TX-108 was a heavyweight robot built by Team Terrafonics (now known as Team Danby) which attempted to enter Series 5, 6 and 7 of Robot Wars. On each of its attempts, it would fail to qualify, though Team Terrafonics would still appear in various side competitions towards the end of the original series run.
TX-108 also took part in a Wild Card Warriors battle at filming for the first series of Robot Wars Extreme, where it fought then two-time UK Grand Finalist Hypno-Disc. The Rose family's robot was unable to move within seconds of the fight starting, and TX-108 pushed it into the wall. 'Cease' was called, and TX-108 emerged as the surprise winner.[2] Despite being the only newcomer to win a Wild Card Warrior battle, TX-108 would not appear on television as its fight was not aired, and remains lost media to this day.
- "We did the arena drive in walked up to the booths 3, 2, 1 activate they didn't move we pushed them back into the wall and they called cease"
- — Craig Danby describes the unaired fight
Design[]
TX-108's internals; note the original positioning of its crusher ram
TX-108 was a grey, wedge-shaped robot with a 12mm aluminium chassis and 3.5mm stainless steel armour,[1] alternatively quoted on the Fighting Robots Association (FRA) website as being armoured in titanium.[3] Its main weapon was a vertical hydraulic crushing arm utilising a similar setup adopted by the highly-successful Razer. Unlike Razer, however, the hydraulics system was designed to pull the arm downwards instead of pushing it, contributing to TX-108 having less crushing power. Nevertheless, the design and vertical reach of TX-108's arm enabled it to have self-righting capabilities, eliminating the need for Team Terrafonics to install a secondary mechanism.
- "We built TX to selfright without wings, we crushed differently, we were faster and better armoured"
- — Craig Danby on the Official Robot Wars Fantasy Group
Internally, TX-108 used two Bosch GPA motors running at 24V, powering both of its wheels through a 9:1 ratio gearbox.[1]
During Robot Wars' 12-year hiatus, TX-108 was upgraded to have a crusher that pushed downward instead of being pulled down, and with its claw piston set on the base instead of being at an angle as it was originally built. Team Terrafonics also limited the working pressure for its weapon to 500psi to account for different safety requirements in live event arenas.[1] The robot was renamed TX-109, and would later be renamed and rebuilt into Apex.
Qualification[]
TX-108 in the Pits during Series 7
According to the FRA website, TX-108 first attempted to apply for Series 5, and is claimed to have fought S3 in the 2001 Live Event qualifiers.[3] However, further details of its qualification attempt are unknown, as the 1 Law Associates build diary mentions that S3 only fought two battles at the Newcastle leg, against Loggerhead[4] (also equipped with a crusher) and Dynachrome respectively.[5] Nevertheless, TX-108 would not appear in the televised Fifth Wars, confirming that it failed to qualify.
TX-108 came back to try to qualify for Series 6. Initially, it was drawn up against Barbaric Response, Lightning and Twister, but withdrew from that qualifier after its controller for the crusher malfunctioned [6]. However, the team were able to fix this, and TX-108 was given a second chance to qualify, fighting Reptirron The Second. After one crucial blow from Reptirron's weapon, TX-108 broke down and failed to qualify again.
The team had plans to compete in the Tag Team Terror during the second series of Extreme with TX-108 as the partner of Behemoth. It is unknown if the duo were invited to compete, but the two robots fought various Tag Team battles at live events in preparation.Citation? Ultimately, Behemoth would compete in the Iron Maidens and University Challenge competitions, while Team Danby would compete only in the Featherweight Championship with Gi-Ant-O.
TX-108 then entered the qualifiers for Series 7, and was drawn against 8645T 2 and Mighty Mouse, which coincidentally fought each other in the main series. It lost after its aerial came loose, and again failed to qualify, with TX-108 ultimately never appearing on the televised show.[3]
Results[]
| TX-108 - RESULTS | ||
| Extreme Series 1 | ||
| Other Battles Wild Card Warriors | ||
| Wild Card Warriors | vs. Hypno-Disc | Won (unaired) |
Series Record[]
| Main Series | TX-108 Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Featherweight Championship with Deadline |
| The Third Wars | Super Heavyweight Championship with Toxin (event cancelled) |
| The Fourth Wars | Failed to qualify with Vindicare |
| The Fifth Wars | Failed to qualify |
| The Sixth Wars | Failed to qualify |
| The Seventh Wars | Failed to qualify Featherweight Championship with Gi-Ant-O Unused reserve, Tanto |
| Series 8 | Heat, Round 2 with Foxic Not selected with Apex |
| Series 9 | Entered with Apex (Team Terrafonics) Entered with Foxic (Team Danby) |
| Series 10 | Entered with Apex Not selected with Foxic |
| Robot Wars Extreme | Appearances |
| Series 1 | Wild Card Warriors (unaired) Entered with Anto |
| Series 2 | Intended to enter Tag Team Terror Entered with Gi-Ant-O |
- NOTE 1: Tanto, a robot built by Team Danby, also competed in the untelevised Series 8 Pilot under new ownership of Team Immersion.
- NOTE 2: Craig Danby also competed in Battle of the Stars as mentor for The Cat.
Outside Robot Wars[]
TX-108 competed in Techno Games, as RaMyA, (Razer My Arse), without its weapon and clad in pink fur working with Pink Pants (a weaponless pink fur clad Pussycat) in the football competition as Team Pink, losing to Team Typhoon, as RaMyA broke down during the competition. It also competed in the Sumo event, where it managed to beat Rhino when the Army drove their robot off the sumo ring.[7].
Prior to its qualification attempt for the Seventh Wars, TX-108 flew over to the Dutch Robot Games in 2003, but it not known to have fought.
At the 2006 UK Championships, TX-108 fought Storm 2, but as it entered the arena with uncharged batteries, it did not have the power to pit its opponent despite having a clear opportunity. TX-108 was pitted by Storm 2, fought Toxic to a Judges' decision, and eventually lost to Leveller 2 by being flipped over.
TX-108 was later rebuilt as TX-109 in 2014, sporting a stronger crusher, fighting at various events run by Team Roaming Robots.
Robot Wars Live Events[]
TX-109, prior to its name change to Apex
Although TX-108 regularly competed at Roaming Robots events, it was TX-109 that first competed in a Robot Wars live event, fighting in Newport, later adopting the name Apex.
Trivia[]
- TX-108 was the only challenger robot to have beaten its experienced Wild Card Warriors opponent, however this win was not shown on television.
- According to Craig Danby, Team Terrafonics contemplated making TX-108 a shuffler ahead of The Seventh Wars. This never came to fruition, though the robot was unsuccessful in qualifying for the series regardless.[8]
- Had it been built and competed, this planned iteration of TX-108 would have been the second shufflebot to have competed in Series 7, alongside Ansgar 3 in The Third World Championship.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://www.teamdanby.com/theotherrobots.htm
- ↑ Correspondence between SFCJack and Craig Danby, December 2020
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 https://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/content/337-tx-108
- ↑ https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/7101843.roboteers-happy-tv-showing/
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20020608141045/http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~barker03/current_diary.htm
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20030605124809/http://barbaricresponse.co.uk/events/6thwars/sixthwar.htm
- ↑ http://www.teamdanby.com/therobots.htm
- ↑ Correspondence between SFCJack and Craig Danby, August 2021
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