P.A.T.

P.A.T.
Participation Information
US 1994-1997 Events	1996
Other Names	PAT
Team Information
Team	Team UCSB
Team Members	Mike Li-Ter Chen Jason Bardis
Sponsors	UCSB
From	Santa Barbara, California
Other Entries	Rampage (Jason Bardis, 1996) The General (UCSB, 1996) Bot Will Eat Itself (Jason Bardis, 1997) Webster (UCSB, 1997)
Robot Statistics
Weight	24lbs
Drive	2x 'large motors'
Weapons	Bi-wedge shape
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

P.A.T. (pronounced and also formatted as PAT) was a featherweight robot which competed exclusively in the 1996 US Robot Wars competition. One of three student entries from University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) - alongside Rampage and The General - it was the most successful of the team's robots that year, reaching the second round of the Featherweight Face-Off before being eliminated by Melvin. P.A.T. also competed in the Featherweight Melee, but would not be selected to qualify for the final after draining its batteries and becoming immobilized in its first-round clash. P.A.T.'s initial Face-Off battle against Draggon Waggin' was among those featured in the American Robot Wars 1996 VHS.

Design

P.A.T. was an invertible, two-wheel drive robot with a symmetrical bi-wedged shape. Its armor and chassis consisted entirely of 'welded aluminum sheet metal', resulting in a durable and simple design along with the highest weight of any 1996 featherweight competitor at 24lbs. Propulsion was provided by 'two large motors' and chain drives with two-stage reduction. P.A.T.'s lawnmower-sourced wheels were placed at the far back of the machine, maximizing the effectiveness of its chassis design. While also fast and powerful, this arrangement had a trade-off in making the robot harder to control across the arena.

Etymology

According to the Team UCSB website, "P.A.T." was an acronym for Power And Torque, reflecting the robot's capabilities as a pusher.

Robot History

1996 US Championship

Having enjoyed a trouble-free development, P.A.T. began its 1996 campaign in the Featherweight Face-Off. In the opening round, it fought fellow newcomer Draggon Waggin', in a 'Dual Match' occurring alongside Mad Dog vs Melvin.

P.A.T. rams Draggon Waggin' into the side wall

The battle started tentatively, with both competitors slowly circling around each other. P.A.T., after correcting a brief bout of oversteer, bumped into the right-most wall bumper. Soon, it rammed and briefly drove underneath Draggon Waggin' from the right-rear corner. Repositioning itself from the bottom-right, P.A.T. next charged into and pushed Draggon Waggin' into the bumper, breaking an aluminum strut holding the latter's shell in place. Draggon Waggin' was left beached on the damaged strut and moved no further.

P.A.T. slips under the arena doors

Despite having immobilized its opponent, P.A.T. still encountered difficulties of its own. Shooting forwards behind the upper-right flipper, it reversed and spun around, driving underneath the entrance/exit doors and effectively removing itself from the arena. According to American Robot Wars 1996, P.A.T. faced possible disqualification for this maneuver, but was pushed back out into the combat zone by roboteers standing behind the doors.

"In this fight, P.A.T. used its speed to knock Draggon Waggin' out, though he nearly disqualified himself when the flipper caught him and spun him under the arena doors. A helping hand pushed him back in."

— Paul Vallis

P.A.T. next drove under the still-wagging tail of Draggon Waggin' and into the flipper. It finished by spinning and slaloming around the arena, and was declared to have won in spite of its out-of-arena excursion.

Through to the second round, P.A.T. fought the other victorious robot from the 'Dual Match' set, Melvin. Prior to the fight, the UCSB team encountered a shortage of speed controllers, which were of the same type also fitted into the already-eliminated General. The issue was resolved and the robot reconfigured to fight with 'a few minutes' to spare.

Both robots quickly met in the center, though P.A.T. would end up being pushed by Kevin Knoedler's machine. A fast chase ensued, during which P.A.T. investigated Cambot. In the next head-to-head exchange, it scooped Melvin up from the front, before the two featherweights bumped each other and took whacks from the nearby flipper paddle. During this time, Melvin's left-rear wheel fell apart; a ram from P.A.T. was enough to remove the wheel while also throwing the rest of the robot upwards. Both competitors brushed past the left bumper, before P.A.T. kept pressuring a hobbling Melvin. Eventually, P.A.T. succeeded in collecting and shoving Melvin against a mousetrap mechanism, but was not able to pin it.

