Painful Wedgie

Painful Wedgie
Participation Information
US 1994-1997 Events	1995
Team Information
Team	AIAA
Team Members	Matt Jardin, Gary Cohen, Michael Pruznick, Glen Carl, Doug Isaacson, Pat Ryan, Tony Tong, and Ken Lim
Sponsors	AIAA
From	New Jersey
Robot Statistics
Weight	160lb
Power	1.5 hp 50cc gasoline engine
Weapons	Flipper
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"Remember that all of what follows took place in about 4 weeks. About 7 people helped on the project, all of whom were also either working full time at other jobs, or were in school full-time, and in one case, both. The name for the Wedgie came from the original idea which was to build a quick and agile machine with a wedge shape that could ram into other robots and knock them over. The idea ultimately proved to be the best, though not in the form of the Wedgie. Another competitor had the same idea and was much more succussful in the realization."

— The AIAA website diary on Painful Wedgie

Painful Wedgie was a heavyweight robot that competed in the 1995 US Robot Wars competition where it lost in the first round to eventual champions The Master.

Design

"At one time, that old moped had carried Matt all over Hunterdon County, NJ but now it was just rusting in the backyard at his parents' house and lowering property values. The homeowners association was starting to complain... something had to be done. Fortunately, before the old 'ped was dismantled for scrap metal, Matt and Doug came to the rescue and took the moped over to Menlo Machine to transform the Austrian-built machine into a robot (soon-to-be-named "Painful Wedgie") that would end up as scrap metal anyway."

— The AIAA website diary on Painful Wedgie

Painful Wedgie was a tall silver wedge-shaped robot that was armed with a rear hinge flipper to flip opponents over. The robot was built from an old, disused moped, that utilised many of the parts. The robot was powered by a 1.5 hp 50cc gasoline engine, used a 1000-psi pneumatic-actuated reverse gear and the robot ended up weight 160 lbs in total.

Robot History

1995 Championship

The Master flips Painful Wedgie over

In the first round of the Heavyweight championship, Painful Wedgie faced The Master. Both robots slowly approached each other and circled around one another cautiously. The Master turned and rammed into Painful Wedgie using its lifter to lift Painful Wedgie, dragging it across the arena at the same time before finally toppling Painful Wedgie over onto its side, where it was unable to self-right. It turned out, the robot had suffered some radio frequency issues during the face off which caused it to drive slowly and then become immobilised .

Painful Wedgie was not finished, however, and fought the next day in the second of the Heavyweight melees where it fought Thor, Merrimac and Spirit of Frank. The battle started off slowly as Thor got the first hit in on Painful Wedgie, smacking the top of the robot before the latter moved away and Thor then targeted Spirit of Frank, slamming down onto the barrel body several times until it turned its attention to the currently not moving Merrimac. Merrimac and Thor clashed for a few moments before both robots assaulted Painful Wedgie who was stuck, wedged in the back wall. Thor smacked Painful Wedgie on the top of the robot while Merrimac lifted both Painful Wedgie and Thor, both robots working together to bully Painful Wedgie, which had become trapped by the wall for the remainder of the match, eventually being the only robot in the melee to not qualify for the final.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 2

Series Record

Events	Painful Wedgie Event Record
1994	Did Not Enter
1995	Heavyweight Round 1
1996	Did not enter
1997	Did not enter