Project One was a robot that competed in the first series of Dutch Robot Wars. It featured somewhat of a wire-frame chassis that offered minimal protection to its vital components; the team sacrificed armour plating to allow more weight for the weaponry. Like many robots in Dutch Series 1, Project One was built on a very tight schedule, and was finished just six hours before being brought to the studio. Project One was very similar to the famous UK competitor Mortis, not only because of its appearance and armament, but because a great deal of money and engineering had gone into it. Also just like with Mortis, many people had high expectations for this robot, expectations upon which it ultimately failed to deliver.
After Dutch Series 1 the axe was removed, the armour was improved and the pneumatics for the lifter were adapted. The only outing for this version of Project One was the Dutch event in Zwolle in December 2001. Some of Project One's frame was used in Project Two: Hex'em, but what is left of it resides in the team's garage; "Castle Black". The huge ram for the lifter was passed on to the Shapeshifter team, and used in the version of their robot that entered Dutch Series 2 . The drive motor was mated to a hydraulic pump by Kos, and installed in Scarab. The large SMC rotary actuator and axe ended up with Nanning Buitenhuis, the sponsor of the DRG website.
The Team
Project One was built and entered by Team Mad Science, which was made up of Dutch roboteers WJ Dijkstra and Greg Cathalina, and Flemish roboteers Mario "Maddox" de Jongh and Babeth van Son (who did not appear on TV because of the three team members limit). After Dutch Series 1, the team temporarily split into two for Dutch Series 2. This was because it proved difficult for team members based in the Netherlands and Belgium to come together to work on building robots, so the two parts of the team decided to work on separate projects. Team captain WJ worked mostly on his own to build Gravity and Elevation, which was one third of the clusterbot √3, while Maddox and Babeth formed Team Warlocks, which built Project One's sequel robot Project Two: Hex'em. Maddox was also a team member of both Tough As Nails and Scraptosaur at various stages and is now a member of Team RCC along with Babeth, who was also a team member of Flextreme. Meanwhile, Greg went on to join the Impact team.
Technical Difficulties
Despite its good engineering, Project One faced many technical mishaps during its run. The sluggish movement in the first fight was due the fact the speed controller was set at 50 amperes, not 150 amperes, making the starter motor almost powerless. The total breakdown was because the huge anderson link, used as a removable link, fell out. In hindsight, gaffatape should have been applied to reduce that possibility, alas, the robot was not powered up by the team members, but somebody from the arena crew. For the second fight, the speed controller was removed, unleashing the full potential of the heavily reworked, overvolted starter motor. Unfortunately, the 3kW+ motor did prove too much for the gearing of the steering, stripping the teeth from the nylon gear, locking the wheel into a 30° angled position. The locked wheel tore into the arena floor and sent up a shower of splinters. It was able to move, but did not perform well in its second battle either.
- "Air is good armor, but armoring air is stupid."
- — Maddox's justification of Project One's minimal armour
Robot History
Dutch Series 1
- "The big guy with the beard (Maddox) pointed out a pneumatic valve which if hit would disable the robot, but it was so well protected we would never be able to reach it."
- — Karl Jones of Blue, incorrectly predicting the outcome of their match with Project One.
Both robots started sluggishly, with Blue tapping the rear of Project One with its ineffective spinning disc. Project One's axe, and later its lifting arm landed on Blue, failing to cause any damage. Finally, after repeated blows, Project One's axe caused superficial damage to Blue's armour which then ripped off the entire right hand side protection of Blue. However, Project One at this point broke down completely and was counted out.
A broken Project One
In the losers' melee, Project One had alleviated its sluggishness problem in both its drive and weaponry. It lifted up Flextreme before hammering down on it with its axe. However, despite its good start, it ventured into the CPZ, so Sir Killalot began attacking it. Project One struck Killalot with its axe, ripping off the House Robot's breastplate and nearly breaking his camera. Time ran out, and the match went to the jury, who ruled in favour of Enderbot.
Results
| PROJECT ONE - RESULTS | ||
| Series 1 | ||
| Dutch Championship Heat, Round 1 | ||
| Heat D, Round 1 | vs. Blue | Lost |
| Heat D, Losers Melee | vs. Enderbot, Flextreme | Lost |
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 2
Series Record
Dutch Series
- Series 1: Heat, Round 1
- Series 2: Entered with Project Two: Hex'em, Gravity and √3
UK Series
- Series 1-6: Did not enter
- Series 7: Entered with Gravity
- 2016 Series: Failed to qualify with Gravity
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