Robo Challenge

"We are a creative company that brings ideas to life for our clients ambitious PR campaigns and exciting TV shows. For the last decade our teams unique expertise have helped pull in some serious global media attention while achieving amazing results for our clients."

— Robo Challenge website

Robo Challenge are a Birmingham-based creative engineering company, producing ambitious projects for clients, including televised appearances. Owned by brothers James and Grant Cooper and father Nick Cooper, Robo Challenge are directly linked to the reboot of Robot Wars.

Robot Wars[]

Robo Challenge were heavily involved with both the pre-production and operation of each rebooted series of Robot Wars. Prior to Series 8 being filmed, it was the responsibility of Robo Challenge to design the tournament's format, set the build rules, and the health and safety rules. Changes made to the Robot Wars ruleset decided by Robo Challenge include the increase of a robot's maximum weight from 100kg to 110kg.

The House Robots built by Robo Challenge

During this time, Robo Challenge built all four House Robots used in the reboot, and were responsible for their repairs and maintenance throughout filming. Three different members of Robo Challenge decided upon their favourite House Robot and took on that project for themselves, resulting in the creation of Shunt (largely Grant Cooper), Matilda, and Dead Metal (largely James Cooper). The collective group then built Sir Killalot. The new Robot Wars Arena was also designed by Robo Challenge, including the idea of restricted trenches for throwing robots out of the arena, based upon the group's knowledge of robotic combat. Robo Challenge's members, including James and Grant Cooper alongside Paul Streeter and Andrew Kenworthy, also drove the House Robots in all battles.

Robo Challenge maintain Basher during the Series 8 pilot

Basher, a competitor in the pilot episode for Series 8, was built by Grant Cooper and John Reid. Grant Cooper was the driver and sole team member for Basher in this episode. However, it lost in the first round to Ka-Pow! and Turbulence when it pitted itself in an attempt to push Tanto into the pit. Although Robo Challenge did not build the machine, MONTE (built by Team MAD) was also loaned to Robo Challenge employee Paul Streeter to compete in the pilot episode, where it lost in the first round. Paul Streeter was otherwise a House Robot driver on the TV show.

In preparation for Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars, Robo Challenge were also commissioned to build eight Loanerbots using similar components in each, to the design specifications of the celebrities involved with the show, and these robots would then be presented to viewers as the creations of the celebrities. For this purpose, Robo Challenge built Arena Cleaner, Dee, Interstellar: MML, JAR, Kadeena Machina, Robo Savage, Soldier Ant, and The Cat, and entrusted their repairs to the eight selected mentors. Of these, Arena Cleaner would later become Cathadh, Kadeena Machina would become the newest version of Diotoir and Dee became Rabid M8, all of which were loaned to international teams by Robo Challenge.

James Cooper in How to Build a Robot — James Cooper in *How to Build a Robot*

James Cooper took on a presenting role for How to Build a Robot, a five-part series released on Facebook, where Cooper would explain the safety precautions relevant to each weapon type in short videos. James Cooper also personally appeared in an episode of Series 9, discussing health and safety while the arena floor was being repaired.

The official Haynes manual Robot Wars: Build Your Own Robot was also written by the Cooper brothers, offering their advice on how to build a 'challenger', and contains all information relevant to the creation of a functioning combat robot. The limited edition release of the book, sold through the Robo Challenge website, was signed by the Cooper brothers, and contained extra blueprints.

Robots[]

Name	Image	Weight Class	Series
Basher		Heavyweight	Series 8 (Pilot only)
MONTE		Heavyweight	Series 8 (Pilot only)

NOTE: Team Robo Challenge could not participate in any main series of Robot Wars due to their position as producers, with Grant Cooper and Paul Streeter respectively entering Basher and MONTE into the untelevised pilot episode.

Outside Robot Wars[]

Robo Challenge (business)[]

Robo Challenge are known for hosting the UK Featherweight Championships each year, at the Insomnia gaming convention. Robo Challenge designed the combat arena, and oversee the tournament process. In place of a traditional 2018 UK Championship, Robo Challenge co-hosted the inaugural King of Bots UK International Championships in August 2018, which also saw Robo Challenge provide live streams of the event on their official YouTube channel.

