- "A gladiator, but thrown to the lions here."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Spartacus was an American robot, which entered the first season of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors, losing in the first round to Panzer Mk2, before earning the right to represent the USA in The Third World Championship over Flippa, where it was felled by the Sri Lankan representative Supernova.
Versions of Spartacus[]
Spartacus[]
The original Spartacus
Spartacus was decorated with a thick gladiator helmet to act as top armour. It was armed with an undercutting blade powered by a 36 volt motor, designed to grip robots and allow Spartacus to push opponents around the arena. A rear swinging mace was also found at the back of Spartacus for an additional, largely novelty weapon. It was small compared to its successor and other robots, and could not self-right. The robot was built over 3 months, using stainless steel and sheet metal. It was powered by electric motors
- "We found most of the stuff we used to make the robot in my workshop and my fathers barn"
- — Jim Rowland, interviewed in the Dayton Daily News[1]
Spartacus 2[]
Spartacus 2 in the Third World Championship
Spartacus 2 in the pits during Series 7
The second version of Spartacus was known as Spartacus 2 on its statistics board (styled as Spartacus II), but otherwise simply used the name 'Spartacus' on the show. It featured a new, larger helmet, and the robot was larger as a whole. Its new weapon was a pincer, with one half piercing out of the helmet, while the other half pushed out of the wedge, allowing the robot to bite from above and below. Each pincer operated with a tonne of force, but the robot still could not self-right, and was fairly slow.
Etymology[]
The name Spartacus was chosen by Jimmy Rowland, who had been studying Ancient Rome at school in the year the robot was built[2].
The Team[]
- "After we fell in love with the show, we built a robot. Then I got on the program's Web site and sent in an application for the London competition. Producers of the show asked me to send them a photo of the robot. I did. And they accepted it."
- — Jim Rowland, interviewed by the Dayton Daily News[3]
Spartacus was built by Sinclair Robotics, an American team from Germantown in Ohio. Jim Rowland was the team captain, and the lead builder of the Spartacus machines, also driving the robot in battle. In Extreme Warriors, Jim Rowland was joined by his children Jimmy and Jessie Rowland, while his only teammate in the British series was friend Dom Neeley. Jim Rowland taught engineering technology at Centerville High School.
Sinclair Robotics also entered the Civil War with loanerbot, Spike later into the filming of US Season 1.
Robot History[]
US Season 1[]
- Rebecca Grant: "Is it gonna be thumbs up or thumbs down for Spartacus?"
- Jim Rowland: "Thumbs up for Spartacus!"
- — The brief pre-battle interview with Rebecca Grant
Spartacus faced General Chompsalot, Drillzilla, Cyclone, Run Away and Panzer Mk2 in the first round battle.
Spartacus barged by Drillzilla
Panzer Mk2 lifts Spartacus against the wall
It was pushed by Drillzilla into the wall, and into Matilda's CPZ, before damaging its armour with repeated pushing. Drillzilla, Panzer Mk2 and General Chompsalot teamed up on Spartacus, nearly being flipped out of the arena by Panzer Mk2's scoop. Although Spartacus survived until the end of the battle, Panzer Mk2 was declared the winner.
UK Series 7[]
Spartacus 2 had to fight fellow American robot Flippa in a qualifier battle, for a right to fight for the USA in the Third World Championship.
Spartacus closes in on the struggling Flippa
Spartacus pits the immobile Flippa
In the battle, after entering the arena, Flippa did not move from its spot, only making a few slight twitches as Spartacus tried to grapple it with its claw weapon. Due to Flippa's lack of mobility, Spartacus 2 simply seized the Oregon machine, shoved it around the arena, before eventually pressing the pit release button and dumping Flippa down into the pit, putting Spartacus through to the Third World Championship.
Spartacus was drawn against the Belgian entry Hard and the Sri Lankan entry Supernova in the first round of the Third World Championship.
