides, effectively allowing Merrimac to pin it off the arena floor. Merrimac remained close to South Bay Mauler as the latter took hits from Punjar's smaller flail, but ended the match stationary near the upper-right flipper. The Final ultimately went to an audience vote, which resulted in Merrimac losing the 1996 Heavyweight Melee championship to La Machine.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 3
• Losses: 4

NOTE: Merrimac's Round 1 bye in the 1996 Heavyweight Face-Off is omitted from the Wins tally.

Series Record

Events	Merrimac Event Record
1994	Did not enter
1995	Heavyweight Face-Off, Round 1 Heavyweight Melee, Final
1996	Heavyweight Face-Off, Quarter-Final Heavyweight Melee, Final
1997	Did not enter

Trivia

• In American Robot Wars 1996, Paul Vallis erroneously referred to Merrimac as "Munch" during highlights of the Heavyweight Melee Final. This was likely out of confusion with the unrelated heavyweight entered by the Distraction Laboratories team.

External Links

• Merrimac (1995) on the official US Robot Wars website (archived May 2 1997)