Robot Wars: 1994 US Championship

1994 US Championship
1994-1997 event logo
Event Information
Dates	August 20 1994
Venue	Fort Mason Center, San Francisco
Ticket Price(s)	$30 (full-day)
Entry Fees	$50 per robot (individuals/non-profit groups) $500 per robot (Individual companies)
Format	Face-Off (knockout)/ Melee/ Escort
Champions
Heavyweight	Ramfire 100
Middleweight	The X-1
Lightweight	Julie-Bot (Face-Off) Bloodletter (Melee)
History
Arena	1994-1997
Preceded By	None (Inaugural event)
Succeeded By	1995 US Championship

"August 20, 1994

16 attack ROBOTS met on a post industrial battle ground.

This is the record of that encounter."

— Official VHS promo for the 1994 Robot Wars competition

The 1994 US Robot Wars Championship, also known simply as Robot Wars 1994, Robot Wars '94 or the First Annual Robot Wars, was the first-ever running of the original US-based Robot Wars live competitions organized by Marc Thorpe. It took place on August 20 1994 at the Fort Mason Center, Herbst Pavillion, San Francisco, the very first Robot Wars competition to be held.

A total of 16 competitors participated in the event, which featured a variety of tournaments for the heavyweight, middleweight and lightweight categories. In addition to the Face-Off knockout championships, two Melees were run featuring robots from all categories, along with a one-off Escort competition.

Robots Competing

Heavyweights

	The Beetle
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Spiked 'Pincer Arm'
	Defence	Plywood shell
	From	Unknown
Team: Caleb Chung

	Doolittle
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Spike
	Defence	Unknown
	From	California
Team: Scott LaValley

	The Master
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Sawblade
	Defence	Axlebot
	From	California
Team: Mark Setrakian

	Ramfire 100
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Spiked turret
	Defence	Composite shell; anodized CNC components
	From	Unknown
Team: Michael Sorensen

	Tiny Tim
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Lifter
	Defence	Unknown
	From	Unknown
Team: Unknown

	TMZ
	Weight	Variable
	Weapons	Interchangeable 7-inch saw and pneumatic spike
	Defence	Foam/fiberglass/Kevlar/epoxy shell
	From	Los Angeles, California
Team: Patrick Campbell, George Melero & Emile DeMillo

Middleweights

	South Bay Mauler
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Spinning Flails and Chisels
	Defence	Cylindrical shell
	From	California
Team: Charles Tilford, Morgan Tilford, Henry Tilford, Alan Vermette

	The X-1
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Lifting spike
	Defence	Unknown
	From	Los Angeles, California
Team: Mike Winter, Dennis Adams, Jim Sellers, Dave Hamel & Clark Hochgraf

Lightweights

	Andy Roid
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Entanglement String
	Defence	Plastic toy tricycle
	From	Illinois
Team: Scott McNamara

	Julie-Bot
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Spike
	Defence	Unknown
	From	Unknown
Team: Will Wright

	Pain Mower1
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Overhead spinning bar
	Defence	Unknown
	From	Unknown
Team: Tommy Van Gelder

	Satoru Special
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Articulated sawblade
	Defence	Unknown
	From	California
Team: James Straus

	Slow-Mo
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	None
	Defence	Unknown
	From	Seattle, Washington
Team: Klaas Langhout

	Spiny Norman
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Spikes
	Defence	Unknown
	From	California
Team: Will Wright

	TMZ
	Weight	Variable
	Weapons	Interchangeable 7-inch saw and pneumatic spike
	Defence	Foam/fiberglass/Kevlar/epoxy shell
	From	Los Angeles, California
Team: Patrick Campbell, George Melero & Emile DeMillo

	Zomo
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Spike
	Defence	Unknown
	From	Unknown
Team: S. Addison Muncy

¹Also referred to as Omega Ex Machina; competed in the Middleweight Escort under this name.

