Razer (robot)

Razer
The robot Razer has a curved piercing arm and low wedge-shaped chassis.
Razer as it appeared in series 6 of Robot Wars, featuring a piercing arm and wedge
Statistics
Height0.41 m (1.3 ft)
Width0.60 m (2.0 ft)
Depth1.14 m (3.7 ft)
Weight92 kg (203 lb)
Weight classHeavyweight
Primary weaponPiercing arm
Maximum speed11 mph (18 km/h)
Turning circle0 m (0 ft)
Ground clearance0 mm (0 in)
Power source2 × 12V batteries
Team
Team membersIan Lewis
Simon Scott
Vincent Blood
LocationBournemouth
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Record
Total fights47
Wins40
Losses6
Concessions1
Statistics from Razer's television appearances (as of 24 July 2016)

Razer is a combat robot that competes on the British television series Robot Wars. It was constructed by Simon Scott and Ian Lewis from Bournemouth; the team later expanded to include webmaster Vincent Blood. Razer was designed and constructed in 1998 to participate in the second series of Robot Wars, but subsequent modifications and improvements enabled it to remain competitive until its retirement after the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. Despite gaining a reputation for being unreliable,[1] it was champion of the fifth series of Robot Wars, runner-up in the sixth, and won the first two Robot Wars World Championships.[2]

Razer's weapon is a piercing arm which exerts approximately three tonnes of pressure per square inch (465 kg/cm2, 45.6 MPa) at its tip. The arm was designed to pierce opponents' armour plating and break their internal components, rendering them impaired or immobile. This weapon was inspired by the principle of the fly press[3]—a piece of machinery used to bend and pierce metal—and maximises damage through the use of hydraulics. The arm is also an integral element of Razer's winged self-righting mechanism, which rolls the robot back onto its wheels if inverted. In later series of Robot Wars, an interchangeable hook was attached to the arm to lift robots immune from being pierced. The popularity of crushing and piercing weaponry in robot combat events is attributed to Razer, which inspired many imitations.

With a record of 40 wins and 6 losses (one through concession) in the UK Robot Wars series, Razer is recognised as one of the most successful competitors in the programme's history. It was featured on Robot Wars merchandise including a DVD and video games, and had a pull-back toy created in its image—one of which was later modified by Ian Lewis to function as a fully radio controllable miniature version of the team's original heavyweight machine. Razer also competed in the American television series BattleBots,[4] winning three of its five head-to-head battles and the 1999 Gigabot Rumble.[5][6] The team behind Razer later constructed a new combatant called Warhead specifically for this competition.[7] After retirement, Razer appears in non-combat demonstrations as part of Robo Challenge educational displays and events.[8] It returned to active combat in the 2016 revival of Robot Wars but lost in the first round.

  1. ^ Blood, Vincent. "Homepage". Official Razer website. Archived from the original on 29 November 2001. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  2. ^ Barnwell, Stuart. "Up To Date List of Robot Champions". Robots Rule. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  3. ^ "creation". 23 March 2002. Archived from the original on 23 March 2002. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  4. ^ Danknick, Dan. "The Agrippa: Final Status/Event 1999". Team Delta. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  5. ^ Blood, Vincent. "Battlebots LA 1999". Official Razer website. Archived from the original on 26 October 2001. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  6. ^ "Battlebots '99 winners announced". Official Battlebots website. Archived from the original on 13 October 1999. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  7. ^ Blood, Vincent. "Warhead Index". Official Razer website. Archived from the original on 9 June 2001. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  8. ^ "Our Robots". Robo Challenge. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2010.