- "No mercy. No fear. No weakness."
- — Team slogan
Team Juggerbot was a team from Corvallis and Salem, Oregon that competed in both seasons of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors and Nickelodeon Robot Wars, achieving a great amount of success.
The original team name, Juggerbot comes from their Robotica entry Juggerbot. They created two machines; Tricerabot and Rosie the Riveter, both of whom reached the Grand Final of Season 2 after falling in Round 1 of Season 1, with Tricerabot receiving the runner-up position. The half of the team who entered Rosie the Riveter used the name Team Thunderbolt. During Nickelodeon, the team was known as Team Logoseye.
The Team[]
The team's logo
- "It really started with a bunch of us, just strapping chainsaws and flamethrowers onto some small little RC cars, and just duking it out in the little arena in my backyard."
- — Mike Morrow on the origins of Team Juggerbot, interviewed in Robotica Season 1 [1]
Mike Morrow was the original founder of the team. Before entering their first robot in Robotica, the team members had been friends who would meet and build small fighting robots, then fight them with each other.
Having competed on Robotica and BattleBots with versions of Juggerbot (See Outside Robot Wars), they entered two robots into Robot Wars; Juggerbot 1,0, which had competed in Robotica[2], became Rosie the Riveter, and Juggerbot 2.0, which the team entered in BattleBots, was upgraded to Tricerabot.
The team with Juggerbot
In both seasons, Tricerabot was entered by Mike and Nicole Morrow and Ron Ender. During Season 1, Rosie the Riveter was entered by Team Thunderbolt, consisting of Chris and Sharon Gattman and Kris Ender. For Season 2, Kris Ender was replaced by Tom Vaeretti. During Nickelodeon Robot Wars, Mike Morrow entered Tut Tut with Tom Rodriquez and young driver Nancy Rodriquez, whilst Tom Vaeretti entered Rosie the Riveter 2 with Mike and Anthony "Tony" Light, as Team Logoseye.
After 2001, Chris Gattman would break from the rest of the team to build his own robot, Logoseye, which he entered in Series 3 of Robotica[3].
- "We all brainstormed, and everybody had different ideas, and I wanted to try out ideas myself."
- — Chris Gattman on building his own robot for Robotica
This robot would also be entered into Robot Wars as Rosie the Riveter 2, and the team kept Logoseye as the Team name for Nickelodeon.
The team were very sporting and provided a great deal of fun in the pits, dressing up in costumes to match with their respective robots' themes; the Tricerabot team dressed as cavemen, complete with fake clubs, the men of the Rosie the Riveter team dressed as World War 2 fighter pilots, and the women dressed as the robot's namesake. They also clad their robots with sacrificial material for the benefit of the audience, leading to Tricerabot being set on fire. Despite this, both robots were very powerful and efficient machines, with Tricerabot being specifically designed to stay mobile while on fire and managing to ram Sir Killalot into the pit after it was caught off balance while holding Silver Box.
Tricerabot and Rosie the Riveter fought alongside each other in the Season 1 Tag Team Terror and House Robot Rebellion, and Rosie the Riveter represented the USA in the War of Independence. Team Logoseye also entered Rosie the Riveter and Team Juggerbot entered the loanerbot Tut Tut in Nickelodeon Robot Wars, where the two fought against each other in the Challenge Belt with Tut Tut emerging victorious and going on to earn the right to keep the belt.
Team Juggerbot had intended to enter Tricerabot in Nickelodeon Robot Wars, however the robot could not be repaired after the US Championship Grand Final, so Team Juggerbot captain Mike Morrow entered with the loanerbot Tut Tut instead.
- "We didn't compete in the alternate events because we spent most of the week in the main tournament. As soon as the final battle was over, we started repairing immediately so we could use TriceraBot 3.0 in the Nickelodeon shows. Unfortunately, we weren't able to rebuild all of our motors in time so we used a RW loaner 'bot (Tut-tut) for the Nick event."
- — Mike Morrow on the Robot Wars Forum[4]
Etymology[]
- "Juggerbot just kind of struck me, it's based on of course on the word juggernaut, which is a large, unstoppable object in mythology."
- — Mike Morrow explains the Juggerbot name in Robotica[5]
Team Juggerbot's name came from their Robotica entry, Juggerbot. For Series 1, the half of the team that entered Tricerabot used the name Team Juggerbot, whilst the other who entered Rosie the Riveter used the name Team Thunderbolt, but in Series 2, both halves used the name Team Juggerbot.
For Nickelodeon Robot Wars, the Rosie the Riveter team used the name Logoseye, which was Rosie the Riveter's name on Robotica. The name comes from Chris Gattman's band[6].