Side Events Only

	Bloodletter
	Weight	Unknown
	Weapons	Drill
	Defence	Unknown
	From	Texas
Team: Phillip T. Putman

Heavyweight Face-Off

Round 1

Ramfire 100 vs Tiny Tim

Ramfire began by charging towards Tiny Tim and circling around the forklift machine who was unable to catch up to the speedier Ramfire. Ramfire sped across the arena and a game of cat and mouse began as Tiny Tim struggled to chase after Ramfire who on the occasion came in and stabbed the side of Tiny Tim with the spike. At one point one ram and stab attack caused Tiny Tim to lose mobility on one side with a wheel deflated, causing Tiny Tim to spin around in circles unable to move from its circumference. Ramfire came in again with the spike and successfully stabbed the top armour plate of Tiny Tim, knocking the armour off and causing immense damage as a result. Ramfire continued to slam into Tiny Tim, pressuring it into the corner where it was repeatedly thwacked by the arena flipper as it was deemed immobile.

Winner: Ramfire 100

The Beetle vs Doolittle

Doolittle and The Beetle in battle

The match did not last long as Doolittle seemingly suffered from mobility problems from the start as The Beetle charged in and bashed into Doolittle. Doolittle struggled to move effectively as The Beetle slammed into it and Cambot, by accident, sending Doolittle facing a different direction. Here, Doolittle slowly crawled to a stop near the arena wall.

Winner: The Beetle

The Master vs TMZ

The Master charges into TMZ

TMZ seemingly had drive issues from the get go as The Master charged in and smacked into it, shoving it further towards the arena wall and sawing into the armour of TMZ. After several seconds of being sawn into by The Master, TMZ slowly moved away and managed to reach the centre of the arena before The Master assaulted it further, slamming into it and bashing it about. TMZ was damaged heavily as it was pushed backed into the arena corner and sliced into again. Eventually, TMZ was deemed immobile and The Master awarded the win.

Winner: The Master

Round 2

The Beetle vs The Master

Sparks fly as The Master attacks The Beetle with its saw

Dubbed the "best battle of the night" by Discovery's Next Step, The Master started off the stronger machine, slamming into and pushing The Beetle into an arena mousetrap, slicing away with the sawblade against the wooden armour and pressuring it. The Beetle began to fight back and span on the spot, smacking The Master in the saw blade causing sparks to fly. The Beetle sat and span some more before pushing The Master around the arena, unintendedly causing The Master's saw to slice through the wood more and damaging itself. The Master was now on the backfoot as The Beetle pushed it about sending the sawblade grinding against the concrete floor sending smoke across the arena. Despite this, The Master backed away and attacked The Beetle some more, damaging the corner of the wooden robot and targeting its lifting arm sending sparks all over the arena. The Beetle and The Master began to smoke as The Beetle charged in and pinned The Master against the arena side wall, ending the match with both robots smoking internally.

Winner: The Beetle

Final

Ramfire 100 vs The Beetle

The Beetle entered the arena with antlers attached to the back of the robot as decoration and additional weaponry. The battle began with both robots circling each other until Ramfire slammed into The Beetle and fired its spike. This single attack caused The Beetle to charged into the arena side wall in full force and stab its weapon into the side wall itself. Unable to break free, The Beetle's driver unattached it from the side wall, freeing it but The Beetle continued driving in forward motion with no control despite help from its driver to get it working, The beetle had no control and Ramfire became heavyweight champion.

Winner: Ramfire 100

Middleweight Face-Off

South Bay Mauler vs The X-1

The X-1 rams into South Bay Mauler

South Bay Mauler span up to speed as The X-1 tentatively approached the spinner, swerving around the arena attempting to be careful, however, this changed as The X-1 charged forwards and bashed South Bay Mauler away. The X-1 backed away and charged a second time, pushing South Bay Mauler closer to the arena corner and temporarily stopping the spinner. South Bay Mauler attempted to spin up to speed but The X-1 continued to pressure it and pushed the spinner around the arena, this time reversing into it with the rear spike. After some time, The X-1 came back for another attack and this time managed to get under and flip South Bay Mauler over winning the battle and the championship as a result.

