Razor Back

Razor Back
Participation Information
US 1994-1997 Events	1997
Team Information
Team	Team Snowhite
Team Members	Bob Schneeveis
From	Palo Alto, California
Other Entries	Gutrip (1996-1997) Rex (1996) Up & Over (1996) Big Shot (1996) Lorena (1996) Yo Mama! (1996)
Robot Statistics
Power	4 wheel elecric drive
Weapons	None
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Razor Back was a lightweight robot from the US 1997 Robot Wars. Razor Back performed decently reaching the quarter-finals before losing to X7. Razor Back was built by veteran of the 90s Robot Wars events, Bob Schneeveis who entered previous years with Lorena, Rex, Up & Over, Big Shot, Yo Mama! and in the heavyweight division of both the previous year in this year Gutrip.

Design

Razor Back was a weaponless grey pyramid shaped robot made of plastic with a large yellow name tag across the top point. The robot was four wheel drive with four solid rubber castor wheels driven by electric-bycycle drive motors, and a spring mechanism kept the two wheels pressed against the motor output shaft. Lead-acid gell cells were the power source.

Robot History

1997 US Championship

Razor Back received a BYE in the first round and moved straight into the Winner's Bracket second round where it faced The Ominous Brick of Havoc. Through a head-on collision, Razor Back immediately launched The Ominous Brick of Havoc into the air near the center. The Ominous Brick of Havoc proceeded to career into the right-most flippers and wall sections. Razor Back, while slow to pressure its opponent, also crashed into the wall, just as Team Delta's orange machine impaled itself on the plywood barrier.

Razor Back shuttled back, forth and across the arena, then parked near the center as The Ominous Brick of Havoc remained motionless in the bottom-right corner. After over a minute, it was decided to unstick The Ominous Brick of Havoc from the wall, after which Razor Back began moving again in a more erratic fashion.

According to Andrew Lindsey, the initial collision had loosened an internal component inside Bob Schneeveis' machine, resulting in the aforementioned control problems. As a consequence, Razor Back veered into the path of the top-right flipper, which instantly caught and pressed it against the wall on the other side. Razor Back became immobilized as a result.

With The Ominous Brick of Havoc also becoming stuck a second time, the match went to a Judges' decision. Despite its more prolonged immobility - and Razor Back having initiated the opening attack - The Ominous Brick of Havoc was deemed to have won on points.

In the loser's bracket, Razor Back faced Carnivore.

Carnivore gets underneath Razor Back

Starting with its rear wedge shape facing forwards, Carnivore suffered drive issues from the outset, leaving it to move 'slowly and erratically' as Razor Back first drove up its rear-left corner. Razor Back shuffled between the wall and flipper, before backing into and pushing Carnivore around in a circle. While Bob Schneeveis' robot continued veering into the hazards, Carnivore was evidently struggling to drive on one wheel. Razor Back rammed Carnivore twice more, but took two hits from the nearest spike trap once it became stranded on Carnivore's rear 'ramp'.

With neither robot able to pull free, the match was briefly paused to separate them. Once this was completed, Razor Back again drove over the back of Carnivore. Carnivore gingerly steered Razor Back backwards under the spike trap, but was hit by the hazard which merely shook Razor Back off. Razor Back darted away, around, under and over Carnivore a few more times, eventually leading to a pushing match near the center. Both competitors reached a stalemate near the top-left flipper, at which point it became apparent that they needed separating once again.

Razor Back shot backwards and Carnivore spun on its left wheel, before driving close to each other to allow the match to resume. Ironically, neither robot moved again after Michael Meehan announced the restart, resulting in the battle going to a Judges' decision. On points, Razor Back was awarded the victory.

In the loser's bracket third round, Razor Back faced Ziggy. Due to various circumstances, this battle was fought no fewer than three times. In the first attempt, both robots moved tentatively towards each other, with Razor Back initially dodging, then ramming the smoking Ziggy a few times. As well as bending the front of Ziggy's left skirt, these resulted in Razor Back shoving Jonathan Ridder's machine against the upper-left wall. The force of this ram caused Razor Back to lodge itself into the wall, leaving the two competitors stuck together and prompting a temporary stoppage.

A Robot Wars crewmember dragged Ziggy, then Razor Back, away from the wall. However, this was not without further problems for Razor Back, which sat immobile after being yanked back towards the inner arena perimeter. While Ziggy was initially declared the winner, Bob Schneeveis later claimed that Razor Back's killswitch had been deactivated during the separation. This was confirmed during a subsequent inspection, as the crewmember had accidentally turned the switch off while grabbing Razor Back by the hole where it resided. A rematch was thus called by the Judges.

In the second attempt, Razor Back first drove past Ziggy, then shuffled and continuously dodged it for several seconds. Bob Schneeveis' machine gently brushed, then rammed Ziggy from the right-hand corner, pushing it around in circles. The two competitors separated, before Ziggy was shoved into the upper-left flipper. While pushing its opponent away, Razor Back became immobilized by the swinging paddle. Ziggy, upon being freed from Razor Back's wedge shape, reversed and tried to line up a direct attack with its abrasive disc. However, it instead drove directly into the flipper and up the tip of Razor Back's body.

