Wedgehog

Not to be confused with the Series 4 robot Kronic the Wedgehog

Wedgehog
Wedgehog
Participation Information
UK Series	1
Team Information
Team Members	Chris Glaister Joe Wentworth Hugo Elias
Robot Statistics
Weight	24kg
Dimensions	0.90m x 0.80m x 0.30m
Clearance	2mm
Top Speed	4mph
Power	2 x electric motors
Weapons	Pickaxe and front wedge
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"The construction of Wedgehog was very 'make it up as you go along'. We had a vague idea of the set out of the components we had, but no exact designs were ever made. I find this approach much more fun and much faster as long as you know what you're doing."

— Wedgehog website (archived)

Wedgehog was a lightweight robot that singularly participated in the first series of Robot Wars. It was a black aluminium wedge, with a pickaxe as its weapon. However, this weapon was not very powerful and was referred to as a "toothpick" by both Jeremy Clarkson and Jonathan Pearce. Also the robot travelled at 4 mph and ran off two 9.6V domestic electric drills. Wedgehog was substantially lighter than the rest of the robots in its heat; it defeated Dreadnaut in the Arena, who was 64 kg the heavier. However, it lost in the heat final to Robot the Bruce.

Nowadays, Wedgehog is retired and is shown at Robots Live events. However, only its shell is displayed, without the internals. It is currently in the possession of Team BlazerBotics.

Its name, like Kronic the Wedgehog's and Edge Hog's, is a pun on hedgehog.

Robot History

Series 1

Wedgehog breaks down on the spikes

Wedgehog fought in Heat C of the First Wars. In the Gauntlet, Wedgehog broke down a metre from the end of the Gauntlet after taking the maze and becoming impaled on a spike, however this was still more than enough to make it through to the next stage, placing third of six on the leaderboard.

Wedgehog controls the ball with its extra panels

In the Football Trial, Wedgehog had attached panels to its front wedge to help control the ball. It was awarded the second goal because it had touched the ball last of the remaining competitors before goalkeeper Dead Metal inadvertently pushed it in. Wedgehog went through to Heat Semi-Final, here, it fought Dreadnaut, who'd suffered from reliability problems twice before this stage. Dreadnaut definitely had the weight advantage, but just a few bumps and bashes from Wedgehog, and Dreadnaut's engine burned out, it was declared immobile and Wedgehog was put through.

Wedgehog is beached on the grille

Finally, it met Robot the Bruce in the Heat Final, the first product to come out of Team Chaos. After putting up some resistance, the heavier and more powerful Robot the Bruce eventually caught it from the side and bulldozed Wedgehog onto the grill, ending its challenge as it was unable to get away. A short time later, after it had been declared immobilised, Wedgehog suffered fierce attacks from the incoming house robots Sergeant Bash and Matilda, taking damage from their cutting weaponry.

Results

• Wedgehog before being painted
• The insides of Wedgehog

1/2

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 1

Series Record

• Series 1: Heat Final
• Series 2-7, 2016: Did not enter

Trivia

• Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide mistakenly states that Wedgehog's team succeeded it with Kronic 2, who actually came from a completely unrelated team.
  • However, now, both robots are owned by the same team.

References

The archived Wedgehog website