Turbulence is a heavyweight robot entered by Team Asgard. Although Turbulence competed in and won the pilot episode of Robot Wars: Series 8, it did not compete in the main competition, although it fought a whiteboard match towards the end of filming. Turbulence's builder, Dave Moulds, instead entered Series 8 with the eventual runner-up Carbide.
Design
Turbulence is armed with a low pressure CO2 flipper, similar in design to M2, with a red and yellow colour-scheme. Armed in HARDOX and titanium, Turbulence's high speed and low pressure flipper allows it to continue flipping throughout long matches, which led to its victory in the 2006 UK Championships.
Robot History
Series 8
Although Turbulence did not compete in the main series of Robot Wars in 2016, it was nevertheless invited to attend filming of the pilot episode on March 1st, giving it the opportunity to compete in front of a live audience as part of a camera test.
In its group battle, Turbulence fought Ka-Pow!, Tanto, and Basher. Tanto immobilised itself when driving over Ka-Pow!, knocking its safety link loose after a backflip, while Basher pitted itself by overbalancing when pitting the beaten Tanto, leaving Turbulence and Ka-Pow! as the qualifiers.
Turbulence won its first battle against former heat winners Reaper, as Reaper's CO2 canister valve was not opened correctly, disabling its flipper. Reaper self-righted after Turbulence's first flip, but its second would be a KO.
In its second head-to-head, Turbulence defeated Merlin on a Judges' decision, due to an upper hand in aggression and control. Turbulence's final fight was addressed as the Heat Final, where it met Ka-Pow! for a second time. Ka-Pow! was pitted after a valiant fight, meaning Turbulence was the champion of the episode.
Although Turbulence went undefeated in the pilot episode, it suffered a loss during an off-screen whiteboard fight, held to entertain the crowd. Turbulence was brought into this battle after some of the selected whiteboard competitors, Gabriel and Shockwave, were unable to be repaired in time. Against Infernal Contraption, Turbulence's link fell out, and it lost the battle.
Turbulence makes a appearance behind Dara Ó Briain.
Merlin, Turbulence and Monte make cameos
Despite not competing in the main series, Turbulence still made a cameo appearance in Episode 3 when Dara Ó Briain was talking to Judge Dr Lucy Rogers. Turbulence, with Monte and Merlin, made a second cameo in Episode 4 at the beginning of the episode when Angela Scanlon introduces the pits, and all three also appeared in Episode 5. Turbulence also made a cameo in the Grand Final, appearing in most of the shots in the pits.
Results
| TURBULENCE - RESULTS | ||
| Series 8 | ||
| Series 8 - Pilot Episode Winner | ||
| Pilot Episode, Group Battle | vs. Ka-Pow!, Tanto, Basher | Qualified |
| Pilot Episode, Head-to-Heads | vs. Reaper | Won |
| Pilot Episode, Head-to-Heads | vs. Merlin | Won |
| Pilot Episode, Heat Final | vs. Ka-Pow! | Won |
| Whiteboard matches | ||
| Head-to-Head | vs. Infernal Contraption | Lost |
Series Record
| Series | Turbulence Series Record |
|---|---|
| Series 1-7 | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Pilot Episode winner |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
Robot Wars Live Events
Despite being a competitive robot in the live event circuit, Turbulence has not made many appearances in the Robot Wars live show. It only fought once - at the fourth Robot Wars live event in Widnes 2013 where it lost in its heat of the main competition against Rattler, Big Nipper and eventual runner-up Maelstrom due to a CO2 leak in its system. Turbulence would then become exclusive to Robots Live! events.
Outside Robot Wars
Turbulence's main success came two years after the original cancellation of Robot Wars, where it won the 2006 UK Championships. The team promised to flip all of their opponents out of the arena, and indeed, it qualified outside of its heat having thrown Iron-Awe 5, Kronic the Wedgehog and Spike out of the arena. In the quarter-finals, it then threw Tough as Nails out, and defeated third-placed Big Nipper and runner-up Storm 2 on its path to victory.
In 2007, Turbulence finished joint-second at the UK Tag Team championships with its partner Tiberius, with Weird Alice and Saint. More recently, Turbulence finished third in the Robots Live! Team Championships, alongside Team Barbie.
Turbulence also fought in the Robots Live! European Championships in 2013, losing to Titan in its heat, alongside Luzifer.
During the retirement of the first version of Turbulence, a second version of Turbulence which was known as Turbulence Mk2 was built. This version was renamed Apocalypse in 2008 before Ed Wallace rebuilt it for 2009, where it did not enjoy any great deal of success. The chassis was given to Alex Shakespeare who renamed it AAK and entered the 2015 Robot Wars World Championship with it. AAK lost its first round and a six-way melee there due to various mechanical problems, and has since been sold to Team ACE. Ed Wallace has since rebuilt Apocalypse into a four-wheeled, axe-wielding robot which debuted at the Robots Live! event at Stevenage 2016, taking part in several whiteboard battles.
Team Captain Ed Wallace has also fought on the live event circuit with a few featherweights, some of which had multiple versions with the same name. They are listed below:
- C.B.F.: While it is unknown what the first version looked like, all four versions were completely different machines. The second version was a pointed triangular wedge-shaped robot, the third version was a two-wheel drive, wedged box-shaped robot with two ramming spikes, and the fourth version was a four-wheeled pushing robot.
- DB5: A series of four-wheel drive box-shaped robots, some armed with spinning drums or 'egg beaters', which could be equipped for participation in robot combat events where spinning weapons are eligible.
- Secret Weapon: A two-wheel drive, octagonal-shaped featherweight with a front vertical spinning drum.
- DB10: The successor to DB5, with a powerful vertical spinning disc.
- Asgard: A featherweight armed with a pneumatic axe and with a strong resemblance to heavyweight Thor.
Team Asgard did not apply for Series 9 due to time constraints.
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