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"Looks like a tank, made of MDF, steel and aluminium, it can pull a car. First time on Robot Wars, the turret with its two blades can spin three hundred and sixty degrees, so complete revolution for Evolution."
Jonathan Pearce introduces Evolution

Evolution was a heavyweight robot which exclusively competed in Series 5 of Robot Wars. It reached the second round of its heat by winning a Judges' decision over Sabretooth, but was quickly thrown out of the arena by Spawn Again.

Design[]

Evolution

Evolution in the arena

Evolution was designed to look like an Army tank. The robot's turret would spin around very fast at three hundred and sixty degrees and act as a spinning weapon. The robot could get up to 15mph. Its chassis was made of steel and aluminium but the robot was armoured in MDF (medium density fibreboard) - essentially wood - which was very fragile and easily damaged by the House Robots Sgt. Bash and Sir Killalot. Despite sporting fake tracks along the sides, Evolution actually ran on wheels.

The Team[]

EvolutionAllistair

Evolution with Alistair Hare

Evolution was built by Team Darwin, captained by Alistair Hare, the builder and driver of the robot. His wife Katie Hare was credited as a team member as well, although she was not present during the filming of Series 5, as she was pregnant at the time with their son Sam Hare, leaving Alistair Hare to compete alone in Evolution's only appearance.

The team name, Team Darwin, is a reference to the naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin, who introduced the scientific theory of evolution (which the robot is named after), which he referred to as "natural selection".

Qualification[]

Greenaxe domvsevo

Dominator 2's axe covered in Evolution's green paint

Evolution was first built for Series 4, where it attended the Robot Mayhem live event and fought in at least two qualifier fights. The first of these occurred during the opening 24 July 2000 shows, where its turret was noted by one audience member to be rotating sluggishly mid-bout. The outcome and eventual winner of this qualifier is unknown.[1]

Evolution reappeared for the 29 July shows, where it fought Dominator 2. In the latter battle, Evolution's MDF turret was repeatedly pierced by Dominator 2, and Evolution was far behind in the battle, until Dominator 2's removable link suddenly fell out from the force of its own axe blow. As a result, Evolution won the battle, although its performance did not merit the robot a place in the Fourth Wars.

"we were invited to appear in the later show as well. Our next victim was called Evolution, and looked rather like a green tank with a rotating top turret, (which turned out to be made of MDF!) Once again it was a one sided bout, and once again the removable link jumped out due to the shock from our axe, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! Again the audience came to our rescue."
— Dominator 2 website[2]

An upgraded Evolution returned for Series 5, and fought Robochicken-Evo in a qualifier battle. Although Evolution would lose the battle,[3] it still successfully qualified for The Fifth Wars alongside its opponent.[4]

Robot History[]

Series 5[]

Evolution competed in Heat G of the Fifth Wars, facing a fellow newcomer in its first round battle, Sabretooth.

EvolutionvsSabretooth

Evolution pushes Sabretooth

Evolution vs Sabretooth

Sabretooth damages Evolution, but loses its weaponry

Before activate Evolution got its turret up to speed and struck Sabretooth. Evolution backed away and for an attack but missed and Sabretooth caught the side of Evolution, shredding it but breaking its own weaponry. Evolution then got in and under and pushed Sabretooth towards the arena wall Sabretooth then came back with a push on the side of Evolution. They got chased by Sir Killalot. Sabretooth appeared to break down. However, instead of Evolution going in for the kill, the House Robots instead attacked Evolution. With Sgt. Bash cutting through Evolution's top armour, easily crumpling MDF, and getting a yellow card by Refbot. Sir Killalot cut off Evolution's turret, and spun it round. Sir Killalot put it down and was also given a yellow card by Refbot.

"What have they got against Evolution? Hang on, I'm being passed a message here from Matilda in the pits, House Robots don't like wooden machines! Part MDF, Evolution, and that's why they're after you, they think you're taking the Michael!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Sir Killalot attacks Evolution
Evolution Bash

Sgt. Bash crushes through Evolution

Evolutionbent

Sir Killalot grapples with Evolution

In the closing seconds, Sabretooth came back into the battle and pushed Evolution but it was too late. Evolution was barely mobile in the late stages of the battle, but still survived until a judges' decision as the judges viewed the House Robot attacks as unfair, and Sabretooth was also flagging. The judges put Evolution through to the next round.

In the second round, Evolution faced the thirteenth seed, Spawn Again. The successor to Spawn of Scutter.

Screenshot 2017-11-02 at 17.16

Spawn Again flips Evolution over

SpawnagainEvolution

Evolution is tossed out of the arena

Screenshot 2017-11-02 at 17.23

Evolution lays outside the arena

Alistair Hare put a brick inside the turret in the hope that it would make the weapon more powerful. However, it instead made the weapon too heavy, and caused Evolution to spin on the spot. Consequentially, Evolution was a sitting duck and had no weaponry. Spawn Again and Evolution sized each other up, before Spawn Again went to flip Evolution but missed. Spawn Again moved back in and threw Evolution over and then out of the arena, even throwing its own flipper blade off in the process. The battle was over within twenty seconds, placing it among the shortest battles on Robot Wars.

"We need to evolve."
— Alistair Hare, after the loss

Results[]

EVOLUTION - RESULTS
Series 5
The Fifth Wars - UK Championship
Heat Semi Final
Heat G, Eliminator vs. Sabretooth Won
Heat G, Semi Final vs. Spawn Again (13) Lost

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 1
  • Losses: 1

Series Record[]

Evolution

Official photo of Evolution

Series Evolution 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 Heat, Round 2
The Sixth Wars Did not enter
The Seventh Wars Did not enter
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars[]

In December 2002, Evolution was put up for sale on Ebay, fully completed with its turret drive being improved.[5] Despite its listing, the robot would ultimately not be sold. Alistair Hare then stripped down Evolution and planned to rebuild it with a 'transforming' aspect in mind. The design was going to be a box shaped robot which 'transformed' into a wedge shape with just the press of a button. However, this idea never came to fruition as Alistair and his wife Katie would welcome their son into the family, Katie having previously been pregnant at the time of Evolution's televised appearance.[6]

The stripped down Evolution was scrapped afterwards due to Alistair not having the time to finish the rebuild.[7]

Trivia[]

References[]

Navigation[]

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