Robot Wars Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Robot Wars Wiki

"As deadly as a T-Rex with its lifting tail and punching spikes, as solid as a Brontosaurus, but will the "Tricera-top" speed be enough? I hope they don't become a "Diplo-joke-us!"
Jonathan Pearce introduces Steg-O-Saw-Us in the Series 3 Semi-Finals

Steg-O-Saw-Us (occasionally spelt as Steg-A-Saw-Us) was the first robot from the Jurassic Park team, which competed in Series 3 of Robot Wars. Originally a reserve robot called in to replace T-Wrecks, it ultimately won its heat by defeating Napalm in the Heat Final, also defeating former champion Beast of Bodmin in the Semi-Finals to reach the Grand Final. After being immobilised and severely damaged by Hypno-Disc, Steg-O-Saw-Us ultimately finished joint-third in Series 3 along with Fire Storm.

Steg-O-Saw-Us was succeeded by Steg 2 and 3 Stegs 2 Heaven in Series 4 and 5 respectively, though neither robot reached the level of success of the original robot.

Design[]

"Looks steely and spikey too. Has a lifting weapon, two 750 watt motor driven, team member Peter Rowe's hero's Mickey Mouse; will Steg-O-Saw-Us roar or squeak?"
— Jonathan Pearce introduces Steg-O-Saw-Us in Series 3, Heat G
Stegosawus

Rear view of Steg-O-Saw-Us

Steg-O-Saw-Us was a green box wedge-shaped robot designed to resemble a dinosaur, with red stegosaurus-style spikes along its body as well as two eyes and a mouth at its front end. Its main weapon was a pneumatic lifting tail at the rear, although the robot mainly relied on its twin Bosch 750-watt drive motors for a high top speed of 15mph and pushing power. The latter proved to be Steg-O-Saw-Us' most essential components, allowing it to ram opponents into the arena walls and hazards at high speed. Impacts generated by its shoves would cause significant, sometimes terminal damage to opponents' internals in the process.

Steg-O-Saw-Us

Side view of Steg-O-Saw-Us

Steg-O-Saw-Us had a 1-inch mild steel box section chassis, and was powered by Yuasa 12v 17ah batteries. It cost a total of £1,500 to build.

StegOSawUsInsides

The internals of Steg-O-Saw-Us before the tracks were removed

Steg-O-Saw-Us originally ran on tracks during the auditions. Prior to filming, the robot hit a concrete bollard during testing, which bent its chassis. This damage would stop the tracks from fitting inside and forced the team to quickly replace them with regular wheels before appearing on the show.[1] However, Jonathan Pearce mistakenly addressed the wheels as tracks at one point during Steg-O-Saw-Us' run.

Etymology[]

The robot's name was a pun on stegosaurus, a type of dinosaur, and 'saw'.

The Team[]

Main article: Jurassic Park
StegosawusTeam

The Steg-O-Saw-US

Steg-O-Saw-Us was the first of three machines entered by the Jurassic Park team. The team was captained by Dan King, who drove the robot, with Rob Heasman and Peter Rowe being the other team members. The three of them all worked together at Lewis-Berl in Southampton, Dan as a mechanical fitter, and Rob and Pete as electrical fitters[2]. Lewis-Berl also sponsored the robot[3].

The team also fought with Steg 2 in Series 4, and 3 Stegs 2 Heaven in Series 5 and Extreme 1. Team member Rob Heasman was also part of the Oblark team, which represented the Fire Service in the Extreme 1 Armed Forces Special.

Qualification[]

Steg-O-Saw-Us attended the auditions still using tracks for locomotion. During testing, the team found the tracks would fall off when the robot tried taking a turn too fast. To solve this, the team mounted pieces of PTFE either side of all of the wheels to hold the tracks in place. However, when Steg-O-Saw-Us did the driving test at the auditions, the left track came off during the driving test.

