Team Roaming Robots

Team Roaming Robots
Jayne Middlemiss interviews the team with Rip
Participation Information
UK Series	5, 7, Extreme 2
Robot Wars Live Circuit	2013-16
Team Information
Team Members	John Findlay Paul Gibbs (Series 5) Angela Gibbs (Series 5) David Findlay (Series 7) Steven Johnson (Series 7)
Other Names	Roaming Robots Team Ripper
Home Town	Nottingham

Team Roaming Robots are a team of roboteers who competed in Robot Wars, most notably Series 7.

The Team

Team Roaming Robots is a family team, captained by John Findlay, who at the time of competing on the show was a student, and drove both Ripper and Rip. After competing solo with Neoteric in Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2, he was joined by his brother David, and friend Steven Johnson in Series 7. John Findlay's first robot was Banana-R Armour, which failed to qualify for Series 4.

Team Butcher, consisting of Findlay with Paul and Angela Gibbs

After this qualification attempt, John Findlay discovered that he lived on the same street as another roboteering team, Team Eco Warrior. They had also failed to qualify for Series 4 with their robot Eco Warrior. Team Eco Warrior consisted of team captain Paul Gibbs, John Simmons and Lloyd Walters. Team Eco Warrior and Team Roaming Robots joined forces to enter Series 5 with T-Bone, under the collaborative team of Paul and Angela Gibbs with John Findlay. Together, they were known as Team Butcher.

The name Team Roaming Robots is derived from John Findlay's company, which was established during the later stages of Robot Wars. The portfolio of Roaming Robots included a live robotic combat tour which ran until 2013, educational courses which still run to this day, and birthday parties.

Robot Wars (Live)

In early 2013, John Findlay announced that the live events company Roaming Robots was to join forces with Robot Wars LLC, the brand behind the television series. The Roaming Robots and Robots: Extreme Wars brands were phased out and replaced with the revived Robot Wars brand. This led to a new Robot Wars tour travelling across England, to areas such as Gloucester and Portsmouth, and competing robots would aim to win each weekend-long event, usually containing six shows in total, with a morning and afternoon session on each day. The winner of each event would earn a trophy, and in 2013, the performances of each robot would be taken into account to decide an overall champion, which was Eruption.

Additionally, the rights to the House Robots were included as part of the deal. It was the intention that the House Robots would be found and restored, but failing this, replicas would be built. A replica Matilda was constructed from the original casts shortly after this announcement. The Robot Wars soundtrack became available for use, with the tour most notably using the instrumental version of Robot Wars (Android Love) as battle music.

In 2014, John acquired the original moulds for the House Robots but did not put them to use.

In 2015, Roaming Robots hosted the Robot Wars World Championship, inviting worldwide roboteers to compete for the title of World Champion, also hosting an Annihilator as a side event. The championship was won by Toxic 2 over Thor, with Gabriel in third place, while Toon Raider won the Annihilator. The championship was edited and released as a DVD, which could be purchased at the Robot Wars tour.

Since the announcement of the televised Robot Wars reboot, plans were put in place to alter the live event brand once more, with a new name and a new arena. In July 2016, it was announced that the 2017 live events tour would use the name Extreme Robots, leaving the Robot Wars brand behind to disassociate the company from the TV programme.

Robots

Name	Image	Weight Class	Series
Banana-R Armour		Heavyweight	Series 4 (Failed to Qualify)
T-Bone		Heavyweight	Series 5
Neoteric		Featherweight	Extreme 2
Ripper		Heavyweight	Series 5-6 (Failed to Qualify) Series 7
Rip		Featherweight	Series 7

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 6
• Losses: 5

Series Record

Main Series	Team Roaming Robots Series Record
The First Wars	Did not enter
The Second Wars	Did not enter
The Third Wars	Did not enter
The Fourth Wars	Failed to qualify with Banana-R Armour
The Fifth Wars	Heat, Round 1 with T-Bone Failed to qualify with R.I.P.P.E.R.
The Sixth Wars	Failed to qualify with Ripper 2
The Seventh Wars	Heat Final with Ripper Featherweight Championship Final with Rip
Series 8	Ineligible with Ripper
Series 9	Ineligible with Ripper
Series 10	Not selected with Cyclone
Robot Wars Extreme	Appearances
Series 1	Did not enter
Series 2	Entered with Neoteric

Outside Robot Wars

Below is a list of robots created and competed by Team Roaming Robots following their appearances in the original UK Series.