Team Members[]
Mike Morrow[]
The team leader, Mike Morrow was in charge of the teams finances, and was the Lead Design Engineer of the structural and mechanical design of the team’s robots.
Mike was team captain with Tricerabot in both seasons of Extreme Warriors, and was also team captain when the team fought with Tut Tut in Nickelodeon Robot Wars. He drove Tricerabot in both seasons of Extreme Warriors and did most of the speaking during Tricerabot’s interviews, he left the speaking for Tut Tut’s interviews to Nancy Rodriguez, who was the driver.
Having studied as a professional mechanical engineer, Mike worked as a Manufacturing Engineer for Hewlett Packard.
Nicole Morrow[]
Mike Morrow’s partner, Nicole joined him in the Tricerabot team for both the team’s appearances. She was the designer of the team’s costumes and Tricerabot’s flammable coverings.
Ron Ender[]
The weapons specialist of the team, Ron had previously designed and fabricated the weapons for Juggerbot, and was the design engineer for Juggerbot when it competed on Robotica and BattleBots. He designed and built the "upender" on Juggerbot 3.0.
Whilst competing with Tricerabot, he was referred to as “Nor” in keeping with the team’s caveman theme and costumes, and would comedically 'roar' during interviews, as well as brandishing his clug. Although the team did not keep the caveman costumes in Season 2, he was credited as Ron “Nor” Ender on the statistics boards.
Chris Gattman[]
The team’s pit crew chief, Chris was the driver and team captain for Rosie the Riveter in Season 1 and 2 and was the team's lead speaker and tactician. He was primarily responsible for the repairs of Rosie the Riveter, but still received great assistance from his teammates, which he highlighted on the show in his role as the lead speaker in interviews. Chris Gattman was a reserved but confident character on the show, while his more outspoken past as a band member was also referenced via his team name Logoseye. Chris Gattman was not present with Rosie the Riveter during Nickelodeon Robot Wars.
Sharon Gattman[]
Sharon helped to build Rosie the Riveter, and was part of Rosie the Riveter team in Seasons 1 and 2, but not Nickelodeon Robot Wars. She often worked as the pit crew chief, and lead mechanic. She had previously worked on the first two versions of Juggerbot. Although she left the majority of the team's interviews to Chris Gattman, she would give enthusiastic cheers, taunting opponents and boasting of how well Rosie the Riveter was going to do. Before the fight with Plunderbird 5, she and Kris Ender mocked the Plunderbird team, responding to their song with a song of their own, and calling them "Plunder-chickens"
Kris Ender[]
Kristina Ender, credited as Kris Ender, was the mechanic for Rosie the Riveter in Season 1, but did not return for Season 2 or Nickelodeon. With Sharon, she left most of the team’s interviews to Chris Gattman, and gave enthusiastic cheers during the interviews.
Tom Varetti[]
According to the website, Tom's roles were: Driver, structural and mechanical design. He drove Rosie the Riveter in Season 2, alternating the responsibility with Chris Gattman, and was the team captain for Rosie the Riveter in Nickelodeon Robot Wars. Although he had to leave the driving to Anthony Light, he gave him instruction whilst driving, and was the team's engineer[7].
He had previously been the lead design engineer for the team's original robot, Juggerbot, when it competed on Robotica.
Anthony Light[]
Only part of the team for Nickelodeon Robot Wars, Anthony Light drove Rosie the Riveter, as the robots in the Nickelodeon series had to be driven by children. Although Tom Varetti was the team captain, Anthony did all of the speaking in the team's introductions and interviews.
Mike Light[]
As with Anthony Light, only appeared on Nickelodeon Robot Wars, where he was the weapons operator with Rosie the Riveter, as well as the pit mechanic. He had previously been the bass player in Chris Gattman's band LogosEye, and was the father of Anthony Light[8].
Nancy Rodriguez[]
Like Anthony Light, Nancy Rodriguez was only part of the team for Nickelodeon Robot Wars, where she drove Tut Tut. Although Mike Morrow was the team captain, Nancy did most of the speaking in the interviews. She tended to give short, confident statements, about how she was sure she was going to win before fights, and saying she was sure we should win after winning battles. She won all three of her battles, keeping up Tut Tut’s record as an undefeated robot.
Tom Rodriguez[]
Tom Rodriguez was only part of the team for Nickelodeon Robot Wars, where he competed with Tut Tut.
Other[]
There were a number of other team members who did not appear in televised Robot Wars events.
- Jonathan Taggart, the team's webmaster and backup driver
- Jeremy Gattman, who helped finance and build Rosie the Riveter, and competed with the team on Robotica as a mechanic[9]
- Rob Griffin
- Kent Watson, the team's material consultant, helping the team with titanium and exotic alloys[10].
