Complaints about Robot Wars

Robot Wars is a competitions and (for the last few years) television programme, produced in the UK by Mentorn. In recent years, it is similar to BattleBots, and earlier series resemble Robotica. (You are encouraged to visit the Robot Wars web site for more information on the program.) And these are my complaints about it.

Okay, maybe "complaints" is a bit strong. But nonetheless, in Series 6, there was a plea for more roboteers. As someone who might be tempted (see my robot designs page), I felt I should make public the reasons which I feel might put me off (in case Mentorn see fit to fix them next time round). Incidentally, while I don't intend to give too much away, I do make some references to "Robot Wars: the Sixth Wars" - which in the UK, at the time of writing (4^th Sep 2002), has been shown only on BBC Choice. (And actually I haven't seen the final yet). Those who have not seen this series yet (BBC 2 have yet to reach the end of "The Fifth Wars") may wish to come back later.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a great fan of Robot Wars, but it's a program that I feel could be better - both as a viewer, and as a potential competitor. So the following is in two sections, with items roughly in decreasing order of irritation. They are of course all my own opinions, as a long-term fan but not as a competitor, and should not be taken as being representative of anyone else's feelings; there may well be extenuating circumstances for many of the things about which I am concerned, of which I'm unaware, so please don't take any of my criticisms as gospel. I don't want to he sued by Mentorn (or anyone else) because someone's taken this too seriously! But, based on what little information I have, I would like to see the following issues addressed.

Changes I would like to see as a viewer

Outtakes

This is a new problem for The Sixth Wars, and has been universally panned in the forum on the Robot Wars site. Before and after the titles and after the credits, outtakes of the forthcoming fights are shown so as to show which robots are in action. This I wouldn't mind, but they seem almost universally to show a robot losing by going down the pit, being flipped out of the arena, obviously being broken, or being a target in the "drop zone" (which only happens to defeated robots) - so the outtakes remove any suspense from the forthcoming battles. Many of the robots appeared in previous series, largely unmodified, so there is plenty of older footage which could be used. Newer teams had to go through untelevised qualifying, which surely would have provided the opportunity for a few shots of the robots in action. This leaves only the completely new robots by seeded teams - and I'm sure they wouldn't mind trashing a few wooden crates for the cameras. I've no idea who decided the viewers are too stupid to recognise the robot losing at any given moment, and who wouldn't work out that if two robots are shown fighting and they're not drawn against each other in the first fight, it's a pretty good bet that they both get through, but I hope they enjoyed whatever they were on at the time.

Jonathan Pearce

...has been a liability since he started commentating. Murray Walker made lots of mistakes in his Formula One commentary, but it was always clear that he knew what he was talking about and it came out wrongly. Jonathan Pearce has no such excuse. After the debacle of the second World Championships (where - since he doesn't do the commentary live - he managed to mix up his notes and refer to the outcome of the current fight as if it was a previous meeting) I've no understanding how he's still employed. Meanwhile, in spite of so many years commentating, he still hasn't learnt the difference between hydraulics and pneumatics. He describes experienced roboteers as novices. He has a confused concept of the suffix "-ability" (as in "crushability", "flippability", "bruisability" etc.) using, for example, "destructability" where he means "destructiveness". He's picked up the US meaning of "momentarily" ("in a moment", rather than the British meaning of "for a moment"). He can't tell whether a robot is being pushed or pulled; he can't tell whether it's immobilised; he can't spot whether something vital has fallen off, something has jammed, or a robot is just grounded on its armour; he can't spot whether a robot is wedged on a feature of the arena; he's perpetually sure that a flywheel weapon has broken just because it stops when it's hit something (i.e. it's worked) - all of this in spite of the fact that he has a chance to preview the fights, presumably with a "rewind" button on hand, and make notes. He also seems never to have watched the show on TV, referring to noises (of robots and the crowd) which are almost entirely blotted out by his own commentary (having visited the Robot Rumble in Debenham this year, the robots actually make a lot of noise). He seems to have no mechanical aptitude or understanding of the workings of a robot, a dubious understanding of the rules, and a tenuous grasp of English. I have no understanding of how he has remained as a commentator - a position made more important because he has the potential to reach a large number of pre-teens in the audience, who would otherwise be picking up good English practice and some basics of engineering. For all that, I don't have a personal dislike of the guy, it's only his competence that I object to. I have no objections to him continuing commentating, if someone would give him basic English lessons, and spend a day with him showing how robots worked - and most of all if he would spend a bit longer getting the commentaries right. I'm no commentator, but there are enough people capable of doing a good job at this that I feel J.P.'s performance is less than would be expected.

