Evil Fish Tank

Evil Fish Tank
Participation Information
Comedy Central Seasons	Season 2.0
Team Information
Team	Team Delta
Team Members	Tony Buchignani Dan Danknick Francoise Buchignani Sarah Buchignani Alvin Buchignani Tony Buchignani Adam Masri
From	Orange, CA
Other Entries	Agrippa, Spike of Doom, Hazard, War Machine, Wedge of Doom
Robot Statistics
Weapons	Lifting ramp wedge
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"After winning the Middleweight Nut last season with Hazard, Dan Danknick and Tony Buchignani introduce Evil Fish Tank. They plan to use their lifting ramp wedge to drown the competition in a sea of pain."

— Bil Dwyer introduces Evil Fish Tank (Season 2.0, Episode 1)

Evil Fish Tank was a lightweight robot built by Team Delta which competed exclusively in Season 2.0 of Comedy Central BattleBots.

It was a four-wheel drive robot which shared the same motorized chassis as the original Season 1.0 build of Hazard. As such, Evil Fish Tank was primarily armored in 7075 aluminum, Lexan and sheet steel plating as with its middleweight counterpart; the transparent armor and boxy shape directly inspired its name. Drive was supplied to each wheel by 18V DeWalt drill motors, in conjunction with a Vantec 36E speed controller and a single 72-cell NiCad battery tower.

"I've been involved with BotBash since 1998 and there was no way I was going to miss an opportunity to compete in 2000. The problem though was one of resources - our hands were full trying to finish HAZARD for BattleBots. So Tony had the idea of just using the powered base off HAZARD, attaching a suitable weapon and trying to get it in the 55 lb. class. We'd already started screwing the Lexan sides on so I remarked in an E-mail to Tony that it looked like a giant fish tank."

— Dan Danknick on the conception of Evil Fish Tank

During its brisk construction, Tony Buchignani and Dan Danknick both opted to develop Evil Fish Tank into a 'ramming robot' inspired by Vlad the Impaler. 4130 chromoly steel tubing was ordered, milled and welded together to form a spiked lifting frame, actuated by a CO₂-powered pneumatic system with three cylinders, a paintball regulator, an 'industrial shuttle valve' and a Team Delta RCE200 controller. A set of 6-4 titanium plates completed the weapon system, which was designed to breach opponents' ground clearances with a lifting force of 70lbs. The three cylinders - enabling redundancy in the event of component failure - were mounted vertically and supported by machined 'cup-like extensions' attached to the frame's rear pivot.

Evil Fish Tank performed well in its brief BattleBots career, reaching the quarter-finals of the Season 2.0 lightweight championship before being eliminated by Toe-Crusher. Team Delta also entered the superheavyweight class of the same event with War Machine.

For Season 3.0 onwards, Evil Fish Tank was succeeded by a lightweight iteration of Wedge of Doom, armed with an electric lifter and initially featuring a similar four-wheel drive design.

Evil Fish Tank's internals

Outside BattleBots

Evil Fish Tank was originally built as Team Delta's entry for the 2000 BotBash event in Phoenix, Arizona. It entered and won the 25kg/55lb class outright over Gator and Green Dragon, scoring the maximum 210 points and four match victories.

