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"Oh, don’t make a pig’s ear of this! Go on, hog the headlines!"
— Jonathan Pearce introduces The Hassocks Hog in Series 6

The Hassocks Hog was a competitor from West Sussex that fought in Series 6 and Series 7 of Robot Wars. Two different versions entered, using the name Hassocks Hog 2 in the Seventh Wars, but both lost in the first round.

Versions of Hassocks Hog[]

The Hassocks Hog[]

"...the angled rear end that will prevent the Hog being upended and stranded sitting on it's bum. The other things to notice are the ears. These are not only there to look pretty, but they will make it harder for the Hog to be rolled over sideways. It will either fall back onto its wheels, or will roll completely over onto its back. The Hog will have a self righting tail that runs along it's back, so that this should always be able to flip the Hog back on its wheels. Well that's the theory anyway! There is also the flipping mouth with a scoop at the front, and of course not forgetting the tusks."
— Noel Poncelet on The Hassocks Hog website[1]
Hassocks Hog Arena

The Hassocks Hog in the arena during Series 6

Hog rear side view 1

The rear of The Hassocks Hog. Note the absence of rear armour

The original Hassocks Hog was a large box wedge with a flipper, similar to the Series 6 and 7 versions of Iron-Awe, only taller and featuring a self-righting “tail” on the top instead of an axe. This version had no real efficiency motors and the flipper was low power, powered by two pneumatic (32mm bore x 200mm stroke) rams acting more as a lifter, but the robot was quite fast, with two 12v 800W winch motors giving a top speed of 17mph. The robot was also armed with a couple of metal spike "tusks" on the front". The robot was powered by 12V Steatite batteries, and had a custom-made motor controller. [2]

Philippa Forrester: "What's your weakness would you say, apart from Matilda?"
Noel Poncelet: "Apart from Matilda, no efficiency motors and I've got a lifter rather than a flipper."
— Pre-Round 1 interview

Despite surviving to the end of its first round battle in The Sixth Wars, it was deemed by the judges to have become immobilised, as it was only driving around in circles, having lost drive on one side, and it was therefore eliminated.

Hassocks Hog 2[]

"The first battle was now over, so it was time to review what to do. The question was whether to repair the Hog and restore it to its former glory, or to review the lessons learnt and make some changes. The areas where I wanted to make some improvements were: Clad the complete robot to reduce the damage sustained from the flame pit. Increase the power and efficiency of the motors by upgrading the motor controller from 12v to 24v (or higher). Improve the power of the flipper. Reduce the overall size of the robot. Remove the need for a self-righter, or combine it with other features/weapons. Allow control of the robot without the need of a radio transmitter. I'm still a bit undecided about which way to go, but am erring on the "new robot" side of the fence at the moment rather that the rebuild side."
— Noel Poncelet on The Hassocks Hog website[3]
Hog2 paint job side view

Hassocks Hog 2

After the defeat of the original Hassocks Hog, a new machine, Hassocks Hog 2, styled on the team's banner as Hassocks Hog II, was built, designed to address the flaws of the original machine. The second version was more compact, fully enclosed in armour, and featured efficiency motors and the lifter was replaced with a pneumatic flipper. Like the original, the lip of the flipper was also equipped with small hooks to hold robots in place and add decoration.

"We’ve come back this year with a much improved flipper. We had a limp lifter last year, now we’ve got some serious pneumatics. So we’re hoping to flip a few, rather than just tip them."
— Noel Poncelet, introducing the new and improved Hassocks Hog 2 in Series 7
Hassockshog 2 pits

Hassocks Hog 2 in the pits

Many features of the second version were the same as the original, such as the chain drives with a 9:1 gear ratio, the go kart wheels, a custom-made motor controller, and a Futaba 6YG six channel radio gear, but many aspects were improved, such as more powerful motors (Two 12v 630W Bosch motors, overrun at 24 volts), more powerful batteries (Two 12volt 12AH Yuasa batteries making 24volts)[4].

