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This article is about the American robot. For other uses, see Flipper (disambiguation).

"Wasn't Flipper a dolphin? Let's see how this swims in the current of the War Zone!"
— Jonathan Pearce

Flippa was an American robot from Oregon that fought in the Seventh Wars Annihilator of Robot Wars. The robot was said to have taken approximately 1.5 years to develop, however, it failed to perform. It was immobilised very early on in the Annihilator, and broke down irreparably before the second round. Flippa also entered The Third World Championship but lost in its qualifier to its compatriot Spartacus.

Joe Murawski, the roboteer who created and drove Flippa, also entered Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors with Buzz.

Design[]

Flippa

Flippa in its World Championship qualifier

Flippa was a low box-wedge robot with a rear-hinged flipping arm and a rotating drum on the back. The sides of the robot were lined with spikes, to stop the robot from being flipped onto its side. Flippa's aerial was highly exposed.

Robot History[]

Series 7[]

Flippa's first televised battle was a qualifier to represent the United States of America in The Third World Championship, facing fellow American machine and Extreme Warriors: Season 1 veteran Spartacus in a head-to-head.

Jayne Middlemiss: "So, it's got some aggression in it?"
Joe Murawski: "Yes it does."
— Flippa talking up its chances before meeting Spartacus
Spartacus vs

Spartacus closes in on the struggling Flippa

Spartacusflippawc3

The immobile Flippa is pitted by Spartacus

Unfortunately, Flippa did not start at all after entering the arena, only twitching slightly and having its spinning drum spinning. As a result of this, Spartacus was able to grab it using its claw weapon in its own time and drag it around the arena. Spartacus then slowly pulled Flippa across the arena floor, backed into the pit release button, and pushed Flippa into the pit of oblivion, giving the place in the World Championship to Spartacus.

"All the way, from the U S of A, for that!"
Craig Charles
Annihilator R1

Flippa is pushed by Ewe 2

ThreeImmobileBots

The immobile Flippa sits under Ewe 2

Flippa fought in the Annihilator at the end of the Seventh Wars, where it came up against the reigning Annihilator champion Kan-Opener, recent Semi-Finalists Raging Knightmare, recent heat-finalists Robochicken, Team Lambsy's Ewe 2 and Team Roaming Robots' Ripper at the start. In the first round, Flippa and Ewe 2 ran into each other in the opening moments, with Ewe 2 failing to flip it. However, Ripper threw Ewe 2 up onto the arena side wall, leaving it unable to move, with Ewe 2's weight keeping Flippa pinned in place underneath it. Flippa struggled to break free but couldn't get away and the motors ground to a halt as they burnt out after trying to get the robot to flee.

"Is Flippa moving? Goodness me it'll be the first time in Robot Wars history if it is!"
Jonathan Pearce
S7Flippa

Flippa is left at the entry gate, prior to Round 2 of the Annihilator

However, Robochicken had already been flipped over by Ripper in the opening seconds of the battle; with Robochicken's flipper not working at all, it was deemed immobilised and counted out by Refbot. This meant that both Ewe 2 and Flippa scraped through to the second round of the Annihilator; only after Robochicken was counted out did Ewe 2 and Flippa get away from the arena side wall, and Ewe 2 were sent down the pit by Kan-Opener. Before the second round, however, Flippa broke down irreparably, and although it was present in the loading pen (it can be seen as Ewe 2 enters), it was unable to enter the arena, eliminating Flippa from the competition and leaving it to be placed fifth by default.

"The real reason Flippa never made it into the arena for the second round fight was that I pulled his aerial off while we were arming the robots backstage...I was lowering the flipper of EWE2 after gassing up, and his aerial was in the way. So I brushed it to one side to let my flipper down, and his aerial came off in my hand."
— Ian Lockhart of Ewe 2

Despite Flippa breaking down immediately, the third round of the Annihilator immediately proceeded.

Results[]

FLIPPA - RESULTS
Series 7
The Third World Championship
Representing USA, Eliminated in Qualifiers
Qualifier vs. Spartacus (USA) Lost
Annihilator
Fifth
Round 1 vs. Ewe 2, Kan-Opener, Raging Knightmare,
Ripper, Robochicken
Qualified
Round 2 vs. Ewe 2, Kan-Opener, Raging Knightmare, Ripper Eliminated
NOTE: Flippa never made it into the arena after the first round due to technical problems, so the competition continued with just four robots.

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 1
  • Losses: 2

Series Record[]

UK Series[]

FlippaNoTop

Flippa without its top, from the rear

Series Flippa Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Did not enter
The Fourth Wars Did not enter
The Fifth Wars Did not enter
The Sixth Wars Did not enter
The Seventh Wars Side Events only
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter

US Series[]

US Series Flippa Series Record
Season 1 Did not enter
Season 2 Entered with Buzz
Nickelodeon Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars[]

Flippa also competed in BattleBots Season 5.0 under the name of Speedy, losing its only battle to Billy-Bot. Speedy's final competition was the 2004 RFL Nationals Heavyweight Open, it performed poorly losing its first match and forfeiting all of its others due to Speed-Controller problems.

A modified version of Flippa called Amata competed at WBX-3 in July of 2006, with success, reaching the Grand Final of the heavyweight bracket.

Trivia[]

  • Flippa was in three Robot Wars battles, all of which it either broke down before the battle started, as the battle started or just a couple of seconds into the battle. Despite this, it didn't lose all of its fights.
  • Flippa's statistics board listed 'Wheels Use Drive Chain' as the robot's weakness, despite this being a very common and effective practice for four-wheel driven robots.
  • Flippa was one of only four robots to enter multiple side events in Series 7, alongside Behemoth, Gravity and Kat 3. Of these, Flippa was the only robot not to compete in the UK Championship.
  • Flippa was one of only six American robots to win a battle in the UK series, alongside Tentoumushi, frenZy, Manta, Drillzilla and Spartacus, and it was also one of the four to win a UK series battle which did not air as part of Extreme Warriors, with Tentoumushi, frenZy and Spartacus.

Navigation[]

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