Short Circuit

Short Circuit
Participation Information
UK Series	6
Other Names	NataPataBot (original name)
Team Information
Team Members	Nathaniel Poate Philip Johnson
From	Gosport, Hampshire
Robot Statistics
Weight	81kg
Dimensions	0.30m x 1.22m x 0.82m
Drive	2 x 750w motors
Weapons	Horizontal disc and rear spike
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"We've got good driving, that's me, we've got a very good weapon, and we've got a very sharp, lethal spike on the back"

— Nathaniel Poate on Short Circuit's strengths before the first-round battle

Short Circuit, officially capitalised as ShorT CirCuiT, was a competitor robot which fought exclusively in Series 6 of Robot Wars. In its only appearance, it lost its first round battle after sustaining substantial damage from Supernova. The robot was originally designed to enter Series 2, and attempted to qualify for the three following series before finally entering the Sixth Wars.

Design

Short Circuit in the arena

Short Circuit was a yellow and red, hexagonal-shaped robot with two-wheel drive and two weapons - a small spinning disc at the front,and a large rear ramming spike. The robot was built with a solid bolted, aluminium-plated chassis, and its top panels were decorated with circuit boards and wires as a reference to its name. While the team were confident about Short Circuit's driving and damage potential, the robot had thin armour, which proved fragile to spinning weapons. The robot also had a very high ground clearance, which was an intentional decision for the robot's earlier qualification attempts where the team expected to run the Gauntlet.

Etymology

The name Short Circuit is derived from the common electrical failure. The team officially capitalised their robot's name as ShorT CirCuiT to make its logo more visually interesting, while also referencing the capitalisation of the robot's name used previously for the Series 3 and 4 qualifiers, NataPataBot (derived from the two team members Nathaniel and Patrick).

"Short Circuit was short hand, the proper title was ShorT CirCuiT but only because of aesthetic reasons, the capitalisation made it more interesting to look at. I guess it actually stemmed from the original name, NataPataBot as that capitalised certain letters of the original team, Nathaniel and Patrick and Robot. When Pat sadly had to leave the team, I changed the name to Short Circuit, and it acquired its electronic accessories, which came from my secondary schools skip. an old VHS player and BBC computer were in that mix."

— Nathaniel Poate on changing the name from NataPataBot to ShorT CirCuiT (edited)

The Team

The Short Circuit team

Prior to Short Circuit's successful qualification for Series 6, the team originally consisted of young student and team captain Nathaniel Poate from Gosport in Hampshire, alongside his teammate Pat, with both attempting to enter Series 2-4 with NataPataBot. However, when the team competed on Robot Wars in Series 6, Philip Johnson filled the second space on the team. Shortly after Series 6, Nathaniel Poate went on to become a university student.

"Those t-shirts were made a few days before the auditions hence the spray painted yellow and marker pen shadow outline!"

— Nathaniel Poate on his team gear, in 2019

Qualification

"As soon as [Robot Wars] started series 1, I was building my bot! I even built seesaw slopes to practise on along the pavement. That's one reason it had a huge ground clearance as I was expecting assault courses"

— Nathaniel Poate in 2019 (edited)

NataPataBot circa Series 4, prior to being renamed to Short Circuit

Short Circuit was first conceptualised while Robot Wars was airing its first series, with Nathaniel Poate and teammate Pat designing a robot named NataPataBot, which used the same core design as Short Circuit, including its high ground clearance which had been implemented for success in the Gauntlet. The robot entered construction ahead of Series 2, but was not finished until Series 3, where it was not selected to take part.

NataPataBot in The Pits during the Series 4 qualifiers (Robot Mayhem)

NataPataBot also attempted to qualify for Series 4 by attending the 2000 Robot Mayhem live event, facing Atomic in its qualifying match. Atomic suffered from radio interference throughout the battle and was not able to drive properly or use its weapon to full effect. NataPataBot was able to spike through Atomic's side armour and would emerge victorious after Atomic fell into the Pit. Unlike Atomic however, NataPataBot would not receive a place on the show.

"My bot wasn't ready to enter Series 2 so they didn't turn it down, originally it was called NataPataBot which was our team at the time, Nat and Pat and Robot but this changed about Series 5 time."

— Nathaniel Poate in 2019 (edited)

For Series 5, NatPatBot was renamed to Short Circuit, and at the time used a chainsaw weapon, but Short Circuit still failed to qualify. The chainsaw weapon corroded just days before its Series 6 qualifier, and was replaced with a static spike.

"...it was the same bot (with a few mods like a chainsaw back then). We did have it for Series 6, however a few days before the filming, at the qualifiers, we decided to flood the chainsaw, and so it corroded. DOH! But yes, we did beat Atomic with the same bot."

