Propeller-Head

Propeller-Head
Participation Information
US Season	2, Nickelodeon
Team Information
Team	Team Robot Dojo
Team Members	Mike Konshak Becky Konshak Jacob Holland
From	Louisville, Colorado
Robot Statistics
Weight	217lbs
Dimensions	10" x 31" x 31"
Power	4 x 12V Electric Motors
Weapons	Central bar spinner
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"...217 pounds of spinning blade action! That 4 foot blade will tear up anything in its way!"

— Stefan Frank introduces Propeller-Head

Propeller-Head was a competitor robot that fought in Season 2 of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors as well as Nickelodeon Robot Wars. It reached the Grand Final of the Season 2 US Championship, before pitting itself against The Falcon Mark 2. Propeller-Head then won the Nickelodeon Mayhem competition, beating The Revolutionist and Vert-I-Go in the final round.

Team captain Mike Konshak also built Diskotek, which was entered in the same season of Extreme Warriors by Mike's friends from Minnesota, as Mike was busy operating Propeller-Head.

Design

"Well, this is a very solid robot. It's very well-armoured, has a stainless steel body. The weapon is made out of spring steel, it's a leaf spring off a truck, so when this thing goes flying through another robot, it's gonna create a lot of damage!"

— Mike Konshak describes his robot to Carol Grow

Propeller-Head in the pits

Propeller-Head in the arena

Propeller-Head was a box-shaped robot with angled sides, stainless steel armour and armed with a powerful overhead spinning blade powered by a NPC-X950 Etek motor. The robot was a converted version of the team's 'BattleBots entry Agitator.

The blade was made from a sheet of leaf spring out of a truck's suspension system, and was capable of spinning at up to 90mph, roughly 1200rpm, and causing significant damage to other opponents. Additionally, Propeller-Head's armour proved durable, and the robot had surprisingly good pushing power contrary to its statistics board, shoving The Revolutionist into the pit in its Season 2 Heat Final despite losing its blade. However, the blade itself was fragile, as the aforementioned fight demonstrated, and it had no self-righting mechanism.

The robot wars powered by four 12 Volt NPC-1200 drive motors driving custom machined-from-billet Go-Ped wheels. The chassis was 1/8 inch thick stainless steel.

The Team

Main article: Team Robot Dojo

Team RobotDojo

Propeller-Head was one of two robots entered by Team RobotDojo', a team from Colorado, which had previously competed in BattleBots and Robotica. The team captain was Mike Konshak, a Senior Advisory Development Engineer (Mechanical) at the company StorageTek, who drove the robot in the main competition. He was joined by his wife Becky and Jacob Holland, whose family were friends of the Konshak family, having gone to the same Church. Jacob Holland took over the driving of the robot for Nickelodeon Robot Wars.

Robot History

Season 2

In Heat D of the US Championship, Propeller-Head faced fellow newcomer Snookums, and TeamBoltz's new robot Psycho Chicken in its first round battle.

Carol Grow: "You're up against a chicken and you're up against a fish, what do you think about that?"

Mike Konshak: "I'm going to be making some fish and chips and some chicken nuggets!"

— Team Robot Dojo's warning to Snookums and Psycho Chicken

Propeller-Head attacks Snookums

It got its blade up to speed as Snookums came charging towards it, and attacked Psycho Chicken before flinging its accompanying egg-shaped minibot Scramble into an angle grinder, destroying it. Propeller-Head continued to attack Snookums, ripping into its front, before slamming into Psycho Chicken again and tearing off Snookums' tail. Both Snookums and Psycho Chicken were left immobilized after Propeller-Head's attacks, with Sgt. Bash and Sir Killalot attacking Psycho Chicken, setting fire to its fur and carrying it across the arena. However, Snookums was counted out by Refbot and pitted by Sir Killalot, allowing Propeller-Head and Psycho Chicken to go through to the second round.

There, Propeller-Head faced fellow newcomer The Gap for a place in the Heat Final.

Propeller-Head's spinner revives under The Gap's weapon

Propeller-Head slammed into The Gap's side as soon as it got its weapon up to speed, walloping it and the wall a few times as The Gap attempted to lift it. One impact almost flipped Propeller-Head over, but again, The Gap could not flip it over with its weapon, and Propeller-Head continued to slam into The Gap several more times, eventually causing it to lose speed and mobility as Propeller-Head's blade stopped spinning to conserve battery power. The Gap got underneath and attempted to flip Propeller-Head several more times, but missed, and clamped Propeller-Head after it pressed the Floor Spinner button. Propeller-Head escaped by using its blade to force its way out of The Gap's weapon, and pressed the pit release button, with The Gap driving straight into the pit as it was descending.

In the Heat Final, Propeller-Head faced the defending runner-up The Revolutionist, the first of two occasions where both robots fought each other.

The Revolutionist rips off Propeller-Head's blade

The two robots initially dodged each other to allow their weapons to get up to speed, before exchanging several blows, causing dents in Propeller-Head's armour. After several hits, Propeller-Head's blade became dislodged and was ripped off completely due to a loose coupler, and it drove around and over the descending pit as The Revolutionist pressed the release button.

Propeller-Head pits The Revolutionist, minus its blade

"Look at that, pulled the whole thing out of it, shafts and all, chain drive - it's over! They're not goin' to be mowin' any more lawns this week!"

