- "Will Phoenix rise from the ashes in a fiery battle with victory?"
- — Jonathan Pearce
Phoenix was a heavyweight robot which entered Series 2 of Robot Wars. It managed to cover almost nine metres in the Gauntlet, but this wasn't enough to get it into the Trial stage, therefore it was eliminated. This gave it the dubious record of being the best performing robot to lose in the Gauntlet.
Design[]
Phoenix without its shell
Phoenix was an angled box wedge-shaped, two-wheel driven robot, with tungsten tipped blades at the front of its body for weaponry. It was very fast at 15 mph thanks to its 800W industrial motors, although this ultimately sacrificed control in the Gauntlet. Phoenix featured a star pattern similar to the logo of the European Union on its armour, and a siren on top.
Etymology[]
Phoenix was named after the mythical phoenix bird known for its constant death and birth cycle and was also a reference to the team working for a company of the same name, Phoenix Technologies Limited[1].
Robot History[]
Series 2[]
Phoenix competed in Heat K, and started by running the Gauntlet.
Phoenix's tyre is clipped by Sir Killalot
Phoenix went for the middle route in the Gauntlet, where after adjusting for some over-steering, it managed to go up the ramp, but after pushing through the barrels it fell off the ramp and temporarily became stuck on the side of it. Phoenix was then freed by Sir Killalot pushing the large ball onto Phoenix, but this prompted Phoenix only to turn around and possibly consider another route, before opting to charge straight into Sir Killalot with its rear spike facing forward, but was then trapped and one of its tyres was cut through by Sir Killalot's claw, with the House Robot pinning Phoenix in place until time expired on the run.
Phoenix travelled 8.9m which in most heats would traditionally be enough to qualify for the next round, but on this occasion it was not quite far enough and Phoenix was eliminated at the first stage.
Results[]
| PHOENIX - RESULTS | ||
| Series 2 | ||
| The Second Wars - UK Championship Heat, Gauntlet | ||
| Heat K, Gauntlet | 8.9m (6th) | Eliminated |
Series Record[]
Phoenix in the Gauntlet
| Series | Phoenix Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Heat, Gauntlet |
| 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 |
Trivia[]
- Phoenix is one of 20 robots never to fight in robot combat, having only ever been in the Gauntlet or Trial.
- Phoenix is the robot to travel the furthest in the Gauntlet and be eliminated at that stage, reaching 8.9m.
- Phoenix suffered failure of its electronic motor control and steering system the day before the event and it had to be replaced by a mechanical servo controlling potentiometers as there was no backup. This made it nearly impossible to steer.[2]
- During the construction of Phoenix, modifications to the tyres made using an angle grinder caused just enough smoke that the office smoke detector triggered a silent alarm leading the fire brigade to show up unexpectedly.[3]
- Team Joint Effort member Charles Lavery was listed as the third team member on the introductory stats board; Robot Wars Revealed, revealed the third team member was actually Christopher Kusek.
- Despite Phoenix's statboard stating that the robot cost £500 to build, Jonathan Pearce stated in the introduction that it had cost £5000.