"All seemed to be working well and we were ready to attend the auditions. It was whilst on the see-saw during the audition that the left hand track came off- the PTFE had been worn away by the track allowing it to become trapped between the front wheel and the remainder of the PTFE wedge. Although the robot has performed over and above our expectations and was able to qualify for the next round of auditions for Robot Wars the track design needed to be rethought and re-tested."
— Steg-O-Saw-Us website on the Series 3 auditions[4]

Despite this, Steg-O-Saw-Us went through to the next stage of the qualifying process, although it would ultimately be chosen as a reserve. The team continued to try and get the tracks to stay on, first replacing the PTFE with a harder plastic, but after a number of test drives, the tracks fell off again. They then replaced the plastic with angle iron, but the tracks rubbed against the iron, slowing down the motors. They tried using grease to prevent the tracks sliding off, but after crashing into a concrete post at full speed during testing, the chassis was bent. The team finally decided to convert Steg-O-Saw-Us to a wheeled robot.

"On Sunday before we where due to go up to Elstree film studies where we were a reserve we lost our rag with the tracks and cut them up.The old tracks where fitted around the back wheels to act as tyre`s,We fitted 4 roller blade wheels at the front."
— The Steg-O-Saw-Us website[5]

Robot History[]

Series 3[]

As a Robot Wars newcomer, Steg-O-Saw-Us made its Third Wars debut in Heat G, replacing the withdrawal T-Wrecks to face Series 2 returnee Orac's Revenge in its first-round battle.

Steg-O-Saw-Us Oracs Revenge 1

Steg-O-Saw-Us shunts Orac's Revenge into the arena wall

It slowly turned to face Orac's Revenge in the opening seconds of the battle, but a brief hesitation near Matilda's CPZ allowed Orac’s Revenge to push and hit it with its axe. Steg-O-Saw-Us sped away immediately, shuttling back and forth across the arena before forcefully slamming Orac's Revenge into the wall. Seconds later, it pushed Orac's Revenge into the wall as Orac’s Revenge repeatedly fired its axe, before both robots separated. Steg-O-Saw-Us turned and rammed Orac's Revenge into another wall, with the axe of Orac’s Revenge being unable to cause any significant damage to it.

"...but look at this power once more from Steg-O-Saw-Us! Slamming against the arena wall, this is impressive stuff here! And I thought Steg-O-Saw-Us was the underdog going into this battle..."
Jonathan Pearce comments on Steg-O-Saw-Us' pushing power as it rams Orac's Revenge into the wall
Stegvsorac

Steg-O-Saw-Us pits Orac's Revenge

The two robots darted away from Shunt's CPZ before spending a considerable time dodging each other's charges. Steg-O-Saw-Us eventually backed into Orac's Revenge, but missed it with its lifting tail, allowing Orac's Revenge to axe it a few more times as it drove hastily away. In spite of this, Steg-O-Saw-Us bumped into Orac's Revenge again, and this time shoved it straight into the pit, leaving it to be attacked by the House Robots as it spun round in victory.

Philippa Forrester: "You'll all very understated, all of you, aren't you?"
Dan King: "Well, yeah."
Philippa Forrester: "Yeah, it's quite reserved... quite shy, retiring, you come in, you do your job, then you're like, "Yeah, well, we hoped that we do that well.""
Peter Rowe: "Well, we came, we saw and we conquered!"
— Post-battle interview with the Jurassic Park team

In the second round, Steg-O-Saw-Us faced fellow Series 3 newcomer Henry, with the Jurassic Park team expressing confidence beforehand about their chances of winning.

Steg-O-Saw-Us Henry

Steg-O-Saw-Us bumps into Henry

At the start, it reversed towards the wall before charging towards and nudging Henry, which initially failed to move after 'activate' was called. Henry finally started moving after this attack, but stopped again as Steg-O-Saw-Us slowly approached and pushed it towards Dead Metal.

