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"Peter Reynolds has built a Kit Car before, this looks like a Kit cart. But the two 12-inch hardened front chisels and 9-inch cutting disc, powered by two electric car window motors, could make ORAC more than a bit-part player!"
Jonathan Pearce introduces ORAC

ORAC was a two-wheeled box-shaped robot that competed in Series 2 of Robot Wars. It reached the Arena Stage of its heat but was immobilised due to drive issues, before being repeatedly axed and burned on the Flame Pit by Killertron, which went on to reach the Grand Final.

The team returned for Series 3 with Orac's Revenge, being knocked out in Round 1 and also being eliminated by a future grand finalist from that series in Steg-O-Saw-Us.

Design[]

"The 9" angle grinder on the back or ORAC looked good. ORAC apparently cost 400 pounds over 5 months only to be left on the flame pit for everything to be ruined! Also as fire protection numerous Sun mouse mats were placed around Orac."
Oliver Steeples on ORAC[1]
ORAC

Front view of ORAC

ORAC was a yellow box-shaped robot running on two BMX bicycle wheels[2], built from scrap bicycle and wheelchair parts. Costing £400 and built over five months, it featured wheelchair technology, including a total of four wheelchair-style casters. ORAC's chassis was built from a 1-inch thick steel box section that was bolted together, with the wheels also being protected by steel supports[3]. The wheels used the rims from BMX bicycle wheels with foam glued to the rims before being covered with rubber[4].

Two car window motors powered ORAC, although the chains driving its large wheels became slack very easily. Its weapon was a 9" circular saw on the end of an arm, and two hardened steel front lifting chisels. ORAC was quick for its time at 10mph, but had a high ground clearance, and was relatively light at 55.3kg.

"ORAC the robot used wheelchair motors to power big bicycle wheels, however the chains in-between were not adjusted so that when they slackened they fell off. Simple really."
— Oliver Steeples on a key flaw of ORAC[5]

Etymology[]

The name ORAC comes from the computer in the TV show Blake's 7, in which Technical Consultant and Judge Mat Irvine worked as a visual effects designer.

The Team[]

"We saw Robot Wars on TV and decided we wanted to do our own one. We had bits of wheelchairs and bicycles lying around so we decided to make our own."
— Peter Reynolds discussing ORAC's construction on Robot Wars Revealed
OraclesS2

The Oracles with ORAC in Series 2

ORAC was entered by The Oracles, comprising team captain Peter Reynolds and technical advisor Barry Davis. Reynolds worked as a computer systems engineer and Davis was involved in microwave systems design, with both having met while studying electronic and computer engineering at the University of Brighton[6]. After having seen the previous series on television, the team wanted to build their own machine and take part. Jason Wright was listed as being part of the team during ORAC's introduction but was not seen on screen or listed on the team's website. Wright was also not featured in the team's subsequent entry Orac's Revenge.

ORAC was controlled by Reynolds throughout its appearance on the show and Reynolds also conducted the team's interviews with Craig Charles, although Davis did have a minor speaking role, most notably in a pre-Arena interview shown on Robot Wars Revealed.

Qualification[]

ORACaudition

ORAC at the Series 2 auditions

ORACwithFoxwell

ORAC with Technical Consultant Derek Foxwell

ORAC attended the Series 2 qualifiers in an unfinished and unpainted state but completed the obstacle course. While little else is known about ORAC's performance at the auditions, ORAC did complete a technical check with Technical Consultant Derek Foxwell and was subsequently awarded a place in the final competition.

Robot History[]

Series 2[]

"Straight up the middle, and try and ram a House Robot as fast as we can!"
— Peter Reynolds shares his pre-Gauntlet tactic
Oracgauntlet

ORAC completes the Gauntlet

ORAC followed its pre-Gauntlet strategy and began its run by taking the central route and heading for the ramp, although it swayed left and right as it did so. ORAC went up the ramp slowly but it struggled for grip as it moved up the incline, and Reynolds confirmed afterwards to Craig Charles that the wheels had struggled to gain purchase on the ramp's surface. ORAC came off the ramp and turned right and then left, sending Shunt and Dead Metal crashing into each other before making the end zone despite Shunt's best efforts to stop it. ORAC, now facing backwards after Shunt's attempted block, came to a stop touching the end zone fence after having taken less than twenty seconds to complete the Gauntlet. No other robot completed the Gauntlet within that heat, so ORAC progressed to the Trial in first place.

Orac trial

Matilda drops ORAC over the edge

ORAC was second to take on the King of the Castle Trial in which it faced Shunt and Matilda, who had replaced Dead Metal after Killetron's run. ORAC began by trying to spin away and dodge the oncoming House Robots, although Shunt drove off the ramp by mistake after just 5 seconds and eliminated itself from the Trial. This left Matilda to grapple with ORAC and she lifted it up by getting her tusks underneath one of ORAC's wheel guards. Matilda then dragged ORAC back into the centre of the ring and spun around with it, and eventually dropped ORAC off the side of the ring after 28.95 seconds.

Craig Charles: "How do you think it went for you? I mean, did you expect there to be bashed or...?"
Peter Reynolds: "Average - we're pretty light so it can move us around pretty easily"
Craig Charles: "Never mind, lads - I don't know if you've done enough to get through. We'll have to wait and see."
Barry Davis: "Fingers crossed!"
— The team's post-Trial interview with Craig Charles

Despite the team's uncertainty over whether their time was good enough, ORAC finished the trial in fourth place after Schumey only lasted 9.40 seconds. It was revealed in the post-fight interview in the Pits that one of the drive chains had come off during the Trial as one of the wheels had buckled slightly, which may have contributed to ORAC being unable to fight back against Matilda.