Grant and James Cooper made a one-off appearance on Inside the Bot, robotics podcast hosted by Will Sedgwick and Gabriel Stroud. They used the show to publicly reveal the changes to the rules they had implemented into Series 10 of Robot Wars, and state the types of design they wanted to see from competitors, including 'Complete Control-style control bots' and pneumatic spikes, directly referencing Point Blank.

Robo Challenge have created robots for various television programmes, including The Gadget Show, Dick & Dom's Absolute Genius, Reverse Engineers, and Blue Peter. Their consultancy and engineering skills were also required for sales promotions connected to video games, including Skylanders Superchargers, Titanfall 2 and ReCore.

Team Robo Challenge[]

Grant Cooper's very first robot was a featherweight called Ploughbot, which enjoyed a lot of success thanks to its extremely powerful drive system. James Cooper, meanwhile, started with the pusher featherweight Captain Scarlet and won the 2006 UK Featherweight Championship. Team Robo Challenge also built two featherweights directly replicating heavyweight designs made by Team Razer, Venom (a miniature Razer), and Predator (a miniature Warhead). Venom and Predator occasionally made competitive appearances at the team's events, even fighting each other on occasion. Both robots entered the 2013 UK Featherweight Championships, with Venom retiring soon after, while Predator continued fighting and competed at the 2015 championship. However Venom still occasionally shows up as a display, such as RoboNerd 2022.

Beta with Grant Cooper (right) and John Reid

As individual roboteers, Grant Cooper is listed as the primary builder of Beta, having rebuilt the robot from John Reid's original design over a decade prior. He initially intended to enter the first season of BattleBots on ABC, but withdrew due to the delay of his son's birth, and Beta entered the competition under John Reid and Dave Moulds. Grant Cooper and John Reid competed in ABC's second season of BattleBots with Beta, where they reached the top eight of the competition by defeating Lucky, Overhaul and Nightmare before falling to the eventual champion Tombstone.

"John built the very first Beta alone, but when B.B. came back he wanted to enter THz as there was a huge amount of work to do on Beta. He offered it to me if I wanted to get it running and enter it. THz didn’t make it into B.B. so he joined my team with Beta again. We worked together and did a major redesign and build to get it ready. Then our baby was late so I couldn’t make it!"

— Grant Cooper on his involvement with Beta

James Cooper had initially competed in the first season of ABC's BattleBots with Warhead, as part of Team Razer. Warhead lost its first battle to the eventual champion Bite Force, but earned a wildcard and advanced to the second round, where it was eliminated by Stinger: The Killer Bee. In the second season, James Cooper joined Team Carbide to compete with Cobalt, and defeated Overhaul in the first round before being eliminated by the eventual runner-up, Bombshell.

Spectre[]

James and Grant Cooper, alongside their father Nick, and Robot Wars producer Henry Imbert emerged as champions of the Chinese TV competition King of Bots with their championship-winning robot Spectre. Their robot was equipped with a crushing beak weapon, with two large teeth, on top of a sleek four-wheel driven wedge-shaped chassis. The robot was highly manoeuvrable, and could control other robots or crush them. Spectre was dominant in its first battle, crushing into, ramming and eventually causing Red from the Flames to catch fire for an immediate knockout win. It then achieved a second dominant knockout against the overhead spinner of Whirlwind by trapping it behind the arena Grinder. In the third round, Team Robo Challenge were fearful of the drum spinner used by Spectre's opponent, Wild Beast, but while Spectre's jaw was severely damaged by the spinning weapon, Spectre proceeded to dominate its opponent around the arena. Towards the end of the battle, both robots became immobile simultaneously, but Spectre won the battle on a Judges' decision based on the battle up to that point. In the fourth round, Spectre fought another vertical spinner, Two BBQ, negating and damaging the latter's anti-crusher armour by continuously clamping and ramming it into the spikes, walls and Grinders. It eventually won via knockout, after its attacks caused Two BBQ to lose mobility within the closing seconds. In the semi-final, Spectre defeated the clusterbot Thunder and Lightning by ramming one half into the wall to remove its wheel, before flipping it over. In the Grand Final, Spectre defeated the Chinese drum spinner Chiyung Jinlun by biting through its armour to pierce a lithium polymer battery, causing the robot to catch fire dramatically. Spectre was declared the champion once Chiyung Jinlun's wheels no longer made contact with the floor.