"Steg-O-Saw-Us looks a little bit pensive... were they being sucked into some sort of trap there, he wonders?"
— Jonathan Pearce as Steg-O-Saw-Us exercises caution against an unreliable Henry
Steg-O-Saw-Us Henry 1

Steg-O-Saw-Us rams Henry into the arena wall

Steg-O-Saw-Us waited as Henry again regained mobility and struggled to drive clear of the Flame Pit, before ramming it twice, driving itself into the wall on the second charge as Henry swerved away. Steg-O-Saw-Us briefly got caught on the Flame Pit as it and Henry locked together, but both robots separated quickly, with Steg-O-Saw-Us turning itself around over the flames. It was almost overturned twice by an arena spike as it pursued Henry again, but escaped and waited for Henry to drive away from Sgt. Bash's CPZ before attacking it again. However, Henry drove straight past Steg-O-Saw-Us and into Shunt's CPZ, where it was permanently immobilised and dragged out by Shunt’s axe. Steg-O-Saw-Us rammed Henry a few more times as it was left near the flame jets, and progressed to the Heat Final while Henry sustained tremendous damage from the House Robots.

There, it faced Series 2 Semi-Finalist Napalm for a place in the series semi-finals.

Steg-O-Saw-Us Napalm 1

Steg-O-Saw-Us accelerates Napalm into the side wall

Napalm vs Steg

Steg-O-Saw-Us rams Napalm

The two robots met each other in the centre of the arena, with Steg-O-Saw-Us ramming underneath Napalm with its tail before driving past and nudging Napalm away. More dodging ensued, before Steg-O-Saw-Us rammed Napalm into Shunt's CPZ twice, causing Napalm's plough and top armour to buckle. Both robots briefly escaped, before Steg-O-Saw-Us got underneath Napalm again, the latter's hazard sign falling through its chassis and onto the floor as it did so. Another ram sent Napalm precariously close to the flame jets, before Steg-O-Saw-Us pushed it around. Steg-O-Saw-Us was then pushed back into the wall by Napalm, with both robots getting stuck together and requiring the House Robots to leave their CPZs and separate them. An attack from Shunt almost forced Steg-O-Saw-Us onto its side against the wall, but Steg-O-Saw-Us eventually escaped, reversing to push Napalm from the side and again ram it into the wall. Steg-O-Saw-Us dragged Napalm back as the latter got caught on one of its top spikes, before pushing Napalm a few more times, buckling its armour, and eventually shoving it into Sir Killalot. It waited outside the CPZ as Sir Killalot caused more damage to Napalm, before being pushed back itself by Sir Killalot. Steg-O-Saw-Us spent the remainder of the battle slamming into and buckling Napalm's plough a few more times, before 'cease' was called and the battle went to a Judges' decision. The decision went unanimously in favour of Steg-O-Saw-Us, putting it through to the Series Semi-Finals.

"Steg-O-Saw-Us, from the dank mists of time, a dino-bot, strong and powerful!"
— Jonathan Pearce introduces Steg-O-Saw-Us at the start of Semi-Final 2

In the first round of Semi-Final 2, Steg-O-Saw-Us faced fellow newcomer Gravedigger.

Gravedigger vs Steg-O-Saw-Us

Gravedigger attempts to flip Steg-O-Saw-Us once...

Gravedigger flips Steg

... and twice

In the opening seconds, it darted round the outside of Gravedigger before hesitating and being nudged back by Gravedigger. Steg-O-Saw-Us drove itself over the Flame Pit and past Matilda, before speeding across the arena and avoiding attacks from Gravedigger. Eventually, Steg-O-Saw-Us succeeded in pushing Gravedigger around in circles, before Gravedigger pushed it back into an angle grinder and Sir Killalot's CPZ. Sir Killalot pushed both robots back, which allowed Gravedigger to get underneath and briefly lift Steg-O-Saw-Us off its wheels.

"Gravedigger, in the ascendancy here... Steg-O-Saw-Us has something to do. Lacks real weaponry power, I should say, at this level of Robot Wars."
— Jonathan Pearce as Steg-O-Saw-Us survives being flipped the first time
Gravedigger Steg SF2

Steg-O-Saw-Us tries to lift Gravedigger

Gravedigger Steg-O-Saw-Us SF2-2

Steg-O-Saw-Us pushes Gravedigger back using its tail

Steg-O-Saw-Us recovered to push Gravedigger sideways, before the two robots drove alongside each other and kept nudging each other, the attacks buckling the end of Gravedigger's wedge in the process. Gravedigger responded by pushing Steg-O-Saw-Us into the wall and tipping it onto its side near Matilda, but Steg-O-Saw-Us was pushed back upright by Matilda, and again slammed into the side of Gravedigger in an attempt to lift it. Steg-O-Saw-Us lifted itself off the floor in doing so, and resorted to pushing Gravedigger back across the arena using its tail. Shunt came out of his CPZ to separate both robots as the battle drew to a close, with Steg-O-Saw-Us pushing Gravedigger around again just as 'cease' was called. Once again, the battle went to a Judges' decision, which despite Jonathan Pearce believing that Gravedigger was more aggressive throughout, went in Steg-O-Saw-Us' favour.

