Triforce

Triforce
Triforce on the turntable in Series 10
Participation Information
UK Series	10 (withdrew)
Team Information
Team	Team Triforce
Team Members	Euan Mutch Duncan Robertson Cameron Craig Andrew Rigg
From	Edinburgh, Scotland
Robot Statistics
Weight	110kg
Dimensions	86 x 86 x 20cm
Clearance	5mm
Top Speed	18mph
Power	12s 11Ah lithium polymer battery
Drive	2x XAG A40 motors 2x XAG A20 motors
Weapons	31.5kg Ring spinner
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Triforce is a Scottish heavyweight robot which was planned to compete in Series 10 of Robot Wars. However, despite successfully being selected for the series, it encountered mobility issues prior to filming, and was forced to withdraw from its heat as a result.

Design

The internals of Triforce

Triforce is an invertible, circular-shaped robot incorporating a ring spinner, which at the time of its initial completion was powered by two brushless motors. The spinner is capable of rotating at up to 1,800rpm, and at 2,500rpm when the robot itself spins on the spot, delivering over 120kJ of kinetic energy. Triforce used a unique locomotion setup, featuring three drive units containing two small wheels mounted on top of each other. Each of the robot's drive units was positioned in a triangular layout, giving it omnidirectional movement. The armoured rim consisted of 35mm thick HARDOX 500, while the robot's top and bottom were armoured with aluminium. However, Triforce's overall ground clearance was extremely low, which in conjunction with its soft wheels resulted in it having a lack of grip on the arena floor.

The robot's name comes from its unique three-wheeled drive system, and the original design for the spinning ring which had only 3 blades welded to the rim spinner.

Qualification

CAD of Triforce

Triforce first attempted to enter Series 9, and applied with CAD renders as the robot's construction was in its infancy. It was not selected to compete in Series 9, but continued to be worked on by Team Triforce, and was eventually selected to compete in Series 10 via an open application. However, upon testing it in the main arena after arrival, the team discovered that Triforce lacked controlled movement, and withdrew from the competition.

Robot History

Series 10

Triforce in the pits

Triforce was intended to compete in Heat D of Series 10, where it would have faced Iron-Awe 6 and The Kegs in its Group Battle. However, when it entered the Robot Wars Arena for testing (it was deemed too unsafe to run in the standard testing arena), Triforce's mobility issues were discovered, and the team withdrew. Triforce was then replaced by Tauron.

Series Record

Series	Triforce Series Record
Series 1-7	Did not enter
Series 8	Did not enter
Series 9	Not selected
Series 10	Withdrew

Outside Robot Wars

Triforce

Triforce on display with Typhoon 2 in 2018

Following its withdrawal from Series 10, Triforce underwent further revisions, including the replacement of its aluminium top and baseplates with HARDOX ones to resolve its ground clearance issues. The robot later received a more substantial rebuild, including a switch from a three-wheel drive to two-wheel drive system, as well as the addition of custom-made holonomic wheels and a three-motor weapon system for the rim spinner. In this revised form, Triforce has appeared at events as a static display, at one point appearing alongside Series 7 champion Typhoon 2.

Triforce at Extreme Robots in 2023

A damaged Triforce after its two fights in 2023

Triforce signed up to the first Extreme Robots event of 2019 at Bolton but it never fought as the speed controllers were not programmed to the machine in time. In July 2023, Triforce would finally make its combat debut at Extreme Robots in Newcastle, where it fought Zadkiel and lost by knockout. It returned for a second battle against Donald Thump and Ember, outlasting Donald Thump but losing the use of its spinner. Subsequently, the Judges' decision would end up being won by Ember.

Featherweight robots

Elevate in August 2018

In August 2018, Team Triforce built a featherweight drum spinner called Elevate for live events, which made its debut at the inaugural King of Bots UK championship at Insomnia 63, Birmingham. Elevate was due to face front-hinged flippers Amnesia and Strix in its first qualification round, but was not able to be ready in time to take part in the battle. However, it was able to compete in its remaining qualification rounds, where it lost to Nigel Barrage and Nelly the Ellybot respectively, the latter after Elevate was immobilised by Telekinesis. It also competed in the eight-way whiteboard battle, but was flipped over by X-303.

Elevate 2 in August 2019

In mid-2019, Team Triforce completed Elevate 2, boasting a large 5kg drum with top speeds of over 10,000rpm. It debuted at Robodojo in July 2019, although issues with its weapon plagued it throughout the event, and it lost its four fights to Drumroll, Get Shrekt, Captain Jack Spinnah and Burnout. Elevate 2 returned for the UK Featherweight Championship in 2019, but lost all four of its fights in its heat to Amnesia, Revolver, Blunt Force Trauma 3 and Plastic Fantastic, only collecting a win by default over Virus. However, it instead managed to win the Tag Team title, alongside Forge Master 2.

