- "But has never come under any pressure before!"
- — Jonathan Pearce introduces Pressure
Pressure was a competitor robot that appeared in the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. It fought exclusively in the New Blood Championship, reaching the Heat Final before losing to Cedric Slammer. A heavily-revised version of the robot also attempted to enter for Series 7 of Robot Wars, but failed to qualify after losing its qualifier battle.
Team captain Mike Hamilton-Macy would later join Team Big Brother when they entered The Swarm.
Design
Pressure inside the arena
Pressure was a black, semi-cylindrical robot with a 2mm steel shell and chassis, inline four-wheel drive and five CO2-powered pnuematic weapons. These weapons included a front flipper with a lifting capacity of 110kg, a rear lifter, a pair of self-righting panels on each side, and a pair of interchangeable axes concealed within a fin-like plate on the robot's top panel. Both the flipper and lifter featured spiked tips which could allow them to cause light damage to opponents, while the flipper also featured sharp teeth on its underside so it could grip opponents and act as a clamp when closed. According to the Team Wind Bags website, the axes were either a short 'cleaver' or a full-length 'club'.[1] Pressure also initially featured a set of six spikes along each of its self-righting panels, although these were removed before fighting as they put the robot 1kg over the weight limit. Pressure also featured side skirts to prevent flippers from getting underneath.
Qualification
Work on Pressure began in 2000, and the robot was originally intended to enter Series 5 and built for the 80kg weight limit. Upon hearing the producers had increased the weight limit from 80 to 100kg, Team Wind Power decided not to enter Pressure until Series 6, so they could bring the robot's weight closer to the new limit.[2] However, Pressure also failed to enter Series 6, as Team Wind Power missed the qualifying deadline due to making various repairs and improvements to the robot's weapons and drive systems, including the switch from eight- to four-wheel drive.[3] This meant that Pressure would not apply for a series of Robot Wars until the New Blood Championship during Extreme 2.
Pressure at the qualifiers for Series 7
Following its appearance in the New Blood Championship, Pressure was rebuilt for Series 7 to feature just two lifters (the front one being made larger) and a larger 180 degree axe, as well as being repainted blue, yellow and red to make it 'show up better in the arena'.[4]
Pressure is pushed into the arena wall by King B Powerworks
Pressure is flipped over by M2
In its qualifier[5], it fought Thunderpants, King B Powerworks and M2. Pressure started promisingly, driving into M2 and lifting it up. It pushed the sluggish Thunderpants across the arena, although this gave M2 an opportunity to throw Pressure straight onto the top of Thunderpants. M2 tossed Pressure forwards, and King B Powerworks edged it backwards. Pressure fled, but was shoved into the arena wall by King B Powerworks. Pressure took time to lift the beaten Thunderpants and push it into the arena wall, but this afforded M2 the opportunity to throw Pressure over, against the wall. Pressure was up-ended against the side of Thunderpants, and had to flip repeatedly to free itself, over twenty seconds later, self-righting with its axe. Pressure held off, only attacking King B Powerworks when M2 was distracted. This cost it dearly, and M2 flipped Pressure onto the arena wall, from where it could not self-right. As a result, Pressure lost the qualifier, and would go on to be the only robot in the battle not to appear in Series 7.
Pressure has been rebuilt twice during Robot Wars' hiatus, but the team did not enter Series 8 because they believed that their robot was not up to current standards, and did not have the time to upgrade Pressure for the new series.[6]
- "Sadly Pressure mk5 will not be making an application, not enough time to build from scratch, too much other stuff going on. It's been a while since I attended an event, it has always been my intention to come back, hopefully later this year. Old viewers of RW are going to get a shock when they see the development that has occurred since it was off TV, this is due largely to the E.Os (past and present) that have kept the sport alive and given us somewhere to play and the FRA for somewhere to talk about it. All power to your spanners, give em hell! Mike."
