Spectre was a competitor robot that appeared in Series 3 of Robot Wars. It fought exclusively in the Robotic Soccer side competition, losing in the preliminary rounds to The General.
Design[]
Spectre was a reverse-wedge shaped robot painted yellow and black, and armed with two spikes and a pickaxe that ran through the end of the wedge. The robot featured an angry face painted on the front end, as well as two football boots covering its spikes in keeping with the theme of Robotic Soccer.
Qualification[]
Spectre attended the auditions for Series 3 to run the obstacle course and attempt to impress the producers. Although it was not selected for the main competition, it was invited to take part in the Robotic Soccer side event.
The team also attempted to qualify for Series 5 and 6 with Spectre 2 (alternatively Spectre II), a predominantly white painted low wedge-shaped robot, similar in design to Mousetrap, that was also armed with an axe. For the former, it attended the Birmingham leg of the 2001 Live Event tour, and is known to have won a qualifier battle against Haardervark. However, it would not qualify for either series. By the time of its attempted Series 6 entry, Spectre 2 cost £1,000 to build, with Louise Howell and Katie Travic joining the team in place of Mark Howell and Joe Hawkins.[1][2]
Robot History[]
Series 3[]
Spectre 'tackles' The General
In the Robotic Soccer side competition, Spectre faced The General in its preliminary round. Spectre spun around in the opening seconds as The General immediately drove towards the ball and pushed it away, dribbling past Matilda before she blocked its run and knocked the ball away. The General wedged itself against the wall while shoving Matilda, allowing Spectre to come in and 'tackle' The General before spinning and knocking the ball away from The General as it attempted to push Spectre away. Even so, The General regained possession of the ball, dribbling it along the edge of the arena before being blocked by Matilda once again. However, Matilda accidentally knocked the ball towards the open goal, allowing The General to progress to the Robotic Soccer final, while Spectre was eliminated.
Results[]
| SPECTRE - RESULTS | ||
| Robotic Soccer Round 1 | ||
| Preliminary | vs. The General | Lost |
Series Record[]
The team controlling Spectre
| Series | Spectre Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Did not enter |
| The Third Wars | Robotic Soccer |
| The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fifth Wars | Failed to qualify with Spectre 2 |
| The Sixth Wars | Failed to qualify with Spectre 2 |
| The Seventh Wars | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
Trivia[]
- Spectre was one of four competitors in the Series 3 Robotic Soccer competition that never appeared in any other series, the other three being Alien, Malfunktion and Gnasher.
References[]
- ↑ Audience member account from User:Nononsensecapeesh, 1 August 2023
- ↑ 'The Heat Is On', Robot Wars: The Official Magazine, Issue 1, pp.46-50 (p.47, p.48)