The improvements did not help the new machine do any better in the competition, as it was flipped over very quickly and failed to self right because its flipper failed to work, meaning it went out in the first round again.

Hassocks Hog II

Hassocks Hog 2 in the arena

Hog2 paint job underpants

The pants painted on the bottom of Hassocks Hog 2

Both machines had spotted underpants painted on the bottom of the robot. These were shown in a post-battle interview in Series 6, and were shown to the audience as Mr. Psycho picked up the robot after defeat in Series 7. Both machines had large, furry, stabilising ears, and the team wore hats with furry ears that matched the ears on the robot.

Noel Poncelet: "We also have the furry ears to stabilise it as well, they're functional as well as being ... a target!"
Jayne Middlemiss: "Is the furriness though, not a bit of a fire hazard?"
Noel Poncelet: "Yes, I have to say, its going to look good when they catch fire. We’re not looking forward to seeing Sgt. Bash in there!"
— Noel and Jayne discuss the Hog’s furry ears in Series 7

Etymology[]

"It was because of his father Noel named it the Hassocks Hog. He said every time his father, who is French, built a vehicle, he called it un sanglier, which is French for hog or boar. Hog goes well with Hassocks and Noel thought it would be a good nickname."
— Part of an article in The Argus in 2002[5]

The Hassocks Hog took its name due to the team captain Noel Poncelet's father naming his engineering projects "sanglier", which is French for hog, coupled with the team's home town.

The Team[]

"I had thought for some time about building a robot because all three of my children really loved watching the carnage each Friday night. My wife Jude had also suggested several times that I should have a go, but I wasn't too sure how or where to start. But always wanting a challenge I "bit the bullet" and joined the Robot Wars club in February 2000. For the first six months I bounced ideas of various people, including my father, brothers, and friends. I was hoping my brothers would take on some of the design work, but since we lived in different parts of England, it was not easy to get things moving very fast. In the end I decided to do the majority of design work myself, and bring other people in as-and-when required later on."
— Noel Poncelet on The Hassocks Hog website[6]
Hog 1 and team 2002

The team with the original Hassocks Hog

Team Hassocks Hog

The team at Series 6

The Hassocks Hog was built and driven by its team captain, Noel Poncelet, who was convinced to build the machine by his three sons, Jonathan, Robert and Daniel, with encouragement from his wife Jude.[7] Jonathan and Robert Poncelet joined their father on the televised team in both Series 6 and 7. Noel Poncelet was an electronics engineer, whose father had been an engineer who built unusual vehicles, which inspired his interest in engineering from a young age[8]. In both appearances, Noel Poncelet drove the robot and Jonathan operated the weapons.

Although the team were based in Hassocks, the namesake of the robot, Noel Poncelet's father was French, and before Series 7, he was offered the possibility of representing France in The Third World Championship, but nothing came of this idea. If Hassocks Hog had represented France, it would have been the only robot ever to do so.

"I had a phone call from Robot Wars asking if I was going to enter this years event. They also asked a few questions about me to see if there were any angles they could use on the next series. The fact that my father was French seemed to appeal to them because I could be involved in a European type of event as well as a UK one."
— Noel Poncelet before Series 7

Qualification[]

The team originally planned to enter Series 5, but were not ready in time for the Qualifiers[9].

"I finally got around to filling in the official Robot Wars entry form today. I filled in all the sections but wrote across the front page "May not be ready for series 5, but please include in for the following series". This was the advice of one of the Robot Wars ladies who I spoke to on the phone. She suggested writing this on the front so that they would keep me informed of any rule changes or events taking place in the future."
— Noel Poncelet in 2001

At the Series 6 qualifiers, The Hassocks Hog fought Ming 3, Revolution 2 and Devil Rider. At the start of the battle, Ming 3 was immobilised by Devil Rider, and Devil Rider then became stuck on the uneven floor, leaving the battle largely as a head-to-head between The Hassocks Hog and Revolution 2.

