Category 5

Category 5
Participation Information
Unaired Events	Collegiate Championship 2009
BotsIQ	BattleBots IQ 2006 BotsIQ 2007 BotsIQ 2008 BotsIQ 2010 BotsIQ 2011
Other Names	Hurricane Katrina (BBIQ 2006-BotsIQ 2007) HK4
Team Information
Team	University of Miami College of Engineering
Team Members	Andrea Suarez Mike Gellatly
From	Miami, FL
Associated Robots	Witch Doctor, Safety Factor (Andrea Suarez, Mike Gellatly) panDEMONium, The Shocker, Fuchsia Fusion, UM Spin EM (University of Miami) The Kerminator, Marvinator, Commander K-9 (Andrea Suarez)
Robot Statistics
Weight	120lbs
Drive	4x 18V DeWalt drill motors (running at 24V)
Weapons	Shell spinner
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Not to be confused with the unrelated robot of the same name designed for BattleBots World Championship III.

Category 5, originally known as Hurricane Katrina, was a middleweight robot built by University of Miami students for numerous BotsIQ events between 2006 and 2011, including the 2009 Collegiate Championship.

Captained by future televised competitor Andrea Suarez, the robot was a red and black, four-wheel drive design with an aluminum and titanium construction. It was a shell spinner, meaning its ¼" titanium armor doubled up as its weapon. The entire weapon assembly included a titanium shaft and a twin-belt system to minimize the risk of its motor stalling, with the shell capable of rotating at around 1,500rpm by the time of the Collegiate Championship. Each of Category 5's wheels were individually driven by an 18V drill motor running at 24V, with Suarez explaining that this configuration would allow the robot to keep driving if half of the whole system failed.

Following its first documented appearance at the 2008 BotsIQ championships, Category 5 performed strongly in the 2009 Collegiate Championship, with official BattleBots records confirming that it finished third overall with a 4-2 record. It would build on this success by reaching the finals of the 120lb College and Pro Division in the 2010 BotsIQ National Championships, emerging victorious against rival shell spinner PanDEMONium.

Category 5 also finished runner-up in the 120lb College division at the 2011 Championship, and received the Best Engineered Robot Award at the same event. Andrea and Mike Gellatly would return to BattleBots in 2015 with a heavyweight version of Witch Doctor, the pair are still in possession of Category 5's shell having discarded its frame and internals in 2021.

Category 5 and its 2011 awards.

Category 5 with Rhino and their 2011 trophies.

Category 5 with its team during the 2009 event.

Category 5 as Hurricane Katrina with its team.