As the two competitors attempted to drive back out, both were swatted by the nearby flipper. P.A.T. wedged itself underneath the mousetrap, leaving it stuck for a few moments while Melvin's other rear wheel collapsed. Once freed, P.A.T. directly drove under Melvin once more, but started to slow down dramatically; during the lunch break, Team UCSB had forgotten to recharge its batteries following its first fight. P.A.T. soldiered on, following and attempting to ram a now two-wheel drive Melvin on various occasions. By the time the battle reached the three-minute mark, Melvin was struggling to move outside of its own circumference. P.A.T. attacked Melvin once more, only to be nudged back and briefly held in place opposite a mousetrap. After the mousetrap lunged at both machines, P.A.T. suddenly stopped in the center of the arena, starting a tentative phase where neither robot attacked each other. This was until P.A.T. again biffed Melvin from the side.

P.A.T.'s movements became even more sluggish and erratic as its batteries lost their remaining charge. A final ramming match with Melvin resulted in both robots seemingly becoming immobilized in the center. P.A.T. took a gentle blow to its right wheel from the Ball of Doom, as Michael Meehan announced the outcome of the subsequent Judges' decision. Melvin was declared the winner, eliminating P.A.T. from the Featherweight Face-Off at that stage.

After having its batteries recharged, P.A.T. returned for the opening rounds of the Featherweight Melee tournament. Its eight-way battle involved a second encounter with Face-Off opponent Draggon Waggin'. Together, they faced Bite Me, Edgar the Hate Bug, Gigan, Mad Dog, Nezumi and Ziggy for a chance to qualify for the overall final.

Starting from the right-most side of the arena, P.A.T. began heading towards the center, chasing Bite Me before turning and slamming into Mad Dog. It would wedge underneath Brian Foote's circular-shaped machine, before teaming up with Mad Dog to challenge the snapping Draggon Waggin'. The two invertible wedge-shaped entries turned against each other shortly after. Once they separated, P.A.T. next drove past Nezumi, before approaching Ziggy while it was pushing the incapacitated Gigan back. This would set up a head-to-head duel between P.A.T. and Ziggy, with UCSB's machine proceeding to push Ziggy into the upper-right corner.

P.A.T. next attempted to pursue Draggon Waggin' again, but missed its attempted ram and was otherwise hesitant to attack. Instead, it drove around Nezumi, only to back away once Bite Me started pushing both robots back. With Draggon Waggin' also in pursuit, P.A.T. tried to lure the former into a mousetrap, before both robots made their way to opposite sides of the arena. When Draggon Waggin' took swipes from the top-left flipper, it proceeded to scoop up and slam Sandor Nagyszalanczy's entry into the wall, in a mirror of their prior Face-Off clash. P.A.T. rammed Draggon Waggin' again, before briefly driving underneath Bite Me as it continued to attack Nezumi. A further push by P.A.T., along with blows from the nearby mousetrap, were enough to immobilize Nezumi.

From that moment, P.A.T. rammed Draggon Waggin' into the top-right wall a second time, with Bite Me also following them at high speed. The three featherweights became trapped behind the flipper on this side, with Bite Me and P.A.T. taking the brunt of the paddle's hits, and a seemingly dishevelled Draggon Waggin' becoming immobilized. Alongside Bite Me, P.A.T. darted back into the arena center, driving underneath the remains of Gigan. The ram was violent enough to send pieces flying from the top of Peter Abrahamson's machine. P.A.T., upon reaching the other side of the arena, backed into and drove Bite Me into the wall. The two competitors, rubbing side-by-side, drove past the bottom-left corner and back into the center. Collisions with the stationary Nezumi broke P.A.T. free, allowing it to push the former behind the mousetrap.

P.A.T. continued its duel with Bite Me, forcibly ramming and pinning it against one of the mousetrap mechanisms. Moments later, it drove under the back of Mad Dog as the latter pinned Gigan against the lower mousetrap, in an attempt to pin both robots and become the last machine standing. P.A.T.'s movements, however, caused its batteries to drain quickly once again. The strain of the 'multi-robot pin' depleted them entirely, immobilizing P.A.T. in the process and prompting the Melee to go to a Judges' decision. Despite P.A.T. still being mobile up until the pin, the decision ruled that all robots had become immobilized, leaving no winners to qualify for the overall final. Though Team UCSB strongly disagreed with the ruling, P.A.T. was eliminated from the Featherweight Melee tournament at that stage.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 2

Series Record

Events	P.A.T. Event Record
1994	Did not enter
1995	Did not enter
1996	Featherweight Face-Off, Round 2 Featherweight Melee, Round 1
1997	Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars

For more information about robots entered by team member Jason Bardis, see Rampage (Outside Robot Wars).

Trivia

• P.A.T. is the only robot to have gone out of the arena and still win a fight.
  • It is also the only robot to have had human interaction during a fight.

External Links

• Jason Bardis/Team UCSB website (archived)
• P.A.T. on the official US Robot Wars website (archived May 2 1997)