Drillzilla

Drillzilla
Drillzilla
Participation Information
UK Series	Extreme 1
US Season	1
Team Information
Team	Silicon Valley Destruction Company
Team Members	David Hall Bruce Hall Chris Kallai
Robot Statistics
Weight	352lbs/160kg
Dimensions	43" x 38" x 7"/1.09 x 0.96 x 0.17m
Top Speed	40mph
Power	4 x electric motors
Weapons	Drill & steel jaws
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"It drills, it kills and it'll walk all over you."

— Bruce Hall

Drillzilla was a competitor robot on the first season of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. It was a low invertible, box-shaped robot with a drill on the back with three sharpened flutes and two steel cutting jaws on the front. Its name was a pun of Godzilla, the famous Japanese monster. The robot was a shufflebot - a very unique type of walkerbot which used sections (or "banks") of feet in line with each other made of eurothane rubber, rather than the legs used by traditional walkers, the only other examples being the last two incarnations of Ansgar and the Dutch robot Scarab. This made the robot much faster than regular walkers at 40 mph, and the extra weight allowed by being a walkerbot meant that it also possessed great pushing power, which it used to great effect.

Drillzilla competed in various competitions in the first season of Extreme Warriors, winning the Annihilator and Tag Team Terror competitions, and finishing as runner-up to Razer in The Second World Championship. It also competed in the first US Championship, but was eliminated in the first round by Panzer Mk 2.

Controversy

Drillzilla was somewhat unpopular in the pits due to its shufflebot design, which many thought to be bending the rules as the design gave it the weight advantage of a walkerbot but much better speed and pushing power than regular walkers usually enjoy.

"I did dislike 'Drillzilla' (AKA 'The Ugly Vibrating Brick'), but not because they beat us. I was convinced - correctly, I think - that their shufflebot design was not good for the sport. The rulemakers agreed..."

— Aaron Joerger

Shortly after Extreme Warriors was filmed, an amendment that affected Drillzilla was made to the walkerbot rules. It stated that a robot using a camshaft to "shuffle" as a means of locomotion no longer constituted walking. Shufflebots like Drillzilla were now limited to one-and-half times the normal weight limit. This ruling was made after Son Of Whyachi, a robot with a similar shufflebot design like Drillzilla, won the heavyweight tournament of BattleBots. As a result, Drillzilla did not return for the second season of Extreme Warriors, but David Hall entered the BattleBots championship with Dreadbot: a modified version of Drillzilla, which competed in the Superheavyweight division.

Robot History

Season 1

Drillzilla covered in decorative confetti

Drillzilla's largely successful Season 1 campaign began with the annihilator, where it took on Skullmania, Conquering Clown, Red Virus, Unibite and Rippa Raptor. Drillzilla spent most of the first round battle pushing Conquering Clown around the arena, before getting underneath but failing to turn it over. Drillzilla rammed the Conquering Clown onto the flame pit, but Conquering Clown did not catch fire. After Skullmania was finished off, Drillzilla continued its attacks of Conquering Clown in the second round, however Drillzilla didn't have to do much more since Unibite knocked itself out hitting Conquering Clown with its spinning disc. In the third round, Drillzilla yet again focussed its efforts on the Conquering Clown, but the humanoid machine pushed Drillzilla into an arena wall. Drillzilla slammed into Rippa Raptor, but continued its pursuit of Conquering Clown, shoving it towards Shunt and finally pushed it onto the flame pit.

"Well, every party needs some clown to do the barbecue"

— Stefan Frank

With the Conquering Clown out of the equation, Drillzilla was left to fight Red Virus and Rippa Raptor in the fourth round. Drillzilla pushed Red Virus, who in turn pushed Rippa Raptor, into the CPZ. After the trio separated themselves, Drillzilla very nearly thrusted Red Virus into the deadly flywheel of Matilda, but despite Red Virus escaping, Drillzilla attacked Red Virus again, this time slamming it onto an angle grinder.

"What a beating, what good tactics"

— Stefan Frank admires Drillzilla's control

This impact immobilised Red Virus, leaving Drillzilla in the annihilator final with Rippa Raptor. All Drillzilla had to do here was batter Rippa Raptor into submission against the side wall as soon as activate was called and follow this up with attack after attack. Drillzilla became the Extreme Warriors annihilator champion.