Spectre in This is Fighting Robots — Spectre in *This is Fighting Robots*

A rebuilt Spectre competed in the 2018 series This is Fighting Robots, a spin-off of King of Bots originally produced for Youku. Spectre was the second robot to be chosen for the main competition onscreen, impressing Green team manager Zheng Shuang with its design and crusher. From that point, it fought White Tiger Guardian in a head-to-head Freestyle battle, but Spectre's front wedge was buckled by the vertical spinner. Spectre also lost a drive belt, but staged a late attack by grabbing the Chinese opponent after it was deflected by a mace hazard, and took the battle to a Judges' decision, which Spectre won. Spectre also emerged victorious in a 2v2 Alliance War battle, where it was partnered with ORBY Blade to defeat Lieutenant Bam and Switch. In the 1v1 round, Spectre fought another British entry, Formula, and ultimately suffered its first combat loss here, after proving unable to breach the wedge of Formula, and Spectre was eventually flipped over for a win by KO, late into the battle. Spectre was also immobilised during the Eight-robot Rumble, after biting down on the vertical spinner of Two BBQ and suffering an electrical failure as a result.

Spectre made a further appearance in the King of Bots 2019 Opening Battle, held to promote the upcoming second season. There, it fought one head-to-head battle against a significantly upgraded Two BBQ. After taking hefty damage from the bar spinner of Two BBQ, Spectre was flipped over and immobilised, losing the battle by knockout.

Spectre in King of Bots II — Spectre in *King of Bots II*

Spectre returned for King of Bots II and was drawn against White Tiger Guardian in its first battle, much like in This is Fighting Robots. Spectre comfortably won by knockout, and joined Emma Dumont's celebrity team for the remainder of the competition, first earning her a point by defeating Rhino and ORBY Blade in a two-on-two battle. After a long break, Spectre earned its next win over Po Feng to eliminate the opposing team, and defeated Boxing Champion to earn its place in the final tournament. Spectre was a key player here, defeating Xiake, Shrederator Tiger Claw (by default) and Thunder in a row, before finally falling to Vulcan in its fourth consecutive match without leaving the arena. Ultimately Spectre and the rest of its team were resigned to second place. Spectre has otherwise made appearances on BBC Breakfast, and at Robonerd in August 2019. In August 2021 Spectre appeared during the official watch party on Twitch for the launch of Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time on Prime Video, during which two featherweight robots modelled after EVA-01 and EVA-02 from the franchise did battle over three rounds. Spectre was present throughout the battles as a House Robot, referred to as an Angel throughout, and pitted both robots in the third round after the 'pilots' attempted to team up against it.^[1]

Quantum[]

After being absent from the 2018 season of BattleBots due to filming clashes with This is Fighting Robots, Team Robo Challenge competed in the 2019 competition with Quantum. A 'ground up' redesign of Spectre, Quantum maintained its counterpart's aesthetic and crusher weaponry, but differed in making extensive use of generative design for chassis components.^[2]

In its first battle, Quantum was drawn against Blacksmith. Quantum comfortably pierced through the top armour of Blacksmith, causing internal damage and dominating the match, although Quantum could not release Blacksmith from its grip within the 20 second time limit, forcing the robots to be separated manually. With both robots smoking, Quantum and Blacksmith could not be separated safely, and the battle was ended prematurely and sent to a Judges' decision, which Quantum won unanimously. Quantum was less successful in its second fight, losing mobility against the experienced Lock-Jaw, and subsequently lost to Death Roll in its next battle. However, Quantum redeemed this with a dominant win over DUCK! to end its Fight Night record at 2-2, and managed to qualify for the Top 16 by winning a critical play-in match against Valkyrie. Competing as the thirteenth seed for the bracket, Quantum's Top 16 campaign came to an immediate end after being immobilised by Tombstone in a 35-second match, and Quantum was eliminated here.