Variants of Ripper

Ripper in 2007

Ripper Evo

A newly-built Ripper in 2010

The third (left) and fourth (right) versions of Ripper

Ripper's fourth model

Dystopia, an updated version of Ripper's third model

Ripper

The version of Ripper seen in Series 7 fought until 2007, being retired from fighting after being "Terrorhurtz'd" too many times.

Ripper (Model 2)

John Findlay built a replacement Ripper after the 2007 UK Championships. It was similar in shape, but smaller than the original.

Ripper Evo

The team then replaced Ripper with Ripper Evo, an improved version of Ripper, in 2008. Ripper Evo reached the semi-finals of both the 2008 and 2009 UK Championships, as well as winning the Roaming Robots 2008 Winter Tour. After a long run, many problems with Ripper Evo had been found, and a new Ripper was built in late 2010.

Ripper (Model 3)

Ripper at the 2012 UK Championships in Deeside

In late 2010, John Findlay set about building a brand new, stronger and more powerful Ripper Evo. The 'Evo' in the name was removed as it annoyed John. Ripper reached the Grand Final of the 2010 UK Championships, losing out to Iron-Awe 5, then going on to win the 2011 UK Championship, before finishing 7th in the 2012 UK Championship. In late 2012, Ripper was crowned 2012 Winter Tour champion, retaining its title from 2008. The third version of Ripper was sold to Gareth Anstee of Team G.A.R in 2013 and it made its first appearance under its new name, Dystopia, at Guildford 2013.

Ripper (Model 4/5)

Ripper in 2016, with its integrated spinning drum

The fourth model of Ripper made its first Robot Wars appearance at Guildford in June 2013. John Findlay purchased and fitted Iron-Awe 6's pneumatics and drive to the fourth Ripper as Team Iron-Awe wanted to build a new, more powerful Iron-Awe 7.

In 2016, Ripper was updated to feature a red spinning drum, integrated into the design of the flipper. It was this concept of Ripper which attempted to qualify for the rebooted series of Robot Wars. Ripper was able to use its drum at some of the later Extreme Robots events, winning the 2017 Extreme Robots championship, and over time, this model became known as Ripper mk5 or Ripper 5.

As of 2024, Ripper 5 remains active as one of the Platinum VIP robots available to drive at Extreme Robots events. During the same year, it was among the Ripper builds to attend RoboRiots in Dublin on 5-6 October, reaching the semi-finals of the main Irish heavyweight championship.

Ripper 6

Ripper in 2018

Ripper 6 was completed in 2018, using a more compact design for ease of transportation overseas. It first appeared publicly at the Extreme Robots event of that year in Manchester, where it won the event after defeating Beast in the final. This version of Ripper competed on the Chinese TV show Clash Bots, but its removable link fell out in battle with Brain Storm, and Ripper lost the battle. This version of Ripper was also applied for the eighth season of BattleBots, but was ultimately rejected for unknown reasons.

Despite an unsuccessful appearance on television, this model of Ripper dominated live circuit events hosted by Extreme Robots, winning every single show of the 2018 tour until the end of October. Along the way, it would triumph over robots such as TR3, St Ripper and Tauron Mk 3 in Grand Final battles, but only conceded the Maidstone event due to a wiring error.

