Rattus Rattus

Rattus Rattus
Participation Information
UK Series	3
Team Information
Team Members	Gary Pike Richard Ozanne
From	Guernsey
Robot Statistics
Weight	78.8kg
Dimensions	0.58m x 1.37m x 0.71m
Clearance	Variable
Power	24V electric motor
Weapons	Spikes, Flail
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"Due to its size and the intended aggression it pointed more towards a rat than a mouse. The latin name for the common rat is Rattus Rattus and so a name was found."

— The team's website

Rattus Rattus was a robot which competed exclusively in Series 3 of Robot Wars. Rattus Rattus won its first battle against S.M.I.D.S.Y. but lost to the experienced Dreadnaut in Round 2.

Design

"Upon reading material from Mentorn it became apparent that a novel idea was wanted to help get the machine accepted into the show. As we looked at the shape of the chassis and what body was going to be needed it began to look rather rodent like."

— The team's website

Side view of Rattus Rattus

Rattus Rattus was shaped like a rodent, with a pointed-wedge front and chassis from an old desk. It had six wheels as it was considered "easier" to steer, as it had tank style control and the weight would be balanced over the middle wheels. . Its armament included two spikes at the front, and a flail at the rear. It was originally going to be over 2.5 metres long, but the team was forced to cut it in half upon discovering that a robot that size would not fit in their car. Despite this, it was still the longest in its heat.

One of Rattus Rattus' spikes

One of Rattus Rattus' flails, with the hammers

The robot had Bosch 014 750w 24v motors and NCC-70 speed controllers. The rear flail consisted of a small grinding wheel with interchangeable attachments; either four "hammers", or four cutters. The two spikes, which were attached to the chassis, either side of the wedge front, were pneumatic chisel spikes, 38cm long. The spikes proved effective, but the flail did not.

"Oh did we have some ideas for weapons, but sadly when it came to it, they were either too expensive to build or beyond our then capability. There were two final weapons that we came up with, a grinder and a pneumatic spike. Both have their problems. The grinder is prone to jamming, especially when they are DC powered as ours is. ... The grinder didn't have much to do during RW3, but when it did make contact with anything the damage was very limited, so next year the grinder goes. ... They {the spikes} held up very well and did a lot of damage. We'll use them again."

— The Rattus Rattus website on the weaponry

The robot's armour was made from 16 gauge aluminium alloy, which was rolled to give the curve, which strengthened the armour. Rattus Rattus was originally covered in brown fur but the fur was not permitted after a test. It took 3 days to remove the fur and add a different coating. However Rattus Rattus still maintained its Dark brown colour scheme, though it appeared black on television.

"A chap from the health and safety department asked for a small piece of fur to perform a flame test on it. It failed. He told me it produced poisonous gases and would need some sort of coating to stop it from catching fire. Back in Guernsey we took a piece of fur to the fire brigade and asked their opinion. He agreed that the fur was not fire proof and would need a coating. He sent us down to Securicor who have what we need. The man at Securicor took a piece of fur to run a test. He coated it that night and the next day he tried the same test as the fire brigade. The phone call from him told us we needed a different covering. It took 3 days to remove the fur, but mostly the glue holding it on."

— Rattus Rattus website

Etymology

Rattus Rattus was said to have its name derived from the Latin name of the Common Rat (or Brown Rat). In actual fact, Rattus rattus is the Latin name of the closely related House Rat (or Black Rat), with the Common Rat's actual Latin name being Rattus norvegicus. The team jokingly claimed that Rattus Rattus was from the fourteenth century, and had been responsible for the spread of the bubonic plague. Despite the name confusion, Rattus rattus was indeed the rat species that helped spread the plague.

The Team

The team with Rattus Rattus

"After seeing the robot Killer Hurtz in series 2 Gary was inspired to get involved and started designing a chassis that would overcome many of the hurdles that Robot Wars puts in front of its competitors."

— The Rattus Rattus website on Gary Pike

Rattus Rattus was entered by a two man team from Guernsey, consisting of team captain Gary Pike, a computer programmer and photocopier engineer, who drove the robot, and Rick Ozanne, the technical and electronic advisor.

"He has worked for Guernsey Telecoms since he left school, having joined as an apprentice and worked his was up through the ranks to his current position; mobile phones Sales Manager. In times gone by he has been a telephone system installer and repair technician and a radio and electronics engineer. This experience proved invaluable when Rick was called into the team to tackle the numerous problems that were encountered"

— The Rattus Rattus website on Rick Ozanne

The Rattus Rattus team were the only ever team to come from the Channel Islands.

Qualification

Rattus Rattus under construction

Rattus Rattus qualified for Series 3 by running the obstacle course. Gary Pike went to the auditions without Rick Ozanne. Rattus Rattus suffered from some interference issues during the driving test, causing it to fail the driving test, and the fur was found to not conform to health and safety standards.

"We were tested for weight, 79.4kgs (maximum heavy weight limit), had Rattus's picture taken, then onto a technical check. Derek looked over Rattus and appeared satisfied. Next was the fail safe test. These worked ok at home, so there was no need to worry. Rattus was driven around a small test area and then the transmitter was switched off. Rattus went into full forward and the weapon came on. Gary quickly switched the radio back on to regain control. The test was performed, but failed again. This turned out to be an RF interference problem cause by the speed controllers that took us until a week before the show to cure."

