Snickers

Snickers
Participation Information
US 1994-1997 Events	1995 (super lightweight) 1996 (lightweight)
Other Names	Snickers 2 (1996) Snickers II (1996)
Team Information
Team	Team Deranged
Team Members	Grayson DuRaine Anthony DuRaine
From	California
Other Entries	Roach (1996) Gorange (1997)
Robot Statistics
Weight	~50lbs (1996)
Power	Ride-on lawnmower battery (lead-acid)
Drive	4x 'kiddie car motors'
Weapons	Lifting arm
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Snickers was a robot built and entered by Grayson and Anthony DuRaine into the 1995 and 1996 US Robot Wars competitions.

In 1995, it was originally entered as a super lightweight, but was defeated in the first round of that category's Face-Off tournament after blowing its fuse against Spiny Norman. Later on, Snickers would compete in two head-to-head 'Grudge Matches' against Zomo and Slomo II, which brought with it its first two victories. A further appearance in the Super Lightweight Melee brought further redemption for Snickers, which reached the overall final alongside, but lost the tournament outright to KMM.

For 1996, a completely rebuilt Snickers entered the lightweight class, alternatively referred to by the team as Snickers 2. Reliability issues, a short 7-day build time and a lack of testing hampered its success in combat, contributing to first-round losses in the Lightweight Face-Off to Test Toaster One; and the Lightweight Melee to The Enforcer.

The DuRaine team also competed in the 1996 featherweight category with the walking robot Roach. On the official US Robot Wars website, the 1996 Snickers was erroneously listed as a featherweight under Roach's name, possibly as a carryover of its 1995 super lightweight entry.

Versions of Snickers

Snickers

As originally built, Snickers was a box-shaped robot whose outer shell was reused from a small PC case. Internally, it was driven by two ride-on toy motors, a '2 channel am r/c unit' with two servos and two reversible power switches, along with a 12V motorcycle battery. Snickers was also originally equipped with a 'side knife' as a damaging weapon, though Grayson DuRaine would later find this to be 'completely useless'. Originally, this incarnation was built with a lifting front 'bumper', though this would be removed prior to the event in order to keep it within the super lightweight limit.

Snickers 2

Intended to be an 'improved version' of the original 1995 machine, Snickers 2 was a complete rebuild utilizing no fewer than six 'kiddie car motors', a mechanical speed controller setup throughout and a lead-acid battery sourced from a ride-on lawnmower. Four of the motors would be used to drive the robot's wheels, with two on each side, each controlled by a dedicated AM radio system. The remaining two motors would form the basis of a large lifting frame, which was hinged between the center and the rear corners. Similarly to its predecessor, the shell of Snickers 2 was repurposed from multiple computer cases.

Snickers 2 was completed just seven days before the start of the 1996 event. Like Roach, it encountered numerous problems which prevented it from running as intended, with Grayson DuRaine citing a lack of testing time and functionality issues with the lifter's mechanical speed control.

Robot History

1995 US Championship

On its 1995 debut, Snickers competed in multiple events within the super lightweight category. In the first round of the Super Lightweight Face-Off, it was drawn to fight the returning veteran Spiny Norman, having only been completed the night before.

Snickers drove to the right upon the match starting, quickly resorting to sit-and-spin tactics in a bid to strike Spiny Norman with its knife. A few collisions resulted in no significant damage to either robot. After a tentative pause, Snickers again spun around to buffet Spiny Norman away, and push Will Wright's machine from the side. More rams and deflections were exchanged as the two super lightweights gradually reached the center of the arena.

While Spiny Norman tanked a blow from the Ball of Doom, Snickers veered under and was swatted by one of the mousetraps. It would succeed in luring Spiny Norman under the same hazard, however, after both competitors grazed the Ball of Doom. Snickers rammed Spiny Norman a few times as it escaped, and proceeded to push it under the mousetrap. The mousetrap descended on both robots, though Spiny Norman escaped again. Snickers, however, stopped moving entirely, having blown its fuse at that point according to Grayson DuRaine. As such, it remained in place as the mousetrap swatted it again, and Spiny Norman lightly rammed it from the corner. Snickers was ultimately eliminated from the Super Lightweight Face-Off as a result.

Following repairs, Snickers next fought in two head-to-head 'Grudge Matches'. The first pitted it against Zomo, another veteran from the 1994 competition.

A tentative start by both machines saw Snickers drive towards, turn and shuffle away from the center of the arena. After more spins and shuffles, it bumped an approaching Zomo, but was almost swiped by the arena flippers as it kept spinning. Snickers rammed and pushed Zomo into the right-most flippers, the drive allowing it to pin Samuel Addison Mucey's machine in the corner. Though both robots would be pushed sideways by the second flipper, Snickers held Zomo long enough to complete the pin and secure its first-ever Robot Wars victory.

The second 'Grudge Match' saw Snickers fighting Klaas Langhout's Slomo II. Throughout the match, it again deflected and rammed its opponent multiple times once they met in the far side of the arena. While neither robot was initially affected by each other's attacks, Snickers briefly found itself caught by an arena flipper nearby, but dodged subsequent swipes from a mousetrap and the fast-swinging Ball of Doom. Another ram from Slomo II prompted it to resume fighting, until Slomo II was eventually swatted and seemingly immobilized by a separate arena flipper.

