Pincers

Pincers
Crushtacean holds Cerberus in its claws
Weapon Category	Gripping weapons
Robots
Pioneer(s)	Namreko 3000, Draggon Waggin' (Gripping, 1996 US competition) Pitbull (Gripping, televised series) Agent Orange, General Carnage, Judge Shred (Cutting)
Notable Robots	Snake, Red-Green (1997 US competition) Chompalot, Crushtacean, S.M.I.D.S.Y. (televised series)
House Robots	Growler, Sergeant Bash, Mr Psycho, Sir Killalot

Pincers (also known as jaws or claws) are the name given to a type of gripping weapon found in Robot Wars. They usually consist of a pair of blades designed to apply force to two sides in order to pinch, cut or grip robots.

A favoured weapon of the House Robots (with Growler, Sergeant Bash, Sir Killalot and Mr Psycho all using them for most of their careers), the weapon first appeared in the televised show on Series 3 Semi-Finalist Pitbull, in the form of jaws. Slicing pincers debuted later on in the same series with Agent Orange. The original General Carnage had smaller claws mounted on extended arms. Dual pincers first appeared in basic form on the original Judge Shred. Spartacus also used this weapon.

Aside from Pitbull, Chompalot and Crushtacean/Krab-Bot have enjoyed reasonable success with this form of weapon.

Clamping jaws were first exhibited in Robot Wars media by 1996 US competitors Namreko 3000 and Draggon Waggin', though neither robot achieved much success with this weaponry. A hybrid lifter/jaw weapon was also adopted by 1997 featherweight Red-Green, finalist of that year's Featherweight Face-Off and Melee events. Walking heavyweight entry Snake also utilised jaws as part of its reptilian-esque design.

Definition

Pincers are a type of weapon that rely on crushing or gripping from two sides simultaneously. They take their name from the tool, which used mechanical advantage to apply pressure to two blunt concave jaws arranged like the blades of scissors, used for gripping and pulling objects. Most pincers were designed to grip opponents, although a few were designed to pierce through them as well.

In Robot Wars, pincers can take many form and are often called jaws or claws rather than pincers, where they are designed to resemble mouths or hands respectively. Jaws in particular can vary in length, width and operation - some such as the weapon of Pitbull were better suited for grabbing, whilst others such as Chompalot's were designed with crushing in mind.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

Even as the arena spike fired, Pitbull was able to hold onto Fire Storm

Sir Killalot's original pincers cut into Dreadnaut's lifting forks following the latter's Series 2 loss

Mr. Psycho's arm-mounted claws could not only grab competitor robots, but also lift and carry them across the arena, such as Panic Attack during Extreme 2

Chompalot manages to grip Gabriel with its pincer to prevent Gabriel's sword from swinging

• Depending on the design, a set of pincers can be designed to double as another weapon type, such as a lifting weapon: these were often known as grapplers. Lambsy and S.M.I.D.S.Y. are notable examples.
• Pincers can often display effective weapons synergy with lifters or overhead weapons, as demonstrated in the designs of Agent Orange, General Carnage and Judge Shred. Lambsy was able to incorporate a pneumatic spike into its jaws, and Draven combined its jaw with a lifting mechanism to form a grappler, which also enabled it to potentially self-right.
• Pincers have enormous grip strength. In the Series 3 Semi-Final battle between Pitbull and Fire Storm, the former was able to continue holding onto Fire Storm despite being bounced by an arena spike.
• Pincers can be incorporated into an invertible design, as demonstrated by S.M.I.D.S.Y, Lambsy and General Chompsalot, to name a few.
• Pincers are designed to target the underside of other robots, often considered to be their most vulnerable part. They can often cause considerable damage to the underside, or even lift opponents off the floor as a result. Chompalot achieved the latter in its Extreme 2 Iron Maidens final against Pussycat, with Crushtacean later replicating the feat with Cerberus.
• Pincers can be especially effective in damaging or destroying narrow components, for example beams, weapon arms and aerials. The various versions of Sir Killalot's jaws achieved this on numerous occasions, often snapping entire components in half, such as the axle for Dreadnaut's lifting forks in Series 2, Iron-Awe's axe in Series 4 and Gabriel 2's mace in Series 10. Additionally, Crushtacean immobilised Mr Nasty in Series 6 by slicing its aerial off with its claws.
• House Robots equipped with pincers also possessed unique benefits with their usage of said weapons. For example, Sir Killalot and Mr. Psycho could use their much larger arm-mounted jaws/claws to hold competitors high off the floor, carry them around and even dump them out of the arena (their pincers would technically be grapplers).
• Pincers, like other crushers, can prevent another robot from using its weapon, although not to as much of an extent as vertical crushers. This was best demonstrated in Chompalot's Head to Head in Series 8, where it managed to prevent Gabriel from using its torque reaction weapon to damage Chompalot.