Robot History

Season 2.0
Evil Fish Tank vs. Nsynerator (Forfeit) Evil Fish Tank was scheduled to fight Nsyncerator in its first battle of Season 2.0. However it progressed to the televised rounds by default after Nsyncerator forfeited due to electrical issues.
Evil Fish Tank vs. Mecha Tentoumushi In the Round of 16, Evil Fish Tank faced Mecha Tentoumushi, the then-latest incarnation of Robot Action League's ladybug-themed machine. This encounter marked its televised BattleBots debut, as the only full match to air in Episode 1. "And they are hungry to be the first bot to flip Tentoumushi." — Bil Dwyer Evil Fish Tank pushes Mecha Tentoumushi under a pulverizer. Evil Fish Tank, upon leaving the red square, momentarily charged underneath Mecha Tentoumushi's shell. It rammed the side of Lisa Winter's machine as it drove over and took cosmetic damage from the upper Killsaws. During an attempted lift, the front-left wheel of Evil Fish Tank snagged Mecha Tentoumushi's frame, causing both robots to stick together as they sped towards the Spikestrips. Evil Fish Tank broke free and reversed across the perimeter. When both competitors met again in the center, Evil Fish Tank unsuccessfully tried to lift Mecha Tentoumushi from the side once more. During the same attack, it proceeded to clamp the left side of Mecha Tentoumushi's chassis, then hook and drag it by the smothering shell. Evil Fish Tank delivered Mecha Tentoumushi into the Killsaws and Spikestrips multiple times. While removing more spikes and the last antennae from its opponent's shell in this fashion, it also ended backing over and taking chassis damage from a Killsaw set. Evil Fish Tank, unaffected by the grappling hook wielded by Mecha Tentoumushi, broke free from the latter's grasp. A tentative spell lead to it ramming Mecha Tentoumushi several more times, while struggling to line up an effective lift. Evil Fish Tank drove under and levered Mecha Tentoumushi by the shell once again. This set up another push as the match reached its halfway point, this time under one of the Pulverizers. Evil Fish Tank again drove over a set of Killsaws - at the top-left of the BattleBox - as it kept shoving Mecha Tentoumushi back. A back-and-forth shoving match ensued as it again fed Mecha Tentoumushi into the spinning blades. Bil Dwyer: "Oh, look at that! Boom, right down on the spiked spine!" Sean Salisbury: "Those Pulverizers can do major damage! We're inside... a minute and half to go, in this bout. It's lightweight. It's Tentoumushi and the Evil Fish Tank. And it looks to me, like Evil Fish Tank's doing most of the damage, along with the Killsaws on the arena floor! Evil Fish Tank right now, on my scorecard, leads on points..." — As Evil Fish Tank controls Mecha Tentoumushi into the Killsaws Evil Fish Tank lifts Mecha Tentoumushi. At last, both competitors separated once again. Evil Fish Tank rammed and dragged Mecha Tentoumushi back moments later, luring it into the lower Killsaws. Another ram gave Evil Fish Tank the chance to successfully lift and carry Mecha Tentoumushi from the right-hand side. Evil Fish Tank delivered its red and silver opponent to the Spinner, where Mecha Tentoumushi slipped off its lifting frame. Evil Fish Tank followed up with another series of rams pushes and drags; a series of pushes against the Killsaws resulted in both robots being launched by the spinning hazards. Balancing on its left wheels, Evil Fish Tank landed upright under Mecha Tentoumushi's shell once more; the Robot Action League entry having almost been flipped over completely. Team Delta's machine resumed its earlier attacks as both robots survived to a judges' decision. "Evil Fish Tank, covered here, by Mecha Tentoumushi, but using the powerful motor to drive Mecha Tentoumushi into the Spikestrip right there. That was after goin' over the Killsaws. And now... drivin' Mecha Tentoumushi to the Pulverizer, where pulverization occurs!" — Bil Dwyer summarizes the post-match replays The decision ruled 30-15 in favor of Evil Fish Tank, securing it an 'upset' win and place in the Middleweight Quarter-Finals. Team Delta and Lisa Winter exchanged handshakes once the result was announced by Mark Beiro; in their post-match interview, Tony Buchignani and Dan Danknick both attributed Evil Fish Tank's success to its stronger drive system.