Ripper 6 remains an active competitor at Extreme Robots events, appearing at every leg of their 2023 tour (Brentwood, Guildford, Newcastle, Colchester, Maidstone and Cheltenham). On the weekend of 7-8 October, it was one of five heavyweights competing with Team Roaming Robots at RoboRiots Dublin, finishing runner-up in the main Irish championship to Immersion. It would also participate in an informal exhibition match against Jamie McHarg's Shunt replica, flipping it over in a similar fashion to Ripper's defeat of the original build in Series 7.

Ripper 6 began its 2024 campaign at Extreme Robots Doncaster on 20-21 April, collecting two wins and challenging Iron-Awe 6 for the main Heavyweight Championship Belt on the Sunday. At Guildford (15-16 June), two more wins were attained; one in a melee involving Beast, Poseidon and Troublemaker, the other in a head-to-head against Leviathan. This was followed by a more difficult weekend at Newcastle (6-7 July), where it only scored one Tag Team win alongside TR4. During a three-way battle against axe robots Thor and Implosion, the flipper of Ripper 6 broke off its own hinges, though the robot as a whole survived to a judges' decision regardless.

Following the summer break, Ripper 6 made fewer appearances in the subsequent Colchester (14-15 September) and Maidstone (19-20 October) portions of the Extreme Robots tour. It would attain only one victory across both weekends, this being a knockout win over Tectonic during the latter shows. Both weekends were interspersed with an annual appearance at RoboRiots (5-6 October), where Ripper 6 once again finished runner-up to Immersion in the main heavyweight championship.

Ripper VII/Axel

Two new versions of Ripper were built for the 2020 season of BattleBots, initially to be filmed in April 2020 before later being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel restrictions later forced Team Roaming Robots to withdraw from the season ahead of the rescheduled October filming block. Over time, the BattleBots incarnation would be gradually dismantled, with one chassis being repurposed for Tyrone Ellis' vertical spinner Mongrel.

Ripper VII (front)

Ripper VII (side)

Ripper VII (rear)

Ripper VII prior to painting

Ripper VII as Axel

Ripper VII (alternatively formatted as Ripper 7) was eventually completed in 2023 for the Extreme Robots tour, fighting in the main shows alongside Ripper 6. Designed and built in collaboration with Team Immersion and Tyrone Ellis, it features a four-wheeled layout, along with pneumatics and an 18hp brushless drive system originally created for the 2020 BattleBots version. Ripper VII debuted at the opening Brentwood leg on 27-28 May, though its appearance was beset by multiple teething issues throughout the weekend. At the subsequent Guildford event (17-18 June), Ripper VII tested its anti-axe armour in a head-to-head against Implosion. Both robots continuously exchanged attacks throughout the whole three minutes, with Ripper VII emerging as the victor. Ripper VII also fought alongside Ripper 6 at RoboRiots in Dublin on 7-8 October, fighting Team Immersion's self-titled flipper in the opening round of the main heavyweight championship.

Following recurring technical issues with its brushless system, Ripper VII underwent a rebuild ahead of the 2024 Extreme Robots tour. To differentiate it from other heavyweights in the Team Roaming Robots fleet, the flipper was exchanged for a twin-headed axe accompanied by a static front wedge. In this form, the updated machine would compete under the name Axel, making its public debut at Extreme Robots Doncaster on 20-21 April 2024. Axel took its first victory at the following Guildford leg (15-16 June), helping Gabriel claim a Tag Team win over Meggamouse and Troublemaker during the second show. It later qualified for the Show 3 final during the same weekend, but lost to Eruption after getting thrown into the Fire Pit. Axel again qualified for the first show final at Newcastle (6-7 July) by defeating Ignition, only to be defeated by Iron-Awe 6 on this occasion. Its only other battle of the weekend also resulted in a loss against Iron-Awe 6, where Axel once again ended up getting tossed into the Fire Pit hazard.

Axel's fortunes began to improve during the second half of the 2024 tour, where it first helped Gabriel attain a Tag Team win at Colchester on 14 September. Two more victories would be attained in the third show at Maidstone (20 October); in the opening melee against TR4, Brutus and Ignition, and the final Tag Team match with Weird mAlice as partner. In the latter, Axel ended up becoming the last robot standing, with its teammate, plus opponents Brutus and Meggamouse, becoming immobile at separate moments.