Slice of LiFe in 2023

Team Triforce now compete on the live circuit with Slice of LiFe, an invertible featherweight armed with a large horizontal bar spinner, inspired by the likes of Tombstone. It won three of its four fights at Robodojo in Jaunary 2023, suffering its only defeat by hitting itself out of the arena against Cancel Culture, otherwise winning its remaining fights by knockout, including a win against Telekinesis. At FightFest 2023, Slice of LiFe won its opening three-way battle by knockout and also accrued a win over Kitchen Grill before being eliminated by Explosion on a split Judges' decision. Slice of LiFe did however win the Gladiator battle at the end of the competition, and the Best Engineered Award.

Slice of LiFe in 2024

After a year of appearances at Robodojo with great success, generally losing competitions only to Nitro, Slice of LiFe returned to FightFest for the FRA Featherweight Championship 2024. It won its opening melee over Bread Dead Redemption 2 and Pallas, then collected a second round win over Variable. This put Slice of LiFe through to an early third round draw against eventual champion Killi Pepper Lite, losing by knockout and forcing Slice of LiFe into a three-way redemption melee against defending champion Nitro, and the winner of the fight, Euphoria, which pitted Slice of LiFe to eliminate it just outside the top six.

Heavyweight robots

The Last Slice

The Last Slice at its debut in July 2024

The Last Slice and Slice of LiFe together at Extreme Robots

In July 2024, Team Triforce would debut a heavyweight version of Slice of LiFe called The Last Slice, it made its debut fight against Zadkiel again, where despite a good start and dealing notable damage to the wheels, it would get its belt sliced and knocked out. They would fight a rematch later that day with much the same result, but The Last Slice collected its first win by immobilising St Ripper and Ogrekill in its third and final fight of the event. It would also appear on static display at an exhibition in Scotland hosted by Liam Bryant. The Last Slice made an additional Extreme Robots appearance at Gloucester (9-10 November), where it competed primarily in the main European Spinner Championships. Winning its initial match over Ogrekill, it ultimately settled for runner-up honours following another knockout loss to Zadkiel. The Last Slice redeemed itself later the same weekend with a knockout whiteboard win over St Ripper once more.

The Last Slice began its 2025 Extreme Robots campaign at Doncaster (26-27 April), initially fighting against Judge Tread. This battle ended with it winning and lodging its bar spinner in Judge Tread's outer tyre, requiring an angle grinder and four people to separate both competitors. A planned three-way melee against Zadkiel and full-body spinner Lugnut saw The Last Slice fitted with its 'pillar skid', to counter the undercutting weapon of Team Saint's machine. With Zadkiel not fighting, having withdrawn due to technical issues, it was initially vulnerable to a blow from Lugnut which broke the 'skid' off. The Last Slice seized the advantage - and a knockout win - by eventually dislodging Lugnut's battery connections. The Last Slice's run of success ended when it became immobilised in a second melee - also featuring Zadkiel, Lugnut and Talio. Talio removed both of its drive belts, while Zadkiel emerged triumphant.

In its next appearance at Extreme Robots Newcastle (19-20 July), The Last Slice claimed the Spinners Champion Belt from Zadkiel by repeatedly slashing its wheels. A head-to-head win over Lugnut saw it immobilise the Team RcRobotics entrant within the first thirty seconds, and land on top of it following a collision with the arena wall. The Last Slice completed an undefeated run by immobilising Talio and Lugnut again in a three-way melee, but not without having one of its wheels and motor mounts severely damaged.

Attempted BattleBots entries

In 2021, Euan Mutch attempted to enter BattleBots World Championship VI with a heavyweight hammersaw design called Soothslayer, but was not selected to compete. The team suffered a similar fate a year later, but in 2023, he formed part of Team All Star as they applied with a clusterbot called OgreKill, though no such season was ultimately filmed.

Beetleweight robots

A beetleweight version of the machine named Just a Wee Slice has also competed at Robodojo events, while Uplift is a beetleweight version of Elevate and achieved second place and fourth place at back-to-back Battle in the Burgh events.

Trivia

• Though ultimately not able to compete in the televised Robot Wars, Triforce was still mentioned as one of the competitor machines James Cooper admired during a 2020 RoboNerd interview.

External Links

• Team Triforce website
• Team Triforce Facebook page
• Team Triforce YouTube channel