- "So, they think they can topple the king with the 4-tonne hydraulic jaw on a raisable arm?"
- — Jonathan Pearce in the Wild Card Warriors
Draven was a competitor robot from Cranbrook, Kent, that competed in the first series of Robot Wars Extreme and later in Series 8-9 of Robot Wars. It took part in a Wild Card Warrior battle against series veteran King B Powerworks in Extreme 1, but lost, and was defeated in its Group Battle in both Series 8 and Series 9 after being damaged and immobilised by M.R. Speed Squared and Shunt respectively.
The team was formed by a group of friends who met at the University of York, where they were studying Electronic Engineering. The Series 8 and 9 teams work together at Dyson - Dan Heggs and Leigh Salmon applied for a place on the team through this connection.
Design
Draven as it appeared in Extreme 1
Draven was a six-wheeled box-shaped robot armed with a hydraulic crushing jaw that operates with 4 tonnes of pressure. The jaw is mounted on a lifting arm, which allows the robot to lift approximately 200kg and self-right whenever it is flipped.
Official shot of Draven in Series 8, with red LEDs
For its appearance in Robot Wars Extreme, Draven was painted silver all over, and was fitted with blue LED's to illuminate its eyes. However, these did not show up on-screen as well as the team had hoped, so they were later replaced with red LEDs.
Draven in Series 8
In 2016, Draven's armour was made of a carbon-fibre and Kevlar composite shell, with bonded-on titanium plates, giving it a black and silver colour scheme. The robot weighed 110kg in Series 8.
Draven's turntable shot in Series 9
Draven was updated again for Series 9. It featured a new cad-based chassis, new drive motors, motor controllers, batteries, armour, pump with BLDC motor, and new radio systems[1]. The robot's body-shape and weaponry remains similar, but Draven returned to its silver colour-scheme. Its jaw now closed at twice the speed of the previous version.
Etymology
- "...and Anthrax were all talk. To be honest, two years went into building this robot, that was disappointing."
- — Jonathan Pearce's original commentary at the conclusion of the Wild Card Warrior battle
Draven with its team in Series 8
Draven was originally given the name Anthrax and this name was used during the original airing of its Robot Wars Extreme appearance on BBC Choice. By the time the episode reached BBC Two, however, the name had to be changed due to an anthrax scare in the USA which occurred at the time. All usage of the original Anthrax name was removed and all subsequent airings of the episode remained this way, although Draven is still referred to by its original name in Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide. This case was very similar to Roadblock years before, which had also required a name change due to concerns about its original name, Road Rage, being raised before filming of Series 1 began.
- "...and once again it's the more experienced machine, King B Powerworks, that wins it!"
- — Jonathan Pearce's alternate commentary at the same moment
The name Draven is inspired by the 1994 film The Crow, where the main character is called Eric Draven, and the robot Draven's beak is much like that of a crow.
"Lord Draven" with its team in Series 9
An official BBC press release referred to the Series 9 version of Draven as Lord Draven[2], although this name has yet to be seen outside of this context. Draven's team later revealed that the Lord Draven name was a suggestion from the production crew, but the team were not interested in using it.
- "Lord Draven was something some of the production guys decided they liked the sound of and tried to get us to take it on board. Draven's lore is linked to The Crow so it simply doesn't fit."
- — Draven's Facebook page on "Lord Draven"
Qualification
Draven, as it failed to qualify for Series 4, without its armour
Draven as it looked during the Series 4 qualifiers with armour
Prior to entering Series 8, Draven had attempted to enter the original series of Robot Wars three times, but failed on every occasion as a result of its poor reliability. Anthrax first failed to qualify for Series 4, where it entered the arena but never moved[3]. It then lost its qualifier in Series 5 after it broke down and was reportedly dumped out of the arena by ShuntCitation? . Draven attempted to enter again in Series 6, but lost to S.M.I.D.S.Y. in its qualifier, and did not attempt to enter Series 7. Draven finally qualified for a main series in 2016 when the qualification process changed to open applications, which also allowed Draven to qualify for Series 9. However, Draven was not selected to compete in Series 10, where the team claimed they did not show enough evidence that the robot had been improved[4].
Robot History
Extreme 1
- "It actually looks quite nasty, it's little bit of a worry really 'cause we're just the sort of robot he'd like to take on, a nice low flat one that he can get his jaw around and crush it up"
- — Simon Harrison of the King B team before the fight
Draven was given its first chance to compete in the Wild Card Warriors, drawn against former Semi-Finalist and Tag Team Terror winner King B Powerworks, which was the inspiration for Draven's design. Anarchic Engineering were able to organise this battle with their inspiration after Pussycat was unable to compete[5].
- "That wasn't *entirely* coincidental, was it Simon Harrison? We were supposed to face Pussycat but they were banned due to having used a shattering blade. We couldn't return the following day so had to find someone to fight there and then. So I did indeed tap up my mate..."
- — Draven's Facebook page on why they fought King B Powerworks
Draven is hooked by King B Powerworks
The battle started, and Draven manoeuvred its way towards the back of King B Powerworks, as the latter's saw blade was not spinning. However, Draven could not use its weapon either, and failed to grip King B Powerworks when it had various opportunities. Draven backed King B Powerworks into an empty CPZ, but was stabbed side-on by King B's prongs in retaliation.
- "The crow-like beak of Draven - shines, gleams, can it penetrate and crush in this Wild Card Warrior battle?"
- — Jonathan Pearce
King B Powerworks pits Draven
Draven and King B Powerworks attempted to attack each other in vain, causing no external damage, until Draven started to lose a noticeable amount of speed. At this stage, King B Powerworks used its prongs to wedge underneath Draven and lift it up, slotting the weaponry into one of Draven's wheelguards. Draven lifted its head up and down to show mobility, but it was pushed into the pit release button and turned directly into the pit.