Winner: The X-1

Lightweight Face-Off

Round 1

Spiny Norman vs Zomo

Zomo loses its shell after ramming into Spiny Norman

Battle began with the two smaller robots zipping around the arena before both charging face first into one another with Zomo's sloped body managing to bolt Spiny Norman upwards. Spiny Norman darted away soon after with Zomo chasing afterwards, however a second ramming attack by Zomo managed to disrobe the body armour, damaging itself rather than Spiny Norman. With limited mobility as a result of the damage, Zomo's movements slowed down while Spiny Norman span around the arena and charged into Zomo again, impaling the front with its spikes and knocking the shell off completely, with both the robots stuck to each other.

Winner: Draw

Andy Roid vs Satoru Special

Saturu Special attempts to attack Andy Roid by the sides

Immediately, Satoru Special fired its fireworks device and charged into Andy Roid who in turn charged directly towards Satoru Special, however, both robots missed each other. Andy Roid circled around and bashed into Satoru Special who in turn fired its fireworks off again but making little impact. Satoru Special moved up and down while Andy Roid turned and caught itself in one of the arena mousetraps, Satoru Special then attempted to take advantage and pressure Andy Roid but Andy Roid backed away bashing Satoru Special out of the way. The two robot met again in the middle of the arena, pushing against each other before the wrecking ball swung and smacked Andy Roid in the head, knocking off the helmet as it rode away only to drive once again into a mousetrap. With neither providing much impact, it resulted in a draw.

Winner: Draw

Julie-Bot vs Slow-Mo

Slow-Mo charged around the arena and slammed Julie-Bot from behind causing it to bounce. As Julie-Bot adjusted itself it went in and slammed into Slow-Mo. The two robots ran around the arena, chasing each other until Slow-Mo uncontrollably charged straight forwards into the arena side wall where it immobilized itself.

Winner: Julie-Bot

Pain Mower vs TMZ

Pain Mower remained in its starting position as TMZ slowly approached only to get hit by the overhead spinning bar. Seconds later as TMZ lingered slowly around the arena mousetrap, Pain Mower slammed in again, tearing the back panel. A third attack by Pain Mower before it backed away only for TMZ to slowly follow after it, but it was hit by the arena wrecking ball and was promptly knocked out.

Winner: Pain Mower

Round 2

Spiny Norman vs Andy Roid

Spiny Norman caught by Andy Roid's entanglement device

Spiny Norman and Andy Roid charged towards each other, however, Andy Roid attempted to use its entanglement device which was located at the rear of the robot, to snag up Spiny Norman, in essence forcing Spiny Norman to attack Andy Roid from behind to get snagged. Spiny Norman eventually did end up behind Andy Roid and was caught by the snagging device which hooked on and wrapped up its wheels. The entanglement worked effectively and immobilised Spiny Norman.

Winner: Andy Roid

Satoru Special vs Zomo

Both robots began by spinning around the arena, with Zomo being the aggressor smashing into Satoru Special who retaliated by using its fireworks. Soon both robots found themselves around an arena flipper, being pressured in the corner before getting away, but Satoru Special's movements came to a halt as Zomo continued to smack into it and pressure it into a Mousetrap. Once again Satoru Special let off more fireworks but to no avail as Zomo pushed the immobile machine towards the arena centre.

Winner: Zomo

Pain Mower vs Zomo

The battle did not seem to last long as Zomo and Pain Mower charged into each other with the spinner managing to dent and rip the shiny dome of Zomo off, battering it with the spinning bar.

Winner: Pain Mower

Pain Mower vs Julie-Bot

Currently no information exists on this battle, other than Julie-Bot winning the fight over Pain Mower.

