Wedges are a common design element found in many combat robots which competed in Robot Wars. They exist as both a full-sized body shape and as a smaller element of various other body styles, which can be doubled to function as a static weapon capable of fulfilling many different purposes.
Before the beginning of the televised UK Championship, robots like La Machine and Wedge of Doom enjoyed considerable success in the original 1994-1997 US competitions, through utilising their wedges in tandem with their drive power. Roadblock was the first Robot Wars competitor to achieve success through its wedge shape, winning Series 1 of the original UK TV show and finishing third in Series 2. Other robots, such as its successor Beast of Bodmin, would also achieve similar successes in the earlier series of the original UK Series.
As Robot Wars progressed, wedges became less effective on their own with the prevalence of invertible machines and self-righting mechanisms. After Series 4, most wedges were either combined with other weapons, such as flippers or lifting weapons, or added to invertible machines. Series 6 champion Tornado and Series 7 runner-up Storm 2 were among the invertible robots to use armoured wedges to breach ground clearances, even if the traditional tactic of overturning opponents was no longer the end result.
Definition[]
A wedge or ramp is a body shape or attachment which slopes to the ground and creates a triangular shape from the side profile. The bottom of the wedge is designed to negotiate an opponent's ground clearance in order to let it run up the top and be lifted off the arena floor. Depending on the angle in which an opponent is positioned on the robot's wedge, it can be either driven around the arena towards walls and arena hazards, or - as commonly demonstrated by full-sized wedges - turned over completely.
Quite often, a wedge can also be classified as a ramming blade.
Advantages and Disadvantages[]
Advantages
Roadblock topples Killertron over
Tornado was able to exploit Hypno-Disc's ground clearance and avoid its disc using its interchangeable scoop
- Wedges are among some of the easiest weapons to design and build, being only as expensive as the robot's chassis.
- Wedges offered a useful synergy when combined with another weapon, especially flippers, crushers, vertical spinners or overhead weapons such as axes and hammers. As robot designs evolved, traditional wedges would inherently assume some form of front- or rear-hinged flipping or lifting weapons, such as the designs for Spawn Again, Firestorm and Apollo.
- In the event of a robot's main weapon becoming disabled or damaged, a wedge can still prove an effective back-up weapon if it is used to push opponents around. For example, US Season 2 competitor The Bat was still able to push Mad Cow Bot with its rear wedge after its vertical flywheel stopped functioning during their second-round battle.
- In earlier series, wedges were very effective knock-out weapons, as few robots had self-righting mechnanisms. Roadblock, Beast of Bodmin and Thing 2 were especially effective at defeating their opponents in this way.
- Heavily-armoured wedges could prove to be very durable defensive weapons against powerful spinning weapons. Tornado's 'charity scoop', for example, was able to withstand Hypno-Disc's flywheel as well as exploit its ground clearance during their Series 6 Semi-Final battle.
- Even in later series, smaller wedges could be used to push very effectively. This is best shown in Storm 2's successes in Series 7 and Extreme 2, where it used its front wedge to breach ground clearances and push opponents around. Tornado also managed this to great effect in Series 6-7 and Extreme 2 using its interchangeable 'charity scoop'.
Disadvantages
Thing 2 topples over through the combination of Panic Attack's charge and an arena spike
Such was its low ground clearance, Vector of Armageddon's wedge prevented it from driving up the second ramp during its Gauntlet run
Once inverted, Tornado's scoop was of no use against Bigger Brother's own wedge and flipper
- With the invention and popularity of srimechs, the traditional tactic of using wedges to overturn other robots became very ineffective on its own.
- Additionally, without the use of a srimech or a weapon with a self-righting capability, they were unable to allow the robot to right themselves when flipped. This was particularly telling in the defeats of Roadblock and Thing 2 in Series 2 and 3 respectively, with both robots succumbing once they were overturned.
- Low wedges are often problematic when navigating uneven surfaces, often being hindered by slight imperfections in the arena floor. Vector of Armageddon's was unable to complete its Gauntlet run in Series 1 after getting beached on the second ramp due to its low ground clearance, while robots such as Storm 2 and Firestorm 4 would later get themselves wedged under the Floor Spinner/Disc of Doom at various points during Extreme 2.
- Although they can be incorporated into invertible designs, an inverted wedge was usually far less effective and often counted against a robot. Tornado's scoop had considerably less potency once it was flipped over by Bigger Brother in the Extreme 2 All-Stars, allowing Bigger Brother to resist its shoves and pit Tornado with ease. Some exceptions to this do exist, such as the invertible flippers of St. Agro and Wheely Big Cheese.
- From Series 7 onwards, basic wedges were effectively outlawed unless paired with an active weapon. While the majority of wedge-shaped robots inherently featured moving weapons to begin with, this rule change resulted in Storm 2 and Tornado needing to adopt a lifting arm and a flail respectively in order to remain eligible to compete.
- If the wedge sustains a significant amount of damage, it will bend and therefore be no longer able to get underneath opponents. The most severe case of this occurred during Bulldog Breed's loss against X-Terminator in Series 7, where repeated attacks from X-Terminator's flywheel buckled Bulldog Breed's wedge and flipper plate to prevent it from doing so.
List of Robots with Wedges[]
NB: Many famous wedge-shaped robots, such as Firestorm, Chaos 2 and Apollo, are excluded from this list due to them incorporating other prominent weapons such as their flippers. Only robots whose wedges were considered to be their primary weapon are included below.
Robots are listed alphabetically.
