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Tantrum was a series of robots which entered Series 2 and 3 of Robot Wars, the latter as T 2. In Series 2, the original incarnation reached the Tug of War Trial stage before being eliminated. In Series 3, T 2 improved on its predecessor's performance, reaching the second round of its heat before losing a controversial Judges' decision to The Darke Destroyer.

Versions of Tantrum[]

Tantrum[]

"Another wheelchair motorised war machine, its 25 millimetre diameter sharpened flail rotates at 1,000 RPM, it has a spring-loaded rear ramming bumper. Roboteer Chris Weeks used to build pine beds - they always collapsed!"
Jonathan Pearce introduces Tantrum
Tantrum

Front view of Tantrum

Tantrum was a red, invertible box-shaped robot, featuring an unusual eight-wheeled configuration. The robot had a set of six small front wheels arranged on triangular-shaped mounts, similarly to those later found on Series 3 competitor Trident, as well as two larger wheels at the rear, taken from a golf trolley. Tantrum's weapons consisted of a 25mm diameter sharpened steel flail, rotating at 1,000rpm and a spring-loaded rear ramming bumper.

The shell was 25mm steel box section, and the motors and wheels were donated by sponsors.

"We purchased the motors from a local invalid carriage repair company (who thought we were barking) and the rear wheels came from RS components."
— The Tantrum website

It was powered by two 12V batteries and wheelchair motors, giving a top speed of 9mph. The motor controller was homemade[1], and the robot had internal fans to prevent the speed controllers overheating. It cost £500 and took 200 hours to construct.

T II[]

"It's loosely based on Tantrum, our original robot, it's got one or two modifications, one of which is the ram at the front, which is capable of lifting approximately 300 pounds. The electronics inside are basically the same as they were before, one or two modifications, and we've got a hair do!"
— Rupert Weeks introduces T 2
T2

T 2 ahead of Series 3

For Series 3, Tantrum was replaced by its successor, T 2 (short for Tantrum 2, and stylised as T II), a grey two-wheel drive robot which reused the original robot's chassis and much of its electronics. Amongst the improvements carried out, the most significant changes over the original Tantrum included a tank-steering mechanism and a design loosely resembling a steam locomotive. T 2's weapon took on the form of a front-mounted pneumatic lifter modelled on a locomotive cowcatcher, which was claimed by the team to be capable of lifting 300lbs, although the statistics board claimed it could lift 13 stone (182lbs).

The lifting device was constructed from 16mm box section steel and powered by a 50mm pneumatic cylinder[2]. The chassis was modified, with the addition of a piece of sewer pipe in the middle. T 2 also featured a set of red eyes and a mohawk on its top-rear armour; these, along with the robot's shape, lead to Philippa Forrester describing it as "Thomas the Tank Engine with a punk-rocker haircut". The robot was quoted as having a top speed of 15mph, and was powered by two 24V wheelchair motors.

Etymology[]

Tantrum was originally called Merlin, but the name was changed to Tantrum during construction, due to the rushed nature of construction.

"Originally, we weren't going to call it Tantrum at all, but I think we were welding up the chassis - we hadn't actually welded an awful lot before, and it just fell apart! It wasn't very good at all! And we probably used one, maybe two, bottles of gas, and it was just getting too expensive, so we just started screaming at the thing!"
— Rupert Weeks on the origin of the name Tantrum, interviewed in Robot Wars Revealed[3]

The Team[]

"After watching the first TV series of ROBOT WARS at the end of 1997 we decided to "Give it a Go" without realising what we were getting ourselves into. ...neither Chris or myself (Rupert) had even held a welding device before let alone built anything remotely like this."
— The Tantrum website on entering Robot Wars[4]
Tantrum team

The team with T 2 in Series 3

Tantrum was entered by Rupert Weeks and his brother Chris from Worthing in West Sussex, who were both electronic engineers who worked together at a family business, P.P.S. of Worthing, a Electronic & Production Engineering company. For Series 3, they were joined by Ken Frost. Between the two brothers, they took turns driving the robot, with Rupert driving in the Gauntlet of Series 2 and Round 2 of Series 3, and Chris Weeks driving in the Trial and Round 1 of Series 3. In each of its battles in Series 3, one brother operated the weapon whilst the other drove.