— Nathaniel Poate on the Series 5 version of Short Circuit

In its Series 6 qualifier, Short Circuit fought a large robot made from a giant metal frame, armed with a horizontal spinner weapon. Despite sustaining damage from the spinner of its other opponent, Short Circuit went on to win the battle and qualified for the series as a result. Before entering the Sixth Wars, the team of Nathaniel Poate and Philip Johnson changed their riveted armour panels for more solid structure.

"The other robot had some giant metal welded frame, think Mammoth robot from BattleBots but horizontal, he was having a good go and knocked off some of our panels as they were all just riveted, but in the end I think a tussle together made him slow. after the fight I thought well that was fun and we were going home. But Derek, the Robot Wars guy told us to wait, and after a period of time, them discussing, they came back and said we were through. Given some tips for upgrading the robots panels i.e. don’t use rivets, and to come back in a weeks time for the filming."

— Nathaniel Poate in 2019 (edited)

Nathaniel Poate conceptualised a new robot for Series 7 named Sandwich, but ultimately did not finish it in time for the Seventh Wars due to clashes with university.

"Series 6 was the last one I entered as I was then going to uni and couldn't complete the new build of the next bot, I do still have all the parts for it, but it's so outdated now it isn't worth it."

— Nathaniel Poate in 2019 (edited)

Nathaniel Poate is still active in the modern day robotics community and did apply to compete in Series 8 during the rebooted era of Robot Wars, although he can no longer remember what he attempted to enter into the series. The team subsequently did not apply for Series 9 or 10.

Robot History

Series 6

Short Circuit entered Heat H, and faced three experienced machines in its first round battle; Tiberius 3, Supernova and the tenth seed Spawn Again.

"Newcomers, and long odds for the Short Circuit boys."

— Jonathan Pearce introduces Short Circuit

Short Circuit escapes as Tiberius 3 (left) grabs Supernova

Supernova shreds Short Circuit

It immediately retreated towards the edge of a CPZ as Supernova came to attack it, before slamming into Supernova as Tiberius 3 grabbed hold of the latter. This - combined with an intervention from Sgt. Bash - knocked Short Circuit's disc from its mount, leaving it dangling from its front as Sgt. Bash pushed it out of the CPZ. Short Circuit hesitated before bumping into Supernova again, with Supernova's disc tearing a massive gash in Short Circuit's rear panel and prising part of its baseplate off as the former pushed it around in circles. Another slam from Supernova bent the left-hand side of Short Circuit's chassis, and Short Circuit was left immobilised with its body and baseplate almost fully separated. As Refbot counted Short Circuit out, Supernova completely split it apart with another hit.

"That looks a mess, let's be honest. Ooooh, Supernova... split it!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Supernova separates Short Circuit's body from its baseplate

Sgt. Bash proceeded to pit Short Circuit, where it was soon joined by the also-immobilised Tiberius 3. This eliminated both robots from the Sixth Wars.

"Short Circuit, short-circuited..."

— Craig Charles announces Short Circuit's elimination

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 1

Series Record

Series	Short Circuit Series Record
The First Wars	Did not enter
The Second Wars	Did not enter
The Third Wars	Not selected as NataPataBot
The Fourth Wars	Failed to qualify as NataPataBot
The Fifth Wars	Failed to qualify
The Sixth Wars	Heat, Round 1
The Seventh Wars	Did not enter
Series 8	Not selected with unspecified robot
Series 9	Did not enter
Series 10	Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars

Live events

Wanna Choppa during testing

Wanna Choppa at Robots Live! Crawley, October 2021

Although retired from heavyweight combat, Nathaniel Poate is still active in the robotics community. His team continues to compete and supply parts for featherweight, beetleweight and antweight competitors under the Team Short Circuit name (often shortened to Team SC), along with 'Playable Ant' robots from Baker Bots.

During the late 2010s and early 2020s, Poate competed in featherweight class events with two distinct designs:

• Wanna Choppa - a two-wheel drive robot with a steep front wedge and electric chain-driven axe. Sporting a red front end for earlier appearances, including Extreme Robots Colchester in November 2018, it later fought in predominantly yellow and black striped paint schemes. Temporarily converted into Wanna Flippa in April 2020. Made its most recent appearance at Robots Live! Crawley in 2021 with its original name and a double-headed axe.
• Wanna Wedger - an invertible two-wheel drive machine with twin ramming wedges, debuting at Extreme Robots Portsmouth in May 2022.