"As the voice called "three, two, one, activate," everyone went for Ming. We had a few collisions before one of the others managed to whip Ming's safety link out leaving him completely immobilised. ... "Immortalis" quickly became stationary next to Ming, and it was then up to "Revolution" and me to battle it out."
— Noel Poncelet on The Hassocks Hog website

After completing some lifts and slams into the arena wall, The Hassocks Hog overcame the damage it sustained from Revolution 2's spinning blades, which bent during the battle, and The Hassocks Hog won the battle on a Judges' decision. It therefore earned automatic entry into Series 6, while Ming 3 and Revolution 2 would also be given discretionary places to qualify[10].

"My flipper was a bit sluggish by now, possibly because the pneumatics were getting cold with all the flipping we were trying to do. It still operated, but only lifted the others rather than flipping them. It was interesting to then listen to us both talking to each other in the booth as we battled to the end. We would bump into each other and then say "oops, sorry about that", but the battle had to go on. "Revolution" managed to get a few good hits on us, but had severely buckled its spinning blades in the process. We still bashed into each other a bit before after one collision he half climbed on top of me, getting hooked on our tail. We dragged him about a bit, while Jonathan tried to shake him off by operating the tail. I eventually backed into the arena side wall which loosened him enough for the tail to finally push him off and back onto the arena floor. It was this final manoeuvre that gave us some extra "control" points. When they called "cease" we were the only two robots still mobile, and it wasn't until we descended from the booth did we know we had won. The kids were jubilant, and so was I. We had suffered a few holes in our cladding, but the chassis had held up well and saved us from any serious damage."
— Noel Poncelet on The Hassocks Hog website
Series 7 qualifiers damage 1

Damage caused by Disc-O-Inferno during the Series 7 qualifier

Hassocks Hog 2 fought Disc-O-Inferno, Hannibal and Sabretooth at the Series 7 qualifiers.

"This was not a good draw with Saber Tooth and Disco Inferno both being high energy spinners, and Hannibal being a full pressure flipper. I was less worried about Hannibal, but was wondering what size of bin bag I might have to use to take the Hog back home in if the spinners really went to town on me. There was some feeling within the roboteers that there should be different classes of robot in these events. Spinners are now becoming so well developed that they are able to inflict awesome and substantial damage, and it can seem a little unfair to pit them against the others."
— Noel Poncelet on the draw at the Series 7 qualifiers

It lost the battle, after receiving a large gash down the right-hand side and damage to the right drive train from the disc of Disc-O-Inferno, but received a discretionary place to qualify[11].

"As the fog horn sounded, I went for the safe option of attacking Hannibal, the flipper based robot. Disco Inferno went for Saber (sic) Tooth and immobilised it quite quickly by ripping off a side panel, and with it, its safety link. I felt it was now safe to go in and flip Saber Tooth in the air a few times, as did Hannibal. However, Hannibal's flipper jammed, and was unable to do any more flipping. I felt I had shown my flipper was able to do something, so gingerly wandered around the rest of the arena, trying desperately to keep out of the way of Disco Inferno's disk. I managed it for a while but then they went for me and all of a sudden the Hog was shot across the arena with a front panel flying into the air. The front was now exposed, and I could see the chassis was quite badly torn and bent. I also noticed that right hand drive was not working, and presumed the sudden jolt had caused the chain to jump off. I could only go in circles now, and it was obvious that Disco Inferno was the clear winner as the fog horn signaled the end of the battle. The Hog was unceremoniously shoved out of the arena by the house robots, so that I could then see the full extent of the damage. The producers came over and said that they would like me to take part in the main event provided I thought I could repair the robot. From the damage I could see, I felt it was possible and said "yes" I would be back on Tuesday. They told me I would be meeting Dantomkia, Rick, and King B 2 in the next round, which was an excellent draw because none of them had high energy spinners. All I had to do now was get the robot home and repair the damage within the next three days!"
— Noel Poncelet on The Hassocks Hog website

Robot History[]

Series 6[]

