The Bishop

The Bishop
Participation Information
US 1994-1997 Events	1997
Other Names	Bishop
Team Information
Team Members	Stephen Gaudio
From	Berkeley, California
Robot Statistics
Power	Gel cell batteries
Weapons	Abrasive/cutting discs
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

The Bishop (also simply shortened to Bishop) was a middleweight robot which competed at the 1997 US Robot Wars competition. Built by Stephen Gaudio, it endured limited success in the Middleweight Face-Off championship, being consigned to the Loser's Bracket after losing its debut fight against Turtle Roadkiller. After picking up a win over Bubba, The Bishop would then be eliminated by eventual class champion Vicious-1. The Bishop's fortunes improved in the subsequent Middleweight Melee tournament, where it reached the overall final, though it lost to Turtle Roadkiller on an audience vote.

Design

The Bishop without armor

The Bishop was an invertible robot with an unusual four-wheeled layout, and a machined aluminum chassis with steel covers. The wheels - fitted with foam tires - were propelled by two large motors, each using dual shafts and worm reduction gearing. All were positioned in a vertical arrangement at the back, with two at the base and two on top. Sets of small castors supported the robot from the front and back; two 'A'-shaped plates were attached to prevent side-stranding. The Bishop's wheel arrangement was not too dissimilar to that later adopted by UK Series heavyweight Pussycat, though other aspects of its design differed greatly from the future UK runner-up, or similar machines built by the Cold Fusion Team.

At the front, The Bishop was armed with an 'abrasive cutting wheel', powered by a 2-stroke engine, with which it would be able to attack opponents while keeping them distanced from its main electronics. During combat, the wheel proved fragile, resulting in it being exchanged for a diamond saw partway through its Middleweight Face-Off run. Further damage inflicted by Vicious-1 caused The Bishop to fight its Melee battles without an active weapon, instead resorting to sit-and-spin tactics.

Internally, the chassis of The Bishop was designed so that one half would be occupied by the front saw engine, and the other occupied by its drive and electronic systems. A 'spring-isolation' system was placed between the two halves, minimizing the amount of vibration that could affect The Bishop's electronics. However, a lack of dampening within this system caused the whole robot to shake and bounce on occasions. Gel cell batteries and a 'homemade speed controller' completed the robot's internals, which were protected by symmetrical steel plates at the back.

Robot History

1997 US Championship

The Bishop's 1997 run began in the Middleweight Face-Off, where it was drawn to fight Turtle Roadkiller in the first round. Before the battle could even start, it was beset by various technical issues affecting its functionality. Not only was the internal combustion engine powering The Bishop's saw inactive - rendering it weaponless - but its 'drive controls' also required extra work in order for it to be combat-ready. The start of the fight was delayed as a consequence, though The Bishop's drive issues were resolved in time for it to compete.

Both robots charged into each other in the opening seconds, with The Bishop's ground clearance quickly being breached by Turtle Roadkiller. Surviving an attempted lift by Lawrence Tan's machine, The Bishop broke free, only to be rammed a second time as Turtle Roadkiller drove to and from the arena wall. More nudges and bumps were exchanged as the two machines kept attempting to out-drive each other. However, The Bishop was driven under and pushed across the arena multiple times, while finding itself speared by one of the spike traps at one point.

Ultimately, The Bishop survived to a Judges' decision, but lost to Turtle Roadkiller on points.

The Bishop received another chance to compete through the Loser's Bracket. Joining the bracket from the second round, it would face Bubba, itself joining the Middleweight Face-Off following an early defeat in the Heavyweight category.

The Bishop tears into the side of Bubba

With a fully-functioning weapon, it started by approaching its recently-rebuilt opponent, which itself was suffering major control issues. The Bishop, smoking copiously, drove its cutter into the side of Bubba, sending sparks and dust flying. More smoke erupted from The Bishop as it kept attacking, though a few more collisions with Bubba were enough to cause the disc to shatter. Now virtually weaponless, it resorted to pushing Alex Ramirez's machine around multiple times, while still trying to use the remains of its cutter.

While Bubba continued to demonstrate erratic control, The Bishop was deflected away a few times as the former restored to sit-and-spin tactics. Both competitors spent the rest of the fight bumping each other, and ultimately survived to a Judges' decision. The decision - along with the match win - was given to The Bishop on control and aggression.

The third stage of the Loser's Bracket saw The Bishop fighting another spinner-wielding machine - Vicious-1. For this, the shattered abrasive cutter was replaced with a diamond saw.

As in the previous battle, the faster-starting Bishop billowed smoke as both robots approached each other in the opening seconds. However, it was nudged from the side by Mike Regan's machine, and was unable to bring its newly-fitted saw into a position to attack. The Bishop was pushed further by Vicious-1, with its right-rear corner also vulnerable against the latter's spiked spinning hammers. One impact caused the hammers to stop altogether. However, this did not prevent The Bishop from being controlled by Vicious-1, with neither machine being able to aim their weaponry for some time.

The Bishop grinds into the side of Vicious-1

Eventually, The Bishop began attacking Vicious-1's wedge shape, sparks flying as its saw made contact with the latter's stainless steel panels a few times. Moments later, it took hits from Vicious-1's hammers, while continuing to be pushed back across the arena and into one of the flipper hazards. One blow to The Bishop's weapon assembly caused the transmission for its saw to jam, and its engine to stall. The Bishop survived further pushes from Vicious-1 until the end bell rang. Even with its visually-impressive attacks, it would lose the battle on a Judges' decision. The Bishop was eliminated from the Middleweight Face-Off as a result.

