Overhaul's Discovery Channel Season 3 appearance.
Overhaul is a heavyweight robot which competed in the first two seasons of ABC's BattleBots reboot and the third on Discovery and Science. It was built by a group of MIT graduate students and armed with an electric crushing jaw and lifting arm. It was initially a shufflebot, but it was converted to wheels before the competition in order to make it more competitive (however, it used the shuffle pods for the rumble at the end of the tournament). The robot's design was an amalgamation of the designs of two smaller robots the team had built previously.
For Season 2, Overhaul was completely redesigned with a revamped crushing jaw and lifting arm.
For Season 3, Overhaul gained few changes, apart from interchangeable wedges and teeth on the head for "biting," lifting, or keeping opponents at bay.
It did poorly in the competition, although the 2 fights that it lost were close matches and it also almost beat the eventual champion Bite Force. It then lost both of its matches in Season 2 to British robots. It's currently lost its only match in Season 3 thus far.
The four main team members, Jamison Go, Adam Bercu, Charles Guan and Dane Kouttron, named the team Team JACD after their initials. Each of these people also compete with smaller robots around the eastern United States. In Season 2, some of the original team members went on to compete with their own robots including Brutus (Adam Bercu), Road Rash (Dane Kouttron) and SawBlaze (Jamison Go).
Robot History
ABC Season 1
Overhaul's ABC Season 1 appearance.
The controversial end between Lock-Jaw and Overhaul in the first round.
Overhaul's first ever match in BattleBots was against Lock-Jaw. This match was very close, with both robots being aggressive and using their grabbing weapons to great effect. At the end of the match, Lock-Jaw rammed Overhaul into the screws, flipping it onto its back. The match then ended, but Lock-Jaw made one last late charge into Overhaul, getting its jaws caught in Overhaul's weapon system. The match was over, but Donald Hutson attempted to free Lock-Jaw from Overhaul, which made some of the Team JACD members upset. This culminated in Team JACD refusing to shake hands with Donald Hutson post-match in a very controversial turn of events. Lock-Jaw won on a very close controversial 2-1 judges decision and Overhaul was eliminated. However, because of its close battle against Lock-Jaw, Overhaul was given a wild card to take it to the round of 16. Overhaul was given the No.11 seed and it had to face the No.6 seed Lock-Jaw again.
Overhaul clamps Lock-Jaw to earn the KO victory in the round of 16.
At the beginning of the match, the two robots charged at each other, but Overhaul got the upper hand and punctured one of Lock-Jaw's tires with its crushing arm. It then carried Lock-Jaw around the BattleBox. While Lock-Jaw was struggling to free itself, it managed to blow out something in its electronics, crippling it severely. Overhaul ended up folding Lock-Jaw over its own weapon, hindering its mobility even more. Eventually, Lock-Jaw stopped moving entirely and was promptly counted out, but not before using its flamethrowers in an attempt to do damage (though it did little). Overhaul won by KO at 2:01 and advanced to the quarterfinals, where it faced the No.3 seed Bite Force.
Bite Force almost flips Overhaul.
Bite Force and Overhaul were trading blow after blow during their match. At first, Bite Force seemed to be the superior robot, as it was able to latch onto Overhaul for long periods of time. However, Overhaul wasn't easy to push around, as it often tried to do the same thing but with varying degrees of success. Eventually, the match came down to the judges. After their evaluation, Bite Force won the match on a unanimous 3-0 judge's decision, and Overhaul was eliminated from the tournament.
Nightmare rips off Overhauls crushing arm.
Overhaul wasn't finished, however, as it went up against Nightmare and Witch Doctor in a three bot rumble at the end of the tournament. For this, Overhaul converted back to its shufflebot form. In this fight, Overhaul was able to overturn Witch Doctor with the help of Nightmare, then took serious damage from Nightmare's vertical disc before Overhaul's drive motors had burned out. This left Nightmare as the only mobile robot remaining and the winner of the rumble.
ABC Season 2
Overhaul's ABC Season 2 appearance.
