- "Will this 24V wheelchair motor driven hunk of 'botic beef give us something to get out teeth into, or will the 2000RPM spinning disc moooove into the next round?"
- — Jonathan Pearce introducing T-Bone
T-Bone was a T-shaped robot with a spinning disc which was entered by Team Butcher in Series 5 of Robot Wars, a combined project from neighbours John Findlay and the builders of Eco Warrior. It lost in the first round to 8645T, a robot built by the team's friends, on a Judges' decision, as it was unable to cause damage when its spinning disc jammed.
Its name was a reference to the shape of the robot, and T-bone steak.
Design
Official shot of T-Bone
T-Bone was an invertible, yellow T-shaped robot with a horizontally mounted disc, and a small scoop on the back. The scoop was added when the team found they had leftover weight to use. The robot was constructed from Polypropylene Mains Gas Pipe-line with a mild steel inner frame, and cost just £50 to build[1], with the team using many parts from their older machines, Banana-R Armour and Eco Warrior.
The slogan "Aye up, me duck!" written on the back of the robot, and graphics of a butcher and a cow were also printed on the robot, as a reference to its name.
Qualification
Team Butcher with T-Bone at the qualifiers
Team Butcher attempted to qualify for Series 5 with two robots, T-Bone and R.I.P.P.E.R. Paul Gibbs captained T-Bone, whilst John Findlay captained R.I.P.P.E.R.[2]. The two had previously met at the Series 4 qualifiers.
In T-Bone's first battle, it used its disc to rip apart Kiss of Death, and in its second qualifier, defeated Bangalore Bertie. These back-to-back victories earned T-Bone a place in Series 5.
Robot History
Series 5
An unsuccessful flip from 8645T
T-Bone fought 8645T in its opening battle. The two machines began their bout slowly, until T-Bone finally slammed into 8645T's side. This caused some damage to 8645T, but bent T-Bone's disc teeth in the process, leaving it with no means of offense.
- "The disc has stopped spinning. That is a major worry for Paul Gibbs...T-Bone has been somewhat filleted"
- — Jonathan Pearce
8645T axes T-Bone
8645T responded by lifting T-Bone off the ground and letting it fall, doing this twice. T-Bone drove away and activated the pit release, before 8645T and T-Bone engaged in a shoving match, with T-Bone stuck on 8645T's axe and dragging it around the arena, unable to pit its opponent. 8645T won the judges' decision, eliminating T-Bone from the competition.
- "While the Judges were reaching their decision, Craig Charles asked the audience to choose a winner by cheering when he called the names of the robots. The Team were delighted when the audience cheered louder for T-Bone ... they thought it was in the bag ! However the judges said it was a very close contest, but they had chosen 8645T as the winner. The Team could only think that when they were pulling 8645T towards the pit, that it must have looked as though T-Bone was being pushed !!!"
- — The Roaming Robots Website (archived)
Results
| T-BONE - RESULTS | ||
| Series 5 | ||
| The Fifth Wars - UK Championship Heat, Round 1 | ||
| Heat A, Eliminator | vs. 8645T | Lost |
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 1
Series Record
- Series 1-3: Did not enter
- Series 4: Failed to qualify with Eco Warrior and Banana-R Armour
- Series 5: Heat, Round 1 and Failed to qualify with Ripper
- Series 6: Failed to qualify with Ripper
- Series 7: Entered with Ripper
- 2016 Series: Did not enter
Outside Robot Wars
T-Bone in 2012
T-Bone's chassis was sold in 2012 to Tony Smith, the builder of Pod, who also owns the latest version of Ceros. In 2016, Smith sold T-Bone back to its original bulder John Findlay after he won the eBay auction. Findlay intends to restore T-Bone to fighting condition for use at his Extreme Robots events.
Trivia
- T-Bone was nicknamed "The Pride of Carlton" by the team.
- T-Bone originally had four spinning blades, but during testing the team found that having two blades allowed the disc to spin faster, and also meant they had two spare blades.