Shatter!'s Discovery Season 5 appearance.
Shatter! is a heavyweight robot built by Bots FC from Brooklyn, New York, which competed in the fourth and fifth seasons of the BattleBots reboot on Discovery and Science. The robot is essentially a better armored version of Bots FC's heavyweight, Mega Melvin, featuring improvements to the chassis, electronics and hammer weapon. The
team also entered KOB with a pink version called Blue. Shatter! gets its name from its powerful hammer, its gem-like appearing armor and the armor's ability to come off piece by piece during a match.
Shatter! is driven by four Mecanum wheels. Each wheel is powered by a brushless motor, and features several rollers which allow the robot to drive forwards, backwards and sideways. This enables Shatter! to 'coast' across the BattleBox in a controlled manner which allows it to always face opponents head-on. The hammer itself is electric and is extremely powerful, practically throwing the robot up when it hits something and allows it to self-right quickly. Despite its unique design, it underperformed, getting only two wins and losing twice in the undercard matches, and losing once in an exhibition match. All three of its losses involved the loss of its weapon and lacking the traction needed to win a pushing and shoving match (a typical weakness for many omni-wheeled bots).
For Season 5, Shatter! had a full chassis made from a solid billet, new front forks, and a different coloring to its armors sheen. It did far much better than its previous season, reaching the quarterfinals before being KO'd by eventual champion End Game.
Team Bots FC was looking to enter Shatter! into BattleBots Discovery Season 6 along with a new robot called Emulsifier, a tracked robot armed with a vertical spinner, but Emulsifier was sadly rejected. It is unknown if Shatter! was accepted for another season since they haven't posted anything about the new version of the robot.
Contents
Robot History
Discovery Season 4
Shatter!'s Discovery Season 4 appearance.
Shatter! started off the 2019 BattleBots season with a match against the seasoned vet and eventual runner-up, Witch Doctor. For this fight, Shatter! went with its steel hammer dubbed "Ole Rusty." Things were not going well for Shatter! as they started to take damage from Witch Doctor that tore off not only chunks of the armor panels, but also the actual armor panels themselves. Shatter! tried to attack with the axe, but it missed twice. After the third failed attempt, Shatter took a hit to its hammer head and lost the head completely as the bolts holding the head to the arm were not long enough, leaving Shatter with little to do but try and break Witch Doctor's weapon or perhaps flip it over.
Shatter! gets pieces of its armor torn off by Witch Doctor.
As the match progressed, things seemed to be looking up for Shatter! as Witch Doctor started smoking and was losing drive on its left side.
Shatter! in a pushing match against Witch Doctor as the latter's flamethrower becomes dual-colored.
Unfortunately, Shatter! had no way to take advantage of this as two wires for their weapon speed controller shorted, causing a failure of the controller and preventing the axe from firing but Witch Doctor eventually stopped moving. As the last 10 seconds of the match came, Witch Doctor got going again, albeit only on one side but brought the match to the judges. The judges awarded Witch Doctor a unanimous 3-0 decision. Shatter!'s next opponent was against newcomer Wan Hoo from China. Shatter! went into the fight relatively unchanged, apart from tweaks to its weapon system to hopefully get in more hits with the hammer. As the match got underway, Shatter! was looking for an opening to fire the hammer and ended up taking hits instead. Soon, Shatter! found openings and began to fire the weapon repeatedly onto Wan Hoo's special top armor. None of this seemed to affect Wan Hoo, but Shatter! kept attacking anyway and eventually gained the upper hand when Wan Hoo's weapon stopped working. Shatter continued to attack with its weapon, even as time ran out.
Shatter! deals the final blows as the time runs out.
The judges awarded Shatter! a unanimous 3-0 decision.
