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"Take a look at this, because they'll be looking at you!"
Jonathan Pearce in Series 6

ICU was a robot which competed in Series 6 of Robot Wars and the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. In the former, it had limited success, losing in the first round after getting flipped over by Sir Chromalot and being left unable to self-right. ICU enjoyed a better run in the Extreme 2 New Blood Championship, reaching the heat final before losing to the eventual champion Storm 2.

The ICU team consisted of the brother, mother and father of Marlon Pritchard from the X-Terminator team, and the robot itself was constructed from what remained of the first X-Terminator machine.

Design[]

ICU rear

Rear view of ICU. Note the vulnerable aerial

ICU

Top view of ICU in Extreme 2

The robot was a red box-wedge shape with a front lifting scoop and a pneumatic axe, assembled with the rolling chassis of the original X-Terminator machine from Series 3[1]. As a result, it shares many similarities with the original X-Terminator, such as the angle at which the axe rests, the robot's compact size and the four-wheel drive. ICU was equipped with self-righting arms at the sides, but could not self-right from its top plate, and the front scoop was also able to move independently. It was armoured in aluminium and was four-wheel driven but its aerial proved vulnerable, falling off in battle against Storm 2. ICU was also covered in fake eyeballs, which often fell off the robot's body whenever it first came into contact with another competitor. ICU also had "I'll be back" written on its underbelly during both the Series 6 melee and the New Blood Championships.

Etymology[]

ICU's name was a play on the phonetically identical phrase "I see you", which was given to the robot in reference to the eyes painted and attached to its top, side and rear armour. It is unknown if "ICU" actually stood for anything as an acronym.

Qualification[]

Robofox

Robofox, ICU's previous incarnation, which failed to qualify for Series 5, without its fur

ICU was originally named Robofox, decorated in brown fur and ears. In this form, it attended the Cardiff leg of the 2001 Live Event tour, serving as the qualifiers for The Fifth Wars. Robofox's first battle saw it immobilise Chip with numerous axe blows,[2] which lead to a second win against a competitor named Hornet.[3] Despite these performances, Robofox was unable to qualify for the televised series.

At the Series 6 qualifiers, ICU fought Barber-Ous 2 and Demolition Man. It was also scheduled to face Killer Carrot 2 in the same battle, although that robot would be removed from the melee. The result is unknown, but all three robots qualified.[4]

Robot History[]

Series 6[]

"Four-wheel driven, powerful, quickest in the heat, the axe is threatening, and the all-seeing eyes will miss nothing, I wish I could say the same about the driver. Are they experienced enough?"
— Jonathan Pearce

Newcomer ICU came up against three veterans in its first battle; GBH 2, Sir Chromalot and The Alien.

"Oh, a doddle!"
— Judy Pritchard having been told the draw

The battle started badly for ICU, with The Alien immediately hitting it, buckling its armour and sending some of the eyes across the arena floor (most landed on the flame pit).

"ICU can see no longer!"
— Jonathan Pearce as ICU loses its eyes
The Alien vs Sir Chromalot

ICU misses an axe blow

GBH 2 vs ICU

ICU is flipped against the pit release button by GBH 2

ICU then missed an axe blow on GBH 2, before missing a charge on The Alien. It then slipped past The Alien and rammed into the back of GBH 2, and evaded the latter's attack. After missing an axe blow on The Alien, it suffered some more minor damage, but then Sir Chromalot flipped The Alien over. ICU missed a hit on The Alien, who was trying to self-right, before pushing through its overturned opponent to attack GBH 2. It was then flipped onto its side, and into the pit release button, by GBH 2, but it self-righted quickly, losing another eye as it did so.

"ICU, they're onto the arena side wall, de-pressing the pit release button, almost inadvertently; they were shoved onto it."
— Jonathan Pearce
Icu and the alien shove gbh 2

ICU and The Alien shove GBH 2 across the arena

Shunt axes icu s6 melee

ICU is lifted and axed by Shunt

Having self-righted, ICU missed another axe blow, this time against GBH 2, who replied by flicking ICU up slightly. This forced ICU close to Shunt, but it escaped and went after The Alien, failing to land a hit on its target once again. ICU went on a charge while its three opponents stayed close together, and it crashed into the side of The Alien, deflecting itself away. After shoving GBH 2 with the help of The Alien, ICU finally laded a hit on The Alien, but almost as soon as it did, it strayed too close to Shunt, who lifted ICU onto its side and axed its side. Shunt's axe dragged ICU back onto its wheels, and it held off briefly from the action, before charging head-on into The Alien's spinner, stopping it dead for the rest of the battle. Unfortunately for ICU, it then became caught between The Alien and Sir Chromalot, who flipped ICU onto its back.