The editing

The fights, if they last full length, run to about five (?) minutes. The televised versions are drastically cut, with the same views often repeated as part of each fight. In the Sixth Wars, there are five fights in each heat - 25 minutes if shown in full, out of a 40+ minuts programme. Instead, we cut to clips of the competitors and the house robots, and slow-motion re-runs, just as the competing robots are lining up an attack. Could Mentorn not stretch to using "picture in picture" to show the fight continuing, real-time, for its entirety, from some angle - even if the main picture is showing re-runs of impacts, house robots, or people? The "damage cam" is good - actually talking to the competitors about what happened. But they still get very little chance to talk up what they've been spending their evenings on for several months (I was overjoyed to hear the Hypno-disc crew try to talk about their speed controllers). I really don't care what Jonathan Pearce thinks the outcome of a fight will be, since he's never shown signs of understanding the factors involved, but he still gets minutes of airtime. As someone interested in technology rather than wanton destruction, I'd love to see the fights commentated (retrospectively, obviously) by the roboteers - although getting team Tornado and team Razer around the same mike might cause a fight, unless they can overcome their grievances. At least they'd know what happened, after they got their robots back ("I was playing dead"/"they knocked off the weapon belt"/"that's where the link fell out"/"I was just conserving battery power" etc.) In fact, I'd probably buy a special edition "director's cut" of the series with that commentary and a decent amount of interviewing where the roboteers aren't forced to sound artificially aggressive (as with the "WWF-style" interviews from Extreme). The alternative sound track would cost Mentorn almost nothing, and surely would be worth it at least for late night repeats. The recording might even be a roboteer bonding experience. If Mentorn want more competitors, as appealed for in the Sixth Wars, why not have commentary which appeals to them? You could even do quick features ("this is how the srimech works") during the boring bits of the fight, just after the feature is used (keeping the fight going in the "picture in picture" at the time). People wanting to see the whole fight would be happy, people wanting the extra information would be happy. It would also be nice for the countdown timer to be less artificial, which it could be if the fight was shown in full. So - 25 minutes on the fights, concurrently showing a few extra features on robot components, and split the extra 15-20 minutes between damage cam (don't show it during the fight, or damage yet to happen will be visible), introductions, and interviews. Cutting the repeated previews (perhaps picture-in-picture the robots in action - not from fights to come - while showing their stats), Jonathan Pearce's predictions and "insight", and perhaps some of the "highlights of that fight" I'm sure nothing would be lost and the programme would fit in the current time limit. I could also live without an extra few minutes of the house robot demolishing a defeated robot, but then I'm not a six-year old being encouraged towards yob culture (apparently the current target audience). To be fair, I'm sure it's easier to say all this than to do it, but the problem seems to be more with the priorities given at the executive level than with the case-by-case editing decision, although showing the whole fight (at least in miniature) would absolve some of the responsibility for this.

Dubious judgements

At least on the evidence of the footage shown, some of the decisions have been inconsistent - usually in favour of the seeded robot which Mentorn have a vested interest in promoting (from the point of view of toy sales and fan clubs). A case in point is the decision that robots stuck on the arena wall are not disabled (Firestorm in the Sixth Wars, Tornado - very unfairly to Chaos 2, who'd put it there and would have thrown it out given the chance - in Extreme) - except that in the Fifth Wars, Chaos 2 had S.M.I.D.S.Y. on the wall, got itself stuck upside down, and for no good reason S.M.I.D.S.Y. wasn't freed. It would also help if they explained themselves - as in FireStorm getting Razer stuck under an angle grinder, which apparently was explained to the audience, but not on camera. (And if you're not supposed to get stuck on the arena features - and fair enough, they were consistent when Wheely Big Cheese did the same thing in the Fifth Wars - why on earth didn't they redesign them? Dantomkia did exactly the same thing in the Sixth Wars.) Others have complained of bias in the judges - and at least they've got rid of the arbitrary decision regarding qualifiers which let many aesthetic examples of cannon fodder through to the first round of the Fifth Wars, in place of more capable robots.

Matilda

With the new(-ish) flywheel weapon, Matilda is simply too unpredictably destructive. That flywheel has been single-handedly responsible for more robots being seriously damaged than any other arena feature put together - in spite of the arena being full of spikes, flame pits, angle grinders, and a selection of other robots. The flywheel is a random element, taking the fairness out of a number of bouts. Now, I admit that Matilda in her previous incarnation was a bit of a soft target (hence her destruction by Razer in the Northern Annihilator). I don't particularly want the flywheel to go - the "corner patrol zones" are supposed to be dangerous, to stop competitors pinning opponents there and making the fights boring. The solution, as I see it, is simple. Unless there's actually someone in her CPZ, Matilda should face outwards - with her tusks towards the centre of the arena. With all the other house robots, you have a chance to get out of the way - not only do you have to be in the CPZ to be attacked, but they have to catch you. With Matilda sitting with the flywheel outwards, a quick run past, barely (and sometimes not at all) grazing the edge of the CPZ can be disasterous, and not always for the robots that is on the receiving end of a pushing manoeuvre. She is out of proportion to the other robots, and this simple change would do a lot to make matters more even.