At RoboRiots in Dublin (5-6 October), Axel fought alongside its older counterparts in the main Irish heavyweight championship. It is known to have reached the semi-final stage, defeating newer incarnations of Robot Wars veterans Kan-Opener and Diotoir along the way. Axel would end up being eliminated at that stage by its immediate predecessor, Ripper 6.

Variants of Rip

The shell of the modern Rip

The original Rip (briefly Rip-Off) in early 2016

Shockwave 2 (formerly Rip Evo)

Rip Evo as Eric Jr. 2

RIP (Beauty 3)

Ripper and Beauty 3 (Rip), at the Siemens Open Day in 2012

Rip (Rip Evo)

The team once fought with Rip Evo which was an improved version of Rip, and finished runner-up in the 2009 UK Featherweight Tag-Team Championship. It was sold in 2012 to Team Shock who rebuilt it as Shockwave 2. Shockwave was later sold on to Tony Smith and renamed Eric Jr. 2, before eventually becoming Utopia under the hands of Gareth Anstee. This was later extensively rebuilt to bear a strong resemblance to Anstee's heavyweight Dystopia, itself an updated version of Ripper Evo.

Another incarnation of Rip, a rebuilt version of Beauty 3, was prepared by Team Roaming Robots for a stint on the featherweight combat circuit. Documented appearances include a static display at the 2012 Siemens Open Day alongside Ripper. The Beauty 3-based Rip was later on to another team, under which it fought with new internals as Busted.

The third improved version, Rip 2, was built by John Findlay to a design resembling that of the 2013-2016 Ripper. This would served as Findlay's primary featherweight for Roaming Robots educational courses and demonstration fights, the former while acting as a House Robot. Built out of thin steel sheet, this version of Rip is not suitable to fight spinners, and as such has made more sporadic appearances since their reintroduction at Extreme Robots events.

On 7-8 October 2023, the current incarnation of Rip made its most recent appearance at RoboRiots in Dublin. Despite its age, it would reach the final of the Irish domestic featherweight championship, but lost after getting flipped over by Renegade and being left unable to self-right.

Rip (Rip-Off)

Long after it competed on Robot Wars, the original version of Rip was handed to Team Toon, who renamed it Rip-Off. However, after finding little use under its new ownership, it was eventually returned to John Findlay who restored its original identity. Although this incarnation of Rip was still operational, and received a new paintjob in 2016, it has made sporadic appearances since.

Other Robots Built

R

R before being painted

Team Roaming Robots created an antweight called R, which is shaped to resemble Ripper, with a similar paint-job. It is John Findlay's robot that sees the most usage from his son, and is also used as an example at Findlay's educational events.

Stripper

Stripper in the arena

In 2009, John Findlay competed in the 2009 Featherweight UK Championships with a robot called Stripper which was a green full-body spinner made out from the rim of a motorbike wheel. Stripper didn't do well in the main competition but it managed to reach the final of the Annihilator 2009 where it finished as runner-up to Tiny Toon.

Gripper

Gripper in 2015

Gripper, a clamper/crusher was built by John Findlay in 2015. Using left over NPC t-64 gearmotors for drive and both hydraulics and pneumatics for the weaponry. Gripper's form of attack was similar to Kraken, sporting a pneumatic clamp to hold the opposition whilst a hydraulic ram pierced the opponent's armour. Gripper did not pick up many combat wins, and was soon retired.

Halo

Main article: Halo

Halo in 2016

An abstract axe-bot, built using the pneumatics and drive system from the retired X-Terminator in 2015, initially to replace the latter as a 'Pay To Drive' robot. It attempted to qualify for Series 8 of Robot Wars under loan to Krissy Knee, but was not selected.

As of 2023, Halo continues to operate as an Extreme Robots Platinum VIP robot, also making occasional appearances at RoboRiots in Dublin, Ireland.