- — Mike Hamilton-Macy on the FRA forum
Robot History
Extreme 2
In the first round of the final Heat of the New Blood Championship, Pressure was placed up against Bash Gordon and Cedric Slammer. In the battle, Bash Gordon stayed largely out of the way at first, leaving Pressure to take some serious damage from Cedric Slammer. Pressure tried to get away, but was too sluggish. Meanwhile, Bash Gordon was only spinning in circles with its axe not working. Bash Gordon eventually fell into the pit of oblivion, putting Cedric Slammer and Pressure through to the next round.
Pressure slams Piranha into the arena wall
In the second round, Pressure was drawn against Piranha. Pressure took advantage of Piranha's inaccurate axe blows to lift and slam it into Matilda's CPZ, where the house robot's flywheel flayed part of Piranha's shell. Piranha fought back, pushing Pressure towards Shunt's CPZ this time, where some axe blows rained down on Pressure, however little damage was caused. A pushing match ensued between the pair, with neither machine's weapons doing significant damage at all.
Pressure is hit by two axes at once
The battle ended in a close, controversial judges' decision in favour of Pressure due to the damage Piranha sustained by Matilda. Pressure was sent through to the Heat Final, where it fought Cedric Slammer again. What wasn't shown was Pressure using its axe twice, jamming due to damage from Mr. Psycho in the melee the first time and successfully firing, for the only time in the tournament, whilst Pressure had Piranha lifted up.
Pressure sustains damage from Cedric Slammer
Cedric Slammer almost immediately caused damage to Pressure's front scoop, but Pressure was quite aggressive, pushing Cedric Slammer around the arena and into a CPZ, although it was vacant. Pressure was scratched and took small damage from the glancing attacks from Cedric Slammer, until one of Pressure's side flippers wouldn't close due to the damage taken. Despite all the damage Pressure had sustained, it finished the battle on top, pushing Cedric Slammer into another CPZ where Sir Killalot picked it up and flung it across the arena. Pressure took too much damage to sway the judges' decision towards it, sending Cedric Slammer through to the New Blood Grand Final..
Results
| PRESSURE - RESULTS | ||
| Extreme Series 2 | ||
| New Blood Championship Heat Final | ||
| Heat D, Round 1 | vs. Bash Gordon, Cedric Slammer | Qualified |
| Heat D, Round 2 | vs. Piranha | Won |
| Heat D, Final | vs. Cedric Slammer | Lost |
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 2
- Losses: 1
Series Record
| Main Series | Pressure 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 | Failed to qualify |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
| Robot Wars Extreme | Appearances |
| Series 1 | Did not enter |
| Series 2 | New Blood Championship, Heat Final |
Outside Robot Wars
Pressure from 2005 to 2007
Pressure has been rebuilt twice since Robot Wars. The first time was in 2005, when Pressure was turned into a trapezoid shaped, polycarbonate-armoured robot with a single flipper. This version was retired in 2007 because of damage cause by Kan-Opener and Terrorhurtz. Later that year, the team created a new version, a tall wedge with a powerful flipper, which still fights on the live circuit today. The team has also won two events with their featherweight machine Skink.
They have also fought in events with Puck, a round robot made from a tyre and they also bought Iron-Awe 3 in 2007 and renamed it L and then White Knight. This was for the team's other member Erik Martens to drive at events. Team Wind-Power fought with this robot on the live circuit until April 2016 when they sold it to Team Shock.
Robot Wars Live Events
Pressure as it appeared during the Robot Wars live events
The latest version of Pressure made its first appearance at the new Robot Wars live events in Colchester in April 2013. It fought Behemoth and TR2 in the first round of the main competition but it didn't last very long as it was flipped out the arena by TR2, but it did reach the final of the Tag Team competition held at the same event paired with Ripper where they finished runners-up to Kronic & Maelstrom.
Trivia
- Before entering Robot Wars, Team Wind Power had a business hiring bouncy castles and other large inflatables called "Wind Bags". The team were going to call themselves Team Wind Bags, but Robot Wars does not allow company advertising, so changed their name to Team Wind Power for Pressure's entry.
- Pressure was the only New Blood Heat Finalist that did not compete in Series 6.
References
External Links
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