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Nelly the Ellybot, often known simply as Nelly, was a heavyweight robot built by Team Pun-Chant, which competed exclusively in BattleBots World Championship IV.

It was a predominantly purple, elephant-themed robot with a semi-cylindrical shape, wraparound HARDOX 450 front wedge and is armed with an electric hammer driven by an large LEM-200 motor. Its name and overall look were derived from the Toy Dolls song Nellie the Elephant. Nelly's frame, hammer arm and bulkheads were all made from waterjet-cut 4082 aluminum and were protected by 1/2" thick UMHW. Nelly did not achieve much success during its time on BattleBots, chalking up just one win from three fights against a fellow newcomer in Shellshock and as such, did not make the Top 32.

IMG 9814

Early CAD render of Nelly the Ellybot.

Nelly the Ellybot 2020 season Supporter reveal

Nelly the Ellybot's original 2020 season Supporter reveal.

In preparation for World Championship V, Nelly the Ellybot was redesigned to have a stronger front wedge and an upgraded hammer, the latter powerful enough to make the entire robot jump off the ground when fired. However, a public financial argument within the team ensued, leading to the bot being auctioned under a generic title 'Purple Elephant Robot' and the permanent separation of Team Pun-Chant. With the fate of Nelly was in jeopardy for some months, new members joined in the form of Rob Karpinski and Reira Granger, who have since competed in live events with the newest build of Nelly. Irrespective of these issues, travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic also got in the way of the team being able to attend filming for the 2020 season.[1]

Still captained by Sarah Malyan, the new-look Team Pun-Chant reapplied for World Championship VI with Nelly the Ellybot, but were not selected to compete.[2]

Nelly the Ellybot applied for World Championship VII, but were again unsuccessful.[3] On July 31, 2022, Team Pun-Chant announced the retirement and sale of the heavyweight Nelly the Ellybot, due to financial and scheduling constraints. Sarah Malyan confirmed that she would retain the "Nelly the Ellybot" identity, as well as the team's intention to continue competing with the featherweight version in the future.[4] The heavyweight version's sale was confirmed in August,[5] with its buyer later being revealed as US-based team Heavy Metal Robotics, led by former YouTube content creator Mystrsyko2, who also owns Super Collider. Tentatively redubbing it the Purple Elephant Robot, Heavy Metal Robotics plan to compete with it at live events including Robot Ruckus and RoboGames, with the robot also set to receive new front forks and a gothic-inspired retheme.[6][7]

Outside BattleBots[]

Nelly team 2021

Team Pun-Chant and Nelly the Ellybot in October 2021.

Predating Nelly the Ellybot's BattleBots season, Team Pun-Chant previously applied for Series 9 of Robot Wars, but withdrew for unknown reasons.[8][9] Team captain Sarah Malyan continued to make up part of HIGH-5, who were accepted, but they were unable to escape their first-round melee. Nelly the Ellybot reapplied for Series 10, but was ultimately rejected.

Both incarnations of the heavyweight Nelly the Ellybot have appeared at live events in the UK such as RoboNerd and combat events hosted by Robots Live![10][11][12] In 2021, the most recent build of Nelly the Ellybot featured at the Robots Live! event in Crawley, the UK, prior to its sale to Heavy Metal Robotics the following year.

Also prior to its televised debut, a featherweight version of Nelly the Ellybot was built and fought in the 2018 King of Bots UK Featherweight Championships, reaching the Top 20 of the main championship before withdrawing with electrical issues.[13][14]

Robot History[]

World Championship IV[]

Nelly the Ellybot vs. Rainbow

RainbowvsNelly

half of Nelly's face is torn into by Rainbow.

RainbowvsNelly screenshot2

Rainbow delivers the final shot to Nelly.

Nelly the Ellybot's first ever opponent in BattleBots was against Russian newcomer, Rainbow. When the match began, Nelly was holding up okay to Rainbow's attacks as their wedge was able to keep Rainbow's weapon from causing any real damage. However, Nelly started to take damage to the upper body as her right googly eye and ear were ripped apart. Making matters worse, Nelly's upper body began to lose armor and lost the other decorative ear on the left side. At one point, Nelly fired her weapon repeatedly as the drivers thought the robot may have been stuck on an uneven part of the floor, footage which was cut from the broadcast. Nelly then took damage to the right side, where the domed section was ripped off from the front. Nelly was down to one working drive wheel and after one final hit, the left section was destroyed, the top right was peeled back, and one of Nelly's battery leads had been cut so Nelly stopped moving and was counted out, giving Rainbow the win by KO.