Philippa Forrester: "What’s this I hear about The Hassocks Hog having a thing for Matilda?"
Noel Poncelet: "It’s got this little affection; they look very similar, from the same stable so to speak; they’ve got tusks, snouty nose and they’ve got ears!"
— Noel and Philippa discuss the Hog’s love for Matilda

In Heat H of the Sixth Wars, The Hassocks Hog was drawn up against the experienced International Tag Team champion Ming 3, along with Team Panda's new robot Hot Pants, and Spam, the successor to Series 2 withdrawal Pain. The Hassocks Hog had already fought Ming 3 in its qualifier battle for the Sixth Wars, so it went straight for Andrew Cotterell's machine.

"In the booth with us was the Spam team. As we were waiting to start the battle I said to them, how about we go for the others before we go for each other. He agreed, so I said I would go for Ming while he went for Hot Pants."
— Noel Poncelet
Ming3andHotPantsattackHassocksHog

Ming 3 and Hot Pants attack The Hassocks Hog

Ming 3 vs Hot Pants

Hot Pants being attacked by Ming 3 and The Hassocks Hog

The Hassocks Hog started by charging down the arena, then swerved to avoid Ming 3 as it drove at it. The Hassocks Hog turned around as Ming 3 drove after Spam, then Hot Pants drove across the arena at it. Ming 3 couldn't catch Spam, so turned and drove back at The Hassocks Hog, ramming into the side. Ming 3 got its front wedge under the side, but as it tried to use the crusher, The Hassocks Hog slid off. Ming 3 tried getting under the side, but The Hassocks Hog turned to get off the front. Both machines turned around to face each other and drove together, trying to get under the other with their front wedges. The Hassocks Hog couldn't get under Ming 3's side, and missed with the lifter, and Ming 3 tried and failed to get under The Hassocks Hog's side.

"The Hassocks Hog, lovely design as well. Taking on Ming 3, Ming has never been beyond the Heats for the Cotterell family, fighting for the fourth time in Robot Wars, The Hassocks Hog new boys."
— Jonathan Pearce as Ming 3 fights The Hassocks Hog
HassocksHogliftsSpam

The Hassocks Hog lifts Spam

HassocksHogspinsonthespot

The Hassocks Hog spins on the spot whilst Ming 3 and Spam fight

The Hassocks Hog tried reversing away, but Hot Pants blocked its way, and Ming 3 drove around to the front. Hot Pants got besides The Hassocks Hog and fired its axe, hitting one of The Hassock's Hog's stabilising ears. This impact lifted Hot Pant's front off the floor, and also caused its safety key to fall out, immobilising it. The Hassocks Hog reversed, using its srimech to lift Hot Pant's axe off its top. The Hassocks Hot turned away from Hot Pants, and drove into Spam, which turned and drove away. The Hassocks Hog turned and drove to the other side of the arena. Spam rammed into the immobile Hot Pants, then charged at The Hassocks Hog. The Hassocks Hog drove into Spam as it charged into it, and the two slammed together. Spam bounced off The Hassocks Hog, and Spam drove away as The Hassocks Hog tried to use its lifter, firing it too late. Spam rammed into the back of the immobile Hot Pants, and pushed it into The Hassocks Hog's front. The Hassocks Hog used its lifter to lift Hot Pants, and Spam reversed away. The Hassocks Hog drove up the arena, then turned around. Ming 3 and Spam both drove into the immobile Hot Pants, with Ming 3 getting at the side, and Spam ramming into the back. The Hassocks Hog drove into the side of Hot Pants as Ming 3 grabbed it with its crusher, and managed to lift Hot Pants a little. Ming 3 pulled Hot Pants down the arena, and The Hassocks Hog rammed into the back. The Hassocks Hog tried to use the lifter on the back of Hot Pants, but before it could do so, Spam charged into the side, pushing it off the lifter and against the arena wall. The Hassocks Hog reversed across the arena as Ming 3 drove at it. Spam charged across the arena at The Hassocks Hog, which turned away. Spam drove past, and both Spam and Ming 3 drove at the front of The Hassocks Hog, and The Hassocks Hog lifted Spam up a little. Ming 3 grabbed Spam and pushed it down the arena, but The Hassocks Hog could only turn back and forth, as a ramming attack from Spam had bent the end of the motor support plate, and the chain ultimately jumped off the sprocket. The left wheel seemed to freewheel, and The Hassocks Hog was reduced to moving in circles.