The Alien vs GBH 2

ICU clashes with The Alien and GBH 2

ChromalotICU

Sir Chromalot flips ICU

""I'll be back" it says, on the underside of ICU, I'm not too sure whether they'll be back from that though. Can ICU right themselves?"
— Jonathan Pearce as ICU is beached on its back by Sir Chromalot

As the axe was down, ICU couldn't self-right, and its wiggling side-srimechs were unable to right it in its current position, so it was counted out by Refbot. Shunt then axed ICU's underside, before shoving it onto the Floor Flipper. ICU was flung back onto its wheels by the arena hazard, knocking off the remaining eyeballs in the process, and it proceeded to ram into GBH 2.

"ICU's first appearance on Robot Wars has ended with them being counted down and out, but not without a final flourish from the Floor Flipper!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Icu floor flipper s6 melee

ICU is flung by the Floor Flipper

Growler pits icu s6 melee

ICU is pitted by Growler

Despite being righted, it was far too late for ICU to come back into the fight, and it was pinned between the House Robots Growler and Shunt. ICU was grabbed by Growler and dumped into the pit, eliminating it from the competition, while the remaining three robots went to a Judges' decision, where Sir Chromalot and The Alien progressed.

Philippa Forrester: "Did you enjoy that?"
Nick Pritchard: "Yeah, we came here to enjoy ourselves, and we've enjoyed ourselves."
Philippa Forrester: "What was the worst bit, what was the best bit?"
Nick Pritchard: "It was all good, really!"
Philippa Forrester: "What would you do to improve your robot?"
Nick Pritchard: "Probably scrap it and start again!"
— Post-battle interview with Philippa Forrester

Extreme 2[]

"Not if we see you first!"
— Jonathan Pearce as ICU enters the arena

ICU returned in Heat C of the New Blood Championship of Extreme Series 2 and faced Chopper and Mad Dog in the first round.

ICU vs Chopper vs Mad Dog

ICU, lacking its axe, pushes Chopper into Mad Dog

The robots started by moving tentatively around the arena, with ICU being the fastest as it slipped past Mad Dog early on. However, the axe was not working, so instead it rammed into Mad Dog, knocking most of its eyeballs off; ICU also avoided a flip from Mad Dog and took a light hit to its side from Chopper. ICU nudged into Chopper after charging across the arena, and the latter machine strayed into the CPZ of Matilda, and had its side armour and weapon buckled by Matilda's flywheel.

Icu vs mad dog

ICU pushes Mad Dog into a side wall

Meanwhile, ICU attacked Mad Dog, pressuring its opponent into an angle grinder before being slammed from behind by Chopper, causing more eyeballs to drop off its body. ICU responded by pushing Chopper over the Flame Pit and into the arena side wall, before turning to clash with Mad Dog once again. The two robots engaged in a pushing contest, with Mad Dog levering its flipper up onto ICU's side, while ICU displayed the greater pushing power, shoving Mad Dog into the side wall. This attack from ICU appeared to immobilise Mad Dog, and ICU proceeded to push it onto the Floor Flipper. ICU then pressed the pit release and almost backed into the descending pit.

Icu almost pits itself

ICU almost pits itself

"ICU, of all of them, has looked the most impressive... ICU has pressed the pit release - oh, and goodness me, I thought they were gonna back straight down!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Mad Dog immobile

ICU attacks Mad Dog whilst it is being counted out

After nudging Mad Dog, who was being counted out by Refbot, it was pushed slightly by Chopper, but ICU ignored it, instead continuing to push the beaten Mad Dog from the side. Mad Dog was later flung by the Floor Flipper and had a variety of balls from the Drop Zone miss it, and ICU pushed it closer to the pit, before Sir Killalot finished it off, sending ICU through alongside Chopper.

In the next round, ICU faced Revolution 2, a fellow Series 6 debutant.

"Looking rather at the electrics on the back."
— Nick Pritchard when asked where they'd target attacks on Revolution 2 in the pre-fight interview
Icu pushes revolution 2

ICU pushes Revolution 2 across the arena with a reverse shove

ICU first attempted to get round the back of Revolution 2, but failed to do so, so instead it rushed head on into the spinning blades of Revolution 2. However, ICU merely bounced off, missing its own attack with the now functioning axe in the process. It then reversed into the side of Revolution 2 and shoved it into the arena wall. Revolution 2 looked like it had control problems as it drove into a wall, before ICU rammed into it Revolution 2 whilst it struggled over the Flame Pit.