- Craig Charles: "What was good about it?"
- Martin Gutkowski: "It didn't catch fire, it's done that before!"
- — Anarchic Engineers on the positives of the battle
Series 8
Draven enters the arena
Draven competed in Heat 2, facing fellow newcomers Chimera and Foxic, as well as a new robot from a veteran team, M.R. Speed Squared, in the first round.
- "We're certainly hoping to get through this part, although our big achilles heel is probably spinning robots and we're up against at least one"
- — Anarchic Engineers
Draven takes a hit from M.R. Speed Squared
Draven made the first move in the qualifier, driving towards Foxic, but ending up on top of its wedge. Draven chased Foxic across the arena, catching up and slotting underneath the back of it, but failed to use its crushing jaw. Draven pushed Chimera, which had already lost a wheel, beyond the flame pit and into an empty CPZ. However, despite the strong start, Draven was then targeted by M.R. Speed Squared, which ripped a piece of armour away. Draven returned to attack the struggling Foxic, but M.R. Speed Squared caught up, and ripped another panel from Draven. This blow immobilised Draven, and it was counted out, eliminating it from the competition.
Draven finds a target in Foxic, moments before being knocked immobile
- "We had terrible control problems, I'm not sure why, it was glitching backwards and forwards!"
- — Anarchic Engineers
Series 9
Draven (left) is launched by the Floor Flipper
Draven competed in Heat 2. In its Group Battle, it faced Team S.Tek's Push to Exit, Team Saint's Cherub and PP3D. In the opening seconds, Draven immediately drove towards Push to Exit as the latter sped across the arena, before bumping into Push to Exit twice and dodging Cherub. Draven then attempted to grab PP3D, but two successive hits from PP3D's disc deflected it, causing sparks to fly upon contact with its armour. Draven drove away and rammed into Cherub, but was almost thrown onto its side after driving over the Floor Flipper, and had the bottom part of its crusher torn open after driving head-on into PP3D again.
- "Draven, frontal onslaught onto PP3D, is that wise?"
- — Jonathan Pearce as Draven's claw is damaged by PP3D's disc
Draven sustains an attack from PP3D
More sparks flew as Draven spun itself into the wall near the Doom Dial. It recovered to charge into PP3D once more, but PP3D pushed Draven across the arena into Shunt's CPZ, all the while causing severe damage to its lower armour and tyres. Shunt axed Draven twice, the second hit cleaving a hole through Draven's top armour and immobilising it instantly, before dragging, lifting and pushing it out of the CPZ.
Draven is immobilised by Shunt's axe
- "I think that puncture has destroyed them. In came Shunt, down came the mighty axe, out go Draven! Wow!"
- — Jonathan Pearce after Shunt immobilises Draven
Following this, Draven was eliminated from Series 9 along with Push to Exit, which itself became immobilised a few seconds after Draven.
- "PP3D was perhaps our worst possible opponent. Our 15year old undertray made from cold formable TA2 with a plate of 10mm polycarb was the perfect height for it to peel like a sardine tin. Still, other than the lower jaw there really wasn't much solid for it to get hold of! What actually killed us was Shunt's axe going clean through the drive receiver. As we weren't against an axe-bot, we hadn't installed the 12mm polycarbonate top plates. You live and learn eh?!"
- — Draven's Facebook page
Results
| DRAVEN - RESULTS | ||
| Extreme 1 | ||
| Other Battles Wild Card Warriors | ||
| Wild Card Warriors | vs. King B Powerworks | Lost |
| Series 8 | ||
| Series 8 - UK Championship Round 1 | ||
| Heat 2, Group Battle | vs. Chimera, Foxic, M.R. Speed Squared | Eliminated |
| Series 9 | ||
| Series 9 - UK Championship Round 1 | ||
| Heat 2, Group Battle | vs. Cherub, PP3D, Push to Exit | Eliminated |
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 3
Series Record
| Main Series | Draven Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Did not enter |
| The Third Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fourth Wars | Failed to qualify |
| The Fifth Wars | Failed to qualify |
| The Sixth Wars | Failed to qualify |
| The Seventh Wars | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Heat, Round 1 |
| Series 9 | Heat, Round 1 |
| Series 10 | Not selected |
| Robot Wars Extreme | Appearances |
| Series 1 | Entered |
| Series 2 | Did not enter |
Outside Robot Wars
Following its appearance in Extreme, Draven was rebuilt, and made two appearances the ESAT/BT young scientist exhibition in Dublin, where it appeared alongside King B Powerworks, Bigger Brother, Razer, Panic Attack and Chaos 2.
Draven also assisted in the destruction of Judge Mech during a car park event.
Trivia
- Draven is one of only ten robots to debut in Extreme 1 and then fight in one of the main competition, not counting Typhoon. The others were 3 Stegs to Heaven, Axe-Awe, Comengetorix, Fighting Torque, Fluffy, NEAT Machine, Spawn Again, Sub-Version and The Executioner.
- When teams were given permission to publicly reveal their participation in Series 9 over social media, Draven was the first robot to be revealed this way.
- One of Glitterbomb's mascots was attached to Dravens pincer during the pre match interview with Dara Ó Briain in Series 9.
- Footage of a partially-assembled Draven was also used in the opening/end sequences for the Facebook video series, How to Build a Robot.
External Links
- Draven - Robot Wars Facebook page
- Draven (Series 8) on the Robot Wars website
- Draven (Series 9) on the Robot Wars website
- Archived Anthrax website
References
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