The first target, SHUNT there has been a bit of speculation as to whether he is good enough to be a house robot, this is rubbish. Shunt has the most power (besides Killerlot) and is also the second fastest at 10mph. On top of all this he also has a very powerful pneumatic pickaxe which has been known to put holes in the top of robots sometimes immobilising them with one strike.

DEAD MEATAL probably my least favourite but it is the fastest at 12mph. To start with its pincers are too difficult to manoeuvre into a useful position and even if they did manage it they could do with more power. If Dead Metal does grab someone it can become lethal with it's phnumatic diamond tipped cutting blade, although even this needs more vertical movement (robots under 25cm high are rarely effected).

Next to the only female house robot MATILDA it supposedly this femininity that makes her Philippa Forrester's favourite house robot (I guess it's her souped up Girl Power attitude i.e sawing robots in half). This said she doesn't do much damage really, her petrol chainsaw is all very well but it was made to cut wood not metal. In series II Matilda's pneumatic tusks were made more powerfull so they can now flip competitors. I presume that armour is very strong as right underneath it is a huge multitude of cables and important looking bits.

Those two huge blue objects are infact motors!

Now the new addition to the house robots SIR KILLERLOT. OK that was a bold intro for a robot I have little respect for, how much respect can a person have for what used to be an industrial wheelbarrow! ggrievances aside, it is quite impressive for 3 weeks work! But it was insufficiently armoured his back was bare, exposing cables and important stuff. Also I am told that on his side pneumatic pipes that power the lance are exposed!!! It is also a very unfair robot when you bear in mind that no competitor could build such a thing, this is because competitor robots are limited to 72.3Kg Killerlot is getting on for 300Kg!!!!!!!!!!! it isfair enough that they need to provide good tele but when Killerlot comes in immediatley to drag someone to the flame pit this is not on.

Killerlot's humble beginnings.

Right thats my annoyance dealt with back to info, as mentioned above it is based on a 4 ton industrial wheel barrow which then had 2*1Hp 24v Leeson motors put in it and a 8hp Briggs and Stratton hydraulic pump. Off this was driven a 2m lance and some hydraulic pincers with 15tons of force (it'll happily snip chains and frames). He is a bit slow at 5mph but who can blame him with all that weight to carry around. The lance is often used to hold robots over the flame pit. Speed controllers were obviously a bit of a problem as they often overheated and several fans are used to cool it, no doubt the BBC will do some thing about it for the next wars...

Traction

One thing that all house robots have in common is lots of traction, every one of them has huge pneumatic tyres (except for killerlot who has huge strong tracks) this is a very good idea for any prospective robot designers to take note of.

Sgt. Bash	Matilda	Shunt

Sir Killerlot	Dead Metal

House Robot Statistics

Sgt. Bash Stats		Dead Metal Stats		Shunt Stats
Weight	120kg	Weight	112kg	Weight	105kg
Height	90cm	Height	70cm	Height	70cm
Width	90cm	Width	100cm	Width	110cm
Length	140cm	Length	160cm	Length	130cm
Top Speed	8mph	Top Speed	12mph	Top Speed	10mph

Matilda Stats		Killerlot Stats
Weight	116kg	Weight	200+kg
Height	66cm	Height	130cm
Width	66cm	Width	120cm
Length	140cm	Length	120cm
Top Speed	8mph	Top Speed	4-5mph
approx. Cost	£5,000	approx. Cost	£10,000

Killing House Robots - A few tips on disposing of the BBC's robotical attempts.

Kills from series II

Ground Hog (79.4Kg) caused Sir Killerlot to fall forwards when it was picked up

Panic Attack rammed Sgt. Bash taking it's angle grinder off

Spin Doctor's flail removed Matilda's Tusk

Wheelosaurus knocked Sgt. Bash's flame thrower off

Cassius got in under Matilda and fipped her with it's 1.5 ton ram

Chaos (with Sinclair C5 motors) dragged Dead Metal into the pit in the Sumo round

Sgt. Bash probably the best target for any prospective house robot killer. First his flame thrower is rather flimsy, bear in mind it has to rotate 360 degrees so cant be welded or anything to the body of the bot. This said it wont just drop off, wheelosoarus had quite a bit of power behind it. Also a good firm tap (from the side) on the angle grinder can have rather pleasing consequences as Panic Attack found out.

Shunt poses quite a problem, there are very few damagable parts. The good thing is that he is the lightest at 105Kg so well within flipable reach of Griffon, Cassius or RoadBlock but is very difficult to get underneath. Ground scraping shovels front and rear stop attacks from there and side attacks a difficult with low ground clearance.

Matilda is very difficult, although Spin Doctor did very well to remove her tusk, this did not immobilise her not by a long way, unlike Sgt Bash her armour is thick and covers all the way around. The only way to anything important is via the chainsaw and this is very risky.

Sir Killerlot was badly armoured, it has little protection round his back and arms (where the phnumatic pipes are) if you can get to these places before he beats you up you've done well. Be warned, if you try to kill Killerlot and fail he'll barbecue your bot.

Dead Metal is an easy target for anyone with a lifting device or powerful wedge (G.B.H. Cassius, RoadBlock or Griffon). This is because it is the second lightest and has quite a handy piece of metal guarding the wheels to get under.