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"Not Perfect, Aber Verdammt Nah Dran"
— The message on Not Perfect's underside, the latter part translating to "But damn close" in English

Not Perfect was a competitor robot that fought exclusively in German Robot Wars. Despite being overweight, it reached the second round of its heat before losing to eventual runner-up Tsunami, but won the subsequent Losers Melee against Junkyard Queen to finish fifth overall.

Team captain Bryan Cutler also competed with Reaper NP2 in the qualifiers for The Third World Championship, which were filmed and broadcast as part of Series 7 of the UK Robot Wars.

Design[]

"Not Perfect was my first attempt to build a fighting robot. I had several names in mind when I named this robot, but none could have fit better than Not Perfect. The sides were not straight. Pieces did not fit together. ( Some pieces were even held together with super glue. ) My planning was horrible, and I knew nothing about electronics. The robot was rebuilt 3 times due to over weight problems. Every time it got smaller and smaller from the original plan. But --- All in all, it was finished, and it ran. It was then I knew that nothing else mattered."
— Brian Cutler on the Not Perfect website[1]
Not perfect pits

Not Perfect in the pits

Not Perfect was a large, invertible box wedge-shaped robot with a front ramming wedge and an angled lawnmower blade mounted on the front. There were also four spikes sticking out from the rear of the robot, two on the back, and one on each side. The lawnmower blade was directly powered by a 2000 Watt motor. The robot had an aluminium and metal square tubing frame with 2mm aluminium armour, which was listed as the robot's weakness. The robot's front panels had an indented circular section to house the blade, and a steeper lower wedge intended to get underneath opponents and draw them closer to the blade. The robot had two batteries, one 24 amp and one 7 amp, with two 750 Watt drive motors[2]. "High Traction" was listed as the robot's strength.

Not Perfect upside down

Not Perfect's underside

NotPerfectGRW

Not Perfect in the arena

The robot's name was coined by captain Bryan Cutler after he was dissatisfied with the work done to the robot. Among Not Perfect's issues included components being hastily attached with superglue, and the robot weighing in at 101kg despite having many revisions - exactly one kilo over the limit. Despite this, the producers allowed Not Perfect to compete as there were not enough German entries into the series, and its weight was listed on its statistics board as 100kg.

Although the robot was invertible, it did not have casters on the top, and was not balanced when overturned due to its box wedge shape, meaning it struggled to get traction or drive properly when overturned.

The Team[]

Notperfect team

Not Perfect's full team

Not Perfect was entered by the Cutler family. Bryan Cutler was the team captain and drove the robot. In keeping with the robot's skull-and-crossbones artwork, Bryan and Gaby Cutler dressed as pirates, with eyepatches and bandanas, whilst their daughter Kristina dressed as a Parrot.

Robot History[]

German Series[]

Not Perfect competed in Heat B, and fought Delldog and Swiss entry Hydrotec in its first round melee.

Not Perfect vs Delldog

Not Perfect presses the pit release

DellDoghitsNotPerfect

Dell Dog hits Not Perfect

Not Perfect started by turning towards Delldog and charging down the arena at it, but Delldog moved away as it got close. Not Perfect tried to stop itself charging, and turned, swerving into the pit release button. Not Perfect turned into the arena wall, then drove up to the middle of the arena. Delldog drove towards it with its flywheel spinning. Not Perfect drove into Delldog and turned away, absorbing the impact. As Not Perfect drove to the top of the arena, Delldog's spinning ring stopped working, and smoke began to rise from the robot. Not Perfect got its front lawnmower blade up to speed, but as it tried to drive at Delldog, which had stopped moving, Sir Killalot came out of his CPZ and drove at Delldog, blocking Not Perfect.