"The dinosaurs are not extinct yet; Steg-O-Saw-Us goes through!"
Craig Charles announces the Judges' decision

In the second round, Steg-O-Saw-Us faced Beast of Bodmin, the successor to Series 1 champion Roadblock.

Steg

Steg-O-Saw-Us rams Beast of Bodmin from the side

Steg-O-Saw-Us Beast of Bodmin

Steg-O-Saw-Us rides up Beast of Bodmin's wedge

Steg-O-Saw-Us vs Beast of Bodmin

Steg-O-Saw-Us wears Beast of Bodmin down

At the start, Steg-O-Saw-Us repeated its tactic of turning away from Beast of Bodmin and dodging it, before slamming into its front wedge. Successive rams caused damage to the right-hand side of Beast of Bodmin's wedge, as Steg-O-Saw-Us pushed it around and avoided Beast of Bodmin's own nudges and shoves. The two robots bumped head-on into each other again, with Steg-O-Saw-Us again pushing Beast of Bodmin around before momentarily driving up part of Beast of Bodmin's wedge. Steg-O-Saw-Us backed up and rammed Beast of Bodmin again, before attempting to push it from the side. Beast of Bodmin drove away, only for Steg-O-Saw-Us to nudge it and steer it into the wall near Shunt's CPZ. Steg-O-Saw-Us slammed into Beast of Bodmin a few more times as it became apparent that the latter was immobilised, before retreating to the centre of the arena as Shunt and Sgt. Bash attacked Beast of Bodmin. While Beast of Bodmin was thrown across the arena by the Floor Flipper, Steg-O-Saw-Us was declared the winner and secured its place in the Grand Final.

In the Grand Final, Steg-O-Saw-Us faced the destructive Hypno-Disc in its eliminator.

Hypno-disc rammed by Steg-O-Saw-Us

Steg-O-Saw-Us and Hypno-Disc duel

Hypno-Disc vs Steg-O-Saw-Us 1

Steg-O-Saw-Us slams Hypno-Disc into the arena wall

It immediately rammed into the back of Hypno-Disc as the latter turned away, but sustained a few glancing blows from Hypno-Disc’s disc as the two robots drove away from each other. Steg-O-Saw-Us again slammed into Hypno-Disc, pushing it out of the way as it drove itself into Shunt’s CPZ. In attempting to escape the CPZ, it accidentally backed into Matilda's corner, and avoided the flame jets as it charged across the arena for another attack. Steg-O-Saw-Us nudged Hypno-Disc and attempted to lure it back, only for Hypno-Disc to slice through its right-hand side as it attempted to dodge. The two robots drove towards and circled round each other once again, with Steg-O-Saw-Us again deflecting Hypno-Disc's disc away as it tried to push it from the side once more. Steg-O-Saw-Us hit the wall before colliding tail-first with Hypno-Disc and ramming into it a few more times. It eventually rammed into and pushed Hypno-Disc from the rear, this time succeeding in pushing Hypno-Disc into the wall and momentarily stopping its disc from spinning up.

"...and this is a very plucky performance by Steg-O-Saw-Us. Many people thought this would be over in a trice...and again they're on the attack!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Steg-O-Saw-Us repeatedly rams Hypno-Disc
Hypno-Disc vs Steg-O-Saw-Us

Steg-O-Saw-Us (background) lays immobile after being spun away by Hypno-Disc

Steg-O-Saw-Us charged at Hypno-Disc as the latter escaped, and withstood more hits to its front end as it continued driving into and steering Hypno-Disc towards the arena spikes. As it made another charge, it momentarily bumped into the wall as Hypno-Disc drove away, and sustained another gash from Hypno-Disc as it backed away. Steg-O-Saw-Us slammed into Hypno-Disc a few more times with its tail, but sustained more damage as it did so, and appeared to lose mobility in the centre of the arena. Hypno-Disc sent Steg-O-Saw-Us spinning with another hit, damaging the armour around its left wheel, and Steg-O-Saw-Us backed into the wall, seemingly unable to drive properly. 'Cease' was called as Hypno-Disc landed one final blow, and Steg-O-Saw-Us was eliminated, struggling to drive with the extensive damage it sustained.