Drillzilla competed in the Tag Team Terror competition, partnered with Tut Tut. They faced Rosie the Riveter and Tricerabot in the eliminator battle. Tut Tut started the battle along with Tricerabot, tentatively bumping into each other before Tut Tut tagged to bring Drillzilla into play. Drillzilla and Tricerabot tussled over the flame pit, setting the extras attached to Tricerabot on fire. Drillzilla attacked Rosie the Riveter, which allowed Matilda to skim its armour with the flywheel. Drillzilla pushed Tricerabot into the pit just before time ran out, giving Drillzilla and Tut Tut the win. In the final, Drillzilla and Tut Tut faced Run Away and General Chompsalot. Drillzilla was immediately on the aggressive, slamming into the side of Run Away. It relentlessly pushed Run Away around the arena, into Shunt, then towards Seargeant Bash, who gripped the machinery of Run Away and nudged it into the pit trigger. Both Drillzilla and Run Away tagged to bring their partners into play, albeit briefly, as Drillzilla came back out to dispatch General Chompsalot via the pit of oblivion.

"Drillzilla, that was beautiful!"

— Stefan Frank

Run Away was flipped onto its side by the pyramid wedge of Tut Tut, giving Drillzilla and Tut Tut the Tag Team Terror title.

In the US Championship, Drillzilla immediately teamed up with Panzer Mk 2 to slam Spartacus into the arena wall. A second attack flipped Spartacus onto its side in a CPZ. It charged at Run Away hard enough to visibly damage its flimsy wedge, before pushing Spartacus and General Chompaslot across the arena at the same time. Run Away was the target for the next Drillzilla onslaught, being swept into another CPZ. Drillzilla then gathered Panzer Mk 2, General Chompsalot and Spartacus and pushed them across the arena floor, almost setting up Panzer Mk 2 for an out of the arena flip on Spartacus. Drillzilla rounded off the bout with more assaults on General Chompsalot and Panzer Mk 2. All six robots survived for the judges decision, but despite all the aggression from Drillzilla, Panzer Mk 2 was awarded the decision.

Finally, Drillzilla represented the United States in the World Championship after semi-finalist The Brute withdrew. This competition was also broadcast during Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1. It fought Whirlpool 70, Firestorm 3 and NEAT Machine in the heats. Drillzilla charged straight at Whirlpool 70, but Firestorm breached the ground clearance of Drillzilla, though it couldn't flip it over. Whirlpool 70 was slammed into the CPZ by Drillzilla and the Swedish entry didn't escape the claws of Sir Killalot. Drillzilla pushed NEAT Machine onto the flipper of Firestorm, and after being overturned, couldn't self right. Drillzilla spent the rest of the battle pushing the rear end of Firestorm across the arena, and the judges' decision was awarded to Drillzilla. The semi final opponent was fellow US representative Manta. Drillzilla chased Manta and shoved it into a CPZ, but Manta pushed back, putting Manta into another CPZ. Manta activated the pit, however it was Drillzilla who successfully gathered its opponent up to force Manta down. Drillzilla had qualified for the World Championship final against reigning world champion Razer. Razer almost immediately grabbed hold of Drillzilla and pushed it into the pincer of Sergeant Bash, but neither crushing weapon could make a significant impression on Drillzilla's shell. Razer tried crushing the shuffling mechanism of Drilzilla, but to no avail. Drillzilla was driven into Sir Killalot, but again, the opponent and house robot's claw could not crush through Drillzilla's tough armour. Drillzila temporarily escaped, but Razer grabbed hold of the United States competitor once again. Time ran out, and the judges' decision went against Drillzilla.

Results

Wins/Losses

Drillzilla and its team at the World Championships

• Wins: 9
• Losses: 2

Series Record

• Season 1: Heats
• Season 2: Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars

Drillzilla was originally a box on wheels with a spike on the front, which was entered into Seasons 2.0 through 5.0 of BattleBots under the name of Dreadbot. It lost its first battle in each of its first two appearances and won two battles before losing in each of its next two appearances. When Drillzilla left Robot Wars, it had a new set of weapons, including some custom made saws, which were used on the BattleBots Season 5.0 incarnation of the robot. The team also entered Drillzilla in Robotica Season 3.0 as Da Claw. Drillzilla's team also entered BattleBots Seasons 3.0 to 5.0 with lightweight LocoMotion and middleweight Nemesis, the latter used Da Claw's weapon as a Heavyweight in Season 4.0. Nemesis became a middleweight once again in Season 5.0 after Da Claw's weaponry was removed.