- "Our late substitutes, with a pneumatic flipper. It's powered by two industrial motors, bodywork is aluminium, the frame is tubular steel. They begged and borrowed for some of the parts."
- — Jonathan Pearce introduces V-Max
V-Max was a one-time competitor that competed in the Fourth Series of Robot Wars. It was a reserve robot, brought in when Onslaught had to withdraw, and reached the second round before being ripped apart by Hypno-Disc.
Design
Front view of V-Max
V-Max was a wedge-shape robot constructed around a tubular steel frame, and was armed with a front-hinged flipping arm as its weapon, similar to Cassius and the original Gravedigger. The robot had Go-Kart wheels filled with foam, 2 Bosch 750W GPA drive motors, and the weapon was powered by a Festo 320mm ram, powered by a 20oz paintball gun canister. The robot was relatively quick, and the flipper was powerful enough to throw other robots over, although thin armour led to its downfall.
- "We like to think it's the most powerful robot we've seen so far, we've the fattest tyres you can get, and the biggest motors with the biggest power."
- — Mick Pearce sings his robot's praises before Round 1
Qualification
- "We won our first bout against "5 of 7", convincingly bashing him against the wall of the arena. Next up was an entry from Scotland "Bravehard" who beat us fair and square in a power tussle (our fuses blew!), followed by yet another bout, courtesy of two other robots failing to start, against a robot from Southampton. Unfortunately, they beat us hands down as they flipped us and we couldn't get back upright (srimech needs some more work)"
- — The V-Max website's summary of the Series 4 qualifiers.
V-Max before being painted
At the Series 4 qualifiers, V-Max lost two of its three qualifier battles. In the first, it defeated 5 of 7 by slamming it into the arena wall. Afterwards, V-Max lost to the Scottish robot Bravehard after being overpowered by its opponent in a battle where V-Max's fuses blew. V-Max's third battle was only held after other robots withdrew from the qualifiers as they would not start, but V-Max's final opponent flipped it over, and V-Max could not self-right at this early stage of development. As a result of this track record, V-Max failed to qualify. However, it was selected as a reserve robot, and was brought into the main series as a substitute in the final Heat after Onslaught broke down and withdrew.
Robot History
Series 4
V-Max was brought in as a last minute reserve for the Fourth Wars, as Onslaught had suffered irreparable mechanical problems just before it was due to enter the arena for the final heat.
V-Max takes out Cerberus
V-Max was brought into battle against the number 18 seeds Cerberus and fellow newcomers Terror-Bull. Cerberus' lack of weaponry caused it to suffer, and after escaping a very brief tussle with Terror-Bull, V-Max slid smoothly underneath Cerberus and flipped it over. Cerberus was declared immobilised and was pitted by the house robots, so V-Max went through to the next round along with Terror-Bull.
- Julia Reed: "What did Hypno-Disc do to the other robots in the melee?"
- Rich Drayson: "Trashed them."
- Julia Reed: "Trashed 'em. I just had to hear you say that."
- Rich Drayson: "Its trash, bash, mash in this game, isn't it? We came for it anyway."
- Julia Reed: "Yeah? Well you're a braver team than I am."
- — Confidence from V-Max before the fight
V-Max's side panel is ripped away
With this victory, V-Max was brought up against the number 2 seeds Hypno-Disc in the second round of the heat. V-Max drove into Hypno-Disc's side, but Hypno-Disc attacked it and ripped off a side panel. Carbon Dioxide was leaking from V-Max when Hypno-Disc attacked again. V-Max ran away, but drove into the arena side wall, and Hypno-Disc came in and knocked off the other side panel.
- "Poor old V-Max, came in late, leaving early! Isn't that always the way at the best parties? And here, Hypno-Disc is enjoying one on the arena floor!"
- — Jonathan Pearce after Hypno-Disc ripped off the side panels
V-Max lies dormant after heavy damage from Hypno-Disc
V-Max got underneath Hypno-Disc and pushed it into the arena side wall at the opposite end of the arena, but Hypno-Disc reversed away unaffected. Soon, Hypno-Disc attacked the exposed side of V-Max, tearing out the battery. With V-Max now immobilised, the House Robots came in. Shunt attacked with its axe, and Dead Metal cut into its chassis and pushed it onto the arena floor flipper, eliminating it from the competition.
- "There is no life left in "V-Minimum". V-Max to give it its real name, but it was minimum problem for Hypno-Disc to dispose of the late substitutes ... V-Max have played a minimal role in the Robot Wars history!"
- — Jonathan Pearce as V-Max is attacked by the House Robots and flipped by the floor flipper
Results
| V-MAX - RESULTS | ||
| Series 4 | ||
| The Fourth Wars - UK Championship Heat, Round 2 | ||
| Heat P, Eliminator | vs. Cerberus (18), Terror-Bull | Qualified |
| Heat P, Semi-Final | vs. Hypno-Disc (2) | Lost |
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 1
- Losses: 1
Series Record
| Series | V-Max Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Did not enter |
| The Third Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fourth Wars | Heat, Round 2 |
| 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
- V-Max was sponsored by "Go-Karting for Fun Indoor Karting Centres".
- On the statistics board, Richard Drayson's name was misspelt "Richard Dramson".
- Due to its status as a Reserve robot, V-Max was omitted from the Robot Wars Battle Cards, and was not profiled in Robot Wars: The Official Robot Guide. In both cases, Onslaught was included, despite having to withdraw from the main competition of The Fourth Wars.
- Construction of the robot began on the 15th March 2000, when the team drew their plans for the design on the back of a cigarette packet whilst at the local pub.