Winner: Julie-Bot

Final

Andy Roid vs Julie-Bot

The final began with Andy Roid darting across the arena only for Julie-Bot to ram the side of Andy Roid, almost toppling the robot. Not much else is known about the battle other than Julie-Bot winning the fight over Andy Roid.

Winner: Julie-Bot

Escort

In the Escort event, competitors would be required to protect and escort an unnamed 'drone' from one end of the arena to the other, whilst fending off attacks from the patrolling House Robot. Victory conditions would be met once the drone reached the end zone; elimination would occur once the drone was flipped over by the House Robot.

The original 1994 rules suggest that Escort adopted a time-based format, and that multiple robots were intended to be eligible to win the event at one point. A 'grand prize' was to be awarded to the robot with the fastest overall time; the Team Run Amok website suggests that three champions were crowned in the heavyweight, middleweight and lightweight categories.

Heavyweight

Ramfire 100

Ramfire 100 and the drone both sped off together, the former shielding the drone away from the House Robot's initial charge. In the process, however, the drone bumped into a nearby mousetrap, as Ramfire 100 pivoted its spear into the path of the House Robot's flipper. While briefly pushed by the House Robot, the drone eventually managed to escape, presumably crossing the end zone as Ramfire 100 again pressured the seemingly-stranded House Robot.

Middleweight

Omega Ex Machina (Pain Mower)

As soon as this run began, Omega Ex Machina charged at full force towards the House Robot, which immediately flipped it over. Despite also being flicked up and cornered by the House Robot, the drone brushed off a hit from an arena flipper and successfully crossed into the end zone.

Lightweight

Zomo

At first, Zomo and the drone managed to get themselves trapped in the corner by the House Robot. Before the House Robot had a chance to turn and attack, the duo eventually managed to start moving out across the center. The House Robot followed, but not before Zomo helped push the drone into the end zone. With the drone safely across, Zomo proceeded to challenge the much larger House Robot on its own, only to be flipped and have its outer shell torn off.

Spiny Norman

A slow start saw the diminutive Spiny Norman tentatively approach the House Robot, while the drone spun around in the starting quarter. Spiny Norman used this chance to fight the House Robot one-on-one, spearing its lower body, though not without getting pushed back and swatted by the latter's flipper. This exchange distracted the House Robot long enough for the drone to slip past and reach the end on its own. Even after emerging victorious, Spiny Norman was thwacked and battered by the House Robot further, upon turning into the orange machine a final time.

Andy Roid

The run did not go well for Andy Roid, which immediately sped off to the opposite end of the arena, leaving the drone at the start. This allowed the House Robot to simply drive over to and pressure the drone, before shunting it into the corner and flipping it over.

Julie-Bot

Both Julie-Bot and the drone sped off side-by-side, the former approaching the House Robot as it hesitated to move out of its starting position. Julie-Bot turned around to the House Robot's side, only to be flicked upwards and immobilised by its weapon. In the background, the drone crawled past a nearby mousetrap, dodging the House Robot to successfully reach the end zone.

Escort Champions

• Heavyweight: Ramfire 100
• Middleweight: Omega Ex Machina
• Lightweight: Zomo

Melees

At the end of the competition, a number of Melee battles (originally referred to in the 1994 rules as Mob Scene) were staged between robots which could still function after the Face-Off and Escort events. Two have been documented to take place; one involving lightweight competitors, the other featuring robots from all weight classes plus the Escort House Robot.

Andy Roid vs Pain Mower vs Julie-Bot vs Spiny Norman vs Bloodletter vs Zomo

Zomo was immobile from the start as Andy Roid made a fatal driving error and drove into a mousetrap, toppling it over. Meanwhile Bloodletter, Julie-Bot and Spiny Norman attacked one another as Bloodletter spun up to speed but managed to spin its body due to gyroscopic instability. Eventually, an attack from Bloodletter caused Julie-Bot to become immobile on one side as it fought Spiny Norman alone, with both machines tentatively backing up and slamming into each other. Official records confirm Bloodletter as the eventual winner.