Evil Fish Tank vs. Toe-Crusher Evil Fish Tank's next appearance would not occur until Episode 10, which showed its Quarter-Final match against Toe-Crusher. "The lifting ramp wedge on Evil Fish Tank could make Toe-Crusher sleep with the fishes." — Bil Dwyer Evil Fish Tank and Toe-Crusher push each other. Starting from the blue square, it charged across the center to lock horns with Christian Carlberg's thwackbot. Though Toe-Crusher won this initial ground game, Evil Fish Tank swerved away to allow its opponent to veer precariously close to a Pulverizer. Evil Fish Tank began a series of aggressive drives, lifting and turning Toe-Crusher over into the nearby Killsaws while resisting a blow from its swinging axe. Following a tentative spell, it launched Toe-Crusher over itself with a head-to-head collision. More rams followed; though able to successfully turn Toe-Crusher's wedge over, Evil Fish Tank found itself being pushed back at high speed into the Killsaws. Evil Fish Tank's wedge gets snapped off by a pulverizer. The Killsaws launched both competitors again at separate moments. Once Evil Fish Tank drove into them, it was completely flipped over and left with noticeable mobility issues in the inverted position. With its pirouettes came a crucial turning point; Evil Fish Tank shuffled directly under and had its lifting ramp broken off by the lower-right Pulverizer. Toe-Crusher axed its base plate as it escaped via the floor Spinner. Sean Salisbury: "Oh my goodness! His spike is gone! Evil Fish Tank!" Bil Dwyer: "The main weapon of Evil Fish Tank - gone!" Sean Salisbury: "And that was done by the Pulverizers, big and bad! Now, if you're Toe-Crusher, you're sayin' "All that I've got to is do a little bit of attackin', stay away from hazards -" Bil Dwyer: "[Laughs in shock as the Killsaws flip Evil Fish Tank] Now you wonder why we love the Killsaaaaaaaaws! How about that, Evil Fish Tank?" — As Evil Fish Tank loses its weapon In an attempt to re-right itself, Evil Fish Tank spent the next few moments circling around and into the Killsaws nearby. The saws catapulted it into a somersault, then a violent diagonal flip into the center. Evil Fish Tank, still on its back, found itself being scooped up by Toe-Crusher after bumping into a Ramrod seam. Both diced - and were mildly diced by - the lower Killsaws. Evil Fish Tank, having one of its tires slashed, kept bumping into the blades before parking beside the Spinner. It waited as Toe-Crusher flung itself into the air via the lower-right Killsaws, though another tentative spell resulted in neither competitor making any significant attacks. As it turned beside the inner-most Killsaws, Evil Fish Tank was buffeted around by Toe-Crusher. It was left stationary with severe clearance issues; the left-rear and right-front wheels were both spinning freely until Toe-Crusher pushed it over the Killsaws themselves. Evil Fish Tank backed away, colliding with Christian Carlberg's machine once more in the lower-left corner. As Toe-Crusher kept ramming it, it became clear that Evil Fish Tank was still struggling to maintain consistent mobility. Evil Fish Tank crept back and forth beside the Killsaws; for the rest of the match, Toe-Crusher rammed it against the saws multiple times while axing its base armor. Sean Salisbury: "This fight's gonna go the distance, but you know what? Toe-Crusher's gonna move on, as he dominates Evil Fish Tank with help from the Pulverizers! [End buzzer sounds] It's like what you always say, Bil. When sparks fly..." Bil Dwyer: "...robots die! And that's just what happened as Toe-Crusher completely overpowered Evil Fish Tank. But Toe-Crusher, finds himself overwhelmed by the almighty Killsaws. I knew the saws were talented, but I didn't know they could juggle robots! The Pulverizers performed some body work on Evil Fish Tank, by pounding off its wedge ramp." — As the match reaches its conclusion Though Evil Fish Tank appeared largely incapacitated by this late stage, both competitors survived the full three minutes. A 36-9 judges' decision ruled Toe-Crusher as the winner, eliminating Evil Fish Tank and Team Delta from the Season 2.0 Middleweight Championship; Christian Carlberg and Tony Buchignani were shown to exchange handshakes in the televised cut.

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 2
• Losses: 1

Competition	Wins	Losses
Season 2.0	Nsyncerator (Forfeit) Mecha Tentoumushi	Toe-Crusher

Mark Beiro Introductions

"Hungry for a steaming bowl of pneumatic chowder, here is EVIL FISH TANK!"

"You know this barbarian from the aquarium's here when you see dead robots floating on the surface. Introducing EVIL FISH TANK!"

Trivia

• At the end of Season 2.0, Episode 1, a VT clip of Evil Fish Tank and Team Delta was used to promote War Machine's Episode 2 match-up against Snake.

External Links

• Evil Fish Tank, Tony Buchignani/Team Hazard website (archived February 22, 2006)