The weight limit

In the days of an 80kg weight limit, innovation was required. Razer has some unusual engineering in order to get the necessary hydraulics inside the weight limit. Hypno-disc (in the original form) seemed to have relatively feeble protection over its drive mechanism, sacrificing a lot for its heavy flywheel. With the 100kg limit, there's room to do everything. Relatively conventional hydraulics aren't a problem; you can mix a flywheel with decent armour; thick armour makes saws and most axes inneffective. For all it's nice for such things to be less elitist, I feel the requirement on the competitors to be be innovative has been removed (and discouraged) by the increased weight.

Kinetic weaponry

Now, I have to admit that no robot with a kinetic weapon (by which I mean a heavy spinning disk - as in Hypno-disc, Disc-o-inferno, S3, Vader, 259, Supernova, 13 Black, Warhog, The Revolutionist and Nightmare/Backlash and Warhead [in BattleBots] - or rotating hammer - as in The Alien, Fluffy and Son of Whyachi) has won Robot Wars. (Here I'm not counting the Thing family, Tornado, Shredder or Pussy Cat, since their weapons are more a cross between saws and flywheels, and don't require so much spin-up time - and in some cases aren't the primary attack mechanism.) Nonetheless, there are more and more spinning discs around (as Sir Chromalot said in the Sixth Wars before committing to building one), and as Andrew Cotterell of Ming (3) complained, it's hard to have any innovative projecting bits of robot when they're so easily knocked off by an opponent with a flywheel. I don't mind the destructiveness (note, please J.P., not "destructability") so much, since it's bought at the cost of the robot having a sporting chance of knocking itself out from the impact. What I object to is the lack of driving skill required - a spinning weapon is both weaponry and armourment. Lifters, flippers, clamps, pincers, axes, hammers and even ramming all require careful steering and positioning of the weaponry. A spinning disk turns a large amount of the exposed area of the robot into a weapon (especially with a horizontal disk), requiring little driving ability to attack with and making defence easy - they can be defeated, but only generally by machines which are built far more strongly than the spinner. On the other hand, I don't want to rule out hammers, which are essentially kinetic weapons. The solution I'd most like to see is one requiring some electronics to be provided by Mentorn which disables power from weaponry (other than srimechs - so flippers probably need to stay active) except when the robots are within a certain range of each other (say a couple of metres) - with some feedback so the fight can be stopped if the weapon is unfairly disabled due to electronic or signal failure. This would be an extra safety mechanism, and mean that flywheels could still cause the damage that the kiddies so like when used on slow opponents - but fast, well-driven robots can get in before heavy kinetic weapons get up to full speed. It actually needs to be the power, not just external features, or someone is quickly going to find a lightweight cover which can latch on to a flywheel as it spins. Anyway, something needs to be done, or everyone's going to have a flywheel, and innovation will stop.

Silly losses

Everybody wants to see a robot perform at its best. Matilda aside, a lot of fights are randomly lost through reception problems and the safety link falling out. These problems, while the best teams do a lot to avoid them, are still relatively separate from the quality of the robot design. Fair enough, Spawn Again caused their own interference, as do many other designs, but you can do a lot to engineer round that. Interference from the environment is another matter - and Robot Wars would be both more entertaining and safer if Mentorn took some corrective action. It's easy to cover the ceiling in something which absorbs radio waves; it should also be possible to either cover the floor, or ensure that the floor is radio-opaque and put something absorbent underneath. The transparent walls are harder - although you can probably make them opaque by having a thin wire grill over them and making a Faraday cage (which screens the audience members who haven't turned off their mobiles), they'd probably still reflect. So how about running cables from the control boxes up to aerials in the ceiling; given a bit of surrounding, you could screen signals not heading straight to the floor, where they'd be absorbed (think barn door shades for a floodlight). You might even not need to worry about the walls. Still a good idea to ensure that the house robots, angle grinders (and other arena features) and cameras are well shielded, though. I believe Team Stinger have knowledge of radio shielding, which I'm sure they'd be happy to provide. The removable link is easier to fix:since power runs through them, just have a standard link provided by Mentorn, and have it transmit a signal to say it's connected. This could be connected to the weapon cut-out that I suggested above, transmitting position as well as "on-ness". When the link loses power, have a BattleBots-style "time-out" for the link to be replaced, unless one of the drivers concedes because of additional sources of incapacitation.