Robot History

BattleBots IQ 2006
Hurricane Katrina vs. Manta Raya Hurricane Katrina was known to have fought Manta Raya at this competition. The fight only consisted of one hit which appeared to knock out both robots out immediately. A large piece of the Hurricane Katrina's shell was ripped out and Manta Raya's frame was bent from this hit. The result of this is unknown.
Hurricane Katrina vs. Icewave Hurricane Katrina takes on Icewave. At some stage in the 2006 BotsIQ tournament, Hurricane Katrina took on Icewave. Hurricane Katrina struggled for mobility throughout as Icewave approached without its bar spinner active. Icewave drove into the shell spinner wedge-first in a hit which sent both robots into opposite ends of the arena. Icewave then powered up its bar spinner and gingerly followed Hurricane Katrina as it drifted across the BattleBox, but Marc DeVidts backed off as it became clear his Miami-based opponents could no longer move.
BotsIQ 2007
Hurricane Katrina vs. Bear Down Hurricane Katrina suddenly stops moving. Returning for the 2007 event, Hurricane Katrina now sported a directional indicator flag similar to that of Ziggo. During the competition, it faced Bear Down. Despite being the early aggressor, Bear Down rode up the sloped shell of Hurricane Katrina, later driving into it and damaging its front wedge. Hurricane Katrina then tore a piece of Lexan from the side of Bear Down and continued to buffet against its opponent. However, Hurricane Katrina suddenly stopped driving. Despite its shell still spinning, a speed controller had become unclipped, resulting in its immobilization. As such, Bear Down took the win by knockout.
Hurricane Katrina vs. MR-3 Hurricane Katrina also took on MR-3, who led with its steeper rear wedge. This proved disastrous for MR-3, however, as Hurricane Katrina quickly tore pieces away from its opponent, then taking a chunk from its right side. With MR-3 struggling to move at this stage, it activated its lifter helplessly as Hurricane Katrina lands one final blow before it is declared the winner by knockout.
Hurricane Katrina vs. Alakran Hurricane Katrina fought BattleBots IQ 2004 champions Alakran during the event, delivering big hits early on which sent Alakran spinning across the arena. The shell spinner buffeted its Puerto Rican opponent as sparks began to fly, all before slamming into its back end and tearing a panel away from Alakran. In the seconds which followed, both robots engaged in a stand-off until Alakran got its lifter underneath the shell, raising Hurricane Katrina until it deflected away. The impact of this suddenly immobilized Hurricane Katrina, and the Miami team's robot was counted out.
BotsIQ 2008
Category 5 vs. Rhyno Category 5's only known opponent in 2008 was Rhyno. Category 5 lost the match by KO after getting hung up on a screw on the arena floor.
Collegiate Championship 2009
Category 5 vs. JailBreak Category 5 stares down JailBreak. Category 5 strikes the back end of JailBreak. JailBreak loses its weapon, courtesy of Category 5. Category 5 disables JailBreak's drive. Category 5's first Collegiate Championship match was against JailBreak, though this almost did not take place as JailBreak was struggling to get past safety. However, it passed and the fight occured. At the start of the match, Category 5 sat in its square to get up to full speed while JailBreak drove over to the corner with their own pulverizer, getting hammered by it as well. Category 5 waited as JailBreak drove to the other corner and seemed lost. Category 5 finally initiated contact, ripping up the rear armor, then tearing it and the right armor off. Category 5 then struck the drum mount, tearing off the drum and baseplate of JailBreak. Category 5 struck a spinning JailBreak in the rear, tearing up what was left of its armor and disabling the drivetrain, before sending it spinning again with a second hit. JailBreak tapped out after 45 seconds, allowing Category 5 to advance.
Category 5 vs. Rhino Category 5's next opponent was Rhino, allowing a grudge match from the 2008 finals. For this tournament, Category 5 changed their teeth out to be bigger and hit lower in case of such an event. As the match started, Category 5 advanced while spinning up while Rhino was having drive problems and got stuck in its square. Once again, Category 5 initiated contact, ripping off the left titanium wedge and freeing Rhino from the floor. When both bots met weapon to weapon near the center of the arena, Category 5 came out on top by ripping Rhino's whole right side off and left the drum with no way to be mounted and spin. Rhino promptly tapped out after just 29 seconds, allowing Category 5 to move on.
Category 5 vs. Triton In this part of the bracket's finals, Category 5 faced off against Triton. Category 5 started by spinning up, hitting Triton behind the plow and sending both bots spinning away. The second hit was square on the plow, popping Category 5 into the air in a shower of white sparks. This happened a few times with Triton's plow taking hit after hit and sending sparks each time. Category 5 was able to cut a minor gash on the left corner, but not causing much damage. Category 5 was able to fully spin Triton around on one attack, but couldn't capitalize on the exposed wheels before getting upended by the plow again. By this point, Category 5 was slowing down to an unknown problem from the start of the match and a hit into the wall silenced the hurricane-based bot's spinner. By this point, Category 5 tried to hang in there against Triton, getting hit by the killsaws and nearly being flipped three times by the hellraisers at one point. A final hit from the killsaws at the end of the match ended Category 5's unbeaten run on a unanimous decision which put it into the loser's bracket.
Category 5 vs. Shark Tooth Now required to win in order to stay in contention, Category 5 faced off against Shark Tooth. Amateur footage of the fight suggests that on various occasions, it buffeted Shark Tooth away with powerful blows to its opponent's sides. Category 5 ultimately won on a Judges' decision after one minute and 13 seconds.
Category 5 vs. Pharaoh Category 5 next fought the pneumatic flipper of Pharaoh. Here, it repeatedly hit the front corners of Pharoah and eventually mangled the lip of the latter's weapon. Category 5 also lifted Pharoah upwards while causing further damage to the sides, eventually winning by knockout after two minutes and 16 seconds.
Category 5 vs. Triton This second run of success allowed Category 5 to face Triton a second time in the final of the Loser's Bracket, for a chance to face Falcon in the overall final. Very limited information on this battle is available, but like in their previous encounter, Category 5 was defeated, this time by knockout after one minute and 45 seconds. Thus, it would finish third in the 2009 Collegiate Championship with a 4-2 record.