Mangler

The first design of Mangler

Mangler in 2016

In 2014, John Findlay started building an invertible robot called Mangler, which was intended to double as a heavyweight competitor and a house robot for featherweight battles. The two-wheel drive machine was armed with a low-speed drum rotating at under 500rpm, and had a wedge shape when fully assembled.

After the conclusion of the 2013-2016 Robot Wars live tour, Mangler briefly returned to combat through an appearance at Mechatrons 2017 in Dublin, before being disassembled.

Fluffy

Fluffy, before being set on fire

The featherweight Fluffy on fire

Fluffy with its fur has been burnt off

Team Roaming Robots have competed with a featherweight ramming robot called Fluffy, which is covered in polkadot fur, similar to that used by Diotoir. Not to be confused with the Series 5-7 competitor of the same name, it has a self-ignition system which sets its fur on fire.

The Roaming Robots Fluffy made its live debut at the Robot Wars Colchester event in 2014, where it would demonstrate the self-ignition system.

Major Damage

Findlay's House Robot, Major Damage

Major Damage is a House Robot at John Findlay's events, first created in 2007, and is heavily inspired by Mr. Psycho. It uses a ten-tonne crushing claw on the end of a lifting arm, and a 40kg overhead hammer, powered pneumatically. Major Damage differs from Mr. Psycho due to the flamethrower found inside its claws, first added in 2013. Major Damage runs on tracks, and is extremely heavy at roughly 1000kg, evidenced by the fact the House Robot has yet to be flipped.

Unnamed Featherweight

In 2017, as part of an educational video, John Findlay challenged himself to build a featherweight robot for less than £200. Made out of wood, the featherweight was not built to be competitive, and it lacks a weapon, but Findlay achieved his goal by spending only £193 on the project.

Cyclone

Main article: Cyclone (UK)

Cyclone at the Extreme Robots event at Gloucester 2017

Smasher at Clash Bots

In 2017, John Findlay built a new heavyweight called Cyclone (not to be confused with the US or Dutch series competitors), an invertible, six-wheel drive robot with a wedged box-shaped chassis and a front-hinged flipper, similar in design to Robot Wars World Champion, Storm 2. Cyclone made its live events debut in April 2017 at the Robots Live! Burgess Hill event, and became a regular and successful competitor at Extreme Robots events. Additionally, it applied for Series 10, but was not selected to compete. Cyclone later competed on the Chinese TV show Clash Bots under the name Smasher, where the robot's lithium polymer batteries were damaged by Dark Wolf, causing Smasher to lose in a blaze of smoke.

Cyclone 360

Following Cyclone/Smasher's loss on Clash Bots, a completely new version, Cyclone 360, was built in 2018, assuming the form of a full-body spinner made out of a wheel hub. Cyclone 360 debuted at the Extreme Robots Portsmouth event that year and was later retired and replaced with Gladiator.

St Ripper

St Ripper when it was first built

St Ripper (initially pronounced Stripper) was the second spinner that John Findlay built in 2018, this time using a spinning 'drisc' on a invertible machine. St Ripper was driven by two large tyres, protected by spoked framework surrounding the outside of the machine. St Ripper made its combat debut at the Extreme Robots events held in September 2018, beginning with Colchester where it finished in second place, defeating Aftershock to reach the final before losing to Ripper.

St Ripper with four-wheel drive

After these events, St Ripper was upgraded to use a four-wheel drive, alongside a stronger weapon shaft, and a yellow and dark green paint scheme. This version of St Ripper won the Extreme Robots event held in Maidstone under a new driver, by once again defeating Aftershock in its final battle. It was less successful in Cheltenham, losing its first-round battle against 2point0, and lost its losers' melee to TR3. At Portsmouth 2019, St Ripper performed well throughout the event, but sustained major damage in a loss to Aftershock.

Team Roaming Robots had originally intended to enter the Chinese TV show Clash Bots with an invertible drum spinner named Guan Yu, but ultimately John Findlay's role on the show was not that of a competitor, so Guan Yu was never seen. It is possible that Guan Yu's design later became St Ripper.