Hydrotec vs Delldog

Hydrotec pushes Delldog into the pit

Hydrotec vs Not Perfect

Not Perfect avoids Hydrotec, with Delldog already pitted

Delldog drove away as Sir Killalot closed in, and Not Perfect crashed into the House Robot. Delldog drove between Hydrotec and the pit, which proved to be a mistake, as Hydrotec pushed it into the pit. As it did so, Not Perfect drove down to the bottom of the arena. After pitting Delldog, Hydrotec drove around to Not Perfect's side and got its lifter underneath. It tried to lift Not Perfect, but as it did so, it turned, and Not Perfect slipped off the lifter. Not Perfect drove away to the middle of the arena. Not Perfect turned around, then drove back at Hydrotec. Hydrotec charged as Not Perfect got close, but Not Perfect swerved to avoid it. 'Cease' was called, putting Not Perfect and Hydrotec through.

Not Perfect advanced to the second round, where it fought Tsunami. It entered the arena upside-down, with the intention of cutting Tsunami's aerial off.

TsunamiFlips

Tsunami flips Not Perfect

NotPerfectwedgefallsoff

Not Perfect's front wedge falls off

The two competitors charged straight at each other, and Not Perfect rode up Tsunami's front, then slid over the side. Tsunami fired the flipper, helping Not Perfect fall over the side, toppling over. Not Perfect drove towards the arena centre, then reversed back towards Tsunami, bumping into it. Not Perfect reversed away, but Tsunami charged at it, getting underneath and flipping Not Perfect up. This flip caused Not Perfect's front wedge tip to fall off. Tsunami reversed out from under Not Perfect and drove down the arena. Not Perfect drove to the middle of the arena, but turned and drove away as Tsunami drove at it. Not Perfect drove onto the floor flipper, but Tsunami chased after it. Not Perfect drove onto its flipper, and Tsunami tried to flip it, but could only lift it up a little. Tsunami turned, and Not Perfect slid off the flipper, then reversed, but Tsunami got under the side and flipped Not Perfect over. Not Perfect's shape meant it struggled to get traction when overturned, and as it slowly drove forwards, Tsunami drove around it, getting under its overturned wedge and flipping it. It couldn't overturn Not Perfect, and turned away for another attack. Not Perfect reversed, and Tsunami drove under its front wedge. The two competitors pushed against each other, and Tsunami managed to get the advantage, pushing Not Perfect down towards the arena wall. Tsunami reversed out from under Not Perfect, and Not Perfect drove at it. Tsunami flipped Not Perfect, and it went over the side. Tsunami reversed to the arena centre, then drove to the bottom arena wall, bumping past Not Perfect as it did so. Tsunami charged back at Not Perfect and tried to flip, but couldn't lift Not Perfect over. Not Perfect fell onto Tsunami's side, then reversed. Tsunami backed into the pit release, then tried to get under the back of Not Perfect and flip, but failed as it didn't get its flipper properly underneath. Not Perfect drove away to the centre of the arena, but Tsunami chased after it.

NotPerfectPit

Dead Metal nearly pits Not Perfect

NotPerfectpushesTsunamiontoflamepit

Not Perfect pushes Tsunami onto the flame pit

Tsunami pushed against Not Perfect's side, pushed it towards Dead Metal's CPZ, and got the flipper underneath. Tsunami fired the flipper, and used it to hold Not Perfect off the ground. Tsunami tried to push it over, but couldn't, so reversed away. Not Perfect to face Tsunami as it drove back at it, which allowed Tsunami to get under its front wedge and flip it over into Dead Metal's CPZ, with Not Perfect falling onto the House Robot. Dead Metal pushed Not Perfect across to Mr. Psycho's CPZ, who tried to hammer Not Perfect, but Not Perfect reversed, avoiding the hammer. Dead Metal reversed back to its corner, allowing Not Perfect to get away. Not Perfect drove over to the side of the arena, bumping into an angle grinder. It turned and drove towards Tsunami, which rushed in under the front, lifting Not Perfect up. It couldn't push Not Perfect over, so reversed away. Not Perfect drove up to the top of the arena, then turned and rammed into Tsunami's side. Tsunami turned and drove down the arena. Not Perfect followed it, ramming into the side again after Tsunami turned around. Not Perfect rode up against Tsunami's sloping sides, getting caught on top, and Tsunami turned, getting the flipper underneath. Not Perfect rode over the top of Tsunami, then reversed into Tsunami's side. It tried pushing Tsunami, but couldn't, so drove away. Tsunami drove past, and Not Perfect reversed into its back, pushing it down the arena to the flame pit. Tsunami turned around, but Not Perfect blocked it before it could try getting away, and pushed it into an angle grinder. Tsunami drove away, then drove around to the back of Not Perfect, but 'cease' was called before it could try to flip. The battle went to a jury's decision, which ruled in favour of Tsunami, eliminating Not Perfect from the competition.