Casper at Robots Live!/MechMania Grantham in July 2024

In 2024, Team SC began competing with their third featherweight Casper (also formatted as CasPer), a front-hinged flipper with pneumatics operated by a truck tyre compressor. Describing the weapon as a 'continual air-supplied flipper', Nathaniel Poate explained in MechMania - In the Pits that the innovative system enabled it to generate continuous pressure throughout a full three-minute fight, negating the need for a separate air tank.

For the 2025 event season, Wanna Wedger spearheaded Team SC's involvement in Robots Live!/MechMania events. At Robots Live! Crawley (6-7 September), it fought in all featherweight melees, at one point accidentally driving under the Floor Flipper during the first.

2025 also saw the completion of a new Casper build, converted from Team Shock's Soundwave. The 2025 incarnation combines Soundwave's chassis with a larger front-hinged flipper, CO₂-powered pneumatics and brushless drive. After appearing at Robots Live! Maidenhead (29-30 March) in a partially-complete state, the back of the shell was further modified to enable the fitment of the brushless motors and larger semi-exposed wheels. The 2025 Casper made its combat debut at Robots Live! Crawley, fighting in both Show 2 featherweight melees alongside Wanna Wedger. Though Casper suffered from ESC failures during the first fight, prompting a switch to EMAX controllers, both melees demonstrated the flipper's improved performance and self-righting capability over its 2024 incarnation.

Nathaniel Poate also owned the chassis of heavyweight BattleBots entry Vanquish until putting it up for sale in March 2023.

MechMania

2024

Casper was among the featherweight competitors participating in the 2024 MechMania tour, run in collaboration with Robots Live! Its entry was officially confirmed on 9 July, and the robot attended the first leg of the tour at Grantham on 13-14 July.

Casper (centre, bottom-right) in battle at MechMania Stoke-on-Trent, October 2024

Casper itself featured in two of the five featherweight competition rumbles to be televised in the opening episode. In the first, it ended the fight in the pit alongside opponents including Drive By, Acolyte, the red half of clusterbot Life Sucks, and Mega Wedgie. In the second, it would find itself being pressured by Malachite, flipped over, and left unable to self-right. Casper was eventually re-righted before being flipped again, this time by eventual match winner Polaris, and left vulnerable to attacks from house robot Gnasher.

Casper would similarly be unable to pick up points in any of its rumbles at Crawley (7-8 September) or Stoke-on-Trent (26-27 October), often as a result of further self-righting issues. Regardless, it successfully flipped Mini Mighty Mouse over at the start of its last Stoke melee, before attacking honk! and being pitted by Slingshot. While Casper would not qualify for the featherweight finals in Llandudno, Wales (23-24 November), Nathaniel Poate still received the Community Sportsmanship Award for the 2024 tour.

2025

Wanna Wedger in the pits, MechMania - Duel of the Crates (2025)

Wanna Wedger helps Haywire pressure an inverted Agamemnon, MechMania - Duel of the Crates (2025)

Wanna Wedger (left) tries to distract Thor while Leviathan takes a hammer blow, MechMania - Duel of the Crates (2025)

In early 2025, Team SC returned for the MechMania - Duel of the Crates special, filmed as part of the Robots Live! Maidenhead event on 29-30 March. This marked Wanna Wedger's MechMania debut; in Episode 1, it survived to the end of all three featherweight competition qualifiers. A further appearance in Episode 2 saw Wanna Wedger accompanying Leviathan in its heavyweight Redemption battle against Thor, as one of the three 'nuisance bots' gathered by Team RcRobotics' Henry Owen. In this role, it became partially immobilised mid-bout, though Wanna Wedger's disruptive shoves still contributed towards Leviathan's victory. Nathaniel Poate also assisted Team Steel Biscuit, builders of Dirks-Not-Gently, in repairing their robot's drive system, as shown in the latter's Pits segment from Episode 1.

Non-combat roles

Away from robot combat, Nathaniel Poate is currently a mechanical engineer at British animation studio Aardman Animations. Beginning with their 2015 release Shaun the Sheep Movie, he has been credited as a mechanical, motion control and robotics engineer for a number of their film and TV projects. Poate's most recent credit is as senior mechanical and motion control engineer for their BAFTA-winning 2024 feature Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

Trivia

The 10 Point Barrel in possession of the Poates family

• Thanks to his father, Nathaniel Poate owns one of the 10 points barrels from Series 2, possibly making it the only Pinball barrel left in existence, as the others were recycled.
• Short Circuit was the only robot from Heat H of Series 6 to be entered by a team which did not appear in another Robot Wars episode or series.

External Links

• Poate Robotics Facebook page
• Team SC Facebook page
• Team SC website
• Testing video of Wanna Choppa, featherweight axe built by Nathaniel Poate
• Nathaniel Poate's "Idiot's Guide to Building a Robot" (archived)