Overhaul takes a hit from Cobalt's spinning blade.
Overhaul's first match in Season was against the British entrant Cobalt. Despite the match being really close, one final hit from Cobalt's spinning blade caused one side of Overhaul's drive to stop entirely as the robot ran over a screw in the previous match and it jammed that side of the drive train. Since Cobalt was still moving freely, Overhaul was counted out and Cobalt won the match by KO at 1:26. However, Overhaul was awarded one of the eight wild cards most likely for reaching the quarterfinals in Season 1. Overhaul was given the No.24 seed and advanced to the round of 32, where it faced another British entrant, the No.9 seed beta.
beta destroys Overhaul's power switch.
Both robots moved around trying to avoid the other's weapon. beta managed to get a hit on Overhaul's weapon but no damage was done. Overhaul eventually found itself cornered and took a few blows from beta's hammer. After a few more blows from beta's hammer, Overhaul stopped moving as the impacts destroyed the power switch for the drive as well as the battery box. Overhaul was counted out and the time ran out before the countdown was finished. beta won on a unanimous 3-0 judge's decision and Overhaul was eliminated from the tournament again.
Overhaul overturns Road Rash.
Overhaul wasn't finished yet as it participated in a small rumble with Road Rash and SawBlaze. Early on, Overhaul flipped over Road Rash, whom had no way to self-right and was left near the screws. Overhaul than ran from SawBlaze, whom was chasing it around the arena and eventually got pinned up against the screws near the overturned Road Rash. In the end, SawBlaze won a unanimous 3-0 decision, meaning Overhaul lost overall.
Discovery Season 3
Overhaul with its unicorn horn before fighting SawBlaze.
SawBlaze slices into the rear of Overhaul.
Overhaul's first match was against former team members and their robot SawBlaze. For this match, Overhaul was equipped with a unicorn horn in attempt to extend the reach of their weapon. The match didn't start off well for Overhaul at all as they were slammed hard into the arena wall. After some maneuvering, Overhaul found itself up against the arena barrier and taking punishment from SawBlaze's saw, which emitted plenty of sparks. Overhaul tried to retaliate but couldn't get under SawBlaze at all and was once again pushed around. Later on, Overhaul took another attack from SawBlaze but this time, Overhaul had seemingly gotten stuck or otherwise couldn't move and was counted out, giving SawBlaze the win by KO.
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 1
- Losses: 7
| Competition | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| ABC Season 1 | Lock-Jaw (Round of 16) | Lock-Jaw (Round of 24) |
| ABC Season 2 | None | Cobalt |
| Discovery Season 3 | TBD | SawBlaze (Undercard Match) |
The original concept for Overhaul, based off a 30-pound robot named Fission Product.
Faruq Tauheed Introductions
"If they were a rap group, they would be called N.W.A., Nerds With Attitude. Coming straight out of Cambridge, here's OVERHAUL!"
"From MIT, it's got a masters in the three R's. Reading, Writing and Wrecking your life! Give it up for OVERHAUL!"
"Built by MIT Engineers, so you know it's stupid strong. Prepare to be dumbfounded! It's OVERHAUL!"
"You down with MIT? Yeah you know me. Biting by nature, it's OVERHAUL!"
"It's a cat-tastrophe and you're in the feline of fire. Going down right meow! It's OVERHAUL!"
"It's won more cat fights than the house wives of Cat-alina. We can has carnage? W- yes, we can has. It's OVERHAUL!"
"Class is in session and they're about to teach you a lesson. It's the professor of pain, and scholar of maime. Get ready to be driven insane. It's OVERHAUL!"
Trivia
- Overhaul is the only robot to be defeated by one robot, and then defeat the same robot the following round in one season.
- Overhaul is the only robot to receive a wild card in both seasons it competed in.
- The character on Overhaul is "Haru-Chan" which is the name of the anthropomorphisation of Overhaul.
- After Season 2 finished, Charles built a featherweight version called "I Can't Believe It's Not Overhaul"