A new version of Quantum was initially confirmed to be entering the 2020 season of BattleBots; however, Team Robo Challenge later withdrew from the season due to restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3]

With the 2021 season of BattleBots confirmed, Team Robo Challenge again withdrew their application, citing work and family commitments as reasons for doing so.^[4] James Cooper did, however, state Team Robo Challenge's intention to compete in a potential seventh reboot season of BattleBots, which was green-lit and filmed in October 2022 as BattleBots World Championship VII. On the 6th, Quantum was officially confirmed to return through appearing in a 'Pre-Season Power Rankings' list shared on BattleBots social media feeds.^[5]

As an almost entirely new build, the World Championship VII incarnation of Quantum utilises generative design and 3D sculpting techniques, for several improvements over the World Championship IV version. The most significant of these include a more resilient crusher 'head' and srimech, the latter thematically acting as the robot's 'rib cage'.^[6] Other design changes include the addition of extra crusher teeth to deliver a quoted 50,000lbs of bite force on opponents, alongside cosmetic 'quills' adding to a more 'sinister' look.^[7] Like its earlier counterparts, Quantum's crusher in this season could be configured to use single or twin front teeth to suit different opponents.

Though Team Robo Challenge treated World Championship VII as a 'learning season' following their hiatus,^[7] Quantum emphatically won its first Fight Night match against Captain Shrederator, upon puncturing and disabling Team LOGICOM's shell spinner. Another dominant knockout win followed against Gruff, where the team bought and added baking trays as extra defence against the latter's flamethrower.^[8] Quantum followed these up with further wins over Black Dragon and Emulsifier by judges' decisions. While taking damage to its weapon, chassis and hydraulic pump mount from the latter,^[9] it thus became the first World Championship VII competitor to achieve an undefeated 4-0 Fight Night record.

The above performances enabled Quantum to comfortably secure a place in the main championship bracket, entering the Round of 32 as the fifth seed. At that stage, it endured a tentative and turbulent match against Ribbot, sustaining major damage to its wedge and crusher after allowing its opponent to free itself from the killsaw slots early on. In a major upset, this ended with Quantum being flipped over into a position where it could not self-right, eliminating it from World Championship VII at this stage.

Although Team Robo Challenge would not compete in the spin-off BattleBots: Champions II due to a lack of spare components, they and Quantum would later take part in an exhibition match against newcomer Double Tap, included in the YouTube-exclusive Vengeance in Vegas 2 compilation. Quantum repeatedly controlled and clamped down on the Ostrich Air entry until the latter became immobilised, winning by knockout.^[10]^[11] The Cooper brothers were also interviewed by Pete Abrahamson for the fourth episode of the supporting web series Bot Whisperings.^[12]

Paul Streeter[]

Robo Challenge employee Paul Streeter also competed in This is Fighting Robots with his own machine, Ninja. The robot was an invertible thwackbot using a large overhead sword, after Paul Streeter drove a thwackbot in the pilot episode of Robot Wars Series 8. Ninja was selected for Sa Beining's team during its preliminary battle with 008, Saturn and Xiake. In the main competition, Ninja fought Blue, Bonfire and Griffin Mk II in a four-way rumble, and survived until the end of the battle with Blue, but narrowly lost the Judges' decision. Under the controls of Yellow team manager Sa Beining, Ninja fought Polar Opposite, but Beining's inexperience led to a loss via Judges' decision, after Ninja's wheel hubs sustained damage. Ninja's place on Beining's team was challenged by the American entry Wrecker, but Ninja managed to defend its place in the competition by defeating Wrecker on a Judges' decision. However, in a four-way battle against Tungsten, Vulcan and Thunder and Lightning, Ninja survived to a Judges' decision but lost the fight to Tungsten, earning its team one point out of an available three. After Ninja's celebrity captain Sa Beining lost the round overall, he was required to cut two of his three robots, and Ninja was eliminated at this stage, just prior to the Top 8.

