Ribbot's Discovery Season 5 appearance.
Ribbot is a heavyweight robot which competed in the fourth season of the BattleBots reboot on Discovery and Science. It is an entry by WPI students, led by David Jin. Ribbot had some ups and downs in its debut season, but managed to win and lose the same number of times. In season 5 however, Ribbot did way much better, going 2-1 in undercard matches, which its only loss against the modular Mad Catter, before defeating Beta in the Round of 32 and pulled out a comeback win against Uppercut in the Round of 16 before losing out to Black Dragon in the quarterfinals.
Outside of BattleBots, David Jin also has a 3 lb drum called Wasp, which has had a lot of success on the Norwalk events.
Contents
Design
Ribbot during its debut season.
Ribbot is a four-wheeled robot designed to resemble a frog, complete with legs and a frog body. The arms and body are made from foam that the team custom made themselves. It has several weapons to wield in battle with its main weapon being a lifter, though most of them are spinning weapons either horizontally, or vertically. Despite having those interchangeable weapons, Ribbot only stuck with using their vertical spinner for a majority of the competition.
Ribbot during Season 5.
For Season 5, Ribbot had to ditch the expanding foam due to producers deciding it was controversial at the end of the event and to avoid major cleanups. Instead, the team have used vacuum formed heads, which are thin sheets of plastic heated up and put over the mold before being sucked with air to hold their shape, but this came at the cost of losing the arms and legs. For weaponry, Ribbot retains the vertical and horizontal weapons, but has ditched the lifting weapon.
Robot History
Ribbot's Discovery Season 4 appearance with its undercutter.
Discovery Season 4
Kraken biting into Ribbot with one of its vertical discs on.
Ribbot first found itself in a match against Kraken. For this fight, Ribbot opted for its vertical spinner as its team trusted it more over their undercutter. When the match began, Ribbot was quickly grappled by Kraken and moved towards the screws, where it lost a cosmetic rear leg by the screws. Ribbot got away and managed to bend one of Kraken's front teeth but this didn't stop them from being grabbed again and paraded around the arena floor. Ribbot was released, then grabbed again and taken to the pulverizer, which caused more damage to the cosmetic shell. After another trip to the screws where it lost the other rear cosmetic leg, Ribbot survived until the end of the match, but the judges awarded Kraken a unanimous 3-0 decision.
Ribbot and End Game collide.
Ribbot tosses End Game into the air.
Ribbot gets hit by End Game.
Ribbot was next drawn against veteran Jack Barker and End Game. For this fight, Ribbot went with its bigger and heavier vertical spinner setup with wedgelets on the front. As the match got underway, Ribbot was taking punishment from End Game, losing one of its four decorative frog legs and being thrown into the air. Ribbot continued to fight and after taking more damage, managed to send End Game flying right in front of the pulverizer. End Game recovered but Ribbot was now turning the tables as it tore off one of End Game's front wedgelets and left End Game without drive on one side. End Game tried to fight back but Ribbot delivered a fatal blow that left End Game motionless. End Game was counted out, giving Ribbot the win by KO.
Ribbot hits and tosses Falcon into the air.
Ribbot hits Falcon then slams it against the screws.
Next for Ribbot was Team Whyachi's remade Falcon. Ribbot went with its normal vertical spinner setup, only with a symmetrical bar compared to the single toothed disc. This setup proved to work well because as the match got underway, Ribbot was dishing out hits on Falcon. Falcon was having drive issues so Ribbot attacked a few more times, losing one of its cosmetic legs in the process. As the match progressed, Ribbot ripped off one of Falcon's front wedgelets and took them into the screws before losing another cosmetic leg. After losing the last two cosmetic legs, Ribbot disabled Falcon's dark gray drum. Falcon continued struggling so Ribbot attacked it once more, leaving Falcon with pretty much no movement near the screws. Falcon was counted out, giving Ribbot the win by KO.
Ribbot's top section gets shredded by SawBlaze.
Ribbot gets stuck on the screws.