— Stefan Frank, before the turn of events that follows

The weaponless Propeller-Head followed The Revolutionist as it drove into a CPZ, pushing it in circles and close to the pit. It capitalized on The Revolutionist lingering in the CPZ by slamming into it and pushing it into the pit, despite getting attacked by Dead Metal in the process. This victory allowed Propeller-Head to advance to the Grand Final.

In the Grand Final, within the top eight of the competition, Propeller-Head faced The Falcon Mark 2 in the first round.

Propeller-Head rips into The Falcon Mark 2

Propeller-Head drives into the pit

It attacked The Falcon Mark 2 straight away, causing gashes and dents in its opponent's armour and at one point getting impaled on The Falcon Mark 2's rear panel. Both robots separated, with The Falcon Mark 2 attempting to lift Propeller-Head with its arm, but failing to do so. Propeller-Head drove across to the pit release button, but was momentarily lifted by The Falcon Mark 2 and drove itself into the pit despite dominating the battle. This eliminated Propeller-Head from the US Championship after a strong run.

"The strategy was to drive around the backside of the pit and make them come after us, and I just cut it a little bit too close!"

— Mike Konshak on how he drove Propeller-Head into the pit

Nickelodeon

"Rosie the Riveter was dominating in the beginning of that round, but Propeller-Head knew how to dish it out, and even Xylon was in on the act, although it took some mean hits!"

— Stefan Frank while reviewing the highlights

Propeller-Head competed in the Mayhem competition, fighting against Xylon and Rosie The Riveter 2 in the first round.

Propeller-Head rips into Xylon

Propeller-Head is stuck atop Xylon and Rosie the Riveter 2

Propeller-Head causes late damage to Rosie the Riveter 2

It started by hitting Rosie The Riveter 2, before slamming into Xylon's flipper and causing its armour panels to come loose. Propeller-Head slammed into Rosie The Riveter 2 again, but was pushed into a CPZ by Rosie The Riveter 2, and escaped as Shunt and Matilda attacked Rosie The Riveter 2. Xylon then rammed and got underneath Propeller-Head, but was unable to flip it as Rosie The Riveter 2 rammed into both robots, causing Propeller-Head to run into Refbot. Propeller-Head continued slamming into Xylon and Rosie The Riveter 2 until time ran out, and won the judges' decision due to the damage it had inflicted.

"Well we can only hope that every match is as good as that one was!"

— Dave Aizer

In the Ultimate Mayhem, Propeller-Head faced The Revolutionist for the second time, alongside the loanerbot Vert-I-Go.

Propeller-Head smashes into Vert-I-Go

The Revolutionist spun up immediately, trying to snare Propeller-Head's blade with the ropes attached to its body, but immobilized itself after driving into Refbot. This allowed Propeller-Head to attack Vert-I-Go several times, tearing its armour panels and parts of its decorative lighting off before immobilizing it completely.

"And look at Vert-I-Go, completely dismantled! And Propeller-Head just wants a little bit more, taking off that plexiglass like its butter!"

— Stefan Frank as Propeller-Head deals more damage to Vert-I-Go

Propeller-Head ripped off Vert-I-Go's back panel as Refbot counted it out, and emerged as the Ultimate Mayhem champion while The Revolutionist was flipped by the Floor Flipper, and it and Vert-I-Go were pitted by Sgt. Bash and Sir Killalot.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 5
• Losses: 1

Series Record

US Series	Series Record
Season 1	Did not enter
Season 2	Grand Final, Round 1 Entered with Diskotek
Nickelodeon	Mayhem Champion Entered with Diskotek and Humdrum

Gallery

The frame of Propeller-Head

Propeller-Head in the pits

Propeller-Head in the pits whilst not being actively worked on

Propeller-Head being worked on

The Propeller-Head team

Outside Robot Wars

Agitator (BattleBots Season 3.0)

Propeller-Head as Agitator (BattleBots Season 5.0)

The team entered similar robots in BattleBots, named Agitator, which is red, and has a stronger, wider blade than Propeller-Head, competing in Seasons 4.0 and 5.0 of BattleBots. Agitator won two battles before losing each time, notably defeating The Grim Reaper along the way.

The team also competed in Season 3.0 and 4.0 of BattleBots with PyRAMidroid, a wedge shaped robot. It lost to Bacchus in its first appearance, winning one fight by forfeit and then defeating InTriVerter in Season 4.0 before losing to M.O.E. in its final fight.

Propeller-Head under the ownership of Team Killulator Robotics, repainted and renamed BladeSpinner

Propeller-Head was later sold by Mike Konshak to new owners Team Killulator Robotics, located in St. Ann, Missouri. This team competed with the robot for a short time, renamed BladeSpinner and repainted into a purple, black, blue and lime green paint scheme. BladeSpinner notably competed at the BattleBots-sanctioned NPC Charity Open in 2004, picking up a bye, two wins and two losses in the heavyweight division.

For more information on the team's excursions aside from Propeller-Head, see Team Robot Dojo.

Appearances in Merchandise

• Propeller-Head/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (GBA)

Propeller-Head in Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (GBA)

Trivia

• Propellor-Head's wheels were provided by EngineTrix, and the metal for the chassis was laser cut and formed by Star Precision, then welded by the team.
• Propellor-Head was sponsored by Star Precision, NPC Robotics, EngineTrix, IFI, PTC.

External Links

• Image Gallery from team