- "Riddle me this, riddle me that; who's afraid of the big black bat?"
- — Eric Stoliker's challenge to the opposition before Round 1
The Bat was a heavyweight robot which competed in Season 2 of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. In its only appearance, it reached the Heat Final after back-to-back split decisions, where it lost to Rocky-Bot-Boa.
The Bat was captained by Patrick Campbell of Team Minus Zero, who had prior experience competing in UK and US events with TMZ, Cyberknight and UK Series 4 War of Independence runner-up frenZy.
Design[]
- "The Bat, in at 204 pounds, has got a 2,500 rpm vertical spinner, and I have no idea what those wings are supposed to do!"
- — Stefan Frank introduces The Bat

The Bat in the arena

Side profile of The Bat
The Bat had an unusual design based on a bat, with a rounded dome-shaped body and exceptionally large side wings. The wings had a wing span of nine feet, six inches, and could be raised and lowered into various positions in unison; however, their purpose was purely decorative, and they proved prone to falling off during battles. The Bat's main weapon was a 25lb, six-toothed vertical flywheel, powered by four EV Warrior motors to reach a speed of 2,500 rpm, which proved capable of damaging and throwing heavyweight robots off the arena floor. The Bat also featured a hinged angled wedge at the rear, used to push opponents around in the event of its flywheel becoming disabled.
- "First we concentrated on the drive train and battery location inside the body. Then we considered the weapon."
- — Patrick Campbell on designing The Bat in the Extreme Warriors Season 2 Programme[1]

The Bat in Round 1

Rear view of The Bat
The robot was electrically driven by two wheelchair motors, had IFI speed controllers, and the flywheel was powered by 4 EV Warrior motors. It was built between December 27th 2001 and Jan 14th 2002[2].
- "For the weapon, we needed flat motors and the one we found were not very strong, so we ended up using 4 of them. The challenge was getting them to drive the weapon with a belt."
- — Patrick Campbell describes The Bat's weapon system in the Extreme Warriors Season 2 Programme[3]
For currently unknown reasons, The Bat's flywheel was reversed in its heat eliminator and final battles so that the blunted sides of the teeth struck the opposing robot.
The Team[]

Gotham Robotics in the pits
The Bat was built by Patrick Campbell of Team Minus Zero and Eric Stoliker of Team Tatar[4]. The two met whilst competing in live events, and after discovering they both worked Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley they teamed up to build robots.[5]
For their entry into Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors, the team were known as Gotham Robotics. Patrick Campbell controlled the robot, and Barbara Romero was the third team member.
Robot History[]
Season 2[]
The Bat was up against fellow newcomer Rocky-Bot-Boa and Season 1 returnee Medusa Oblongotta in its first foray into Robot Wars. It entered the battle with the teeth on its vertical spinner pointing downwards.
- "Well, the bat's got bite! We've got fangs here, it's gonna suck the blood out of the competitors. We've got a nine foot six wing span that's gonna strike fear into their hearts!"
- — Patrick Campbell describes The Bat to Carol Grow

Rocky-Bot-Boa and Medusa Oblongotta removes one of The Bat's wings

The Bat throws Medusa Oblongotta into the air
It managed to get several hits on Medusa, and break Rocky's top panel off, but was eventually immobilized. The Bat was then counted out by Refbot and pushed into the Pit by Sgt. Bash. However, the Judges decided that Medusa Oblongotta had been immobilized around the same time, so they intervened and took the battle to a Judges' decision. 2-1, The Bat was chosen to progress over Medusa Oblongotta.
In the second round, The Bat faced another fellow newcomer Mad Cow Bot, this time with the teeth on its spinning disc rotating upwards.