Winner: Bloodletter

Ramfire 100 vs Tiny Tim vs Zomo vs Doolittle vs The Beetle vs The X-1 vs Spiny Norman vs South Bay Mauler

"Here you see ALL surviving robots, lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight all tossed in for one last battle. The crowd favorite was Spiney [sic] Norman, a lightweight that refused to die. Never again did the lightweights and heavyweights get tossed in the same fight. This would be fun to see the little guys getting crushed by the dozen by the heavyweights."

— Team Minus Zero website

The battle began slowly for most competitors as The X-1, Spiny Norman and South Bay Mauler all targeted Tiny Tim, slamming it about in the corner of the arena, only for all machines to seemingly dogpile into one another. Soon The Beetle attempted to attack Ramfire, pushing it slightly as the latter attempted to join in on the dogpile in the corner. Doolittle managed to slowly crawl across the arena as Zomo, The X-1 and Spiny Norman battled one another while South Bay Mauler sped away to the other end of the arena, away from all other competitors and started to spin up to speed. South Bay Mauler charged into the corner once again, this time smacking into Spiny Norman, Zomo and The X-1, tearing off Spiny Norman's shell leaving it defenceless and weaponless, whilst also dislodging Zomo's shell. South Bay Mauler sped away again as Tiny Tim and The Beetle pushed each other then turning to The X-1 who seem immobile for a brief moment before charging away to attack Ramfire.

Both Tiny Tim and The Beetle began suffering control issues with Tiny Tim going in circles with one wheel not working and The Beetle immobile against the arena side wall meanwhile the armourless Spiny Norman slammed into both The X-1 and Ramfire as Zomo attempted to attack South Bay Mauler. Both The Beetle and Tiny Tim managed to drive away from the arena side wall and join the battle as Ramfire became immobile as a result of Spiny Norman driving underneath and wedging itself and Ramfire stuck in the middle of the arena, The X-1 and South Bay Mauler attacked one another, with the former unable to use its weaponry correctly and The X-1 backing away while Zomo crashes towards the two and smacks into an arena flipper. Once again The Beetle had mobility issues stopping near the arena corner as Tiny Tim began pushing both Zomo and The X-1 into an arena mousetrap, here The X-1 began immobilised for a while.

As the battle continued the arena wall opened up and House Robot emerged, slamming Zomo out of the way and driving around the arena, then The X-1, unintentionally reactivating it, before turning to Zomo again, flipping it against the arena side wall. House Robot began to attack South Bay Mauler whilst Spiny Norman managed to free itself from under Ramfire, however Ramfire was still immobilised. Tiny Tim and The Beetle once again broke down in the arena corner as South Bay Mauler was chased by House Robot and Spiny Norman who kept crashing into it to no avail. The X-1 returned to life again as it joined in on the chase while House Robot pushed the mousetrap hazard across the arena. South Bay Mauler soon trapped itself against the arena wall and the arena flipper while both Spiny Norman and The X-1 ran circles around the arena, avoiding House Robot. House Robot then managed to run over Spiny Norman, seemingly knocking it out as The X-1 and was pressured in the corner again.

Tiny Tim and Zomo again sprang to life and both joined the battle where South Bay Mauler was hounded by House Robot, but South Bay Mauler fought back and managed to rip away one of the lifter arms from House Robot. Zomo, Tiny Tim and The X-1 pushed each other in a circular line as House Robot used its broken weapon as a thwacking mechanism and span around smacking the remaining machines. Tiny Tim attempted to shunt South Bay Mauler after it was distracted in attacking House Robot only for House Robot to change its attention to Tiny Tim, with the three pushing each other in the centre of the arena as The X-1 and Zomo became immobilised by the arena mousetrap. Eventually the melee came to an end with only Tiny Tim and South Bay Mauler remaining mobile, however, by an audience cheer, South Bay Mauler was declared the winner.

Winner: South Bay Mauler

External Links

• Promo by MTV Sports
• Discovery's Next Step report of the event