"ICU comes back, wedges in underneath. Problem with Revolution 2, it does have a high ground clearance..."
— Jonathan Pearce
ICU vs Revolution 2

ICU pushes Revolution 2 onto the flame pit

Revolution 2 then drove straight into the opposite wall, losing a cog in the process. Revolution 2 broke down soon after being slammed by an ICU charge, and ICU then missed an axe blow on its immobile opponent. It was finally able to demonstrate its axe with a side attack, but it caused minimal damage to the beaten Revolution 2.

"ICU is persistent, is on top here, Revolution 2 in peril."
— Jonathan Pearce
Icu axes revolution 2

ICU axes an immobilised Revolution 2

ICU used its axe to drag Revolution 2 into a CPZ, where it was attacked by the House Robots. ICU then attacked Sgt. Bash, before slamming into Dead Metal, who was busy cutting into Revolution 2. The slam into Dead Metal knocked most of its eyeballs off, and ICU turned away to attack Sgt. Bash once again, damaging his flamethrower with numerous hits from the axe.

Icu attacks sergeant bash

ICU attacks Sgt. Bash

"They love it out there, a smile from Graham Pritchard! Taking on Sgt. Bash, Sgt. Bash tickled more than anything else!"
— Jonathan Pearce

While Revolution 2 was counted out, ICU pressed the pit release button, before axing the back of Revolution 2 and helping the House Robots push it onto the Floor Flipper. Revolution 2 was then thrown through the air before being pitted, and ICU went through to the Heat Final.

Craig Charles: "That was a bit easy, wasn't it?"
Judy Pritchard: "We enjoyed that a lot!"
Craig Charles: "Yeah I mean, you forgot about that robot and thought "Well, I'll have a go at Bash"!"
Judy Pritchard: "Yeah, that was good, wasn't it?"
Craig Charles: "That was good, yeah, but he's got a long memory!"
— Post battle interview

In the heat final, ICU faced Storm 2, the eventual winner of the tournament.

Storm II vs ICU

ICU is instantly knocked out by a ram from Storm 2

Storm 2 was faster off the mark than ICU when the battle started and ICU's scoop provided no resistance what-so-ever as it went straight over the top of Storm 2, losing more of its eyes in the process.

NewBloodCFinal

ICU's aerial (bottom-left corner) is shown to have fallen off

"Frontal attack from ICU, back over the top, something came off! What on earth was that? Let's have a look - the eye on the front of ICU, the boggle eyes are no more!"
— Jonathan Pearce

This attack also knocked the aerial antenna off ICU, leaving it with only its axe, front scoop and self-righting arms working. Storm 2 pushed ICU onto the Floor Flipper and it was quickly counted out by Refbot.

Mr psycho hits icu

Mr Psycho hammers the immobile ICU

"ICU in trouble from that early assault from Storm 2, is on the Floor Flipper, what can they do? A scratch of the head, they're about to be counted out, it was the first attack from Storm 2 again that caused all the damage!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Icu floor flipper new blood heat final

ICU is flung by the Floor Flipper

Mr. Psycho then hammered the immobile ICU, before Growler grabbed ICU's axe and held it while Mr. Psycho hammered it again, knocking some more eyeballs off its body. ICU was then flung by the Floor Flipper, just like in Series 6, landing straight in front of Mr Psycho, who swung its hammer down on ICU once more. Growler then grabbed ICU by one of its side srimechs and dragged it underneath the Drop Zone, where a variety of balls fell onto ICU.

Icu pitted new blood heat final

ICU is pitted by Growler

"Bet you didn't see that coming when you planned your Robot Wars campaign, did you? An ignominious end for ICU."
— Jonathan Pearce as the balls are dropped on ICU

ICU was finally put out of its misery by being pushed down the pit by Growler, but that didn't stop Mr. Psycho hammering it one last time before cease was called.

"I'll be back. I hope so. If you do. We'll be waiting."
— Jonathan Pearce at the end of the battle

Results[]

ICU - RESULTS
Series 6
The Sixth Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 1
Heat D, Round 1 vs. GBH 2, Sir Chromalot, The Alien Eliminated
Extreme Series 2
New Blood Championship
Heat Final
Heat C, Round 1 vs. Chopper, Mad Dog Qualified
Heat C, Round 2 vs. Revolution 2 Won
Heat C, Final vs. Storm 2 Lost

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 2
  • Losses: 2

Series Record[]

ICUteam

ICU's team in Extreme 2

Main Series ICU 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 Failed to qualify as Robofox
The Sixth Wars Heat, Round 1
The Seventh Wars Did not enter
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter
Robot Wars Extreme Appearances
Series 1 Did not enter
Series 2 New Blood Championship, Heat Final

NOTE: ICU was constructed from the first version of X-Terminator, which reached its Heat Final of Series 3.

Trivia[]

Icu i'll be back

The message on ICU's baseplate

References[]

External Links[]

Navigation[]

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