— The Rattus Rattus website on the Series 3 Audition

For Series 4, Rattus Rattus was to receive gradual changes to address weaknesses with the original Series 3 design. According to the team's website, these were to have included a more damaging replacement for the flail weapon - likely to be a pneumatic spike - along with a strengthened bodyshell. Options discussed included internal bracing and an entirely new shell made from Makrolon; the Series 3 chassis was either to be retained or replicated using plastic materials.

The team behind Rattus Rattus first attempted to enter Series 4 through Robot Mayhem, where it fought Dominator 2. Rattus Rattus immediately came under fire, with the axe of Dominator 2 piercing straight through its rear armour. A second axe blow from Dominator 2 allowed it to pierce Rattus Rattus and push it into the pit. However, in the process of pitting Rattus Rattus, the removable link fell out of Dominator 2, and as a result, Rattus Rattus was declared to be the winner of the battle. Despite this, Rattus Rattus was not chosen to compete in Series 4, whereas Dominator 2 received a discretionary place.

"The compere made a mention of the incredible power of our axe, and you had to feel a bit sorry for the defenceless Rattus Rattus. After a quick dance around around the arena, Dominator's axe buried itself 8 inches deep in the back of RR, (missing the aerial by 1/2 an inch!) Another short dance, and the axe struck again, with Dominator poised to push the impaled RR into the pit, when the removable link jumped out, and Dominator was powerless, forfeiting the bout to RR! However, with a bit of leading from the compere, the audience voted that Dominator II should be eligible to go through to the next stage as well!"

— The Dominator 2 website on the Series 4 qualifier battle (edited)

Rattus Rattus also attempted to qualify for Series 5. Its only known qualifier battle was a six-way melee which also included Granny's Revenge, Purple Predator, Razer, Roobarb and Shunt, but ultimately this did not lead to Rattus Rattus earning a place in the Fifth Wars.

Robot History

Series 3

Rattus Rattus took part in the final heat of the Third Wars. Rattus Rattus was placed up against fellow newcomer S.M.I.D.S.Y. in the first round of the heat.

S.M.I.D.S.Y. is charged by Rattus Rattus

Rattus Rattus drives over S.M.I.D.S.Y.

Rattus Rattus pushes S.M.I.D.S.Y. onto the arena spikes

Rattus Rattus, with its shell dislodged, on the flame pit

After a cautious start to the battle, Rattus Rattus managed to get in underneath its opponent. Rattus Rattus was then bounced by the arena floor spike a few times before driving up and over S.M.I.D.S.Y.'s top. Rattus Rattus then pushed S.M.I.D.S.Y. onto the arena spike, and then into Dead Metal's CPZ, before colliding with Dead Metal itself, dislodging its own body shell upon impact. Rattus Rattus then carelessly drove over the flame pit and began smoking, but S.M.I.D.S.Y. meanwhile was limping itself, and was eventually pushed into the pit of oblivion by Dead Metal, therefore putting Rattus Rattus through to the next round of the heat. After the fight, the team revealed that they had fitted a block of wood at the tip of the wedge, with the vain hope that it would keep the shell in place.

In the second round, Rattus Rattus was placed up against Robot Wars veteran Dreadnaut.

Dreadnaut nudges at the lifeless Rattus Rattus

Rattus Rattus is pushed across the arena by Matilda

In this battle, Rattus Rattus was eagerly moving backwards and forwards before 'activate' was called, but when 'activate' was called, Rattus Rattus did not even move at all.

"They say it came from the 14th century - well, the engines probably ground to a halt long ago since then."

— Jonathan Pearce

Dead Metal slices into Rattus Rattus

Dreadnaut rammed into it a few times, before the house robots moved in and began attacking Rattus Rattus, with Dead Metal in particular causing major damage to the outer shell. Cease was eventually called and Rattus Rattus was eliminated from the competition.

"It suffered from its own plague!"

— The Rattus Rattus team blame the bubonic plague for their robot's demise

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 1

Series Record

Series	Rattus Rattus Series Record
The First Wars	Did not enter
The Second Wars	Did not enter
The Third Wars	Heat, Round 2
The Fourth Wars	Failed to qualify
The Fifth Wars	Failed to qualify
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

Gallery

Front view of Rattus Rattus

Rattus Rattus in the pits with its shell on the floor

Rattus Rattus' cameo in the First World Championship (rear-centre)

Trivia

Prizephita's statistics board in Series 3 displayed with the Rattus Rattus team members

• Had it not been cut in half, it would have been the second longest robot to enter Robot Wars.
• HPC Gears supplied the gears for the gearbox and the speed controllers by 4QD.
• Rattus Rattus was sponsored by Only DVD's
• In the Third Wars, the statistics board for Prizephita mistakenly displayed the names of the Rattus Rattus team instead.
• According to Gary Pike, the driver of Matilda apologised to the team after it was heavily damaged by the House Robots.
• Rattus Rattus was the only robot to beat S.M.I.D.S.Y not to have made a future or previous appearance. It is also the only robot to have beaten S.M.I.D.S.Y. in the main competition and not reach the semi-finals.

External Links

• Rattus Rattus website (archived)