DESKTOP MODE ONLY: Robots which are not heavyweight entries are listed with a green background. Robots competing in the 1994-1997 US competitions are listed with a purple background.
| Robot | Series Appearances with Wedges | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Torque | Series 3 | Angled plough, used in tandem with static claws and an interchangeable scoop. | |
| Ally Gator | Series 3 | Weapon acted as a ramming blade. | |
| Anarchy | Series 2 | Featherweight Championship only. | |
| Beast of Bodmin | Series 3 | Also featured a very narrow flipping ram on the wedge tip, which was rarely used. Series 3 Semi-Finalist and successor to Roadblock. | |
| Big Brother | Series 3 | Also featured a chain-flail mace, which was rarely used. Predecessor to Bigger Brother. | |
| Chimera2 | Series 9 | Armed with a torque reaction axe and front wedge. | |
| Cobra | Series 10 | Hinged front wedge, used in tandem with the robot's usual front-mounted crusher during the World Series specials. Both were later replaced with a solid wedge made from 8mm HARDOX 500, fitted with entanglement devices and welded to the rear for Cobra's Head-to-Head against Sabretooth. | |
| Corporal Punishment | Series 3 | Twin rear wedges; used in tandem with an active lifting scoop at the front. | |
| Crippler | Series 3 | Featured front and rear ramps. | |
| Cruella | Series 1-2 | ||
| Cunning Plan | Series 1 | Featherweight; Series 1 Grand Finalist. Held the record for shortest battle until Series 3. | |
| Darke Destroyer 2 | Series 4 | ||
| Demolition Demon | Series 2 | ||
| Demolisher | Series 1-2 | Competed in Series 1 as The Demolisher. Series 2 Featherweight Champion. Very steep front shape, never got under a robot. | |
| Demon | Series 2 | ||
| Demon Duck | Series 2 | Super Heavyweight Championship only. | |
| Dominator | Series 3 | Pinball Competition only. Design utilised a long traditional wedge at the rear, which was superseded by the distinctive bi-wedge design of its successor, Dominator 2. | |
| Doom | Extreme 1-2 | Middleweight Championship competitor. | |
| Ghetto-bot | Series 4 | War of Independence only; middleweight. | |
| Grunt | 1995 UK Open, Series 1 | Stock Robot; considered a heavyweight despite being built within the middleweight limit. Competed in the 1995 UK Open Competition as a two-part clusterbot. | |
| Heavy Metal | Series 9 | Built by Team 13. Equipped with a unique rotating arm, though relied more on the wedge to win battles. | |
| Krayzee Tokyo | Series 1 | Featherweight competitor. | |
| La Machine | 1995 UK Open, 1996 US Competition | Popularised the use of ramming wedges in US competitions; originally built as a middleweight. | |
| Micro Mute | Series 7, Extreme 2 | Extreme 2 Featherweight Finalist. | |
| Miss Ile | Series 3 | ||
| Oblivion | Series 2 | ||
| Onslaught | Series 2 | Converted into a lifting scoop for future series. | |
| Nuts | Series 8-10 | Various wedge-shaped minibots, accompanying the main robot as part of a clusterbot entry. Designed primarily to impede and distract other competitors, namely by breaching ground clearances. Joint-third in Series 10 as Nuts 2; interchangeable minibots for the latter series included one with a 6hp brushless drive system. | |
| Prometheus (US) | Series 3 | ||
| Revolution 3 | Series 7 | Interchangeable with a spinning drum weapon, but never seen in Robot Wars. | |
| Roadblock | Series 1-2 | Series 1 Champion and Third Place finisher in Series 2. Both the main wedge and the lower scoop-like lip were made out of road signs. | |
| Rhino | Extreme 1 | ||
| R.O.C.S. 2 | Series 3 | Pinball Competition only. | |
| Rosie the Riveter 2 | US Season 2, Nickelodeon | US Season 2 Grand Finalist, also armed with a cutting disc. | |
| SAT'arn | Series 1 | Featherweight competitor. | |
| Storm 2 | Series 7-8, Extreme 2 | Fought in Extreme 2 purely as a wedge, and was later modified to incorporate the robot's lifting arm in Series 7, added in order to comply with the active weapons rule. Also used two different lifting arms in Series 8, and an unused vertical spinner. Extreme 2 New Blood Champion, Series 7 runner-up and Third World Champion. | |
| The Bat | US Season 2 | Unpowered hinged wedge was mounted at the rear and featured angled sides. The Bat primarily used its vertical flywheel to attack opponents, although the wedge was still used whenever the flywheel stopped working. | |
| The Swarm | Series 10 | One of the clusterbots - an invertible, four-wheel drive machine named Skye - was armed with no active weapon, purely using its parallelogram wedge shape to attack. | |
| Thing 2 | Series 3 | Original wedge shape later had a lifter and horizontal flywheel added to it in various incarnations of its successor, Wild Thing. Series 3 Semi-Finalist. | |
| Tornado | Series 6-7, Extreme 1-2, US Season 2 | Nicknamed the 'Charity Scoop' due to the weapon regularly being used at live events. Part of an interchangeable weapons set from Series 6 onwards, fitted with a flail in Series 7 in order to comply with the active weapons rule. Series 6 Champion and Series 7 third-place finisher, among several other championship victories, with this weapon. | |
| Tyke | German Series 1 | German Series Grand Finalist, finishing fourth. Wedge did not lay flat, rather was spiked at the front. | |
| Vector of Armageddon | Series 1 | Featherweight; first entry from Adam Clark. | |
| VIPER 01 | Series 5 | ||
| WYSIWYG | Series 1, 1996 Championship | Stock Robot; featherweight classified as a lightweight. | |
| √3² | Dutch Series 2 | Three-part clusterbot, one part of which ODT-0.33 fought as a pure wedge. S.O.Xbot was armed with a lifter but also primarily fought with its wedge shape. | |
| Unidentified lightweight robot | Series 2 | Competitor in the Series 2 Lightweight Championship with no confirmed identity. Speculated to be called THUMP. |
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