Botwork

Botwork
Participation Information
Dutch Series	1
Team Information
Team	The Undutchables
Team Members	Leyton Rowley Steve Kestle
Robot Statistics
Weight	98kg
Dimensions	1.28m x 0.97m x 0.4m
Power	2 x 24V Electric Motors
Weapons	Large Flywheel
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Botwork was a competitor in Dutch Robot Wars: Series 1. It was successful, winning its heat over Pika 2 and reaching the second round of the Grand Final where it lost to eventual champion Slicer, finishing in joint third place. As with Slicer, Botwork did not return for Series 2.

Design

"The disc on it rotates at 162 kilometres an hour and weighs about 13 kilograms. It isn’t fast, but it is flippable and it has quite some torque, so it can do some shoving around."

— Leyton Rowley describes his robot (translated from Dutch)

Botwork in the pits

Botwork was armed with a large spinning flywheel, which weighed 13kg and spun at 100mph. This made the disc comparatively light and slow compared to other flywheels of its size, but the spinner was noted as having particularly high torque, so it would stop upon impact less easily. Botwork was designed to look like it had a mouth clamped around its own disc, and was adorned with many skull and crossbone decals, although this 'mouth' also allowed other robots to hook onto its exposed panels. Botwork was invertible, despite being very tall, and the sides featured 'fins' to prevent the robot from being stranded on its side, but it was particularly slow across the arena and lacked durability in the face of a powerful impact.

The Team

"Botwork, made by two friends and of which team member Leyton enjoys putting a sock over his cat’s head, to then see it walk backwards."

— Eric Corton's curious introduction to The Undutchables (translated from Dutch)

Botwork was entered into Dutch Robot Wars by The Undutchables, a reference in name to The Untouchables. Team captain Leyton Rowley was the lead builder of the robot and was originally native to Cardiff in Wales, but migrated to the Netherlands for work and entered Dutch Robot Wars over the UK series as a result. He was joined by Steve Kestle throughout Botwork's campaign.

Robot History

Dutch Series 1

Bridget Maasland: "What’s your strategy?"

Leyton Rowley: "Wheels! Those guys there have rubber tires, so we’re aiming for the wheels."

— Pre-battle interview with Bridget Maasland (translated from Dutch)

Maximum Torque gets underneath Botwork

Botwork tears the side of Maximum Torque as Matilda damages the other

In the first round, Maximum Torque got underneath Botwork and rammed it into the wall. Botwork retaliated with its disc, ripping a small piece off of Maximum Torque. Maximum Torque got underneath again, and pushed it into the sidewall, but Botwork forced Maximum Torque into Matilda's CPZ, where the house robot struck Maximum Torque with her flywheel and immobilised it.

Bridget Maasland: "Here’s Botwork, but you already saw that. Or did you guys secretly change it up?"

Leyton Rowley: "No, it’s exactly the same."

Bridget Maasland: "Works just the same as last time?"

Leyton Rowley: "Just the same."

Bridget Maasland: "Not just a bit better?"

Leyton Rowley: "It works… just the same."

— Interview before Round 2 (translated from Dutch)

Botwork's first blow takes out half of Hammerhead's drive

Botwork drives carefully beside Hammerhead to tear the tire more

In the second round, Botwork fought Hammerhead, but needed to hit Hammerhead just twice to win. The first hit caused Hammerhead's weapon to stop spinning, and also caught one of Hammerhead's wheels, immobilising it on one side - the hit was ironically possible because Hammerhead charged directly towards Botwork's spinner. With an idle target, Botwork targeted the working wheel of Hammerhead and immobilised it completely. Botwork landed a few extra blows on the immobile Hammerhead while it was being counted out, before it comfortably advanced to the Heat Final.

"Its weak points seem to be the parts from other machines, so those wheels from Meshuggah are what we’re aiming for."

— Leyton Rowley plans to target the wheels of Pika 2, which had been borrowed from Meshuggah (translated from Dutch)

Botwork gives chase to Pika 2

Botwork buckles the side wheel of Pika 2

Botwork's final opponent in the heat was Pika 2. Botwork's low speed and wide turning circle made it easy for Pika 2 to push it around. However, Botwork eventually got a chance hit on Pika 2's front, appearing to hinder Pika 2's drive slightly. Botwork continued to attack, warping Pika 2's frame and wheel guards. Pika 2 hit the pit release, but its wheels had stopped working in sync, allowing Botwork to come in and tear off one of its wheel guards. Pika 2 was still mobile as the time ran out, but one of its tyres was beginning to slip off. The battle went to a judge's decision, and Botwork was the clear winner.

Rob Kamphues: "That was a tough fight, huh?"

Leyton Rowley: "Absolutely. The hardest one so far. We knew that that [wheels] were its weak point, because we saw the guys working on them all morning."

— Post-match interview with Rob Kamphues as Botwork reaches the Grand Final (translated from Dutch)

Botwork was through to the Grand Final, and faced Sater and Bamm Bamm in its opening melee.

Botwork slashes the top of Bamm Bamm

Botwork bends Sater's flipper

In the Grand Final melee, Botwork targeted Sater, and immediately bent its flipper. Its slow speed prevented it from catching the little yellow robot again, so it focused on Bamm Bamm, but its disc was mounted too high to make contact with Bamm Bamm's body. In the last few seconds of the match, Botwork struck Sater again and further warped its flipper. The match ended with the judges being called on to make a decision, and Sater was eliminated for the damage it sustained.

Slicer tosses Botwork

Sir Killalot attacks Botwork, who in turn damages Sir Killalot's claw and front plate

In the next round it met Slicer, who dominated right from the start, using its drum to flip and toss Botwork across the arena. Botwork ended up on the flame pit, and was having trouble getting off, so the Refbot came in and freed it. Sir Killalot came out of his CPZ and lodged his jaws of life in Botwork's mouth, earning the house robot a yellow card. Slicer flicked Botwork a few more times before it was deemed immobile. It was thrown by the floor flipper and then pushed into the pit by Shunt.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 4
• Losses: 1

Series Record

Dutch Series	Botwork Series Record
Series 1	Grand Final, Third Place
Series 2	Did not enter

Trivia

• Botwork made a brief cameo appearance in the Swedish version of Series 4, Heat I, where it was seen on a workbench during a behind-the-scenes segment hosted by co-presenter Micke Dubois. It was also briefly seen in the Swedish dub of Heat P, at the start of Dubois' interview with Team Blue.

External Links

• The Botwork website (Archived)