ORAC was a box shaped robot that competed in Series 2 of Robot Wars. It reached the Arena Stage of its heat, but was "pepper potted" and burned on the Flame Pit by Killertron, who went on to reach the Grand Final.
The team returned for Series 3 with Orac's Revenge, It was less successful than its predecessor, as it was quickly dumped in the pit in the first round of its heat by another eventural Grand Finalist, Steg-O-Saw-Us.
The name ORAC comes from the computer in the TV show Blake's 7, a show which Technical Consultant and Judge Mat Irvine worked on as a visual effects designer.
Versions of ORAC
ORAC
ORAC
ORAC was a yellow box-shaped robot, with huge wheels. Costing £400 and built over five months, it featured wheelchair technology, including a total of four wheelchair-style casters, and was powered by two car window motors. 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 55.5kg.
Orac's Revenge
Orac's Revenge in the arena.
Orac's Revenge was a new robot that was painted green with scales, box shaped with 4mm thick aluminium, strengthened in vulnerable areas with thick polycarbonate and armed with a red pickaxe with interchangeable blades. It featured a green scaly design with a large face on the front. The pickaxe was quick in activation, as was the robot itself, but its damage output was still low.
Qualification
ORAC's Revenge, as Hammerhead
ORAC's Revenge, as it appeared when it failed to qualify for Series 4
Orac's Revenge was originally named Hammerhead, and its body was painted yellow with red stripes rather than green, and its spikes were not painted. In this form, Mentorn initially rejected it from Series 3, but for unknown reasons it later managed to qualify, possibly after the repaint and rename. Another robot called Hammerhead also qualified for the Third Wars.
Orac's Revenge attempted to enter Series 4, where it was virtually unchanged from its Series 3 design. However, it failed to qualify.
Robot History
Series 2
ORAC completes the Gauntlet
ORAC began in the Gauntlet by going up the ramp. It avoided Shunt and completed the course very quickly. No other robot completed the Gauntlet within that heat, and ORAC progressed in first place.
Matilda drops ORAC over the edge
ORAC's Trial was King of the Castle, in which it faced Matilda and Shunt. Shunt drove off the ramp by mistake after 6 seconds. Meanwhile, Matilda picked up ORAC and span around with it, and eventually dropped it off after 28.93 seconds. This was enough to keep ORAC in because Schumey only lasted 9.40 seconds.
ORAC is burnt over the flame pit
In the arena semi-final, ORAC faced Killertron. The fourth seed began by missing the yellow machine with its axe several times. ORAC was then hit with an arena spike, and became immobilised. Killertron proceeded to punch holes into it, and it was left smoking on the flame pit.
- "Char-broiled ORAC..."
- — Jonathan Pearce as ORAC is burnt over the flame pit.
Series 3
Orac's Revenge is dumped out by Steg-O-Saw-Us
The Oracles returned in the Third Wars with their new robot Orac's Revenge. This time, it didn't last very long, the original reserves Steg-O-Saw-Us resisting its axe, despite it coming down constantly at such a rate, Steg-O-Saw-Us was ramming it into the arena walls with little to no resistance. Steg-O-Saw-Us then quickly pitted Orac's Revenge. Despite this, the House Robots still came in to cause more damage to the pitted machine.
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 |
| ORAC'S REVENGE - RESULTS | ||
| Series 3 | ||
| The Third Wars - UK Championship Heat, Round 1 | ||
| Heat G, Round 1 | vs. Steg-O-Saw-Us | Lost |
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 2
Series Record
| Series | ORAC Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Heat, Arena Semi-Final |
| The Third Wars | Heat, Round 1 |
| The Fourth Wars | Failed to qualify |
| 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's Revenge made various appearances at live events away from Robot Wars, including a battle with Splinter.
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
- In both of ORAC's appearances, it lost in the heat, in its first battle, to the eventual fourth place.
- After Series 4, the team built a autonomous submarine powered by renewable energy.
- "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[1]
References
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