Philippa Forrester: "Are you worried about facing that axe of Killertron's because it can get you from any angle almost?"
Peter Reynolds: "We're quite agile, I think we can avoid it"
— The Oracles discussing pre-match tactics

In the arena semi-final, ORAC faced Killertron. Despite sounding confident in the televised pre-fight interview, on Robot Wars Revealed the team anticipated a tough battle against the veteran machine. The two robots came together in the centre of the arena although neither robot was driving perfectly straight. After the two robots made initial contact ORAC reversed away to avoid an attack from Killertron, before lowering its circular saw arm and trying to position it for an attack of its own. However as it reversed away ORAC was hit with an arena spike and became immobilised as Peter Reynolds looked concerned and tried to regain control. While not known to the team it was shown on camera that the drive chain on ORAC's right-hand side had come off and was lying on the arena floor, which gave Sgt. Bash an opportunity to use its flamethrower. With ORAC now immobile Killertron finally connected with its axe and proceeded to punch holes into the top armour of ORAC, pinning ORAC down and shoving it onto the flame pit with assistance from Matilda.

Killertron vs Orac

ORAC is burnt over the flame pit

"Char-broiled ORAC..."
— Jonathan Pearce as ORAC is burnt over the flame pit.

ORAC was held in place by Killertron as the flames raged and smoke billowed out of the immobilised machine, before Killertron punched more holes into the top of ORAC and shoved it even further onto the flame pit. Cease was called and ORAC was left abandoned on the flame pit, with smoke continuing to pour from the robot and one of the tyres almost completely melted.

"Another hack from the pick-axe... look at the holes! Not wholesome fun for ORAC..."
— Jonathan Pearce calls the end of ORAC's time on Robot Wars.

In the post-fight interview, Reynolds showed the melted tyres that were still smouldering and mentioned that while the robot was still in the arena he was not sure what had caused ORAC to stop working. A replay was then shown of the drive chain that had come off, as Jonathan Pearce confirmed that ORAC had been eliminated from the competition. ORAC's ordeal was not yet over, however: it would not be until five minutes after the end of the fight that the Arena would be deemed safe to enter. During this time, the flame pit remained operational, notably causing ORAC's tyres to catch fire during the post-battle interviews. By the time ORAC was finally extinguished, its tyres, receiver, speed controllers, wiring and heat sinks were destroyed.

"ORAC was immobile and we were pushed over one of the flame throwers in the floor. When the round ended, it was a good five minutes before the arena was made safe. The WHOLE of that time ORAC was left over the flame thrower, as I was talking to Craig Charles the tyres caught fire and I ran down to the arena. They wouldn't let me on saying "Oh dear its not a pretty site" When they finally extinguished the flames, ORAC was so hot they couldn't move it, the tyres were burnt away, the receiver was melted, the speed controllers were fried, the wiring was a molten ball of goo and the Aluminium heatsinks had melted !!. This damaged all occurred AFTER the round had ended."
— Peter Reynolds in an Alt Robot Wars post[7]

Results[]

ORAC - RESULTS
Series 2
The Second Wars - UK Championship
Heat Semi-Final
Heat E, Gauntlet Completed (1st) Qualified
Heat E, Trial (Sumo) 28.95 seconds (4th) Qualified
Heat E, Semi-Final vs. Killertron (4) Lost

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 0
  • Losses: 1

NOTE: ORAC's successful Gauntlet and Trial runs are not included

Series Record[]

Orac

ORAC at the Rover Model Show in Oxford following Series 2

Series ORAC Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Heat, Arena Semi-Final
The Third Wars Entered with Orac's Revenge
The Fourth Wars Failed to qualify with Orac's Revenge
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

Outside Robot Wars[]

ORAC backstage

ORAC disassembled at the end of its Series 2 campaign

In 2016, the team stated that they would have liked to be part of the new series, but would be unlikely to build a robot in time. They still own both versions of ORAC.

"I received an email to my robot website about the new series from Mentorn today. Had a look at Orac and Orac's Revenge sitting in the garage, looking in a very poor state. Will probably have to make something new, but 2 months is a very tight timescale, not sure if I could build anything presentable."
— Peter Reynolds on the FRA forum

Trivia[]

ORACunpainted

Peter Reynolds with ORAC at the Series 2 auditions

"We are designing a small autonomous submersible craft to cross the Atlantic ocean and return using only renewable energy. We have 4 engineers/scientists working on the project so far and we estimate it will be a 2 year project. Basically we are going to chuck it off Brighton pier and it will page us 7 months later when it gets back!!"
— The Oracles on their autonomous submersible[8]
  • After Series 4, the team built an autonomous submarine powered by renewable energy.
  • ORAC is one of two competitor robots who appear in The Sopranos episode Mergers and Acquisitions; the other is Elvis, who appeared in the previous heat of Series 2. The viewers can also catch a glimpse of Sergeant Bash and Matilda.
  • Both Peter Reynolds' and Barry Davis' biographies were shown in the wrong order when the team members were speaking during Robot Wars Revealed.

References[]

Navigation[]

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