"Things were going okay until Spam suddenly rammed me from the side. After that I noticed that I could only go in circles. I tried to move forward and backwards, but couldn't control the left hand wheel that seemed to be freewheeling. Unknown to me at the time was that Spam's ramming had hit me right on the end of the motor support plate, and had bent it enough for the chain to be out of line and eventually jump of the sprocket. A couple of inched either side, and the impact would not have caused the drive chain to come off, but that's the luck of the game I suppose."
— Noel Poncelet on The Hassocks Hog website[12]
Bent motor support

The internal damage that cost them the fight: the drive chain knocked from its sprocket

Spam opened the Pit, and Ming 3 rammed it into the arena wall. Refbot counted out Hot Pants, and Ming 3 grabbed hold of Spam. The two struggled against each other, and Ming 3 let go of Spam and rammed into the back of The Hassocks Hog, but it fell off the side of the wedge. Ming 3 reversed away, and The Hassocks Hog turned around, into Sir Killalot. Spam drove into the side of Ming 3, stopping it attacking The Hassocks Hog, and pushed against the side. Ming 3 reversed and turned around Spam, but backed into The Hassocks Hog as it turned away from Sir Killalot.

"I now inexorably swiveled {sic} closer and closer to Sir Killalot's corner patrol zone. He came out a few times as I was frantically spinning the Hog one way then the other, but it wasn't long before he realised that I was technically immobilised. He picked me up by the ear, and then by the rear end causing a certain amount of damage. He them pushed me over the flame pit that obligingly for him flared up and started to melt and burn various wires, tubes, and the fluffy ears. Surprisingly enough it was the wires at the top of the robot that burnt the most. The ones near the bottom were almost unmarked, however, this had sealed my fate as I went out with Hot Pants who had also been immobilised."
— Noel Poncelet on The Hassocks Hog website[13]

The Hassocks Hog fired the lifter, but Ming 3 was not on top of it, so it merely drove away. Whilst Ming 3 continued to fight Spam, Sgt. Bash backed Hot Pants into the Pit, then Ming 3 pushed Spam into the Pit with it. Cease was called, and though The Hassocks Hog had survived to the end of the battle, the Judges intervened and deemed that The Hassocks Hog's reduced mobility meant it was actually immobile for beyond the allowed time. As such, The Hassocks Hog was eliminated with Hot Pants, and Spam survived to go through to round 2.

"A slight touch of controversy, which we always have on Robot Wars. Our Judges, who are infinitely wise, have decided that The Hassocks Hog was going round in circles, so basically it was immobilised, and that was before Spam was thrown into the Pit. Now, Hot Pants doesn't matter, that felt the heat and were thrown out of the kitchen, but our Judges in their infinite wisdom reckon that Ming 3 and Spam go through!"
— Craig Charles explains the judge’s decision
ShowHogPants

Noel Poncelet shows Philippa the Hog's pants

HogPants6

The Hog's "pants" in Series 6

In the post-battle interview, Noel showed off The Hassocks Hog's pants to Philippa Forrester.

Philippa Forrester: "There’s something we didn’t get to see! Let’s take a look underneath this robot...[Noel lifts up the robot] We didn’t get to see...the pants! [Laughs] Thank you!"
Jonathan Pearce: "I’m not sure if we really wanted to see that!"
— Philippa Forrester, as Noel shows off the Hog’s pants

Series 7[]

"Sly and spry from the sty, to poke one in the eye!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Hassocks Hog 2 enters the arena

In the first round of the Seventh Wars, Hassocks Hog 2 faced a tough draw against the 5th seed Dantomkia, and former Tag Team Terror champions King B Powerworks and Rick, all of whom had either reached a Semi-Final or won a side tournament in the past.

