- "This is one of the most scary robots I've seen today"
- — Jayne Middlemiss
The Kraken was the second robot constructed by Team Victor, and completely different from its predecessor, Victor. The Kraken fared no better than either version of Victor, losing in Round 2 of Series 7 to Thermidor 2.
The robot's name came from the legendary sea monster, believed to live off the coast of Norway.
Design
The Kraken was a very long box wedge shaped robot that was driven by a single drive motor which steers through a differential and brake system. It was armed with two vertical crushing arms: a pneumatic arm held its opponent in place for the hydraulic arm to pierce into the armour. This set-up would also allow the robot to self-right. However, despite its destructive weaponry, the weapons could easily buckle and the robot itself was lightly armoured, which ultimately cost it in its battle with Thermidor 2.
The building process proved to be time-consuming; the team claimed that The Kraken had been built over two years, and was intended to enter The Sixth Wars, but it wasn't completed in time.
Robot History
Series 7
The Kraken scratches down on Cobra
The Kraken spent most of its first battle against Cobra, Pinser and Kronic the Wedgehog chasing the other robots, but it eventually got to grips with Cobra and crushed its armour, failing to puncture the tough outer shell. However, Cobra had seemed to be immobile before The Kraken's attack. Pinser then gripped Cobra and pulled it away, but in doing so drove over the flame pit, which set fire to the internals of Pinser, immobilising it. The two eliminated robots, Pinser and Cobra, who were still locked together, were thrown by the arena flipper before being placed under the Drop Zone, where a TV was dropped on the two, putting The Kraken through with Kronic the Wedgehog.
Thermidor 2 and The Kraken. Note that The Kraken's beak is buckled sideways
The Kraken forces Thermidor 2 backwards
Thermidor 2 flips The Kraken
The Kraken is finally pitted
In the next round it faced 14th seeds Thermidor 2. Thermidor 2 immediately turned The Kraken over and then flipped it against the arena side wall, bending The Kraken's pneumatic pincer. The Kraken was able to self-right, but Thermidor 2 tossed it over many more times, coming very close to flipping it out of the arena on a couple of occasions. Thermidor 2 then activated the pit and pushed The Kraken towards it. Thermidor 2 then tried to flip The Kraken in, but The Kraken flew the wrong way and escaped. However, The Kraken couldn't do anything to fight back and Thermidor 2 continued to throw it around the arena, eventually succeeding in pushing it down the pit.
- "Kraken takes a right good smacken'!"
- — Craig Charles on the battle
Results
| THE KRAKEN - RESULTS | ||
| Series 7 | ||
| The Seventh Wars - UK Championship Heats, Round 2 | ||
| Heat J, Round 1 | vs. Cobra, Kronic the Wedgehog, Pinser | Qualified |
| Heat J, Round 2 | vs. Thermidor 2 (14) | Lost |
The team with Kraken
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 1
- Losses: 1
Series Record
| Series | The Kraken Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Entered with Victor |
| The Third Wars | Entered with Victor 2 |
| The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fifth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Sixth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Seventh Wars | Heat, Round 2 |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
Outside Robot Wars
The Kraken after Robot Wars. This version was last seen fighting in 2004.
Following the end of Robot Wars, The Kraken was rebuilt and renamed as The Kraken 2. This new version had titanium armour and a pneumatic flipper in place of the pneumatic jaw which the team used previously. It was signed up to enter the Fighting Robots World Championships 2004 which were going to take place at RAF Newton but this event was cancelled. The Kraken 2 was last seen fighting at the Roaming Robots event held at Northampton in 2004 where it lost a 3-way melee against Bulldog Breed & PulverizeR.