Ziggy flipped over as a result of the collision, and was left beached as the flipper kept swiping both of the now-immobile competitors. The bell rang to signal the end of the battle, which went to a Judges' decision. The Judges ultimately called for a second rematch.

In the third and final attempt, Razor Back slammed into the front of Ziggy almost immediately, before circling around and pushing it from behind. A brief separation allowed it to control Ziggy into the lower-right corner, where the latter was flung upwards and again became stuck on Razor Back's wedge shape. Razor Back backed out, driving underneath Ziggy again as Jonathan Ridder's entry took hits from the nearby flipper. The flipper paddle broke part of Ziggy's blade, also flicking it onto its left-hand side. Ziggy finally escaped as Razor Back drove head-on into the wall, but hesitated to attack as its opponent became stuck for several seconds.

Michael Meehan announced that the battle would be paused to allow Razor Back to be freed. The unstick was performed without incident; as soon as it was pulled clear from the wall, Razor Back turned to face Ziggy, then rammed it head-on. This started another tentative phase, which lead into Razor Back controlling Ziggy several more times as the match entered the three-minute mark. One shove allowed Razor Back to pin Ziggy against the upper-right flipper, with Ziggy again slow to escape from the hazard. Once Ziggy did, Razor Back drove front-first into the flipper mount, then speared itself into the nearby wall with its rear wedge tip.

Ziggy proceeded to attack Razor Back from the front, though it only succeeded in beaching itself on the latter's wedge shape. The abrasive disc, now with a large chunk missing, could not cut deep into Razor Back's plastic armor. With less than two minutes to go, Ziggy persisted with its attacks, but could only scuff the front-right side of Razor Back before another pause was announced. Audience members began booing as the two competitors stood next to each other, then were pushed clear from the wall.

Razor Back slams Ziggy against the sidewall

Upon the match officially restarting, Razor Back again proved the faster and more maneuvrable robot. Ziggy, having seemingly been immobilized on one side, crawled towards Razor Back, which swerved out of the way at the last second. Razor Back jostled Ziggy around with a few more rams, with Ziggy taking another hit from the upper-right flipper as it struggled to escape the perimeter. During the final minute, Razor Back kept pushing Ziggy against the wall and flipper, only to back into the wall and get itself stuck yet again. A countdown was started by Michael Meehan, with Ziggy still struggling for mobility as the battle went to a Judges' decision.

In their deliberation, an audience vote was cast, ruling Razor Back as the victor.

In the Quarter Finals, Razor Back faced X7. The dual X7 segments separated near the center of the arena. X4 was the first to engage, ramming Razor Back with its blade and in turn getting pushed into the upper-left corner by Bob Schneeveis' machine. Razor Back was soon surrounded, and evidently began suffering mobility issues as it tried to ram both segments a few times, and got underneath X4 again. X3 tried to lift Razor Back from the rear, but missed, and found itself getting rammed a few more times alongside X4.

This pattern would be maintained throughout the rest of the fight; Razor Back took whacks from the upper-left flipper, before shoving X4 into the wall near the spike trap. X3 again missed with its lifter, as X4 proceeded to hook its front ramming blade through one of the holes in the back of Razor Back. X4 was pushed and dragged as the three machines shuttled across the arena, until Razor Back broke free to nudge X3 again. Both segments of the Robot Action League machine kept exchanging rams, with X4's blade again spearing through Razor Back's shell, itself still showing damage previously inflicted by Ziggy.

Razor Back circled around with X4 embedded in its side, as X3 again unsuccessfully tried to lift the former. Finally, Razor Back pulled free, only to be pressured by both X7 halves near the upper-left flipper. X4 controlled Razor Back into the paddle, only to be pushed back into the wall as X3 again tried to free its teammate. The end bell rang, with both competitors surviving to a Judges' decision. The decision ruled X7 the winner after a close and evenly-fought fight.

Razor Back also fought in the lightweight melee, where in its qualifier it faced The Ominous Brick of Havoc and Ziggy again as well as Cooks, Finagler, Gator, Mouser and Scrappy. Razor Back played a passive role, and seemed to have lost mobility early onto the match. Razor Back was nudged several times by the other opponents as they clashed. In the end, the five robots still mobile - Cooks, Finagler, Scrappy, The Ominous Brick of Havoc and Ziggy - were all selected to compete in the Final.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 2
• Losses: 3

Series Record

Events	Razor Back Event Record
1994	Did not enter
1995	Did not enter
1996	Entered with Gutrip Entered with Rex Entered with Up & Over Entered with Big Shot Entered with Lorena Entered with Yo Mama!
1997	Lightweight Face-Off, Quarter-Final Lightweight Melee, Round 1 Entered with Gut Rip