Nelly the Ellybot vs. Deep Six

Deep Six ripped off Nelly's panel

Nelly's right panel gets ripped off by Deep Six.

Nelly The Ellybot Deep Six

The final clash between deep Six and Nelly the Ellybot.

Nelly next found herself against another newcomer in Deep Six. In response, Nelly went with a left-mounted spear to try and throw Deep Six off balance and perhaps win without taking much damage, if any. It also attached the wedge dubbed Tusk Wedge as the wedge better suited for the match could no longer be attached properly and there were fears of getting stuck on the floor. The match was off to a poor start for Nelly as it got high centered on the floor and its receiver battery was out of juice so there was no way to fire the weapon. Despite this, Nelly was still unable to to find an opening and lost the entire right side panel that housed the ear on that side. After another hit, Nelly had no ears left and glass rained down from the broken light that the left ear had hit on impact. Nelly took a final hit that ripped off the entire right side cover, leaving Nelly unable to move due to having a battery wire cut. Luckily, this impact also caused Deep Six to land on its face, leaving a gash in the arena floor in the process. Deep Six had no way to right itself so both were counted out, resulting in the match going to the judges, who ruled unanimously in favor of Deep Six.

Nelly the Ellybot vs. Shellshock

Nelly the Ellybot Shellshock

Nelly the Ellybot fighting Shellshock in its "zombie" guise.

Ssnelly

Nelly leaves Shellshock to be counted out.

Nelly also had a match against a third rookie team in Shellshock. Nelly was fitted with one eye from HUGE's team to replace one that was lost previously, and was now nicknamed Zombie Nelly. When the match began, Nelly took light hits from Shellshock and started swinging its hammer, not really causing much damage. After losing its own right ear from no impact with Shellshock, Nelly continued to take the hits before pushing Shellshock into the screws, where it was able to cause more minor damage. After Shellshock struck the arena barrier and disabled its drive, Nelly stayed nearby, ready to continue the fight. Though Shellshock could still spin, it was unable to show translational movement and was counted out, giving Nelly the win by KO.

Results[]

NELLY THE ELLYBOT
World Championship IV
Fight Nights
1-2
Fight Night #1 vs. Rainbow Lost (KO)
Fight Night #2 vs. Deep Six Lost (Double KO, JD)
Fight Night #3 (Untelevised) vs. Shellshock Won (KO)

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 1
  • Losses: 2
Competition Wins Losses
World Championship IV Shellshock (Untelevised Undercard Match) Rainbow (Undercard Match)
Deep Six (Undercard Match)

Faruq Tauheed Introductions[]

"This bot said goodbye to the circus and is unleashing her three rings of berserk-us. She don't work for peanuts, she works for pain. Make some noise for your new ringmaster, NELLY THE ELLYBOT!"

"I don't think you're ready for this Nelly, I don't think you're ready for this Nelly, I don't think you're ready for this 'cause her bot is brutal-icious. NELLY THE ELLYBOT!"

"This British bot puts the beat in Beatlemania. She's got a ticket to die. It'll crush you so bad, you'll scream for help and join the Sgt. Pepper's Broken Parts Club, man. Come Together right now for NELLY THE ELLYBOT!"

Trivia[]

  • Earlier CAD renders of Nelly the Ellybot showed it with an alternate light purple and blue color palette, along with front forks and logos placed on the front instead of the sides as on the finished version for BattleBots.
  • Nelly the Ellybot was often referred to as being female by the team, and by ring announcer Faruq Tauheed.
  • Michael Lambert was set to join the team in 2020, who competed in BattleBots with Spitfire and was best known for his Robot Wars entry, Dantomkia. He was not part of the team as Dantomkia returned for Robot Wars Series 8, and his original build is now under the ownership of John Findlay.
  • A 150g fairyweight version of Nelly the Ellybot was built for UK live events by Team Self Destruct.[15]

See Also[]

References[]

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