Following its defeat, Not Perfect made one final appearance in the Losers Melee, where it was intended to fight Hydrotec, Golem and Junkyard Queen. However, Hydrotec and Golem withdrew due to mechanical problems, leaving Not Perfect and Junkyard Queen in a head-to-head battle for fifth place.

JunkyardQueenFire

Not Perfect and Junkyard Queen over the flames

At the start of the battle, Not Perfect charged across the arena, whilst Junkyard Queen turned away. Not Perfect rammed into Junkyard Queen's side, then reversed away as Junkyard turned to its rear drill was facing Not Perfect. Junkyard Queen drove close to the arena side wall, and Not Perfect charged at it, ramming it against the wall. Not Perfect reversed for another attack, then charged back at Junkyard Queen, but missed its charge, driving around Junkyard Queen and crashing into the arena wall. It quickly recovered, reversing into Junkyard Queen's side and pushing against it, backing it down the arena, close to the flame pit. Junkyard Queen turned around, driving onto the flame pit. Not Perfect drove onto the edge of the flame pit to block Junkyard Queen before it could drive over the flames. Not Perfect drove away, but Junkyard Queen failed to drive off the flame pit. Not Perfect reversed into Junkyard Queen again, but backed onto its front lifting forks, which lifted Not Perfect off the floor.

RefbottriestopushNotPerfectandJunkyardQueenapart

Refbot tries to push Not Perfect and Junkyard Queen apart

Not Perfect could not get free of the forks, but Junkyard Queen couldn't move away or let go, leaving the two competitors stuck. Refbot came over to try and push the two apart, but Not Perfect was still caught on Junkyard Queen's forks, so Mr. Psycho bulldozed the two competitors off the flame pit together. He pushed against Junkyard Queen to try and separate it from Not Perfect, but the forks were still caught under Not Perfect, so Mr. Psycho grabbed Junkyard Queen with his claw and picked it up, lifting Not Perfect with it.

MrPsychopicksupJunkyardQueenandNotPerfectfallsoff

Mr Psycho picks up Junkyard Queen and Not Perfect falls off

Not Perfect dangled on the edge of the forks before falling off, landing on its top. Mr. Psycho span around holding Junkyard Queen, but fell over. Whilst Not Perfect pressed the button for the arena spinner, Refbot and Sgt. Bash pushed Junkyard Queen free of Mr. Psycho's claw. Junkyard Queen had become immobilised, and was counted out by Refbot before having the withdrawal Golem dropped onto it via the Drop Zone, leaving Not Perfect as the winner and fifth place in German Robot Wars.

"I had finally made it to England. I had made several mistakes in planning and building, but none of that mattered when my robot still ran after the extreme beating I received there. I knew this was just the beginning. Now the wars have started. I can just say: WATCH OUT, HERE I COME ! ! ! !"
— Brian Cutler on the Not Perfect website[3]

Results[]

NOT PERFECT - RESULTS
German Robot Wars
German Championship
Fifth Place
Heat B, Eliminator vs. Delldog, Hydrotec Qualified
Heat B, Final vs. Tsunami Lost
Grand Final, Losers Melee vs. Junkyard Queen Won
NOTE: Golem and Hydrotec were also due to take part in this battle, but both were forced to withdraw due to damage taken in previous battles.

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 2
  • Losses: 1

Series Record[]

German Series[]

German Series Not Perfect Series Record
German Robot Wars Fifth Place

UK Series[]

Series Not Perfect 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 Did not enter
The Sixth Wars Did not enter
The Seventh Wars Entered with Reaper NP2 and Tartarus
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Not Perfect was painted by the BBC Visual Effects department.
  • Due to the format of German Robot Wars, Not Perfect is the only robot to officially place fifth in a series.

References[]

External Links[]

Navigation[]

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