Team Carbide

Team Carbide
Dave Moulds and Sam Smith
Participation Information
UK Series	8-10 (Dave Moulds) 4-10, Extreme 2 (Sam Smith)
Team Information
Team Members	Dave Moulds Sam Smith Sheryl Prior (Series 8)
Home Town	Derby, Derbyshire

Team Carbide is a roboteering team, the champions of Series 9, and runners-up in Series 8 and 10. Comprising of Dave Moulds, veteran roboteer Sam Smith and, originally Sheryl Prior, the three competed together as Team Carbide for the first time in Series 8 of Robot Wars, with Moulds and Smith returning for Series 9 and Series 10.

Although Series 8 marked Team Carbide's collective debut, Sam Smith had been competing in Robot Wars since Series 4. Their most famous robot is Series 9 champion Carbide, co-designed and built by Moulds and Smith, which also finished second in Series 8 and Series 10.

The Team

Dave Moulds

Dave Moulds with Arena Cleaner

Team Carbide with their trophy and Carbide

Dave Moulds was the captain of Team Carbide in Series 8 and 9, and was also the driver of Carbide. By trade, Moulds is a robotics engineer for Cadbury, and is local to Derby. Dave Moulds entered the televised roboteering scene as a member of Team Hurtz in BattleBots, and originally built his own robot Turbulence, which became the UK champion in the 2006 live circuit. Turbulence would later win the 2016 pilot under ownership of a new team.

Moulds was specifically chosen to be a mentor in Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars. He joined BBC Radio 1 DJ's Scott Mills and Chris Stark to compete with Arena Cleaner, a robot which was similar in design to Carbide. Moulds repaired Arena Cleaner when necessary, and eventually the team won the episode.

"The fights that we win aren't always the best fights, are they? I think you can have an absolutely brilliant fight once you lose, and you actually learn more from it. Obviously, winning's great, but for us, we always want to keep developing the machine, making it as good as we can, and the more we learn going throughout the competition, the more fun it is!"

— Dave Moulds to Haynes Manuals on the mentality of Team Carbide

Sam Smith

Team Carbide, Series 9 champions

In Team Carbide, Sam Smith operates Carbide's weapon, having co-built and designed the robot, and would later become team captain in Series 10. By trade, he is an aerospace engineer for Rolls Royce, and is also a featherweight roboteer in his own right.

Sam Smith (centre) on Tiberius' team

Sam Smith had previously competed on Robot Wars with his robot Tiberius, which debuted in Series 4, before returning to Series 5 as Tiberius 2, and Tiberius 3 competed in Series 6-7 and Extreme 2. Smith's team represented Loughborough University when they won the University Challenge in Extreme 2. Tiberius' other team members include Simon Coulthard, John Coulthard, Stuart Smith, Craig Lawson and Carl Lawson.

Dave Moulds stated on Inside the Bot that Sam Smith would become the team captain in Series 10, in order to raise awareness of the equal workload that both team members contribute to Carbide. This switch took effect throughout the filmed series.

All three members of Team Carbide in Series 8

Sheryl Prior

Sheryl Prior is an accountant by trade. The television show defines Prior's role as the team's tactician, although the Robot Wars website refers to her merely as 'moral support' and 'tea making'. She did not return for Series 9.

Robots

• Carbide (Series 8)
• Carbide (Series 9)
• Carbide (Series 10)
• Tiberius (Series 4)
• Tiberius 2 (Series 5)
• Tiberius 3 (Series 6)
• Tiberius 3 (Series 7)
• Arena Cleaner (Battle of the Stars)

1/8

Name	Weight Class	Series
Carbide	Heavyweight	Series 8-10
Tiberius	Heavyweight	Series 4-7, Extreme 2

NOTE: Tiberius was entered only by Sam Smith, and has no connection to Dave Moulds or Sheryl Prior.