Disadvantages

Dara Ó Briain discusses the limited attack range of Draven's jaw

Crushtacean's pincers are left broken following an attack from Supernova

Dara Ó Briain: "You have to drive it very carefully just to get the exact right place to grab somebody."

Team Draven: "No...as long as something happens between there, we get ahold of it..."

Dara Ó Briain (holding his forefinger and thumb beside Draven's pincers): "You're talking about - this is the zone of danger, this size of area here."

— Dara expresses doubts about the attack range of Draven's jaw

• Pincers have a very limited attack range as a result of their narrow width, which makes them one of the most difficult to position effectively for an attack.
  • Pincers which were grapplers could prove especially easy to avoid as a result of their aforementioned characteristics. General Carnage's Series 3 fight against Behemoth especially demonstrated this shortcoming.
• As they are thin, pincers can easily be broken or bent out of shape by rotating weapons. Crushtacean's claws in particular were broken by Supernova's disc during their battle in the Third World Championship, as was Draven's jaw following attacks from PP3D in Series 9.
• Grappling pincers such as the jaws of General Chompsalot are not usually designed to cause damage, making it very difficult for robots equipped with these weapons to score damage points in the event of a Judges' decision.

List of Robots with Pincers

Robots are listed in alphabetical order.

DESKTOP MODE ONLY: Robots which are not heavyweight entries are listed with a green background. House Robots are listed with a gold background. Robots from the original 1994-1997 US competitions are listed with a purple background.

