Flamethrowers are a unique type of projectile weapon which are sometimes seen on BattleBots competitors.
Though rarely seen, they have often been coupled with controlbot weaponry such as lifters and grabbers - a method which was used to great effect in Complete Control's win over Bombshell during World Championship II.
History and Design[]
Flamethrowers consist of a ranged device, often purpose-built, which is able to shoot fire in either short bursts or long, continued jets. Housed within the robot is a tank which contains gas, which since 2020, has had to be protected by armor. Though some robots have used flamethrowers with the intent of damaging opponents using concentrated bursts of fire, competitors typically install such weaponry for showmanship.
Pro-Pain attacks the petrol engine of Icewave.
For the inaugural 1999 events and the entirety of the original run of BattleBots on Comedy Central, flamethrower weaponry was outlawed, and as such, never seen in any weight division. The first documented use of a flamethrower in any BattleBots competition came in untelevised 2006 Cisco Party, where Donald Hutson's Pro-Pain featured a propane-fuelled flamethrower in addition to its lifting and grabbing jaws. Although Pro-Pain was able to make use of its flamethrower, the robot suffered a short and destructive loss to Icewave.
Flamethrowers are thought to have been outlawed for the BattleBots IQ events, as there is no evidence of a robot utilizing such weaponry in any event from 2002 until 2011.
Complete Control uses its dual weaponry to lift and scorch Bombshell.
With the return of BattleBots on ABC in 2015, the official design rules permitted flamethrowers with several limitations. They could only be powered by a butane or propane tank which needed to be sufficiently protected, and the weapon had to be activated and deactivated remotely. There were no strict rules on how long a flamethrower's range could be, but it had to be adjustable for safety reasons.[1] As the refueling of gas tanks is prohibited in The Pits, a designated area of the filming venue was allocated to maintaining gas tanks, known as the Fueling Area. As well as its range being adjustable, the rules were amended to also enforce the angle of the flame to be adjustable for the 2016 season. Stipulations also outlawed the propane or butane gas being purposefully heated or cooled, and production enforced an upper limit of 16.4oz of gas to be stored in a single tank. Flamethrowers could only shoot fire a maximum length of 4ft and flame from drones and other flying robots must be pointed downward.[2]
There were no changes to the rules surrounding flamethrowers ahead of World Championship III, but the 2018 Design Rules outright stated that they would not be considered an active weapon, so had to be accompanied by a separate primary weapon.[3] This was the case for the show's most powerful flamethrower to date, Gruff, which also sported a pair of lifting arms. For World Championship IV in 2019, one addition rule stated that flamethrowers could not be active for more than a minute at a time at maximum gas flow. Other rules remained the same.[4]
Uppercut destroys the gas tank of SawBlaze.
The maximum range of flamethrowers was more strictly enforced in 2020, with tests able to be requested to prove robots with such weaponry fit this criteria. Robots now had to have their gas tanks protected by armor as opposed to simply just not being exposed, though this did not prevent instances where ruptured gas tanks caused explosions in the BattleBox, as was the case in Uppercut's wins over SawBlaze and Free Shipping in World Championship V, VI and BattleBots: Champions I respectively.[5]
- "Note that the 4-foot flame length requirement will be strictly enforced, with potentially serious consequences for bots with flames exceeding this limit. BattleBots officials reserve the right to test a bot at any time to verify the flame length."
- — Section 7 of the 2020 Design Rules
2021's ruleset saw no significant changes aside from the addition of BattleBots crew being allowed to request changes to or even the removal of flamethrower systems at their discretion. The 2022 ruleset saw no changes whatsoever ahead of World Championship VII.[6] This season saw the first robot equipped with a flamethrower - SawBlaze - to win the Giant Nut.
Notable Robots[]
| Robot | Seasons | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Pro-Pain | 2006 Cisco Party |  |
| Gruff | World Championship IV World Championship V BattleBots: Bounty Hunters World Championship VI BattleBots: Champions I World Championship VII BattleBots: Champions II |
 |
| Complete Control | World Championship I World Championship II |
 |
| Mohawk | World Championship I World Championship II World Championship III |
 |
| Free Shipping | World Championship III re:MARS all:STARS 2019 World Championship VI BattleBots: Champions I World Championship VII BattleBots: Champions II BattleBots FaceOffs |
 |
| More... | ||
References[]
- ↑ https://www.docdroid.net/152oj/battlebots-2015-design-rulesrev-11a-pdf#page=4
- ↑ https://battlebots.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/BattleBots-Design-Rules.Rev-2016.2.pdf
- ↑ https://battlebots.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/BattleBots-Design-Rules.Rev-2018.0.DRAFT.pdf
- ↑ https://battlebots.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/BattleBots-Design-Rules.Rev-2019.0.pdf
- ↑ https://battlebots.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/BattleBots-Design-Rules-Rev.2020.0.pdf
- ↑ https://battlebots.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/BattleBots-Design-Rules.2022.0.pdf
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