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 29
• Losses: 9

NOTE: This wins/losses ratio includes the performance of Carbide and Tiberius, and excludes the performances of Arena Cleaner and Turbulence

Series Record

Team Carbide in Series 9

Team Carbide enter the arena in Series 8

Main Series	Team Carbide Series Record
The First Wars	Did not enter
The Second Wars	Did not enter
The Third Wars	Did not enter
The Fourth Wars	Heat, Round 2 with Tiberius
The Fifth Wars	Heat, Round 2 with Tiberius 2
The Sixth Wars	Heat, Round 1 with Tiberius 3
The Seventh Wars	Heat Final with Tiberius 3
Series 8	Runners-up with Carbide
Series 9	Grand Champions with Carbide Battle of the Stars champion with Arena Cleaner
Series 10	Runners-up with Carbide
Robot Wars Extreme	Appearances
Series 1	Did not enter
Series 2	University Challenge Champion with Tiberius 3

Outside Robot Wars

Team Carbide with Cobalt

Dave Moulds has also participated in ABC's rebooted series of BattleBots, both as part of Team Carbide and with different teams. In Season 1, he joined Team Robo Challenge when they attempted to enter with Beta, although Beta could not compete due to parts being lost in transit.

At around the same time that Team Carbide developed Carbide for Robot Wars, they also produced a heavyweight for Season 2 of ABC's BattleBots, Cobalt. Cobalt features an almost-identical shape and design to Carbide, but features different armour and internals, and is armed with an axe-like asymmetrical bar spinner instead of the symmetrical weapon Carbide uses. Additionally, it used a white, blue and red colour scheme, in contrast to Carbide's predominantly black and green finish. For BattleBots, Team Carbide featured Dave Moulds, Sam Smith, Sheryl Prior, and James Cooper.

Cobalt

In its first battle, Cobalt was drawn against Season 1 quarter-finalist, Overhaul. Its spinner quickly reached top speed at the start, and a series of attacks on Overhaul's sides caused Cobalt to deflect away constantly. One hit and a loose set screw caused Overhaul to lose drive on one side, putting Cobalt through to the round of 32, further than Photon Storm, Team Storm's rebuilt version of Sam Smith's former heavyweight Tiberius. In the round of 32, Cobalt fought newcomer, wildcard recipient and eventual Season 2 runner-up, Bombshell. It tried to ram into Bombshell's overhead bar spinner rear-first to open up an opportunity to attack, but Bombshell's blade repeatedly cut through Cobalt's tyres, hampering its mobility. While Cobalt managed to tear one of Bombshell's side panels off, it was eventually immobilised and eliminated after Bombshell continued to damage its tyres.

• 360, Dave Moulds' featherweight which resembles Hypno-Disc
• 540
• 720
• 722
• Dave Moulds as a member of the Turbulence team in 2006

1/5

On the live event circuit, Dave Moulds has also fought with various featherweight robots since 2002. He has fought with various different versions of Turbine, armed with a flipper, which has since been retired. In full-combat events, Moulds has fought with a few spinner-wielding robots. These include:

• 360, a featherweight version of Hypno-Disc, with a horizontal flywheel.
• 540, a six-wheeled box-shaped robot with an interchangeable eggbeater and rammer configuration. The robot has since been bought and renamed Disturbance.
• 720, an octagonal-shaped robot armed with a spinning drum, now owned and renamed Sabre20 by Team Legion.
• 722, an improved version of 720 with a similar paint scheme to Carbide, which finished runner-up at the 2017 FRA Featherweight International Championships.

Moulds also won the 2006 FRA Heavyweight UK Championships with heavyweight flipper Turbulence.

Sam Smith's featherweight NST

Team Carbide member and co-builder Sam Smith also fights in live featherweight events with NST, a horizontal bar spinner, and Shard, a vertical flywheel. Both robots have proved considerably successful; NST won the 2012 Featherweight UK Championships and the 2015 UK Featherweight Annihilator, while Shard recently finished tenth at the 2017 FRA Featherweight International Championships.

Trivia

• Team Carbide's titular competitor, Carbide, was inducted into The Combat Robot Hall of Fame in 2017 following its dominant performances in Series 8 and 9.

External Links

• Team Carbide website
• Carbide Facebook page
• Cobalt on BattleBots Wiki
• Haynes Manual interview with Team Carbide