Monsoon

Monsoon is a heavyweight robot built by Team Monsoon for both seasons of the BattleBots reboot on Discovery and Science, a collaboration between former Robot Wars roboteers Tom Brewster (Tauron), Tim Rackley and Sam Griffin (Concussion), and Sarah Asplin (The Alien)^[1]. Monsoon is a black and blue robot armed with an asymmetrical vertical bar spinner.

Like its sister robot Tauron, Monsoon is invertible, and its weapon mount is designed to pivot so that it's identical whichever way up it is, and its feeder spikes will be on the ground even if Monsoon is flipped.

In his build log, Tom Brewster confirmed that Monsoon is pretty much his design that would have fought as Tauron Mk3 if Robot Wars had been renewed for another season, but with a different color scheme and "Monsoon" lettering in the armor.

It did very well and reached the quarterfinals in its debut. At the end of the season it also won the Founders' award. This is one of the "giant bolt" awards and is awarded by BattleBots Founders Trey and Greg to the team that best embodies the spirit of BattleBots. They announced: "A great robot, great fights, and great team. Your 2018 winner is Monsoon!"

For Season 4, Monsoon gained some new tires, a blue color for the bottom of its front armor when its inverted, a new weapon disc based on Tom's beetleweight Drizzle, as well as some new teammates. While Tim and Sam left, Tom brought on Rory Mangles (Nuts, who also competed with Predator last season,) who was in charge of the brushless motors for Monsoon's weapon this year, and Alasdair “Suvv” Sutherland, a featherweight builder who's notorious for building Blunt Force Trauma Remix (Not the Battlebots one from '99.) Suvv provides the welding and the hammering for Monsoon this year. It didn't perform as well as in the previous season, winning only one fight and losing three other matches, although a lot of this is due to receiving a much tougher draw than the previous season, but managed to redeem itself by winning a Tag Team rumble.

Monsoon has been prepared for Season 5 with a new chassis that articulates both drive pods independently, new wheels, a revised weapon mount, longer forks added to both the top and bottom to get underneath opponents better, and optional hinged wedgelets to aid with that. This version was also considerably smaller and more compact than its previous two versions.

Robot History

Discovery Season 3

Monsoon's first opponent was against veteran Red Devil. When the match began, things were going well for Monsoon as its first attack smacked Red Devil into the air, which was quickly followed up by another hit that took off Red Devil's saw blade. However, the impacts took its toll on Monsoon too as its weapon eventually stopped working. This was a result of the weapon spinning the wrong way once Monsoon was flipped and eating a piece of Red Devil, which jammed the weapon^[2]. This reduced the match to a pushing match. Monsoon continued to attack as smoke began pouring out from the weapon as it was attempting to spin and managed to prevent much of Red Devil's control by raising its chassis upwards each time Red Devil wanted control. Time ran out just after Red Devil took a shot from the killsaws and the judges awarded a 2-1 split decision for Monsoon.  

Monsoon now found itself up against Petunia, whom was fresh off a win against RotatoR. Monsoon's weapon began to spin up to top speed, and after nearly getting caught by Petunia, took advantage of the Dutch machine driving into the wall and landed an uttermost destructive hit

on Petunia's backside, causing hydraulic fluid used to power Petunia's weapon to leak out. Petunia kept going so Monsoon hit it hard enough to flip it completely over, only to land upright. Even so, Petunia kept coming

so Monsoon dealt it another blow and smoke began pouring out of its opponent. However, this also stopped Monsoon's weapon. Both robots continued to maneuver around until Petunia got

high-centered on the arena floor while Monsoon lost traction due to the amount of hydraulic fluid on the arena floor and couldn't move^[3]. By the time Monsoon was able to move again it  could only get traction on one side, but by then Petunia had burst into flames and still couldn't move. Petunia was counted out and Monsoon won by KO.

Monsoon's next opponent was Son of Whyachi, former champion of season 3.0. When the match began, things started off okay for Monsoon as they weren't taking any major damage from their opponent. However, that quickly changed as Monsoon took a hit from Son of Whyachi that flipped it over but

Monsoon quickly self-righted. Monsoon then took more hits from Son of Whyachi, the latter of which sent both robots flying in opposite corners. Monsoon retaliated by landing a hit on Son of Whyachi's hammers that sent its opponent

flying but landing upright. This hit took out Monsoon's weapon as it was now bent out of shape and the brackets supporting it had broken, leaving it virtually defenseless to its opponent's attacks. Making matters worse, the next attack took off one of its two front

armor panels before Monsoon took the final blow from Son of Whyachi that ruptured its battery and started to

fill the arena with smoke. Monsoon was still capable of some movement but its driver opted to just not move as it was unlikely that the movement would've been enough to continue the bout. Monsoon was counted out,

giving Son of Whyachi the KO. Monsoon had a 360 camera attached for this fight but it got thrown off to the edge of the box by an early hit, however it carried on filming and BattleBots posted the BotCam clips on YouTube.^[4]

Monsoon's next opponent was Axe Backwards, which was still striving for a win thus far. This match was off to an aggressive start as Monsoon delivered two big hits on Axe Backwards' wheels. Axe Backwards had lost all driving ability but its drum was still working. Axe Backwards was counted out and Monsoon showed no interest in taking a hit to the still-spinning drum of its opponent and took the win by KO. The selection committee determined that Monsoon did enough to make the Top 16 as the 12th seed. For its first match, it was drawn up against 5th seed, Jamison Go and SawBlaze.