Robots[]
| Name | Weight Class | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Tricerabot | Heavyweight | Season 1-2 |
| Rosie the Riveter | Heavyweight | Season 1-2, Nickelodeon |
| Tut Tut | Heavyweight | Nickelodeon |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 16
- Losses: 10
- Draws: 1
Series Record[]
| US Series | Team Juggerbot Series Record |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | Entered with Tricerabot (Team Juggerbot) Entered with Rosie the Riveter (Team Thunderbolt) |
| Season 2 | Runner-up with Tricerabot 3.0 (Mike Morrow) Grand Final, Round 1 with Rosie the Riveter 2 (Chris Gattman) |
| Nickelodeon | Entered with Tut Tut (Team Juggerbot) Entered with Rosie the Riveter 2 (Team Logoseye) |
Note: Tut Tut fought in US series 1 in the House Robot Rebellion under the control of Team Raptor.
Outside Robot Wars[]
The team's original robot was Juggerbot, which they entered into Robotica Season 1. It won through the first round of its heat after its opponent, Noll, broke down, then beat Hamerschlag to progress to the final. In the final, Juggerbot defeated Viper in all three events to reach the "Fight to the Finish", where it was against Run Amok and Ram Force, but accidentally drove off the edge. Rosie The Riveter was then converted from Juggerbot 1.0 for Extreme Warriors, with a new Juggerbot being built, Juggerbot 2.0, which was converted into Tricerabot.
Half of the team, under the team name Team Logoseye, built a new robot in Season 3 of Robotica, Logoseye, with the other half of the team entering a upgraded Juggerbot, under the name Juggerbot 3.0. The two halves of the team actually competed in the same heat, but narrowly missed fighting each other, as Logoseye was beaten by Da Claw. Juggerbot 3.0 defeated Da Claw to reach the final, where it fought Jawbreaker's Revenge, then Ultraviolence to reach the Fight to the Finish, where it was beaten by Panzer Mk 3, just as Panzer Mk 4 would go on to defeat Tricerabot 3.0 in the final of Extreme Warriors Season 2.
They also competed in Season 3.0 of BattleBots with a super heavyweight, Juggerbot 2.0. It wasn't as successful as its counterparts however, defeating Neptune and losing its second fight to eventual champion Vladiator.
In addition to these, Team Juggerbot completed another heavyweight, Tillah, an invertible two-wheel drive robot with a cuboidal drum spinner. Developed by Ron Ender with Eric Bewley, Tillah first appeared at the July 2002 Oregon Clandestine Street Fight, where it caused significant damage to Rosie the Riveter 2 in a one-on-one fight. Chris Gattman explained in a 2023 Facebook comment that this was a practice match for Tillah's appearances in future US events, with its drum only operating at half power at the time.[11][12][13]
Tillah also competed at Steel Conflict 4 in August 2003, its drive and weapon operated by Ron Ender and Chris Gattman respectively.[13] BotRank.com listings indicate that it lost its first battle to The Compressor, but won against Hellfire 666 (a rebranded Mauler 51-50) to face Megabyte in the losers' bracket. At that point, Tillah was eliminated from the competition after losing to Robotic Death Company's full-body spinner.[14]
Trivia[]
- Team Juggerbot are the only team that entered two robots that both lost to the same robot in the same episode of the season.
- JuggerBot made a cameo appearance at a Logos Eye concert in Eugene, where it was placed on top of one of the speakers, bathed in red light. Chris Gattman dedicated their single "JuggerBot" to the team and the robot.
- Members of Logos Eye were part of the Rosie the Riveter crew at Robot Wars, and two of the songs on the debut CD are "JuggerBot" and "LogosEye."
References[]
- ↑ Robotica, Season 1, Episode 5
- ↑ Team Juggerbot website, Archived Updates (Archived)
- ↑ Robotica, Season 3, Episode 5
- ↑ Mike Morrow on the Robot Wars Forum (archived)
- ↑ Robotica, Season 1, Episode 5
- ↑ Team Run Amok website, Robotica competitors
- ↑ Rosie the Riveter website, Crew (Archived)
- ↑ Rosie the Riveter website, Crew (Archived)
- ↑ Rosie the Riveter website, Crew (Archived)
- ↑ Team JuggerBot website, Team (Archived)
- ↑ Team JuggerBot website, Tillah Gallery (Archived)
- ↑ 'Tillah vs Rosie', Mark Joerger (YouTube), uploaded May 23 2023
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 https://www.facebook.com/groups/UnofficialRobotWars/posts/2215652132047873/?comment_id=2215820708697682
- ↑ BotRank.com listing for Tillah
External Links[]
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