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Minotaur was a super heavyweight robot which appeared in Series 2 of Robot Wars. It competed exclusively in the Super Heavyweight Championship, itself partially shown in the Grudge Matches episode; there, Minotaur had limited success, losing its qualifier after getting toppled over by eventual champion Kick Robut.

Design[]

Minotaur-0

Minotaur under construction

Minotaur was a box-shaped robot with hydrostatic drive motors and large triangular-shaped tracks mounted outside the robot's chassis. It had no weapons - instead relying on brute force as its main means of offensive output - and had a high ground clearance that left it vulnerable to being lifted and toppled over, as its only battle demonstrated.

Relationship with Random Violence Technologies[]

Minotaurpitsteam

Minotaur in The Pits with a team member

Minotaur's entry resulted from its team captain's initial spell as a member of Random Violence Technologies, builders of Series 1-4 heavyweight competitor Mortis. He was assigned by the team to produce lighter drive systems for Mortis, developing a hydraulically-based system incorporating lawnmower-type units and a Briggs and Stratton engine.

"We recruited an electronics grad to build lighter drive electronics - at the time everyone was using wheelchair stuff which whilst reliable is very heavy. He had the idea of using hydraulic units as found on industrial lawnmowers and we actually managed to blag a pair and a Briggs and Stratton engine to power them. Unfortunately they wouldn't fit inside the Mortis chassis without cutting it to pieces and rewarding [rewelding] which i didn't want to do. As he had not actually manage to produce any new electronics we had a putting of ways at this point and went on to enter his own team in the Super Heavyweight class."
— Rob Knight[1]

However, this system could not be fitted inside Mortis' chassis without requiring a total rebuild, resulting in Minotaur's team captain leaving Random Violence Technologies and entering the robot into Series 2 under his own team.

Robot History[]

Series 2[]

Minotaurflipped

Minotaur is toppled by Kick Robut

Minotaur was originally selected to compete in the main championship in Heat B, but withdrew and was replaced by Wheelosaurus before the competition began. While the reason for its withdrawal is not known, Minotaur was recorded in official footage that would later be used as background clips and could also be seen being worked on in The Pits by its team as other teams prepared for their Gauntlet runs.

Despite this withdrawal, Minotaur was able to compete in the Super Heavyweight Championship and was drawn against Kick Robut and Reckless Endangerment in its qualifier for the Super Showdown. However, it stalled at the start of the battle, leaving it immobile in the middle of the arena. This allowed Kick Robut to get underneath, hook its lifting spikes into Minotaur's tracks and lift it, rolling it over onto its back. Without a self-righting mechanism, Minotaur was eliminated from the Super Heavyweight Championship, along with Reckless Endangerment.

Results[]

MINOTAUR - RESULTS
Series 2
Super Heavyweight Championship
Round 1
Qualifier vs. Kick Robut, Reckless Endangerment Lost

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 0
  • Losses: 1

Series Record[]

Series Minotaur Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Super Showdown, Qualifier
The Third Wars Did not enter
The Fourth Wars Did not enter
The Fifth Wars Did not enter
The Sixth Wars Did not enter
The Seventh Wars Did not enter
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars[]

In September 2009, Minotaur was given to Team Bud along with Random Violence Technologies machines Mortis and its unfinished successor Maelstrom/Rigormortis. It was intended that all three robots were to be restored to running condition, although it was later known that Minotaur would not be rebuilt, because it would have required a new petrol engine in order to run again.

Trivia[]

Craig Charles The Best of Robot Wars

An unused clip of Minotaur (top-left) appears in Craig Charles' intro for The Best of Robot Wars

  • Behind-the-scenes footage of Minotaur in The Pits was included in the spin-off Robot Wars Revealed and the highlights compilation The Best of Robot Wars. The latter aired an otherwise unused clip of the robot being worked on, seen in the top-left of the 'video wall' behind Craig Charles during his introduction.

References[]

  1. Correspondence with User:VulcansHowl, 22nd February 2019.

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