Qualification[]

Tantrum Chassis

The chassis of Tantrum during construction

The team applied for Series 2 with a design for a robot called Merlin. Due to a failure in communication, the team did not receive official approval to build a robot until May 1998, just two months before the auditions. Due to the miscommunication, the team changed the name to Tantrum.

"We submitted our proposed design for our robot (Originally called Merlin) and within a few weeks started to receive reams and reams of paper work which included :- Rules, Contracts, construction guides etc... We were told by the producers of the show "Not to start construction until we received the official GO AHEAD so we waited, and waited. Around the end of MAY 98 we received a letter from Robot Wars which said "You should by now be well on your way with your robot construction and can we have some photo's please"!!!! To say we were surprised is an under statement and after a quick phone call we established that we had indeed been given the "Go Ahead", its just that someone had forgotten to tell us !! Oops."
— Tantrum website on applying to Series 2[5] (edited)

Tantrum was eventually completed in time for the audition on 18 July 1998, being finished the day before. Tantrum passed the audition to qualify for Series 2, and T 2 similarly qualified for Series 3 by passing the assault course.

T2rspecialLARGE

T 2 R Special

The team upgraded T 2 ahead The Fourth Wars, installing a new axe weapon and repainting it orange with black spots while also renaming it T 2 R Special. T 2 R Special attended the qualifiers for Series 4 and was drawn against future semi-finalist Tornado in its qualifier battle. The first attack from Tornado bent the front bar of T 2 R Special and cracked the welding. Tornado continued to push T 2 R Special around the arena, denting its whole body with its spike weapon and breaking its radio gear, causing it to lose drive on one side. T 2 R Special was pushed into Shunt, who flipped it over, only for Tornado to re-right it again. T 2 R Special fired its axe a single time, which broke and put a dent in its top armour. The fight ended after less than a minute with Tornado as the obvious winner. This damaging loss meant T 2 R Special failed to qualify for The Fourth Wars.[6]

After failing to qualify for the Fourth Wars, the team retired from Robot Wars and did not attempt to enter any subsequent series.

"Both Robots performed well but after a couple of years the whole thing was a bit tired so it has now been retired and sits proudly on our exhibition stand at live events."
— Rupert Weeks on Gadgetnet[7]

Robot History[]

Series 2[]

Tantrum competed in Heat B, and went straight for the middle route in its Gauntlet run.

Rupert Weeks: "It's fine when you watch someone else, and then when you've got to do it, the nerves and everything, and you just think "I want to go home"!"
Philippa Forrester: "Oh, don't go home, you'll be fine!"
Chris Weeks: "Or the pub!"
Philippa Forrester: "Oh, I'll come to the pub with you. Get in that arena!"
— Pre-Gauntlet interview
Tantrumgauntlet

Tantrum completes the Gauntlet

It drove through the barrels, pushing two of them along, but when the barrels hit the edge of the see-saw, they toppled over, and as Tantrum pushed against them, it rode up on the barrels. Tantrum reversed off the barrels, then pushed them out of the way as it drove up the see-saw. As Tantrum crossed the see-saw, Sergeant Bash was ready, blocking its exit and blasting his flamethrower at Tantrum. Tantrum tried turning to drive around him, but drove into a pyramid. Tantrum reversed and turned to correct itself, and Sergeant Bash mistakenly turned around and drove into the fence, allowing Tantrum to drive to the end zone.

"That's a good run by the brothers!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Tantrum completes the Gauntlet

Tantrum had completed the Gauntlet, so was comfortably through, and eventually finished first on the leader board, as although Mace and Chaos also completed the Gauntlet, Tantrum finished in the fastest time.

Philippa Forrester: "Blooming good going!"
Rupert Weeks: "That was good, that was excellent! We were really impressed with that, we were pleased, very pleased!"
Philippa Forrester: "Impressed with yourselves."
Rupert Weeks: "We're relieved more than anything else!"
— Post-Gauntlet interview

Tantrum was through to the The Trial, which in this Heat was Tug of War.

