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"Weapon: a clamp and a cloth!"
Jonathan Pearce as 4x4 enters the arena

4x4 was a heavyweight robot from Series 6 of Robot Wars. It was entered by Team Monad, and like their other entries Monad and Topbot, it wasn't able to win a battle, falling to Barber-Ous 2 and Hypno-Disc in its melee.

Design[]

4x4 Arena

4x4 in the arena during Series 6

4x4 was box-shaped in design, and featured a large ground clearance. It had a pair of front pincers that was known as a 'clamp' as its weaponry, like its predecessor Monad. It also used several parts Monad had used, including a 50CC moped engine to power three hydraulic pumps, and was armoured in titanium. However, like Monad it had a high ground clearance and featured limited petrol on board, which was flammable.

Knowing that 4x4 would need to fight Hypno-Disc and Barber-Ous, it was outfitted with a lengthy string of cloth in an effort to snag spinning weapons.

Etymology[]

The name 4x4, pronounced "four by four", references the robot's four-wheel drive system. This made 4x4 one of the first robots in Series 6 when listed alphabetically, alongside 13 Black.

The Team[]

4x4 was entered by Team Monad, consisting of team captain Bernard "Benny" Karstel, and Andrew Karstel. The team were based in Clondalkin in Dublin, the same region Team Nemesis lived in. As a Republic of Ireland team, Team Monad were the only roboteers in the Sixth Wars to be based outside of the United Kingdom. The team spoke in broad Irish accents, and were tactical, evidenced by their use of entanglement devices. Team Monad had previously competed in Series 5 with Monad, and later entered Series 7 with Topbot.

Unfortunately, team captain Benny Karstel later died in 2006[1].

Robot History[]

Series 6[]

In Heat K of the Sixth Wars, 4x4 was drawn against the drum spinner of Barber-Ous 2, the comedic Granny's Revenge 2, and the fourth seed, Hypno-Disc. Fearing the flywheel of the returning Grand Finalist, Team Monad applied their cloth entanglement devices to 4x4 in an effort to stop the flywheel of Hypno-Disc.

"When the chainsaw gets in, it snags the chainsaw. So we're going to line the whole robot to snag"
— Benny Karstel explaining why they are using the cloth
4x4 vs Barber-Ous

4x4's cloth wraps around Barber-Ous 2

Hypno-Disc vs 4x4

4x4, about to be attacked by Hypno-Disc

4x4 charged out of its opening position, and pushed Barber-Ous 2 into the CPZ, also helping Barber-Ous 2 push Granny's Revenge 2 almost over the arena wall. However, Barber-Ous 2 pinned 4x4 up by an angle grinder and ripped away its cloth, which did not stop the vertical drum of Barber-Ous 2, with the cloth mainly intended to entangle the horizontal flywheel of Hypno-Disc. At this point, 4x4 became immobilised against the arena wall, and sustained further blows from Barber-Ous 2, until Hypno-Disc interrupted and immobilised Barber-Ous 2 as well. After realising that 4x4 had already been immobilised, Hypno-Disc powered up its flywheel to deliver a powerful slam to the side of 4x4, throwing it aside. The fourth seed was relentless, and continued to attack 4x4 and Barber-Ous 2, also meaning that Refbot was unable to count 4x4 out. Nevertheless, as the second robot to be immobilised in the melee, 4x4 was eliminated alongside Granny's Revenge 2.

Results[]

4X4 - RESULTS
Series 6
The Sixth Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 1
Heat K, Round 1 vs. Barber-Ous 2, Granny's Revenge 2, Hypno-Disc (4) Eliminated

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 0
  • Losses: 1

Series Record[]

Series 4x4 Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Did not enter
The Fourth Wars Did not enter
The Fifth Wars Entered with Monad
The Sixth Wars Heat, Round 1
The Seventh Wars Entered with Topbot
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars[]

4x4 vs Chompalot

4x4 shoving Chompalot at Robots of Destruction 2005

4x4 made a limited number of appearances at live events after Robot Wars went on hiatus, as Topbot was ineligible to compete, due to the rule on spinning weapons. It was rebuilt as an invertible rambot with a wedge.

4x4 fought at the Robots of Destruction live event in 2005, where it fought Chompalot, and it also competed at Mechatrons in 2015, battling Ripper and MONTE. 4x4 is still operational as of 2020, competing in Irish events, usually driven by Will Sweeney. At the Mechatrons event in January 2020, 4x4 fought Audacious in the first round but broke down, and was eliminated by Iron-Awe 5.

Trivia[]

  • The workbench that 4x4 and its team used in the Sixth Wars was, coincidentally, numbered 44.
  • 4x4 is one of the two robots from Ireland to compete in Series 6, and the only one from the Republic of Ireland, with Weld-Dor 3 being based in Northern Ireland.
    • Like Team Nemesis, 4x4's team were from the Clondalkin area of Dublin.
  • Just like its predecessor Monad, 4x4 appeared in the same heat as Barber-Ous and Kat 3.
  • 4x4 was the only robot in Heat K of Series 6 not to appear in any other episodes. However, its team did appear in Series 5 with Monad and Series 7 with Topbot.

References[]

  1. Private correspondence between Anthony Murney and Peter Redmond

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