Later on, The Bishop competed in the Middleweight Melee tournament, fighting Anubis, Satan's Revenge, Satoru Special IV and Turtle Roadkiller in its preliminary round. With its cutter mechanism damaged beyond repair, it would fight throughout this event without a weapon.

The weaponless Bishop (left, midground) keeps itself distant from Anubis

The Bishop immediately collided with Satoru Special IV, moments before it was subjected to attempted lift attacks by Turtle Roadkiller. After this, it dodged the upper spike trap and started duelling with the otherwise tentative Satan's Revenge. Turtle Roadkiller disrupted The Bishop's onslaught by driving under and briefly lifting it upwards. Upon being released, The Bishop repeatedly backed into Satan's Revenge's chainsaw. The collisions were sufficient to break the outer chain of Satan's Revenge's weapon over time.

After several moments, The Bishop eventually drove away, past the upper-left flipper, and up the front wedge shape of Anubis. Satoru Special IV drove into the side of both machines, at the same time that Anubis backed away and allowed The Bishop to escape. The Bishop rammed Satoru Special IV again as the trio, joined by Satan's Revenge, closed in on each other. While Turtle Roadkiller rammed and pushed Satan's Revenge into the left-most wall, and Satoru Special IV drove away, The Bishop found itself being lifted and pushed towards the lower-left corner by Anubis. It responded by bumping into the side of Anubis as all five competitors converged.

There, The Bishop was briefly pinned and lifted against Anubis by Turtle Roadkiller but remained mobile and headed towards the center. Upon driving up Anubis' side once more, it was rammed from the back by a charging Turtle Roadkiller. The impact threw The Bishop over the top of Alexander Ko's machine, causing it to be flipped over as it landed on Turtle Roadkiller's raised lifter. Unharmed by this, The Bishop drove away from the resulting pile-up between its two opponents, Satan's Revenge and Satoru Special IV, rearing up a few times and colliding with the left bumper.

During a three-way duel between Satan's Revenge, Satoru Special IV and Turtle Roadkiller, The Bishop twice charged front-first into the trio as they became locked together and tried to separate. Rearing up again near the upper-left flipper, it took multiple blows to the back panels from the swinging hazard, before it and Satan's Revenge were rammed simultaneously by Turtle Roadkiller. The Bishop, seemingly unaffected by the flipper, drove away towards and spun in the center as the Melee approached its final minute.

There, it was pressured by Satoru Special IV, which crept around the back of The Bishop and hooked it with the pickaxe. The Bishop was also rammed once again by Turtle Roadkiller, which tried to lift it and Satan's Revenge at the same time. The Bishop backed away as Turtle Roadkiller continued attacking Satan's Revenge, only to take two more rams from the green and yellow machine.

During the final thirty seconds, The Bishop was ganged up on by Satan's Revenge and Satoru Special IV. Again, it and Satan's Revenge were bulldozed by Turtle Roadkiller, which flicked The Bishop onto its back end with another glancing ram. The Bishop spent the last moments colliding with Satan's Revenge, only to be pushed back by Ken Swenson's machine before the end bell rang. All robots were officially deemed to be still mobile by the end of the Melee. The Bishop - along with Satan's Revenge, Satoru Special IV and Turtle Roadkiller - was among the four competitors to ultimately compete again in the Middleweight Melee Final.

For overall 1997 Middleweight Melee honors, the quartet faced Pokey and the recently-crowned Face-Off champion Vicious-1 - the second time The Bishop would face the latter in competition.

The Bishop quickly converged with Satoru Special IV and Vicious-1 near the center, but played a minimal part until it began spinning around and hitting Vicious-1 from the left-hand side. It would proceed to attack Satan's Revenge, as in the previous Melee, only to be pushed around at separate moments by Vicious-1 and Turtle Roadkiller at separate moments. After the battle was paused to allow Turtle Roadkiller to be unstuck from the wall, The Bishop found itself being pushed back towards Vicious-1 by Pokey. It spun out of the way just in time, resulting in Vicious-1 scooping Curt Meyers' machine up and continuing the pair's earlier duel.

Not long afterwards, The Bishop found itself in a pile-up also involving Vicious-1, Satoru Special IV, Satan's Revenge and Turtle Roadkiller. It was then carried away from the scene by Turtle Roadkiller, before taking blows from Vicious-1's spinning weapon. The Bishop was next pushed backwards into the left wall bumper by Pokey, which fired the remains of its forklift - damaged by Vicious-1 - as it did so. Pressure by Vicious-1 on Pokey allowed The Bishop to escape. As the Melee entered its final minute, The Bishop found itself being pushed around on a few more occasions by Mike Regan's machine.

Following a second pause to free Turtle Roadkiller - with only twelve seconds remaining - The Bishop was launched into the air by a ram from Lawrence Tan's entry. It was pushed and flipped over against the left wall, but survived the full duration once again. On the subsequent audience vote, The Bishop lost the 1997 Middleweight Melee championship to Turtle Roadkiller, marking the end of its short US Robot Wars campaign.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 2
• Losses: 3

Series Record

Events	The Bishop Event Record
1994	Did not enter
1995	Did not enter
1996	Did not enter
1997	Middleweight Face-Off, Loser's Bracket, Round 3 Middleweight Melee, Final