No Love was a featherweight robot which competed exclusively in the 1997 US Robot Wars competition. Initially, it reached the second round of the Featherweight Face-Off tournament under unusual circumstances, before being eliminated by overhead spinner The Fishstick from Guam.[3][4] No Love also competed in the Featherweight Melee, reaching the overall Final, but losing the tournament outright to Wedge of Doom.[5][6][7]
Design[]
Designed with an emphasis on speed and pushing power, No Love was an invertible two-wheel drive robot with large drive motors and a reverse T-shaped welded steel chassis. The front of the machine featured a sloped wedge shape for getting underneath and pushing opponents around. Both of No Love's wheels were sourced from lawnmowers and placed at the back.[2]
Robot History[]
1997 US Championship[]
No Love's 1997 campaign began in the Featherweight Face-Off, where it was initially drawn to face The Little Green in the first round. Scheduled as a 'Dual Match' to take place alongside Gorange vs Sabotage, it would automatically progress as The Little Green pulled out due to radio interference issues. Unusually, No Love was kept in the arena and allowed to fight both of its fellow 'Dual Match' competitors, turning the battle into a 'three-way' melee.[2]
During the opening moments, No Love kept its distance in the lower-right corner. This was until it drove into the side of and held Sabotage in place, while Matt Sabatino's entry was being pushed back by Gorange. The impact was enough to dislodge a nut holding Sabotage's spinning blade in place, causing the blade to detach as No Love released it. No Love engaged in further ramming matches with both Gorange and Sabotage, trying to push the latter from the side. Eventually, Gorange lost drive on one side, though No Love did not capitalize on this, as it instead rammed the wall at high speed and became fully immobilized. No Love was pushed closer to Gorange, though the circumstances behind its own 'Dual Match' meant that this mistake was not at the expense of its progression to the second round.[8][9]
No Love next fought The Fishstick from Guam, an overhead flail spinner which, coincidentally, had eliminated The Little Green in their subsequent Round 1 clash.
Quickly, it drove under the flailing Fishstick from Guam, sending it shaking into the right wall. No Love backed out, spun around and retreated, before ramming its opponent a second time. In doing so, No Love took repeated blows from The Fishstick from Guam's weaponry, while luring it towards the center and ramming it several more times. Despite this aggressive performance, it began to suffer control issues, turning into the right-most flipper and walls. No Love headed into the other side of the arena, where it twice collided with Cambot. At that point, it stopped moving and began smoking copiously. A spurt of forward movement lead to a thicker cloud of smoke, and No Love becoming completely immobilized.[3][4]
With The Fishstick from Guam's mobility also being severely compromised by blown speed controllers, neither competitor was left fully functional. Though No Love was immobilized for over the maximum 30 seconds, no decision was initially reached on the battle's outcome. After other teams were instructed to switch off their radio devices, the mobility of both robots did not improve, and so a Judges' decision was finally called. Having become immobilized first, No Love was deemed to have lost the battle and was eliminated from the Featherweight Face-Off.[3][4]
Following internal repairs, No Love returned for the Featherweight Melee tournament. In the first round, it was drawn to fight Bob Smith, Destructomatic, Spike II, The Grinch and The Rat.
No Love started by careering across the arena into and from the upper-right wall at high speed. Moments later, it engaged in a brief pushing match with Bob Smith, taking a few swipes from the latter's tail in the process. Alongside Destructomatic, No Love later pressured Spike II while the latter attempted to turn The Rat over, moments before the match was paused for the latter two robots to be separated. On the restart, it spun around, before being nudged by the hobbled Rat. No Love engaged in another duel with Bob Smith, slamming into and weathering more blows from its swinging hammer tail. A collision with Spike II allowed it to flip Andrew Lindsey's machine 'end over end', while also damaging part of its chassis. In response, Spike II pushed No Love using its own lifting arm. No Love's mobility issues flared up again at this point, as the two competitors came to rest alongside the largely passive Grinch.[10][11]
As the match approached its final minute, No Love took further whacks from Bob Smith, but darted away. Spike II later rammed No Love again while driving under Bob Smith's tail, at which point both robots stopped moving and were attacked again by Will Wright's machine. No Love was lifted a final time by Spike II, but made no more significant contributions before time ran out. In spite of its mobility issues, No Love was still announced as one of the last robots still mobile, alongside Spike II and Bob Smith.[10][11]
Rather than qualifying for one of the Melee Semi-Finals, No Love would bypass that stage entirely to reach the overall Featherweight Melee Final. Alongside Bob Smith and Spike II, it would face both the recently-declared Featherweight Face-Off champion and runner-up for 1997: Wedge of Doom and Red-Green.
No Love immediately darted across the arena from the lower-left corner. Its early start lead to problems, however, as Wedge of Doom pushed and flipped it over the lower-right flipper. No Love, wedged on top of the 'curb', played no further part during this initial phase of the Melee. Several moments later, it was able to escape from the wall, charging past its opponents on its way into the upper-left corner. Again, No Love played a minimal part in the action, until it was lifted onto one side and caught by Red-Green's lower jaw near the center. By the end of the match, it was the only robot of the quintet to have been considered immobile, and thus not considered for either the audience vote or subsequent Judges' decision. No Love therefore lost the Featherweight Melee tournament outright to Wedge of Doom.[5][6][7]
Results[]
NO LOVE - RESULTS | ||
1997 US Championship | ||
Featherweight Face-Off Round 2 | ||
Round 1 | vs. Gorange, Sabotage | Qualified |
NOTE: No Love automatically progressed, winning its initial 'Dual Match' against The Little Green by default. | ||
Round 2 | vs. The Fishstick from Guam | Lost |
Featherweight Melee Final | ||
Melee, Round 1 | vs. Bob Smith, Destructomatic, Spike II, The Grinch, The Rat | Qualified |
NOTE: No Love bypassed the Semi-Final stages to reach the overall Melee Final. | ||
Melee, Final | vs. Bob Smith, Red-Green, Spike II, Wedge of Doom | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 1
- Losses: 2
NOTE: No Love's automatic qualification from the first Face-Off round is omitted from the Wins tally.
Series Record[]
Events | No Love Event Record |
---|---|
1994 | Did not enter |
1995 | Did not enter |
1996 | Did not enter |
1997 | Featherweight Face-Off, Round 2 Featherweight Melee, Final |
References[]
- ↑ 'Contestants: Featherweight Class', 4th Annual Robot Wars (1997) souvenir programme, p.2
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 'NO LOVE', Team Spike website (archived)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 'Robot Wars 1997 Featherweight match: Fishstick from Guam versus No Love', Andrew Lindsey (YouTube), April 19 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 'MATCH: THE FISHSTICK FROM GUAM VS NO LOVE', Team Spike website (archived)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 'The 1997 Featherweight Melee', Wedge of Doom/Nolex website (archived)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 'Robot Wars 1997 Final Featherweight Melee', Andrew Lindsey (YouTube), uploaded 11 May 2021
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 'FEATHERWEIGHT MELEE ROUND 6', Team Spike website (archived)
- ↑ 'Robot Wars 1997: Featherweight Dual Match 2', Andrew Lindsey (YouTube), uploaded April 14 2021
- ↑ 'MATCH: SABOTAGE VS GORANGE', Team Spike website (archived)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 'Robot Wars 1997 Featherweight Melee 2', Andrew Lindsey (YouTube), uploaded May 11 2021
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 'FEATHERWEIGHT MELEE ROUND 2', Team Spike website (archived)
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