SPARK OUT: THE 2016 FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

UGLY-1 VS THUNDERBOLT CYCLONE

The wedge design proved its worth in the opening bout of the semi-finals of the 2016 featherweight championship in Shanghai, when wedge-shaped bot Ugly-1 went up against Thunderbolt Cyclone. An octagon-shaped platform on wheels, Thunderbolt Cyclone had a spinning bar on top, much like a helicopter’s rotor. As soon as the match began, Thunderbolt Cyclone began spinning, its rotor also rapidly left rotating.

Approximately ten seconds into the match, Ugly-1 had rammed its wedge underneath Thunderbolt Cyclone, then launched its spring-loaded top to send its opponent onto its back, knocking it out for the count. Ugly-1 then intentionally flipped itself over onto its back using the force of its spring, then back onto its wheels, as if to demonstrate contempt for robots that get stuck on their backs.

Ugly-1 went on to give the same treatment to its next opponent Indigo Dragon, launching its opponent over the arena barriers.

INDIGO DRAGON VS LITTLE BEELZEBUB

Sparks quite literally flew as Indigo Dragon went up against Little Beelzebub in the same championship tournament. Little Beelzebub was a compact and sturdy bot, flat, square, with four wheels and an angled front allowing it to scoop up its opponents. Indigo Dragon had a chunky horizontal rotating blade around a pillar at its front, just a centimeter or so off the ground to damage the base of any opponent.

Little Beelzebub succeeded, for a time, in ramming Indigo Dragon, then carrying its helpless opponent for several seconds. After Indigo Dragon slipped off the top of the robot, the two circled one another, before a head-on clash.

Little Beelzebub was arguably far more damaged by the encounter—its front wheel hit Indigo Dragon’s blade square on, and chunks of tattered wheel were strewn about the arena. Indigo Dragon, however, was flipped onto its back—a knockout blow, giving the win to Little Beelzebub, despite its mangled front.

GAGOO SNAKE VS LITTLE BEELZEBUB

The final of the featherweight championship had Little Beelzebub against Gagoo Snake, and on this occasion, Gagoo Snake’s more elaborate design paid off. A far more imposing robot, Gagoo Snake boasts stabilizing spikes on its front so that its massive jaw-crane device can clamp down a smaller opponent, and maintain balance while picking it up and holding it in place. The strategy was to back Little Beelzebub up against a wall, then force its clamp around the faster robot’s body and pick it up. Eventually, after being dangled a few times, Little Beelzebub seemed to go limp in its opponents jaw, and simply stop moving. After it was separated from Gagoo Snake the match resumed all the way to the timer, but Gagoo Snake had clearly demonstrated its superiority.