In 2024, a rebuild of St Ripper (also officially formatted as St-Ripper) would be created from the second chassis originally made for Ripper's BattleBots 2020 incarnation. Similarly to Mongrel, it reused one of the spinning bars originally utilised by Galactus, paired with spare drive motors already owned by Team Roaming Robots. This build of St-Ripper debuted at Extreme Robots Doncaster on 20-21 April 2024, fighting and losing its only 'Spinner Battle' of the weekend to Mongrel. A similar fate befell St-Ripper at its next appearance in Newcastle (6-7 July), where it was flipped over and eliminated from a three-way Spinner clash won by The Last Slice. Further appearances at Colchester (14-15 September) saw it lose both of its allocated head-to-head matches against Zadkiel, while suffering issues with its weapon system. Extensive damage was inflicted to St-Ripper's bodywork before and after its immobilisations, with John Findlay refusing to tap out on both occasions.

Dominator

Dominator at Clash Bots

In the Chinese TV show Clash Bots, two robots much larger than traditional competitors fought a battle against regulation competitors, one of which was Dominator (not to be confused with the former UK Series competitor). This robot was heavily inspired by Major Damage, in turn inspired by Mr. Psycho, and was equipped with a similar claw, hammer weapon, and tracks. Dominator is a separate robot to Major Damage, built in the space of just over two weeks.

Galactus

Galactus in early 2019

Galactus V2 in July 2019

Galactus was a heavyweight robot built by John Findlay in the first half of 2019, alongside You Little Ripper. Galactus is a black and yellow invertible robot armed with a horizontal bar spinner, powered by a 'battle hardened' Etek from Carbide. It sustained structural damage at its first Extreme Robots event, so the robot was entirely rebuilt in July 2019, now weighing 100kg.

Galactus (bottom-left) in 2023, with Ripper 5 and 6, Dantomkia, Kan-Opener, Halo and Beast

Following a multi-year hiatus, Galactus returned in May 2023 for the Extreme Robots Brentwood event, now sporting a red-painted bar. Competing in the main shows alongside Ripper and Beast, it achieved two knockout wins against Robot Wars competitors Donald Thump and Aftershock, though not without having its weapon motor slip both times. Galactus made a further appearance at the Brentwood leg the following month, competing in a 'Spinner Challenge' against Brutus. There, it would lose after continuously being deflected, then immobilised, by the Belgian entry. Two further losses followed at Extreme Robots Newcastle on 22-23 July, both in 'Spinner Battles' against Donald Thump and Zadkiel respectively. As an attempt to counter Team Saint's axlebot spinner, Galactus was fitted with new HDPE top armour in the latter. This configuration was again used against Zadkiel during the 17 September Colchester show, though Galactus would once again be defeated in destructive fashion and subsequently retired. Both of Galactus' spinning bars would be repurposed for Tyrone Ellis' Mongrel, as well as the 2024 build of St-Ripper.

You Little Ripper

You Little Ripper

In May 2019, John Findlay completed a middleweight version of Ripper, also known as You Little Ripper, scaling down the design of Model 6. It is a regular competitor at middleweight battles held during Extreme Robots events, winning its very first middleweight event in Portsmouth during its May 2019 debut.

Widget

Widget's official image

Widget is a 350kg tracked robot completed by John Findlay in May 2020. A weaponless design intended to function as a robotic dog-esque machine, its signature features include an articulated arm with a fully-animated bionic eye, lower jaw and ears, along with a 'wagging' tail at the rear.

Other Robots Acquired

Stinger

Stinger in 2010

John Findlay purchased Stinger in late 2009 and entered into the 2010 UK Championship and the Annihilator where it finished fourth. After withdrawing from the 2011 UK Championships, it was returned to just being a static display robot. It has since returned to combat in 2014.