Changes I would like to see as a potential competitor

Safety

Some roboteers have left Robot Wars on principle, in part because they claim Mentorn has shown a reckless disregard of the competitors' guidance regarding safe handling of their robots. While I have only third party reports, the stories I've heard would concern me just as much, as a builder. Certainly I would be obliged to build in additional safety mechanisms to ensure that inexperienced handlers of any machine I built would not injure themselves on it. I'm troubled by the management who would allow the safety concerns of respected competitors to be ignored and the disrespect this implies for the expertise of the competitors. Regardless of how justified the concerns of a roboteer are, with safety I believe that everything should be done to ensure that all parties involved are happy - everyone involved has to live with the results if something goes wrong, and everyone will bring their own experience of potential dangers. Even if a safety expert is convinced that everything is safe, roboteers have more experience of their own robot, and should be accommodated. That someone would even attempt something as stupid as Combat Cars (which was about as awful as I'd expected, from what I saw) says a lot about the regard in which TV companies hold safety (my own opinion, of course).

Cost

Now, I appreciate the need for the kiddies in the audience to see some wanton destruction. I'm happy to have a robot chucked about by the arena flipper, have some sparks kicked up by Dead Metal, be paraded around by Killalot, get torched a bit, and have Mr Psycho's hammer make a nice loud noise on the shell (if I lose). Frankly, none of these should do much expensive damage to a well-designed robot - they should all miss the electrics, and only take out a link or two off the shell (and possibly a panel or two of armour). I can even cope with Growler ramming the robot against the arena wall if I'm careless enough not to get out of the way (as caused Dominator 2 quite a major bit of damage), and take the odd hit from Matilda's tail - again if I drive badly and am in the wrong place at the wrong time. But. Random unavoidable impacts from Matilda cause serious shell damage. I'm very concerned that Growler's habit of grabbing and spinning with robots could burn out the motors or shred the gearbox (expensive) - the odd thump and masticate is another matter. Most importantly, I don't want a heavy weight dropped on it and causing serious damage to the frame (the "drop zone") - although no robot seems to have been seriously damaged by the drop zone, I think that's luck (glancing blows, sharp edges not hitting anything important) rather than judgement - especially with PA24K minus its lid; Kim Davies is incredibly noble to expose the innards to damage like that. Why not fill the stuff in the drop zone with shrapnel, causing less damage but looking like more? Kids wanting carnage won't care, and potential roboteers won't want unnecessary damage. Mentorn may put a lot into the house robots and the arena, but hundreds of competitors put in just as much work. Why deliberately demolish all their hard work? The competitors do hold back from each other once they've won, and often save each other from additional damage. By causing damage, Mentorn are reducing the ease with which competitors can return with a competitive robot.

Support

I've heard bad stories about Mentorn's treatment of competitors. I can think of no other class of programme wbere the competitors put in so much money, time and effort in return for such a minor prize (unless sponsors give a lot, so experienced competitors only there). If roboteers come back, it's for the sense of community in the pits, not to be shoved around by TV crews. It may be that the reports I've heard are unusual cases, but I have concerns about essentially working for a company which considers the competitors to be a minor expendable resource.

Fairness

As mentioned above, there are a few concerns regarding bias towards known robots; I would be worried about unfair treatment, although close fights are relatively rare.

That said, I'd be quite interested in entering a charity event. Most of these want to have as many fights as possible, so deliberately stop the fight as soon as a competitor is disabled; they also disallow very destructive weaponry, which encourages finesse. But it's a pity that Robot Wars, with a wider audience, can't foster the same kind of environment. My biggest problem is that Robot Wars is better to enter early on, so that you get sponsorship and deals for parts; I suspect this is a major reason for the large number of returning contestants. I'd believe in a lot of work on the design, and making it as easy and cheap to build as possible (after all, it's going to get wrecked sooner or later, and intellectual effort is more persistent). The problem is that, when you're making a half-decent robot out of the tin foil you can afford, the guy with the massive sheets of titanium given to him can worry a lot less about the details of the design and still have a sporting chance of beating you. But there's not much Mentorn can do about that, and I don't really want to see an attempt to limit costs since it is nice to see robots with really state of the art components from time to time, as a viewer.

I'd be happy to hear feedback on these thoughts from roboteers, fans, or Mentorn representatives who have read these comments. Please contact me.

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