Ribbot's next match was against Jamison Go and SawBlaze with its vertical bar used against Falcon and a new look that made it resemble SawBlaze. Unfortunately, Ribbot started off the match poorly by quickly losing the cosmetic legs and top section. Ribbot continued to attack, but was shoved them around the arena and into the screws, losing its right front tire in the process. Ribbot continued to be dominated without much to retaliate with, especially once it lost the use of its weapon. Ribbot had little to do in return so it was shoved around again and ended up upside down under the pulverizer as time ran out. The judges awarded SawBlaze a unanimous 3-0 decision.
Ribbot also had a grudge match against another fellow Massachusetts bot, Valkyrie, which was a fight for the supporters released for Halloween. For this fight, Ribbot went with yet another vertical spinner, but this time, they brought in a new wedge to deflect the undercutter, and a minibot. The match started with both minibots going at one another while the main bots spun up to full power. Ribbot made a slight advancement towards Valkyrie, but backed up to the corner, then turned towards the minibots. Ribbot was still trying to position itself as Valkyrie was at full speed and advancing a lot closer. Ribbot's wedge was able to only cause a shower of sparks, deflecting the undercutter very well for the first few exchanges as they drove to keep squared up. Unfortunately, something bizarre happened to Ribbot as the team couldn't figure out why it stopped suddenly. At this point, Valkyrie came around to the right side, shredded the foam and some of the tires. They proceeded to do the same to the left side, tearing one tire off fully. Ribbot was counted out, giving Valkyrie a quick win by KO.
Outside of the main tournament, Ribbot was also chosen to fight Ed Robbinson and Sharkoprion. In response, Ribbot was armed with its undercutter and a minibot named Tadpole. When the match began, Ribbot quickly took control by tearing off Sharkoprion's left wheel guard and tire. However, in the second hit, Ribbot lost its foam top and eventually ran into the screws, losing more foam in the process. Ribbot then when back on Sharkoprion and pushed it into the screws. While Sharkoprion remained motionless, Ribbot went after its own minibot, then while Sharkoprion was being counted out, tried to rip off Sharkoprion's tail but was unable to do so before the countout finished.
Discovery Season 5
Ribbot drives away as Tracer is flipped upside down.
Ribbot's first fight of the season was against newcomer Tracer. Ribbot opted to use its undercutter weapon as this allowed for better maneuverability. Unfortunately, things didn't start off well for Ribbot as they lost a tire almost immediately. Luckily, this didn't hinder Ribbot much and they were able to land a solid hit on Tracer; the impact sent Tracer upside down. With Tracer motionless and being counted out, Ribbot went after Tracer’s minibot “Clean Cut” and destroyed it before the count finished, winning by KO.
Mad Catter and Ribbot collide weapon-to-weapon.
Ribbot strikes Mad Catter.
Next for Ribbot was a match against fellow vetran Martin Mason and Mad Catter. Ribbot was armed with its vertical spinner configuration and four wedgelets underneath. Ribbot started off quite well as they were able to dish out some early hits but lost a wedgelet in the process. Ribbot went after the opponent's minibot but this opened themselves up for an attack and they were sent flying, nearly ending up out of the arena and causing the frog body to partially become detached. Smoke began to pour out and Ribbot's weapon was slowing down, leaving them vulnerable as they were flipped upside down and lost the frog shell completely. Luckily, Mad Catter's weapon had also been disabled as well as one of their lifting forks, resulting in a pushing match. Unfortunately, Mad Catter got its weapon going and Ribbot was flipped right-side up, where it landed on Mad Catter's minibot and had little maneuverability. Ribbot managed to get off Mad Catter's minibot and pushed Mad Catter into the corner, where it took two more blows from Mad Catter. Both robots were then temporarily stuck and spent the rest of the match mostly pushing each other but Mad Catter was given a unanimous 3-0 decision.