The match started off poorly for Monsoon as SawBlaze got underneath Monsoon's ground clearance and shoved them around the arena. However, after SawBlaze missed a charge, Monsoon managed to get at its backside and tore into SawBlaze's rightmost tire on that side of the drive then quickly followed with another hit that ripped out part of the saw arm, rendering the saw arm useless and leaving SawBlaze to use its dustpan. SawBlaze continued to shove Monsoon into the sides of the arena, until one charge pressed Monsoon weapon-first against the wall, and would have likely broken their spinner had Tim Rackley not turned the weapon off a few seconds before the impact. After Jamison Go released Monsoon, he left the right side of his robot open to attack and Monsoon capitalized, ripping off rubber and immobilizing SawBlaze's right-side

wheel, meaning it could only drive in circles. Monsoon continued its onslaught, knocking SawBlaze around before one huge hit on one of their forks caused SawBlaze's right wheel - which was barely holding on from a previous hit - to snap clean off. A combined hit from Monsoon and the kill saws knocked SawBlaze's saw arm over, before Monsoon ripped off more rubber off SawBlaze's remaining wheel, then delivered a massive shot to the saw that knocked it back over into its original position. Another hit by Monsoon, this time on SawBlaze's left wheel, left the saw robot fully immobilized, but it couldn't be counted out as there were less than 20 seconds left in 

the fight. Knowing this, Team Monsoon backed off a little, spun their weapon up and in the final moments of the fight, smacked one of the decorative dragon heads off of SawBlaze's saw arm and smacking the whole weapon up to the highest angle on its axle, before it dropped back to the floor as the buzzer sounded. The judges ruled unanimously in favor of Monsoon, allowing them to advance to the quarterfinals to face Brazilian drum spinner Minotaur.

This match was pretty even to start as neither robot was able to get the upper hand. Monsoon was mostly taking sparks from Minotaur but soon found itself without a working weapon as its weapon belt had been removed. Monsoon was then toppled onto its side and taken to the arena barrier where its awkward angle prevented its drive wheels from touching the arena floor. Monsoon's team tried to convince Minotaur's team to free them but their request was denied and they were counted out, eliminating them from the tournament.

Discovery Season 4

Monsoon began the 2019 Season in a match against former team member Tim Rackley and Ragnarök. In response the team replaced Monsoon's 6mm front armor with 3mm, which gave them the spare weight to add Hardox plates beneath the plastic top and bottom armor to protect Monsoon's vital electronics from Ragnarok's steel spear. When the match began, Monsoon was off to a great start as not only did their opponent miss with their axe, but Monsoon threw them into the air. Ragnarok landed upright however, so Monsoon went in with another hit as smoke began to pour out of Ragnarok. This impact threw Ragnarok onto its top where the axe was unable to right itself. Not wanting such a quick match, Monsoon made an attempt to right Ragnarok, but only managed to get them about halfway upright before they were counted out, giving Monsoon its first KO of the season.

Next for Monsoon was veteran Will Bales and HyperShock. In response, Monsoon opted to go with thicker front armor to hopefully protect the front from HyperShock's spinner. Things did not go well for Monsoon as they were quickly facing pressure from HyperShock as their opponent got underneath and started to tear away at the underbelly. Monsoon was released, but its weapon was now useless due to the weapon mount bolts coming loose and leaving the mount to dangle helplessly. After the 2nd attack from HyperShock, Monsoon had lost its weapon, its weapon mount and the weapon belt in addition to its drive and was counted out, giving HyperShock the win by KO.

Monsoon next found itself against Valkyrie and added a tiny wedge on the front in addition to a new rear plate from Bombshell's team to replace the damaged one, as well as fitting extra titanium to its weapon mount to try and old it together longer. Monsoon did rather well to start off as they met with Valkyrie's weapon but were withstanding the impacts, losing only sparks off their front wedge. Unfortunately, the first big hit between the two spinners disabled Monsoon's, leaving them to try and push Valkyrie around, and possibly break their blade. Unfortunately, that didn't work as Valkyrie was able to throw Monsoon across the arena, before beginning to grind the British robot for the rest of the fight. Monsoon didn't back down, but it started to take serious damage as it kept fighting Valkyrie. They lost their front wedge, and to make matters worse, their weapon system came loose once again. This resulted in Monsoon lifting its underside up, allowing Valkyrie to grind its weapon mount, under armor, and some of its left tire. Still, Monsoon pressed on, holding up to Valkyrie's undercutter and made it to a judges decision but the judges ruled unanimously for Valkyrie.