"Well, Steg-O-Saw-Us ruled the world for long enough, but Hypno-Disc just spun him into extinction!"
— Craig Charles announces Steg-O-Saw-Us' elimination
Hypno-Disc vs Steg-O-Saw-Us 2

The damage inflicted to Steg-O-Saw-Us by the end of its Grand Final Eliminator

While it was eliminated from the Third Wars, Steg-O-Saw-Us was due to fight Fire Storm in a playoff to determine third and fourth places in the series. However, it was forced to withdraw from the playoff after the Jurassic Park team could not repair the damage inflicted to it in time. While this would have normally given Steg-O-Saw-Us fourth place by default, the Fire Storm team considered this unfair to the Jurassic Park team, so both teams agreed to take joint third place.

Results[]

STEG-O-SAW-US - RESULTS
Series 3
The Third Wars - UK Championship
Joint Third Place
Heat G, Round 1 vs. Orac's Revenge Won
Heat G, Round 2 vs. Henry Won
Heat G, Final vs. Napalm Won
Semi-Final 2, Round 1 vs. Gravedigger Won
Semi-Final 2, Round 2 vs. Beast of Bodmin Won
Grand Final, Eliminator vs. Hypno-Disc Lost
Grand Final, Playoff vs. Fire Storm Withdrew
NOTE: Steg-O-Saw-Us was forced to withdraw from the playoff as the team were unable to repair the damage it had taken from Hypno-Disc in the previous battle.

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 5
  • Losses: 1

The withdrawal from the third place playoff is not counted as a loss.

Series Record[]

Main Series Steg-O-Saw-Us Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Joint Third Place
The Fourth Wars Entered with Steg 2
The Fifth Wars Entered with 3 Stegs 2 Heaven
The Sixth Wars Failed to qualify with Steg 3
The Seventh Wars Did not enter
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter
Robot Wars Extreme Appearances
Series 1 Entered with 3 Stegs 2 Heaven
Entered with Oblark (Rob Heasman)
Series 2 Did not enter

Gallery[]

Outside Robot Wars[]

Jurassic Park salvaged parts from Steg-O-Saw-Us to build its successor Steg 2.[6] They also used the shell of Steg-O-Saw-Us to test the flipper of Steg 2[7].

Trivia[]

  • Steg-O-Saw-Us' drive belts , chains and sprockets were provided by WYKO, AEP Industries also provided parts, and Brook Home Computers provided cooling fans for the speed controllers and the CAD software the team used for their engineering designs[8].
  • Jonathan Pearce misquoted Steg-O-Saw-Us as a Semi-Finalist ahead of its immediate successor's first battle in Series 4, when it was actually a Grand Finalist.
  • For unknown reasons, Steg-O-Saw-Us always faced sideways from its opponents before the start of each battle it appeared in.
  • Like Binky, Steg-O-Saw-Us was originally a reserve robot for the Third Wars, but was brought in to compete at the last minute after T-Wrecks withdrew from the competition. This substitution took place at a later date to the competitors' interviews being filmed, explaining why Jurassic Park did not have a full introduction or interviews at the start of Steg-O-Saw-Us' heat.
    • It partly shares this honor with Triterobot, which also never had a full introduction in it's battle with Evil Weevil due to it being a reserve robot (even though Triterobot did have an interview at the start of its heat).
    • Coincidentally, T-Wrecks was another robot whose name was a pun on a dinosaur.
  • Achieving third place in the main championship makes Steg-O-Saw-Us the joint-most successful reserve robot in Robot Wars, along with TR2.

Honours[]


References[]

External Links[]

Navigation[]

Advertisement