Stinger at Robot Wars live

Stinger made its debut in the new Robot Wars live events in 2014 at Colchester. It has won several 'retro battles' against robots including Mr Nasty, Bulldog Breed and The Steel Avenger, and defeated Iron-Awe 5 at The World of Robots 2016.

As of November 2024, Stinger remains in operational condition, with combat appearances at RoboRiots in Dublin (5-6 October) and 'Fight Club' matches at Extreme Robots Maidstone (19-20 October).

Mighty Mouse

Mighty Mouse in late 2015

In 2013, John revealed that he has Mighty Mouse's shell on loan and is taking it to school events.

Schumey Too

Schumey Too in 2014

In May 2014, John acquired Schumey Too. In August, Schumey Too was sold to Krissy Knee, the owner of Rybot. Eventually it was retired due to battle damage.

X-Terminator

X-Terminator in 2016

Acquired by John in December 2014 from Team ENIGMA, X-Terminator appeared as a static display for the Robot Wars Live events, only competing in one battle. John used X-Terminator's axe mechanism for Halo and kept X-Terminator as an empty shell for display. It has been retired.

The Steel Avenger

The Steel Avenger in 2014

The Steel Avenger was acquired by John from Team ENIGMA in December 2014. The Steel Avenger fought in several 'retro battles' and was also reserved for the Platinum VIP package, where fans who purchased the tickets could drive it in "Pay to drive" fights against other retro competitors.

Bulldog Breed

Bulldog Breed in 2013

John purchased Bulldog Breed from Team Tilly in 2014. It was reserved for 'retro battles' and for the Platinum VIP package, where fans who purchased the tickets could drive it in "Pay to drive" fights against other retro competitors.

DTK

Dantomkia as DTK

John Findlay acquired the former Dantomkia Mk 4, renamed to DTK, from John Bell in late 2014, who was retiring from robot combat. DTK fought in live events throughout 2015 under Findlay's ownership. In 2016, it was reserved for the Platinum VIP package for ticket holders to drive after the Robot Wars live tour shows, a practice carried over into the subsequent Extreme Robots events. During this time, DTK reverted to its original yellow and black paint scheme, and remains in use for Platinum VIP battles as of 2023.

Kan-Opener

Kan-Opener J-Spec in 2017

In February 2017, John Findlay acquired Kan-Opener J-Spec from Jason Marston, and converted its horizontal crusher to run on low-pressure CO₂ instead of hydraulics. It is normally reserved for Platinum VIP ticket holders at Extreme Robots shows, enabling it to be driven by spectators in "Pay to drive" fights. Findlay also drove Kan-Opener J-Spec at the 2020 Irish Heavyweight Championship run by Mechatrons, where it was jammed between the wall and floor by Immersion in the first round. As of 2024, Kan-Opener J-Spec remains an active competitor on the heavyweight circuit, in addition to its role as an Extreme Robots Platinum VIP robot.

Cyber Raptor

In 2014, John Findlay purchased Robogeddon from Andrew Cotterell, which also involved the acquisition of the Mobile Robogeddon transportable arena and an individual RCV unit (named Cyber Raptor) for use at Robot Wars and Extreme Robots-branded live events. Initially, the latter retained the four-wheel drive system, chassis and electric lifting arm originally designed by RobotsRus, and in this form was used as a Platinium VIP drivable robot as well as occasional arena battles.

For the 2018 Extreme Robots tour onwards, Cyber Raptor was extensively rebuilt into a tracked robot armed with a ramming scoop and flamethrower, primarily used as a house robot for featherweight battles. It, however, retains the shell and name of the original RCV-based machine.

Sparta

Sparta at Clash Bots

Although it is not confirmed who built Sparta, John Findlay drove Sparta as a competitor on Clash Bots, where he had also driven Ripper, and entered Smasher. Sparta greatly resembled the BattleBots competitor Mohawk, sporting a hydraulic crushing arm topped with bristles. The robot used a steep wedge shape, and was driven by two wheels. Sparta was able to overturn the Brazilian robot Dark Wolf with a charge, but its wheels were targeted by the vertical spinner, and Sparta was immobilised.