Taking advantage of Slomo II's predicament, Snickers drove into and pinned it in the same spot. It is presumed to have won the battle in this fashion, with Grayson DuRaine confirming on his own website that Snickers won both of its 'Grudge Matches'.

Snickers finished its 1995 run in the Super Lightweight Melee tournament. In the first round, it met Spiny Norman once again, alongside Spiked Master, Holobot and the recently-crowned Face-Off champion KMM.

During the opening moments, Snickers steadily drove across to the left side of the arena, where KMM backed into it. Snickers kept spinning on the spot, but without hitting any other competitors at first, and would soon be pressured by both Holobot and Spiked Master as it found itself back on the right-hand perimeter. A back-and-forth pushing match with KMM followed; Snickers, held in between KMM's claws, shoved the green machine into the wall between the upper mousetrap and flipper.

With Cambot closing in on the pair, Snickers pulled free and began a second pushing match with Holobot. Both competitors rammed and steered each other into the flipper paddles. Snickers gained a brief advantage by pushing Holobot around from the side, though Holobot soon swerved out of its hold. After spinning on the spot again, it exchanged more rams and pushes with Mike Winter's machine, interspersed by another excursion into the flipper.

KMM joined in the skirmish to briefly clamp Snickers again. Snickers again spun around in a bid to ward off Holobot, but was grabbed and dragged from side-to-side by KMM. Snickers took more rams from Holobot in the process, as the three competitors brushed past the lower flipper. While still in KMM's grip, it began turning Rik Winter's machine around in circles as the match entered the final minute. Holobot repeatedly attacked both robots with its cutting blade, while the trio were also occasionally swatted by a nearby mousetrap.

The closing thirty seconds saw Snickers almost lose a decorative layer to its top armor, peeled open by one of KMM's pincers as the latter finally separated. Following another tussle with Holobot, it ended the match in KMM's grip once again, with KMM holding it under the upper mousetrap. By the end of the five minutes, Snickers, Holobot and KMM were all still mobile, securing their places in the Melee Final.

Alongside its fellow first-round survivors, Snickers challenged Fuzzy Yum Yum, The Nexus 7 and Zomo for the overall Super Lightweight Melee title.

As in the previous round, it started from the right-hand side of the arena, and appeared to tussle with Zomo at one point. Snickers proceeded to ram KMM from the side once again, steering the latter into the Ball of Doom and upper mousetrap in the process. It also attempted to perform its spinning attack as KMM pushed it, but was soon clamped by the claws of Rik Winter's machine. Snickers broke free and rammed the still-pursuing KMM, only for KMM to push and pin it against one of the upper flippers.

Snickers eventually escaped. Surviving audience footage indicates that it was next seen driving across the center of the arena, taking a piece of Fuzzy Yum Yum's tape likely drawn from KMM. Snickers gathered even more pieces of tape from the lower-right corner, as The Nexus 7 rammed it with force. For some time, it struggled to use the tape to meaningful effect, before finding itself being pushed by an arena flipper in the lower perimeter. Bumping into The Nexus 7, Snickers kept shuttling and spinning around, while taking more blows from the flipper paddle. Though managing to survive the full five minutes - and continuing to show full mobility beyond that point - it would ultimately lose the 1995 Super Lightweight Melee championship to KMM.

"...this was alot [sic] of fun and found out that the motors I had used really helped as most of the other competitors had used r/c cars as their bases, and with the motors I could push'em around easily. All in all it was alot [sic] of fun and I will be back for the 1996 ROBOT WARS with two robots."

— Grayson DuRaine concludes his report on Snickers' 1995 campaign

1996 US Championship

Snickers' first 1996 appearance occurred in the Lightweight Face-Off tournament, where it faced Test Toaster One in the opening round.

"The whole robot was thrown together in about 7 days before the event. During its match(s) it basically just sat their [sic] while we tried vainly to get it to move."

— Grayson DuRaine on the problems hampering Snickers 2 in 1996

Starting tentatively, it initially drove around in circles within its side of the arena, but suffered control problems the moment it entered the bottom-right corner. Backing into and twitching opposite the wall, Snickers was nudged backwards and pinned behind an arena flipper by Test Toaster One. The paddle whacked Snickers several times, seemingly immobilizing it and allowing Test Toaster One to complete the pin. Snickers was thus eliminated from the Lightweight Face-Off at that stage.

Snickers also competed in the Lightweight Melee. It faced Test Toaster One again in the first round, alongside Gator, The Enforcer and Wonderbug.

In a virtual resumption of their Face-Off duel, Snickers was pressured by Test Toaster One from the outset. Test Toaster One hooked and pushed it into the entry doors at the upper-right corner of the arena, where Snickers appeared to remain for the rest of the bout. Snickers was ultimately eliminated from the Lightweight Melee tournament at this stage, with Test Toaster One also being defeated after getting pinned by The Enforcer.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 3
• Losses: 4

Series Record

Events	Snickers Event Record
1994	Did not enter
1995	Super Lightweight Face-Off, Round 1 Super Lightweight Melee, Final
1996	Lightweight Face-Off, Round 1 Lightweight Melee, Round 1 Entered with Roach
1997	Entered with Gorange

Outside Robot Wars

Parts of Snickers 2, mainly the lawnmower wheels and motors, would later be reused for Gorange, the DuRaines' subsequent entry into the 1997 featherweight category.

External Links

• Official US Robot Wars website entry on Snickers, referred to as "Roach" (archived May 2 1997)