Philippa Forrester: "So how much traction does Tantrum have?"
Rupert Weeks: "It's got a lot, it's got a heck of a lot! Up until about five weeks ago it was an old wheelchair so it's used to carting old dears around, things like that!"
— Pre-Trial interview
Tantrum tug of war

Tantrum is pulled into the pit

Tantrum was the first competitor to take on Dead Metal Right from the start, it was overpowered by Dead Metal, as it failed to get any momentum with its initial charge, and within seconds Dead Metal had pulled it close to the pit.

"No grip on then wheels, can it survive?"
— Jonathan Pearce as Dead Metal pulls Tantrum to the edge of the pit

Tantrum struggled against Dead Metal's pushing, but could only slightly delay Dead Metal's pulling, and after just 12 seconds, Dead Metal had pulled it so that its wheels were hanging over the edge. As Dead Metal pulled, Tantrum tried driving up the ramp, but could not stop itself falling into the pit.

"Tantalising, teetering, tottering, toppling, toppling, Tantrum... totalled!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Dead Metal pulled Tantrum into the pit in the Trials

Tantrum had lasted just 16.15 seconds, which ultimately left it last on the leaderboard, just two seconds behind Wheelosaurus, eliminating it from the competition.

"We should have put the trolley into the competition!"
— Rupert Weeks after the Trial, after breaking the handle on the trolley whilst carrying the robot back to the pits

At the end of the series, the team was nominated for the Sportsmanship award, but lost out to Plunderbird 2.

Series 3[]

"The comment of the year had to be. "Why the hell did you enter that box of CHOCOLATES into Robot Wars " Whilst we were quite happy with Tantrums performance in series 2 it was definitely time to give the old girl a bit of a makeover ! ... We liked to think of TII as a sort of Demonic Dragster. Philippa Forester thought it looked more like Thomas the Tank Engine !"
— The Tantrum website on the new robot

In its first round, T 2 faced newcomer Vector.

Vector vs T2

T 2 rams an immobile Vector

At the start of the battle, T 2 quickly drove across the arena, but Vector failed to move from its starting position, merely firing the weapon. T 2 drove at the front of Vector, pushing it against the arena wall, then reversed, and drove at Vector's side, pushing it against the wall. As T 2 turned around for another attack, Vector started moving a little, reversing and trying to drive away from the wall, but T 2 drove into its side, pinning it against the wall. T 2 turned away, and Vector drove away from the wall, only for T 2 to turn around and drive into its side, blocking it. T 2 turned to Vector's front and pushed it back to the wall, but reversed away as Vector drove forwards. T 2 drove at Vector's front corner, but then started spinning on the spot, hitting Vector's side once.

"What's the matter with Vector, come on boys! T 2 doing all the work! Looks like a... weird, demonic drag racer!"
— Jonathan Pearce as T 2 rams the barely-mobile Vector
T2 falls

T 2 falls into the pit, but goes through anyway

T 2 stopped spinning and drove in front of Vector, but then turned away, driving around to Vector's side and pushing it onto the arena spikes. T 2 turned away for another charge, and Vector had stopped moving. The spikes lifted Vector up and down, and T 2 slammed into the back of Vector, trying to push it into the CPZ, but accidentally pushed past its opponent and drove to the edge of the CPZ itself. T 2 managed to reverse out before Matilda could attack, then drove at Vector's side, pushing it into the CPZ. As Matilda pushed Vector out of the CPZ, T 2 reversed down the arena, driving close to the pit. It stopped and turned around, but then mistakenly drove forwards, with one of its wheels falling over the edge of the pit. T 2 tried to reverse to get away from the pit, but fell into the pit instead.

"T 2 flushed down the loo! And I wonder, if they go through... because, were Vector immobilised before T 2 went down? I honestly don't know."
— Jonathan Pearce as T 2 falls into the pit

The House Robots went over to attack the immobile Vector, before Cease was called.

"Let's be honest, Vector didn't do anything, and I think that's key. You see, I think Vector was immobilised right from the start, therefore T 2 should go through."
— Jonathan Pearce's opinion as the battle goes to the Judges

The judges ruled that Vector had been immobile long enough to be considered out before T 2 drove into the pit, therefore T 2 progressed into the next round instead.

"T for two. Two for T. Through in a spree."
— Jonathan Pearce after the battle

In the next round, it faced another newcomer in The Darke Destroyer.