Rhino in King of Bots II — Rhino in *King of Bots II*

Paul Streeter also entered King of Bots II under the captaincy of Robert Pickford, as the driver of Rhino (also known on the UK live circuit as Bullseye). Rhino stranded Mist Lion on the arena wall to win its first match, and join Di Yang's celebrity team, although it then suffered a loss to Spectre and Cat King in a two-on-two battle after Rhino's own teammate ORBY Blade was quickly flipped over, leaving Rhino to fight alone. Rhino nevertheless advanced, and defeated the experienced Chinese robot Xiake by knockout. Rhino also represented its team in a head-to-head against Yesaji and lost on a Judges' decision, but nevertheless advanced as the rest of its team won the round on Rhino's behalf. Rhino then suffered another loss, falling to Deep-Sea Shark on a Judges' decision. In its final episode, Rhino defeated Flaming Wheel and Black Rabbit in consecutive victories, but was nevertheless eliminated after the rest of its team suffered too many losses.

Andrew Kenworthy[]

Robo Challenge's Andrew "Kenny" Kenworthy, competed in the featherweight division with Cobalt, a vertical crusher. In the 2014 championship, Cobalt had an impressive run and climbed to fourth place in its debut competition. It then did not compete again until the King of Bots UK championship in 2018. Cobalt’s battle with Straddle 2 resulted in a double knockout, and Cobalt lost the decision. Cobalt would earn one victory in its final qualification round, however, wedging Furious George and Raving Luna-Tic against the wall and crushing the latter's top armour. Cobalt qualified for the eight-way battle for the final place in the Top 20, but was promptly immobilised. Cobalt made its final appearance at a Robots Live! event held in Grantham, in June 2019, competing in featherweight rumbles.

Andrew Kenworthy (left) on Team Carbide in the 2019 season of BattleBots — Andrew Kenworthy (left) on Team Carbide in the 2019 season of *BattleBots*

Andrew was also part of Team Carbide at BattleBots in 2019, with their vertical spinner of the same name, Cobalt, having helped to machine various components of the robot’s structure.

Andrew had also previously competed on the Robots Live! circuit with a heavyweight flipper named Stratos-Fear. The robot was built in 2005 and began competing the same year, making its debut at the first show of 2005 in Aberystwyth and going on to compete at events thereafter, usually performing well in its battles.^[13]

Trivia[]

Robo Challenge's forays outside of Robot Wars were recognised by The Combat Robot Hall of Fame in 2019, with Spectre and Quantum jointly receiving an Honorable Mention for their successful use of hydraulic crushers in King of Bots and modern BattleBots.^[14]^[15]

References[]

External Links[]

Navigation[]

[1] The Official Evangelion Watch Party on Twitch

[2] ttps://www.facebook.com/spectrerobot/posts/393443987870877

[3] ttps://www.facebook.com/spectrerobot/posts/731581797390426

[4] James Cooper confirms Quantum's withdrawal from the 2021 season of BattleBots

[5] ttps://twitter.com/BattleBots/status/1577976983136395268

[6] ttps://www.facebook.com/spectrerobot/posts/pfbid0jQVPW54fh3rBkGXmpLRbYg4dw63h8tVHhWdegcigsfG4h74Spbe5rQSDRYRhUb8ml

[LearningSeason-7] 7.0 ^7.1 https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/100ytcb/comment/j2kw9kk/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

[8] ttps://www.facebook.com/spectrerobot/posts/pfbid02SGueL2my95bkwYrdVWWmZA6Y5ukiRPvqX4ygCxkQJeEeX6uwhExFrrsVwH8ynSpal

[9] ttps://www.facebook.com/spectrerobot/posts/pfbid029MAH8bKv3gYxTbVJJNRyNtBqeobZhCUTW1RCMNZeisUcNsw6PuCgNMURG75ghjhfl

[10] ttps://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/13hmmck/comment/jk5v6jd/

[9-11] 'Vengeance in Vegas 2 | Full Event | BattleBots', BattleBots (YouTube), streamed 25 November 2023

[12] Bot Whisperings - Under Pressure with Team Quantum | BattleBots Season 7

[13] ttps://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/content/220-stratos-fear

[14] The Combat Robot Hall of Fame ®, Team Run Amok website

[15] The Combat Robot Hall of Fame - 2019 Voting Breakout, Team Run Amok website

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