Monsoon's last chance at getting a win came in the form of the 2-time champion Bite Force. As a result, Monsoon opted for lighter top armor, a heavier weapon bar and the stronger motor from last season. Monsoon started off rather poorly as they were quickly thrown through the air by Bite Force. Monsoon then took a second hit that caused them to hit the arena floor with their bar, chipping the floor a bit, and stop working upon landing. Monsoon was counted out, giving Bite Force the win by KO.

Monsoon also fought alongside Ragnarök against Chronos and Mad Catter as part of a tag team match. As the match got going, Monsoon was on the attack, but not causing much damage. Monsoon then attacked Mad Catter and tore off its axe head. Monsoon was then high-centered by Mad Catter's minibot Cat Crazy before Chronos came in and hit it, but not doing much damage. Afterwards, Monsoon then ripped off part of Chronos' spinning ring, leaving it off-balanced. Monsoon was eventually left fighting alone as Ragnarök had stopped working, but took out Cat Crazy, chipped Chronos here and there, even splitting Mad Catter in half and continued to fight until time ran out. The judges awarded Monsoon and Ragnarök a unanimous 3-0 decision.

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 6
• Losses: 5

Competition	Wins	Losses
Discovery Season 3	Red Devil (Undercard Match) Petunia (Undercard Match) Axe Backwards (Undercard Match) SawBlaze	Son of Whyachi (Undercard Match) Minotaur
Discovery Season 4	Ragnarok (Undercard Match) Chronos and Mad Catter (Exhibition Tag Team Match)	HyperShock (Undercard Match) Valkyrie (Undercard Match) Bite Force (Undercard Match)

Outside of BattleBots

Following Season 4, Tom equipped Monsoon with its vertical disc and competed at two live events for Extreme Robots as part of tag teams, one in Maidstone where it went 1-1, and the other in Cheltenham where it went unbeaten. Due to the danger spinners brought though, and the arena walls for those events not being as thick as BattleBots and other TV robot shows, the disc was turned down to 125 mph like every other spinner that competes. Despite the slower speed, Monsoon was still capable of causing serious damage to competitors like Deadlock, TR3, and one of its team members of Ignition.

Faruq Tauheed Introductions

"This high-pressure fighter is gonna make it rain. The forecast, rowdy and a one hundred percent chance... of pain. Seek shelter, it's MONSOON!"

"Coming across the pond like James Bond, ready to send you to double-o-heaven, and leave you shaken, not stirred, it's MONSOON"

"Hi. It's Faruq, your friendly weatherman here, and I'd just like to say... GET INSIDE YOUR DAMN HOUSE!!! HERE COMES A MONSOON!!!"

"It's a British invasion. I am the walrus. I am the A-man and this is the robot: MONSOON!"

"This bot will leave you washed up. Prepare to cower under its tidal wave of power. It's MONSOON!"

"Arr! A storm's a brewin' so batten down the hatches. This bot's forecast is to destroy all of its matches. It's the stormin' deformin' - I don't think it's Mormon - MONSOON!"

"If this bot was a lip-syncing pop duo, he'd be Milli Vakilli. When you feel his pain, blame it on the rain. Girl you know you're through, ooh ooh ooh. It's MONSOON!"

"Pain pain, go away. Kill again some other day. If you precipitate, then you'll seal your fate. Prepare to get soaked till you croak, by MONSOON!"

"From the UK, it smacks your bot with its spinner and totally wrecks it, and creates a disaster that's way worse than Brexit. What, too soon? It still don't care, it's MONSOON!"

Trivia

• Monsoon is one of four robots to reach the Top 16 in the reboot's third season to not have any of its fights featured as a main event, with the others being Son of Whyachi, Rotator, and WAR Hawk.
• A clip of the new version of Monsoon was used in an 18-bot preview on Witch Doctor's YouTube channel, equipped with its flywheel.

References

1. ↑ https://battlebots.com/robot/monsoon-s3/
2. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/MonsoonBattlebot/posts/610209999358302
3. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/MonsoonBattlebot/posts/629755347403767
4. ↑ https://youtu.be/GfbW-_TfVss

See Also

• Tauron (Robot Wars)
• Concussion (Robot Wars)
• The Alien (Robot Wars)
• Monsoon - Battlebot on Facebook
• Nuts (Robot Wars)
• Blunt Force Trauma Remix (King of Bots)
• Drizzle (Bugglebots)