"None of them were high energy spinners, so I felt we had a good a chance as anyone without the worry of being torn to pieces. There was always the chance of getting flipped out of the arena, but the potential for damage was not too daunting. I did the usual reconnoiter trip to the opponents pit tables to see if I could pick up any tactical tips, but found each of the teams really nice guys to talk to. They were all more experienced roboteers than me, but in particular Simon from the King B team put me at ease about our impending battle."
— Noel Poncelet on The Hassocks Hog website[14]
DantomkiaflipsHassocksHog2over

Dantomkia flips Hassocks Hog 2 over

Hassocks Hog burns

Hassocks Hog 2 burns after being flipped

At the start of the battle, Hassocks Hog 2 drove at Rick, firing its flipper prematurely as it drove across the arena. The Hassocks Hog drove up to Rick and tried to get its flipper underneath, but Rick turned away, causing Hassocks Hog 2 to miss with the flipper. Meanwhile, King B Powerworks drove across the arena, driving behind Hassocks Hog 2 and driving into Rick. Hassocks Hog 2 turned away, driving by the Flame Pit, stopping before it drove onto the flames. Hassocks Hog 2 turned away from the flames, but Rick drove into it before it could get away. Dantomkia drove around the back of Rick, and Hassocks Hog 2 reversed away from Rick. As it did so, Dantomkia slid under Hassocks Hog 2 and flipped it over by the Flame Pit.

"Dantomkia, I think is the most impressive we've seen so far in this series, and Hassocks Hog 2 obviously agrees, 'cause that was a mighty shove from Dantomkia! In underneath at speed, the stabilising ears? Yeah right! Had no effect! And the Hog is overturned!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Dantomkia flips Hassocks Hog 2 over

Dantomkia went after Rick, and Hassocks Hog 2 was left on its front on the Flame Pit. Hassocks Hog 2 attempted to self-right, but the flipper failed to function, and the fur ears began to burn.

"About ten seconds into the battle I was in a good position to flip Rick, but Jonathan hadn't operated the flipper. I thought nothing of it, as Damtomkia swiftly slid next to us and flipped us over onto our back. I asked Jonathan to flip us back, but he said he was trying. It was then that I realised that something major had gone wrong. Jonathan too realised that we had lost complete control of the Hog and I could see his eyes starting to fill up..."
— Noel Poncelet on The Hassocks Hog website[15]
MrPsychocarriesHassocksHog2toDropZone

Mr. Psycho carries Hassocks Hog 2 to the Drop Zone

With Hassocks Hog 2 immobile, Refbot counted it out. Mr. Psycho came over, grabbing it with his claw, and tried to hammer it, but failed to because it was not lined up properly. After missing some hammer blows, Mr. Psycho's hammer became stuck halfway, so Mr. Psycho instead grabbed Hassocks Hog 2's remaining fur ear which had not been burnt off and picked it up. Mr. Psycho carried it to the Drop Zone, and after holding it off the ground to show off its underpants, dropped it on the Drop Zone.

"Looked good, the Hog. Great design, but the comic capers end in tears!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Mr. Psycho carries Hassocks Hog 2 to the Drop Zone
Mr

Mr. Psycho drops Hassocks Hog 2 out of the arena

However, as Mr. Psycho dropped Hassocks Hog 2, it rolled forwards a little, off the Drop Zone square. It twitched forwards a little, then King B Powerworks bumped into it whilst driving away from Dantomkia, pushing Hassocks Hog 2 back onto the Drop Zone square. Dantomkia drove under Hassocks Hog 2 and flipped it against King B Powerworks as it drove past. Mr. Psycho grabbed Hassocks Hog 2 by the flipper and picked it up, and instead of trying to put it back on the Drop Zone, carried it around the arena. In a part of the battle not shown in the televised edit, Mr. Psycho carried it to two sides of the arena to show off the underpants to the audience[16]. He then took it to the bottom of the arena and dropped it out of the arena. Shortly after, the battle went to a Judges' decision for the other three machines.