Spartacus is counted out
Spartacus is derobed
Spartacus with its helmet missing
At first, Spartacus and Hard appeared to be ganging up on Supernova. Supernova hit both of them with its spinning disc, immobilising Hard and damaging Spartacus' body. Supernova hit Spartacus again, which not only broke the drive of Spartacus on one side, but also appeared to knock Supernova out, after Supernova sheared a tooth on its disc and became unbalanced. Refbot counted out Hard, and then started to count Supernova out, which would have allowed Spartacus through. However, the Sri Lankan machine started moving again after turning off its spinner, only to turn the disc back on again after evading the count. A struggling Supernova hit the limping Spartacus again, and Refbot counted both machines out, which was later declared to be a victory for Supernova. Near the end of the fight, Spartacus clipped Supernova again, which caused its armour to come off completely. Dead Metal attacked the beaten American machine.
After the battle, Sinclair Robotics disputed their loss, believing that Spartacus was more mobile than Supernova, but Spartacus was nevertheless eliminated.
Results[]
| SPARTACUS - RESULTS | ||
| US Series | ||
| Season 1 | ||
| US Championship Eliminated in Heats | ||
| Heat | vs. Cyclone, Drillzilla, General Chompsalot, Panzer Mk2, Run Away | Eliminated |
| SPARTACUS 2 - RESULTS | ||
| UK Series | ||
| Series 7 | ||
| The Third World Championship Representing USA, Eliminated in Heats | ||
| Qualifier | vs. Flippa (USA) | Won |
| Round 1 | vs. Hard (BEL), Supernova (SRI) | Eliminated |
Wins/Losses[]
- UK Wins: 1
- UK Losses: 1
- US Wins: 0
- US Losses: 1
Series Record[]
Spartacus 2 after its fight with Supernova
US Series[]
| US Series | Spartacus Series Record |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | Heat (Round 1) |
| Season 2 | Did not enter |
| Nickelodeon | Did not enter |
UK Series[]
| Series | Spartacus 2 Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Did not enter |
| The Third Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fifth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Sixth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Seventh Wars | The Third World Championship, Round 1 |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
Outside Robot Wars[]
Spartacus was not seen in a competitive environment after its appearance on Robot Wars, though Jim Rowland continued to be associated with combat robotics through BattleBots IQ[4], particularly with lighter robots weighing between 1lb to 12lb.
- "Guys I'm near Dayton Ohio and fiddling with 1 lb to 12 lb bots the last 20 years. I think it's time for a 250 lb overhaul for Spartacus"
- — Jim Rowland in November 2022 on Reddit[5]
In November 2022, roboteer Mark Elam reached out to Jim Rowland, where it was discovered that both Spartacus 2 and the original Spartacus were still intact at the family's barn, with both machines showing signs of rust, and the former showing some signs of repair to its side armour after its Robot Wars appearances. At the time, Jim Rowland stated some intentions of returning to heavyweight combat with a new 250lb (113kg) version.
Further updates on Spartacus were shared in 2023, which revealed that a third version - Spartacus 3.0 - was being built with an updated design and crusher weapon. Sinclair Robotics stated their intention to appear with Spartacus 3.0 at future BattleBots events, including an entry into the proposed World Championship VIII.[6][7]
Trivia[]
- Spartacus was one of only six American robots to win a battle in the UK series, alongside Tentoumushi, frenZy, Manta, Drillzilla and Flippa, and it was also one of the four to win a UK series battle which did not air as part of Extreme Warriors, with Tentoumushi, frenZy and Flippa.
References[]
- ↑ Dayton Daily News, 2001
- ↑ Dayton Daily News, 2001
- ↑ Dayton Daily News, 2001
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/yqssay/comment/ivreq7x/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/yqssay/spartacus_one_of_the_few_american_robots_to_win_a/ivwfj0p/?context=3
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/131ql3s/anyone_interested_in_seeing_spartacus_30_in/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/131ql3s/comment/ji2u0ss/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
See Also[]
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