Previously Owned Robots

• Double Action
• Orbiter, previously Double Action, now retired
• Rybot before being completed
• Rybot after being modified
• Hammertime
• S.M.I.D.S.Y. in 2010
• Stripper, equipped with Neoteric's old blade
• Beauty 2 and Rip-Off in 2013

1/8

Double Action

John Findlay built a new heavyweight machine called Double Action with a flipper/axe, nicknamed a "Flax", weapon. Double Action was converted into a robot with a front hinged flipper called Orbiter. Team Roaming Robots and Team Mouse were originally working together to turn Orbiter into an axe-wielding robot. The plan to convert Orbiter into an axe wielding robot fell through, and Orbiter is now called Rybot and was in the possession of Krissy Knee. Rybot made its debut at the Robot Wars Winter tour final in Gloucester, later competing in the 2015 World Championship.

Hammertime

The team also occasionally fought with Hammertime, a reincarnation of Corkscrew Two with the spinner removed and an axe added. The axe was removed and given to Scorpion, turning Hammertime into a rambot, before it was sold to Team Tilly and became Dizzy Tilly, eventually competing on Clash Bots.

S.M.I.D.S.Y.

In 2010 Team Roaming Robots bought S.M.I.D.S.Y. from Team Hydra, but later sold it on to Team Avenger, who after one event sold it again to Team Troublesome, changing hands once again to Gary Cairns, and finally to Team ACE.

Storm Force

The team also owned Storm Force before it was sold to Liam Bryant.

Scar

The team have owned Scar which, along with T-Bone, was sold to a Glasgow-based team who also owned Eric and Chimera.

Pussycat

John Findlay briefly owned Pussycat, using it for static display, before returning it to Alan Gribble in 2013.

Mr Nasty

Mr Nasty in 2016

John Findlay acquired Mr Nasty from Team ENIGMA in December 2014. It fought in 'retro battles' at Robot Wars-branded events until November 2015, after which it became a parts donor for Findlay's other robots. The rolling chassis of Mr Nasty was retired from combat and used as a display piece for the 2016 live season. It was acquired by Dutch collector Lars Bakker in September 2023.

Televised appearances

John Findlay's career in robotics has led to him making various televised appearances outside of Robot Wars, usually alongside Ripper. In 2011, John Findlay appeared on Epic Win and controlled Ripper, as it attempted to escape from a caravan, with assistance from Thor, but ultimately had to forfeit after the robots became stuck.

In 2012, John Findlay appeared on the BBC Two programme Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is where he bought eight toy robots for £75, and also allowed antiques expert Paul Hayes to drive Ripper.

In October 2014, John Findlay appeared on Pawn Stars UK, where he attempted to sell Ripper and Beast to a buyer. However, he declined the offer he was given, as the stated price was too low.

In October 2017, John Findlay appeared during the thirteenth series of The Apprentice, alongside his robots Ripper, Kan-Opener and Major Damage. He allowed a group of businesswomen to battle Ripper and Kan-Opener against each other. Both robots would also be temporarily repainted to appear in an online promotional video for betting agency William Hill, with viewers 'betting' on the winner of the fight.

John Findlay was a competitor on the Chinese TV show Clash Bots, as part of a fictitiously villainous team, alongside Peter Redmond, Tyrone Ellis and their Chinese captain. Findlay and his team did not enter the main competition, but fought in a series of exhibition battles for narrative purposes. As part of this team, Findlay drove Ripper and Sparta, while Peter Redmond drove Findlay's machine Smasher. John Findlay's House Robot-type machine Dominator also appeared on the show, separate from Findlay's team. The 'villainous' team featuring John Findlay did not win any of their battles.

John Findlay was also featured in an episode of Scrap Kings detailing the upgrades made to Cyclone 360.

External Links

• The Robot Wars UK Live Tour website
• The Extreme Robots 2017 UK Live Tour website