Robot	Sub-Type	Series Appearances with Pincers	Notes	Image
Agent Orange	Crushing	Series 3	Also featured an overhead pickaxe.
Aggrobot	Crushing	Series 6-7, Extreme 1	Could change from horizontal to vertical orientations as well as exert a supposed 17 tonnes of crushing force in Series 7. Combined with a front lifter.
Behemoth	Gripping	Series 9	One of Behemoth's four interchangeable weapons was a pair of grabbing arms that held robots onto a lifting platform. Only used in its Series 9 Head-to-Head against Cherub, with the use of this weapon resulting in its loss and elimination from the series.
Bluemax	Gripping	Dutch Series 2	A collaboration of the Blue and MaxiMill teams, but the first gripping weapon from either team.
Cerberus	Gripping	Extreme 1-2	Used a spike to clamp opponents against its head. This design was made for Series 4, but weight constraints prevented the head from being used.
Chompalot	Crushing	Series 6, 8, Extreme 2	Extreme 2 Iron Maidens champion. Only the upper jaw was active, which functioned in a similar way to a vertical crusher.
Constrictor	Gripping	Series 7	Used a lifter as the primary weapon with the clamp on the bottom.
Crocodilotron	Gripping	Series 3	Only the top jaw moved, which had teeth lined along the bottom and could double as a flipper/lifter.
Crushtacean	Crushing/Gripping	UK Series 5-7, 9, Extreme 2, Dutch Series 2	Designed to resemble a crab, with a dual set of claws operated by motion-sensitive gloves. Dutch Series 2 Grand Finalist as Krab-Bot.
Destructosaur	Crushing	Series 6	George Francis expressed fear of Destructosaur's pincers.
Diotoir	Crushing/Gripping	Extreme 2	An overhead arm paired with a spring-powered lifter.
Draggon Waggin'	Gripping	1996 US Championship	Featherweight. Pneumatic 'articulated jaw', comprising of a lifting panel with sets of four decorative teeth on either side. Erroneously referenced as Dragon Wagon in American Robot Wars 1996.
Draven	Crushing	Series 8-9, Extreme 1	Mounted on a lifting arm which could double as a srimech. Four tonnes of crushing force.
Dundee	Gripping	Series 3	Pair of upper and lower crushing rams, each lined with metal teeth driven by chains. Upper ram also included a circular saw, and could double as a flipper/lifter when lowered.
Eleven	Gripping	Series 5	A walkerbot.
Eric	Gripping	Series 3-4	Main weapon was a lifting arm; two sets of teeth underneath it enabled the weapon to double as a clamp when opened.
General Carnage	Crushing	Series 3	Mounted on a lifting arm.
General Chompsalot	Gripping	US Season 1-2	Recurring runner-up finisher in side events. Known as General Chompsalot 2 in Season 2.
Gnasher	Gripping	Series 3	Competed exclusively in Robotic Soccer.
Growler	Gripping	Series 6-7, Extreme 2	Jaws modelled on a dog's head, with four tonnes of crushing force.
HIGH-5	Gripping	Series 9	Based on the version of S.M.I.D.S.Y. owned by the team, with clamping/lifting jaws shaped like a pair of hands. Lifting capacity of 280kg.
Judge Shred	Crushing/Gripping	Series 3	Two pincers mounted on a pair of lifting arms, alongside a rear axe. Used flipping weapons in subsequent appearances.
Lambsy	Gripping	Series 5, Extreme 2	Jaws were also used as a flipper, and concealed a retracting spike.
Major Tom 3	Crushing/Gripping	Series 7	Designed to trap opponents on the robot's ramp for pushing.
Mr. Psycho	Crushing/Gripping	Series 6-7, Extreme 2, Dutch Series 2, German Series	Designed to resemble a clawed hand, mounted on the end of his left arm.
Namreko 3000	Gripping	1996 US Championship	Set of large lifting/clamping jaws operated by 'lead-screw linear actuators'.
Pitbull	Gripping	Series 3	Series 3 Semi-Finalist, and the only robot to reach the Semi-Finals using a pincer weapon.
RCC	Crushing	Dutch Series 1	Small, rear-mounted steel pincers often referred to as 'scissors'; paired with an overhead 'Mohawk' axe weapon. Successor RCC 2 used only pincers.
Reactor 2	Gripping	Series 5	Main function was as a flipper, nicknamed a "flamp".
Red Dragon	Gripping	Series 3
Red-Green	Gripping	1997 US Championship	1997 Featherweight Face-Off Runner-Up and Featherweight Melee Finalist. Pair of symmetrical front jaws operated by a screw mechanism and snowmobile starter motor, capable of lifting and clamping opponents with equal efficiency.
Rumble	Gripping	Series 2	Super Heavyweight competitor.
Sabretooth	Gripping	Series 8	Uses a single grabbing arm in combination with a steep wedge to grab opponents; the arm was also intended to enable the robot to self-right. Also featured a spinning drum on the other side of the machine.
Saw Point	Crushing/Gripping	Series 7, Extreme 2	Known as Sawpoint 2 in Series 7.
Sergeant Bash	Crushing/Gripping	Series 3-7, Extreme 1-2, US Seasons 1-2, Nickelodeon, Dutch Series 1-2, German Series	Replaced a front ramming blade initially used for Series 1-2. Initially a set of jaws of life similar to Sir Killalot's, upgraded to custom-made pincers for Series 4 onwards.
Sir Killalot	Crushing/Gripping	Series 2-10, Extreme 1-2, US Seasons 1-2, Nickelodeon, Dutch Series 1-2, German Series	Hydraulic jaws mounted on his left arm. Originally a set of jaws of life, replaced with custom jaws between Series 4-7 and a cutting claw for Series 8-10. Known as Sir K in Nickelodeon Robot Wars.
S.M.I.D.S.Y.	Gripping/Lifting	Series 3-5, Extreme 1	Jaws could also function as a lifter or a ramming wedge. Modified into and replaced with a lifting scoop in later series.
Snake	Gripping	1997 US Championship	Front '3-way' jaws were incorporated into the walker's reptilian-inspired design, operated by linear actuators. Wide reach enabled them to also block attacks from opponents where necessary. Recipient of the 'Strangest' award in 1997.
Snake Bite	Gripping	US Season 2	Pair of biting 'fangs' mounted on the front wedge.
Sobek	Crushing/Gripping	US Season 1
Spartacus (Lightweight)	Crushing	Series 2	Lightweight Championship only.
Spartacus	Crushing	US Season 1, UK Series 7	US representative in The Third World Championship.
Tartarus	Crushing	Series 7, Dutch Series 2
THE BASH	Crushing/Gripping	Series 10	World Series competitor, representing the Netherlands. Designed as a 'homage' to the House Robot Sergeant Bash.
Trilobyte	Crushing	US Season 2
Tyranabot	Crushing/Gripping	US Season 2, Nickelodeon	Nickelodeon Robot Wars US Champion.
Wowot	Crushing/Gripping	Series 5, US Season 2	Jaws were mounted on a vertical arm, and could function as a vertical crusher.