"A speedy start expected by T 2, little bit slower than we thought actually."
— Jonathan Pearce on T 2's initial charge
T2 vs darkedestroyer

T 2 rams The Darke Destroyer

Darkedestroyer vs t2 vs deadmetal

T 2 shoves The Darke Destroyer into the clutches of Dead Metal

Both robots started by driving at each other, and T 2 drove into The Darke Destroyer's spinning blade, but then drove past as The Darke Destroyer reversed away, nearly driving into Shunt's CPZ. T 2 turned around and drove at The Darke Destroyer's side, lifting it up a little with its front lifter, and pushed it around in a circle until The Darke Destroyer managed to turn away. T 2 turned around and pushed against one of The Darke Destroyer's back wheels, withstanding a blow from the spinning blade as it pushed it up into Dead Metal's CPZ. Dead Metal snatched The Darke Destroyer away from T 2, pushing it against the arena wall as T 2 turned away, then cutting into its front.

"Clever driving - pushing The Darke Destroyer into the grip of Dead Metal."
— Jonathan Pearce praises T 2's driving
Darke Destroyer T2

The Darke Destroyer finds itself in between T 2 and Shunt

Dead Metal let go of The Darke Destroyer, but T 2 drove into the CPZ before The Darke Destroyer had a chance to escape. T 2 pushed against The Darke Destroyer's side, then reversed and turned to block The Darke Destroyer as it tried driving past to escape the CPZ. T 2 blocked The Darke Destroyer from escaping, but The Darke Destroyer pushed it against Dead Metal, who reversed, forcing T 2 to drive away from the House Robot. T 2 reversed away from the CPZ and turned away, whilst The Darke Destroyer drove after it. T 2 turned back around and drove at The Darke Destroyer's side, but could not push it before The Darke Destroyer turned away. Both robots turned around, and The Darke Destroyer backed into T 2's side with its spinning blade. T 2 quickly turned around to The Darke Destroyer's side and pushed it up the arena, pinning it against the wall on the edge of Shunt's CPZ.

"Now the blades can't cause damage there. As long as T 2 stays to the side of The Darke Destroyer, it'll be out of harm's reach!"
— Jonathan Pearce as T 2 pushes The Dark Destroyer into Shunt's CPZ
Darke Destroyer T2 1

T 2 gets too close to Dead Metal

The arena flamethrower fired, hitting T 2 as well, so T 2 reversed away, and The Darke Destroyer drove away from the CPZ as Shunt came over to attack it, with Shunt missing his axe blow. T 2 drove at The Darke Destroyer's side, blocking it as it tried driving down the arena, but The Darke Destroyer turned away from T 2, so T 2 reversed. As The Darke Destroyer drove at T 2 with its spinning blade, T 2 turned to avoid its opponent, then drove around The Darke Destroyer, which turned around to try attacking with the blade again, but T 2 turned and drove around The Darke Destroyer, then turned and drove at The Darke Destroyer's side.

"They've got to stay away from that blade, T 2. But how can they cause damage? Yes it is agile, speed, but lacks a bit of cutting edge, T 2."
— Jonathan Pearce as T 2 drives around The Darke Destroyer

T 2 tried pushing The Darke Destroyer into Dead Metal's CPZ, but The Darke Destroyer turned away, causing T 2 to drive into Dead Metal's CPZ. Dead Metal tried to grab T 2 and use his saw, but T 2 quickly turned and drove out of the CPZ, driving into the top arena wall as it did so. T 2 turned and pushed against The Darke Destroyer's side, only for The Darke Destroyer to turn away again

"It's very cautious. A conservative battle, this."
— Jonathan Pearce
T2 vs dd

T 2 rams The Darke Destroyer into the side wall

Darkedestroyer vs t2

T 2 stops the blade of The Darke Destroyer

T 2 pushed into The Darke Destroyer's side with its lifter raise, raising its own front off the ground, but its rear-mounted wheels allowed it to push The Darke Destroyer across the arena, against the top arena wall, pinning it by a flame jet. The Darke Destroyer reversed and turned away from the wall, and T 2 drove around to its side and pushed it, trying to force it into Shunt's CPZ. The Darke Destroyer turned to avoid being the CPZ, but T 2 kept pushing, until The Darke Destroyer managed to turn away. Before The Darke Destroyer could get away, T 2 drove into its back, stopping the blade, and kept pushing until time ran out.