"Back to the sty, young Hassocks Hog!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Hassocks Hog 2 was counted out and dropped out of the arena
Burnt hog on pit table

Hassocks Hog 2 in the pits after the fight

It was discovered after the battle that the robot had stopped working due to one of the battery terminals falling off.

"It was only when I investigated the cause of our early demise at home that I found out what had gone wrong. It was one of the battery terminals that had snapped off! The spade terminal had completely fractured and come disconnected from the battery. This was a very unusual thing to happen, but may have been brought on by the sudden impact of Disco Inferno shooting us across the arena in the qualifying battle. In either case it was a catastrophic failure and there would be little I could do to avoid a similar thing happening again in the future. I will give the type of terminal connectors I use a bit of thought to see if there are any better alternatives."
— Noel Poncelet on The Hassocks Hog website[17]

Results[]

THE HASSOCKS HOG - RESULTS
Series 6
The Sixth Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 1
Heat H, Round 1 vs. Hot Pants, Ming 3, Spam Eliminated
HASSOCKS HOG 2 - RESULTS
Series 7
The Seventh Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 1
Heat C, Round 1 vs. Dantomkia (5), King B Powerworks, Rick Eliminated

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 0
  • Losses: 2

Series Record[]

Series The Hassocks Hog Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Did not enter
The Fourth Wars Did not enter
The Fifth Wars Did not enter
The Sixth Wars Heat, Round 1
The Seventh Wars Heat, Round 1
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter

Gallery[]

Outside Robot Wars[]

Hassocks Rumble

Hassocks Hog 2 in battle, February 2005

Hog damage

The damaged flipper of Hassocks Hog 2

Aside from its televised appearance, Hassocks Hog 2 competed at a number of live events after Series 7 was filmed. This included an event at Worthing in December 2003, Brighton ModelWorld in February 2004, Portsmouth in May 2004 where Hassocks Hog 2 earned its revenge over Dantomkia by dislodging its removable link, and Brighton ModelWorld again in February 2005, where Hassocks Hog 2's flipper was bent out of alignment by Kan-Opener.

In the second half of 2007, Noel Poncelet built The Hassocks Hog 3 as a featherweight machine.[18] This 12kg featherweight was wedge-shaped and armed with a 10-bar pneumatic flipper, and could drive at speeds of 10-15mph on its 12v drill motors.

Both versions of The Hassocks Hog were sold onto an unknown buyer in 2008.[19]

Trivia[]

  • The initial concept drawing of The Hassocks Hog had a biting mouth and sharp tusks.
  • Similar to Killerkat and Hellbent, Noel claimed that The Hassocks Hog was in love with Matilda, due to their similar design, but unfortunately neither of their battles featured Matilda as a House Robot.
  • The Hassocks Hog team were good friends with the Killer Carrot team, another group of roboteers from West Sussex. Noel Poncelet designed a spreadsheet to calculate flipper heights for them whilst the team were building the new Killer Carrot machine for the Seventh Wars, whilst the Dangerous Vegetable team painted them a team logo in exchange for some spare parts.
  • In their Series 6 battle, The Hassocks Hog team was the only team that had never appeared on the show before, and in their Series 7 battle, all three of their opponents had reached a Semi-Final, won a trophy, or both.
  • Robert and Jonathan Poncelet were so upset after losing in Round 1 of the Seventh Wars, Jayne Middlemiss took pity on them, tried to cheer them up and gave them a post battle interview, which no other losing Round 1 team had in The Seventh Wars (barring Terrorhurtz), but the interview was not shown on TV.
  • The Hassocks Hog is the second robot named after its hometown. The first being Flensburger Power.
  • The Hassocks Hog had faced two robots that competed in the Nickelodeon Robot Wars/International Tag Team together, and won.
  • Upon its completion, The Hassocks Hog was test driven in the playground of the team's local school.

References[]

External Links[]

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