Now, Ribbot was placed against newcomer Axolotl and was armed with its undercutting disc. Ribbot started off rather poorly as they were tossed into the air by their opponent but managed to stay upright. After taking another impact that ended up disabling Axolotl completely, Ribbot went in for a 3rd attack as the teams had agreed to make this fight air on TV by attacking to extend the fight past 10 seconds. As a result, Ribbot lost its top armor but still won by KO after Axolotl was counted out.
Now in the Top 32, Ribbot faced John Reid and Beta with a vertical spinner setup like Bite Force, but is also fitted with extra armor on the top to withstand Beta's hammer.. This proved to be a great choice as Ribbot had no issue getting under Beta and shoving them across the box. Ribbot then dished out multiple hits that sent Beta flying and disabled Beta's hammer. With Beta twitching near the screws, it was counted out, giving Ribbot the win by KO and a spot in the Top 16.
Ribbot's opponent in the Top 16 is fellow Massachusetts bot, Uppercut. Ribbot chose to use their horizontal spinner, and in the beginning were clearly losing the fight, with their top and front wheels being torn off. Even without its front wheels, they still pushed Uppercut into the walls and using themselves as dead-weight, caused uppercut to burn out its drive motors. Ribbot then pushed Uppercut towards the pulverized, and landed a huge hit on Uppercut, immobilizing them and flipping Ribbot upside down. As they drove away, Uppercut was counted out and Ribbot advanced.
After what was largely considered an upset, Ribbot progressed to the Top 8 to face Black Dragon. Sporting its vertical spinner configuaration for this fight, it started out circling the Brazilian machine. The first weapon-to-weapon hit between the two bots caused Ribbot to pop in the air, shedding some of its decorative armor in the process. Black Dragon made contact with Ribbot once more, sending it flying across the box and damaging part of the side wall. With its entire shell now off, Ribbot escaped to the center of the arena, but Black Dragon had started smoking. As both bots drove around, the smoke became thicker and more substantial, creating a cloud inside the Battlebox. It became apparant that Black Dragon's weapon was no longer working, but the smoke continued. Ribbot was now upside-down, struggling for control of the fight. As it escaped, Black Dragon's smoke turned to fire but seemed unphased, continuing to bully Ribbot into the screws. Neither robot had functional weaponry at this stage, but the flaming Black Dragon fought on and remained aggressive. With a minute to go, Black Dragon's fire engulfed the bot as it darted around the box, but Ribbot never found its feet for the remainder of the match. Despite being on fire for over two minutes, Black Dragon survived to the end and took the unanimous decision, ending Ribbot's run for the Giant Nut.
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 7
- Losses: 5
| Competition | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery Season 4 |
End Game (Undercard Match) Falcon (Undercard Match) Sharkoprion (Exhibition Match) |
Kraken (Undercard Match) SawBlaze (Undercard Match) Valkyrie (Grudge Match) |
| Discovery Season 5 | Tracer (Undercard Match)
Axolotl (Undercard Match) |
Mad Catter (Undercard Match) |
Faruq Tauheed Introductions
Ribbot's Discovery Season 4 appearance with its lifter.
"It's not easy being green, even when you're a killing machine. This bot will make you croak. RRR-RIBBOT!"
"This next bot is off the lily pad. Ready to make you feel really bad. And it's got a taste for one thing, victory. It's RIBBOT!"
"It only knows how to fight one way - FROGGY STYLE! Here to tear off your legs and eat em' with a side of flies. Don't run, you're already caught. It's the RIBBITY RIBBITY RIBBITY RIBBITY SMACK DADDY! RIBBOT!"
"Uh oh! It's hopping mad! Meaner than a junkyard frog. Been kicking bots since it was brawlliwog. There's no crime it won't Kermit, and after its tongue lashing, you'll be saying, "Ah spit!" RRR-RIBBOT!"
"This intro was too wordy, so I'mma say it like it's the 1930's. Say Mac, check out the gams on that bot. It's the bees knees and it's giving me the heebie jeebies. That's all I got. Give it up for the boys in green, RIBBOT!
"From Worcester, Mass., the felonious frog, RIBBOT!"