"Really, so difficult to pick this one."
— Jonathan Pearce reviewing the highlights

The battle went to the Judges, who ultimately made a split decision, putting The Darke Destroyer through, prompting some booing from the audience.

Philippa Forrester: "It came through on Aggression. I've done my little bit of research, and it came through mainly on aggression, on the fact that their weapon was much more aggressive. And we did talk, didn't we, before you went in, about you not really having any weapons! Sadly, that's what it came to"
Chris Weeks: "Would we have won it if we'd put a little whip on the back then, do you think? That might have swung it!"
Philippa Forrester: "Well if you'd had maybe more active weaponry, that would have swung it at the end of the day when it was such an even match, and they kind of inflicted quite a bit of damage on the front here."
Ken Frost: "But the red eyes were scary!"
— Post-battle interview

Results[]

TANTRUM - RESULTS
Series 2
The Second Wars - UK Championship
Heat Trial
Heat B, Gauntlet Completed (1st) Qualified
Heat B, Trial (Tug of War) 16.15 seconds (5th) Eliminated
T 2 - RESULTS
Series 3
The Third Wars - UK Championship
Heats, Round 2
Heat F, Round 1 vs. Vector Won
Heat F, Round 2 vs. The Darke Destroyer Lost

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 1
  • Losses: 1

NOTE: Tantrum's Gauntlet and Trial runs are not included

Series Record[]

Series Tantrum Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Heat, Trial (Tantrum)
The Third Wars Heat, Round 2 (T 2)
The Fourth Wars Failed to qualify (T 2 R Special)
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

Gallery[]

Outside Robot Wars[]

BrightonModelWorld

T 2 (left) amongst robots at Brighton Model World 2000

The team took T 2 to Brighton Model World in February 2000, alongside Suicidal Tendencies, Mortis, Pitbull and Grim Reaper. At this stage, T 2 had the axe fitted, but was not painted orange, nor called T 2 R Special.

"T 2 went a bit out of control and nearly took a radiator off the wall with its axe! I told the organisers to "chill out" and they said "We'll have to now you've wrecked the heating" Whoops!"
— Rupert Weeks, interviewed by Robot Wars Magazine about T 2's appearance at Brighton Model World[8]
Smash and Grab

Smash N' Grab, the team's Techno Games entry

The Team entered Techno Games 2002 with a robot called Smash N' Grab, which competed in the Assault Course and in the football competition as Celestial Terror's teammate but they lost in the first round to A.A.T. and Savage Toaster. It beat Quadsey in round 1 of the Assault Course but lost to Big Bro in the second round.

After retiring from Robot Wars, Rupert Weeks set up his own online robotics shop called Gadgetnet.[9], which sold robot kits and toys.

The Tantrum robots were scrapped sometime after the team's retirement, but Rupert still owns T 2 R Special's axe.[10]

Trivia[]

"...they at first went for an ingenious and ambitious drive system including caterpillar tracks and a freely spinning triple-wheel assembly mounted on the front of the robot, to allow it to climb over obstacles. The tracks, made from pieces of car tyre, caused the robot to be far too difficult to control, so they were removed in favour of two large rear drive wheels (powered by two 50-watt wheelchair motors), although the front mounted triple wheel assembly was retained. The entire robot had been designed around the track system, so when the tracks were abandoned, the strength of the front wheel assembly had to be increased by using heavy duty castors"
— The Robot Wars Technical Manual
  • Originally, Tantrum was supposed to have tracks, but the team found they made the robot difficult to control.
  • Tantrum is the first-ever robot to fall into the pit.
  • In Episode 2 of Robot Wars Revealed, which covered Heat B of Series 2, clips from the team's video diary were shown, including constructing and testing.
  • Tantrum was one of only two robots to finish top of the leader board in the Gauntlet, then go out in The Trial stage of their Heat, the other being Eubank the Mouse in Heat F of Series 1.
    • Unlike Tantrum, Eubank the Mouse had to go out in the Trial stage, due to being a stock robot, and therefore ineligible to go through to the Arena stage.

External Links[]

T2 s3 official

Official Series 3 photo

Honours[]

Nominations

References[]

Navigation[]

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