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"A solid steel chassis and 3mm thick aluminium body shell give Maza a solid look. The weapon's a cutting disc, but a very high ground clearance means this is weak defensively. Mazakari may commit kamikaze!"
— Jonathan Pearce introduces Mazakari

Mazakari was a competitor robot built by students from Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, Darlington, which competed in Robot Wars: The Fourth Wars. In its only series appearance, it lost its opening Eliminator on a Judges' decision after suffering weapon issues and spending the majority of the battle hooked onto Mortis' lifting arm.

An earlier incarnation was also intended to compete in The Third Wars, partnering R.O.C.S. 2 in the Tag Team competition. However, the event would never take place, following a behind-the-scenes accident resulting in its cancellation.[1]

Design[]

Mazakari S4

Mazakari in the arena

Mazakari arena overhead

Mazakari from overhead in the arena

Mazakari was an invertible, two-wheel drive robot with a solid steel frame and wheels, a top castor and a black and red paint scheme. As its main weapon, the robot featured a large 70cm horizontal flywheel, made from a single sheet of steel and fitted with as many as four teeth for cutting and weight distribution. To reduce the robot's overall weight, Mazakari's flywheel - itself directly inspired by Series 3 runner-up Hypno-Disc - featured large cutouts which were felt by the team to be an aesthetic improvement. 3mm aluminium checkerplate was used throughout as armour, but mounted 'inside out' to provide a smooth external appearance.[2]

"...we changed the battery for the proper show and it did not work as well. The disc blade went really slowly and we got pulverised."
— Richard Neely[3]

Mazakari was powered by two 24V wheelchair scooter motors, with the disc using a car starter motor running at 12V. At the Robot Mayhem qualifiers, the disc itself proved highly powerful, slashing through and disabling sensitive electronics within opponents. However, a swap to a less effective battery was made prior to the televised series, severely reducing the weapon's overall power and damage output. Mazakari as a whole cost £500 to build.[2][3]

Etymology[]

Mazakari may be a corruption of masakari, a word which means "axe" in Japanese.

Qualification[]

"Maz 99. What can i say, high hopes dashed by a health and safety inspection."
— Team Mazakari on their robot's aborted Series 3 Tag Team appearance

The Series 3 version of Mazakari featured a substantially different design, armed with a 'Machete style blade' operating in a similar manner to an axe. Other features included 10mm plywood armour on a steel dexian frame, and two 24V wheelchair scooter motors later inherited by the Series 4 incarnation. Though it is unknown whether Mazakari was intended to compete in the main UK Championship, it was confirmed by its team to partner R.O.C.S. 2 in the concurrently-filmed Tag Team competition. Mazakari reached an advanced stage of completion, but one week before its scheduled debut, the Tag Team event was cancelled as an effect of a behind-the-scenes accident involving Roadkill. The Series 3 incarnation would thus not appear on television, and no photos of the machine as originally posted on the Team Mazakari website are currently available.[1]

Mazakari mag

Mazakari in the Robot Wars Magazine

Mazakari's Series 4 build attempted to qualify for the series by attending the Robot Mayhem live event. Here, it faced an unidentified opponent with a 'centrifugal force weapon', believed to have cost £1,000 to build. When the latter suffered early mobility issues, Mazakari caused extensive damage to its armour and chassis, leaving gashes as large as six inches. Another hit tore off the opponent's switch cover and immobilised it, resulting in Mazakari winning and qualifying for the televised Fourth Wars.[3][4]

"It went really well in the auditions and we totally destroyed another robot that had cost about £1,000"
— Richard Neely[3]

Team Mazakari expressed full intentions to enter The Fifth Wars, but wished to source sponsorship for their machine before implementing any upgrades.[3]

"Top quality motors cost a lot more because they are a lot lighter and that means you can fit on more weaponry. The next one will be much better as long as we can get some sponsorship to help us build it."
— Richard Neely[3]

Alongside a new heavyweight incarnation of their titular machine, lower weight class versions were considered,[5] along with ideas for a full-body spinner,[6] a walkerbot, and a two-part clusterbot variant with a balloon-based flying robot, dubbed Project Cold Turkey.[7] Ultimately, the full-body spinner idea appeared to be pursued, which was to maintain invertible capabilities and have a weapon weight of approximately 30-35kg, similarly to Gyrobot. However, time constraints meant that Team Mazakari were not able to finish this new heavyweight for The Fifth Wars, and it is unknown whether they secured enough sponsorship for further appearances on Robot Wars or BattleBots.[6]

Robot History[]

Series 4[]

Mazakari fought in Heat D, competing against the twenty-third seed Mortis and fellow newcomer Iron-Awe in its Eliminator. Prior to the battle, a pact was initially formed between Team Mazakari and Team Iron-Awe, in a bid to overpower the Random Violence Technologies machine. Meanwhile, the battery which secured Mazakari's qualifier victory was swapped over, resulting in significantly less power being available for the spinning disc.[2]

Mortis Mazakari locked

Mazakari locked together with Mortis

Mazakari got its disc up to speed straight away, but Mortis immediately got underneath it and shoved it into Sgt. Bash. Mazakari was held by Sgt. Bash's pincers before being released, only for Mortis to topple it over with its wedge and lifting arm after it shoved Iron-Awe into the wall. Mazakari ran into Mortis' side with its disc, but its disc had no effect on the latter's silicon carbide-coated armour, and again Mortis got underneath it, but without toppling it over. Mazakari sat in the middle of the arena before Mortis pushed it into Dead Metal, and the three robots came together as Mortis tried to lift Iron-Awe onto its side. Eventually, Mortis lifted Mazakari again, hooking its lifter under its disc as it sustained an axe blow from Iron-Awe.

"There's no, no hope for Mazakari, I'm afraid."
Jonathan Pearce as Mortis carries Mazakari by the frame

Mortis pushed Mazakari into Sir Killalot twice, while Refbot attempted to separate the two robots. Mazakari was then held over a flame jet before Mortis dragged and slammed it into Iron-Awe and Shunt, with Shunt axing the top of Mazakari's armour. Both robots remained locked together for the remainder of the battle, with Mortis toppling onto its side as it attempted to lift Mazakari, and Sgt. Bash gripping and shooting flames at Mazakari until 'Cease' was called.

The battle went to a Judges' decision, and although Iron-Awe appeared to have been immobilised for a long period of time during the fight, the decision went against Mazakari on account of it 'sustaining too much damage'. This eliminated Mazakari from The Fourth Wars.

"Well. The decision is unanimous. Mazakari is eliminated."
Craig Charles announcing the Judges' decision

Results[]

MAZAKARI - RESULTS
Series 4
The Fourth Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 1
Heat D, Eliminator vs. Mortis (23), Iron-Awe Eliminated

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 0
  • Losses: 1

Series Record[]

MazakariTeam

Team Mazakari with their robot

Series Mazakari Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Tag Team only (event cancelled)
The Fourth Wars Heat, Round 1
The Fifth Wars Did not enter
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

Trivia[]

Mazakari stats

Mazakari credited with Mortis' statistics

  • An editing error attributed Mazakari with the same stats as Mortis during the original UK broadcast of Heat D. This error was fixed in the US Grand Champions version of this episode.
  • Team Mazakari were the only team from Series 4, Heat D not to appear in any other episode, their prior attempt to enter the cancelled Series 3 Tag Team notwithstanding. However, they did make an appearance during the Grand Final Awards segment, and had plans to compete in Series 5.
  • Mazakari is along with Fat Boy Tin the only robot to lose to and fight two tracked robots in the same battle.

References[]

External Links[]

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