Not to be confused with Dutch Series 2 competitor, Vortex Inducer
Vortex is a heavyweight robot which was intended to be completed for entry into Series 9 of Robot Wars. However, it was not chosen by the producers to participate in the series. The robot was completed some time after the filming of Series 10.
Design
CAD rendering of Vortex, used to apply for Series 9
Vortex is an invertible, two-wheel drive robot armed with a large vertical spinning disc. The robot's final colour scheme is currently unknown, although various CAD renderings have shown it to be predominantly coloured grey and red, teal and pink or green and gold.
At the time of Team Phantom's application for Series 9, Vortex's disc was planned to be equipped with square teeth. However, the current model of the robot uses larger bladed teeth integrated into the disc.
Series Record
| Series | Vortex Series Record |
|---|---|
| Series 1-7 | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Not selected |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
Outside Robot Wars
Vortex battles Manta, Tauron and Two-Headed Death Flamingo
Vortex made its combat debut at Extreme Robots in Gloucester, in October 2017. It fought the reigning live circuit champion Manta, as well as Tauron and Two-Headed Death Flamingo, but was eventually immobilised by Manta.
Vega, Team Phantom's featherweight shell spinner
In August 2018, Team Phantom entered a featherweight shell spinner, Vega, into the inaugural King of Bots UK championship. In all of its first qualification rounds, Vega encountered issues getting its weapon spinning, resulting in it getting thrown out of the arena by DB12, pitted by Barghest, and flipped over by Barróg respectively. Vega also fought in one Tag Team battle, partnered with Straddle 2, but both lost to Saber-X and Get Shrekt, with Vega being thrown out of the arena by the Chinese flipper despite using its spinner to great effect.
Both Vortex and Vega remain active at live events in the UK, appearing together at the Extreme Robots Cheltenham event in November 2018. There, Vega enjoyed a reasonably destructive run, causing severe damage to several of its featherweight opponents in its first battle of the event. However, it was violently flipped over by the recoil of one of its own hits and eliminated; Vega’s performances in its other two battles were affected by various reliability issues.[1]
Vega in March 2019
Vega competed at the Robodojo featherweight event in March 2019, fighting in four head-to-head battles. However, Vega was relatively unsuccessful at the event, after being flipped over by Graffiti, resisted by Plastic Fantastic, and immobilised by the spinners of Aegis Mk II and Telekinesis in its final battles.
Vortex 2 at Extreme Robots in Cheltenham, November 2019
The first build of Vortex was retired in mid-2019 following a battle with Donald Thump. A revised Vortex, named Vortex 2, was designed and built in order to compete at the Extreme Robots Cheltenham event in 2019. While unsuccessful, losing all three of its battles, it worked well, delivering major damage to Ignition.
Trivia
- Team Phantom received assistance from PP3D Robotics throughout the design process and building stage of creating Vortex.