BotsIQ 2010
Category 5 vs. Fuchsia Fusion Category 5 gets kicked against the wall by Fuchsia Fusion. During the event, Category 5 took on Fuchsia Fusion. Category 5 had its shell spinner disabled and resorted to taking several shots from Fuchsia Fusion's spinning shell, including one that kicked it into the wall. As the fight was only shown in a few snippets in the Bots High documentary, the outcome remains unknown.
Category 5 vs. Witch Doctor Category 5 gets popped into the air by Witch Doctor. Witch Doctor grinds into the underside of Category 5. Another matchup Category 5 fought in the tournament was against the team's own Witch Doctor. When the match began, Category 5 spun up and met Witch Doctor near a corner. After Witch Doctor took some time to position itself, Category 5 clashed weapons with Witch Doctor, getting kicked in the air and into the wall. Before it could spin back up, Category 5 took another hard shot and got kicked onto the top of the barrier before sliding down and getting kicked up again and taking some shavings to the underside. After getting pushed out of the corner, Category 5 engaged in a brief pushing battle until witch Doctor backed up and pushed the shell spinner into the wall. As Category 5 tried to spin back up, it got shoved into the wall and punted into the air simultaneously by Witch Doctor, flipping and landing back onto its wheels. After getting shoved into the wall again, Category 5 moved back to the center of the arena, where it took two more blows from Witch Doctor and got flipped onto its lid. Before it got counted out however, Category 5 was popped back onto its wheels courtesy of Witch Doctor. After taking another shot from Witch Doctor, Category 5 maneuvered near a wall attempting to spin back up. as it did, Category 5 started trading shots with Witch Doctor as it was getting pushed, before being hurled into the wall, drifted into another wall, and stopped spinning after running back into its opponent. As Category 5 moved into the center of the arena to spin back up, Witch Doctor nudged it near the blue square. Once the shell spinner was up to speed, Category 5 tried to maintain space as Witch Doctor gave chase, but it instead got shoved into the wall, where it was simultaneously punted straight into the air by Witch Doctor and flipped back onto its lid. Category 5 took another big hit sending it into the wall and on its side before it was left down for the count.
Category 5 vs. panDEMONium Category 5 is known to have reached the finals of the 120lb College and Pro Division, where it faced rival shell spinner panDEMONium. Both competitors spent the majority of the fight exchanging powerful blows with their weapons, with Category 5 losing the use of its own shell partway through. Despite this setback, Category 5 eventually immobilized panDEMONium by driving into and deflecting a series of its opponents' blows, emerging victorious by knockout.
BotsIQ 2011
Category 5 vs. Rhino Category 5's first known match in the 2011 BotsIQ championships was against Rhino, the third encounter for the two teams. The match started with Category 5 spinning up to speed while Rhino had gotten stuck on an uneven floor seam. Meanwhile, Rhino got its disk spun up and freed itself. After that, Category 5 moved in and popped Rhino who still seemed to be having issues. Afterwards, Rhino came in and used its rear wedge to attack Category 5, then promptly got stuck again while a puff of smoke appeared from Rhino. This allowed Category 5 to get two attacks in on Rhino which freed them. After this, Rhino went on the attack, striking Category 5 with its spinning disk. However, they got stuck again, but were again freed by Category 5 who sent itself flying in the process. Rhino then drove in and used its disk to take a piece off of Category 5. Unfortunately for Rhino, they had lost half of their drive by this point, so they were having even more control problems. Despite this, Rhino managed to get a few more attacks in on Category 5 who was stuck in the corner, one of these attacks also took out one of the arena's I-Beams. Rhino then backed off and Category 5 got back up to speed. With about one minute left on the clock, both bots collided in a big hit that immobilized Category 5 and high-centered Rhino a final time. Due to Category 5 dominating most of the fight, along with Rhino's lack of control, the Judges gave the fight to Category 5.
Category 5 vs. Scorpio Their next known fight was against Scorpio. As soon as the fight started, Category 5 spun up while Scorpio immediately wedged its flipper underneath a floor panel and got stuck. This allowed Category 5 to come in and rip part of Scorpio's side panel off while Scorpio was trying to use its flipper to free itself. Still stuck under the floor panel, Scorpio's team asked to be freed by their opponent. This resulted in Category 5 slamming into Scorpio again, this time sending it flying across the arena. After being freed, Scorpio went into the center of the arena and started spinning. However, Category 5 simply waited for Scorpio to stop spinning and slammed into its flipper, sending Scorpio flying yet again. After this, Scorpio tried to line up a ram attack with its rear mounted hammer, but missed so they tried another spin attack. Yet again, Category 5 waited for Scorpio to stop spinning, then slammed into them again, this time mangling Scorpio's flipper. After this, Scorpio managed to successfully ram Category 5. This attack stopped Category 5 from spinning and caused the robot itself to start emitting smoke. However, the hit also immobilized Scorpio, which was counted out, giving Category 5 the knockout win.
Category 5 vs. Blue Flame Category 5 strikes Blue Flame. Category 5 then moved off to face off with Blue Flame. The fight started with both robots spinning up to speed. After both bots were spun up, Blue Flame hit Category 5 with its spinning disk, creating a large shower of sparks. After several more hits like this, there was another hit that launched Blue Flame into the air. Blue Flame promptly returned the favor, sending Category 5 flying, then it sent it into the arena wall which caused Category 5 to go careening all over the arena corner. After three more minor hits, Blue Flame hit Category 5 and sent it flying into the red square. Blue Flame then delivered another blow, this time immobilizing Category 5 which was counted out by the judges.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 9 (Minimum)
• Losses: 8 (Minimum)

Competition	Wins	Losses
BattleBots IQ 2006	?	Icewave
BotsIQ 2008	?	Rhyno
BotsIQ 2007	MR-3	Bear Down
Collegiate Championship 2009	JailBrake Rhino Shark Tooth Pharaoh	Triton Triton
BotsIQ 2010	PanDEMONium	?
BotsIQ 2011	Rhino Scorpio	Blue Flame

Trivia

• During a livestream on Team Witch Doctor's YouTube channel held on January 26, 2022, Category 5's shell could be seen on the window sill.