The Bat flips Mad Cow Bot over with its flywheel

The Bat and Mad Cow Bot lay immobile
At the start, The Bat hit Mad Cow Bot with its spinning disc, flipping it straight onto its back. Mad Cow Bot came in and knocked both of The Bat's wings off. The Bat's weapon belt fell off, leaving its disc useless. However, Mad Cow Bot had lost drive in one of its wheels. The Bat used its back wedge to push Mad Cow Bot around and eventually Mad Cow Bot lost its weapon belt as well. The Bat pushed the still spinning Mad Cow Bot onto the Flame Pit as time ran out. The Judges decided that The Bat was more mobile and let it go through to the Heat Final against Rocky-Bot-Boa, although Mick Foley would later reveal that this was yet another split decision that put The Bat through.
The Bat had advanced to the Heat Final against Rocky-Bot-Boa, and entered the fight with its flywheel teeth pointing downwards again.

The Bat roasts on the fire

Rocky Bot Boa pushes The Bat towards the Pit
The Bat's disc was able to spin up, but Rocky-Bot-Boa avoided the disc and pushed The Bat into the CPZ with Shunt, where it was axed. The Bat could not catch its more manoeuvrable opponent, and was constantly broadsided. The Bat was then roasted on the Flame Pit before Rocky-Bot-Boa eventually pushed it into the Pit of Oblivion.
- "Rocky had a little bat barbecue on the way!"
- — Stefan Frank reflects on Rocky-Bot-Boa's win over The Bat
Results[]
THE BAT - RESULTS | ||
US Season 2 Heat Final | ||
Heat B, Eliminator | vs. Medusa Oblongotta, Rocky-Bot-Boa | Qualified |
Heat B, Round 2 | vs. Mad Cow Bot | Won |
Heat B, Final | vs. Rocky-Bot-Boa | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 2
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
US Series | The Bat Series Record |
---|---|
Season 1 | Did not enter |
Season 2 | Heat Final |
Nickelodeon | Did not enter |
NOTE: Team Minus Zero entered the War of Independence during the fourth UK series, as well as the MTV Pilot, with frenZy.
Gallery[]
Outside Robot Wars[]
For more information on Team Minus Zero's excursions outside of Robot Wars, see frenZy.
Eric Stoliker also entered Battlebots as captain of Team Tatar. They entered a series of robots; Tatar, Bender and Nsyncerator. Eric Stoliker later joined Team Tuxbot when they entered Violator, before joining American Performance Robotics when they entered Havoc and Fork-N-Stein.
Patrick Campbell and Eric Stoliker worked together to build and enter Wendingo into Robotica, which reached the Fight to the Finish before losing to Jaw Breaker. They also competed in the Super Heavyweight Division of BattleBots with a modified version of Wendingo. In Season 3.0, it was known as Africanized Killer Bot, and it competed as Marauder in Season 4.0. In both series, it won one battle, before losing the second.
Trivia[]
- "Extensive driving. We didn't want to bang up the weapon too much since it is real pretty. So we only hit cardboard boxes."
- — Patrick Campbell describes the testing of The Bat in the Extreme Warriors Programme[6]
- The team's name Gotham Robotics, is a reference to Gotham City, the home of the comic book hero Batman. The team also had the Batman logo on their t-shirts, decorated their pit bench with a Batman mask, and Eric Stoliker's line "Riddle me this, riddle me that, who's afraid of the big black bat?" is a reference to the character The Riddler, an enemy of Batman.
- Despite not being the team captain, Barbara Romero was only speaker in the robot's backstage introduction.
- Barbara Romero was absent from the team's Round 2 battle, and Patrick Campbell was not present for the interview before the Heat Final, but was present for the battle itself.
References[]
- ↑ Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors - Official Souvenir Programme 2002, Page 11
- ↑ Team Minus Zero website - Robots (Archived)
- ↑ Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors - Official Souvenir Programme 2002, Page 11
- ↑ Team Minus Zero website - Robots (Archived)
- ↑ Robotica Season 1 Episode 3 (Archived)
- ↑ Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors - Official Souvenir Programme 2002, Page 10
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