Shatter! also fought a match against the bowling-themed newcomer, Kingpin. Before the match, Shatter! actually made some changes by switching to a thicker front wedge and their titanium hammer dubbed Titan. The reason why was to handle the hits from Kingpin's spinner, and their titanium arm was thicker than their steel one. Shatter! also opted for a tactic of hitting with the opposite end it normally hits with. Luckily, Shatter! didn't really need much of its strategy as Kingpin quickly immobilized itself after turning into the screws with its weapon due to a setscrew failure. Shatter! promptly avoided Kingpin's still functioning weapon and attacked their top armor, leaving a few holes and dents. However, Shatter! then struck Kingpin again right on their spinner, which knocked off one wheel and spun them under the pulverizer. Kingpin was immobilized and beginning to smoke and as it was being counted out, the smoke grew thicker and Shatter! the won by KO. What wasn't show was the biggest fire within the whole event that erupted from Kingpin.
Shatter! was next against Team Riobotz and former runner-up, Minotaur. The match started off pretty evenly for Shatter! as they couldn't cause any major damage to Minotaur and didn't take any major damage from their opponent. Shatter! continued to fight, losing only sparks while attacking with its hammer. Shatter! tried to keep attacking, but it was revealed Minotaur managed to break one of Shatter's weapon chains. Every time Shatter! fired its hammer, the friction system within only had the one chain now, forcing a lot more heat into the only working hammer system, causing it to slow down severely after each use. Shatter! attacked again and was shoved into the arena barrier before delivering light hammer blows to Minotaur. Shatter! then took a big hit from Minotaur that sent it flying onto its back where it couldn't self-right due to the weapon finally building up too much heat and the slip discs burning up. Shatter! was counted out, giving Minotaur the win by KO.
Unfortunately, Shatter! wasn't selected by the judges as an automatic seed, or have it participate for the play-offs to earn a spot in the Round of 16, meaning Shatter! was eliminated from the main competition.
Shatter! fighting Kraken.
However, Shatter! still took part in an exhibition match against Kraken. Shatter! was off to a good start as they were able to land repeated blows on Kraken's head, causing cosmetic damage. Shatter! circled around a bit and was then taken to the pulverizer, suffering equally minor damage. Shatter! was then flipped over but quickly righted itself, only to briefly get hung up with Kraken's nose. Shatter! escaped and was then brought to the screws, which caused Shatter! to lose a piece and the function of its weapon. Shatter! was then left defenseless for the rest of the fight, but had only taken minor damage as the time ran out. The judges awarded Kraken the win.
Discovery Season 5
Shatter!'s first fight of the season was against the rebuilt former semi-finalist, Ghost Raptor. Before the match, the team added two extra pieces of the plastic to their rails holding the hammer, to prevent Ghost Raptor from hitting them if the weapon adjusts. However, in their pre-fight checks, they lost some of their ablative armor as the plastic wasn't sticking well to the armor. Still, this didn't change Shatter!'s plan much as they quickly got out and attacked Ghost Raptor's top, bending the bearing and causing Ghost Raptor's weapon to spin down. This also cost Shatter! more of its ablative armor, but despite being pushed around, Shatter! continued to land the blows, costing it some top armor from the left-rear corner. Both robots ended up near the pulverizer before smoke began pouring out of Ghost Raptor. As Ghost Raptor's problem escalated, Shatter! was also briefly motionless, having lost rear wheel drive earlier and worked quickly using the hammer to try and get off its opponent, striking and breaking the arena screw it was near in the process. The match was paused due to both robots being stuck and were separated offscreen. When the match resumed, Shatter! was able to drive away, leaving Ghost Raptor to get counted out. As a result, Shatter! won by KO.
Shatter! hits and disables Malice's weapon.
Shatter!'s second fight was against former teammates of Malice. Shatter! didn't start off too badly as they only lost the armor that is designed to shed away when impacted. Shatter! then attacked Malice and took out their opponent's weapon belt, leaving their opponent weaponless. However, this impact had also cost them their weapon's head and part of the fingers holding the head. Shatter! continued to attack Malice with its weapon arm, but none of these hits caused any major damage. When the fight was over, the judges awarded a close and controversial 2-1 decision to Malice.
Shatter!'s 3rd and final fight of Fight Night was against Brian Nave and Captain Shrederator. Shatter! opted not go in with its ablative armor, fearing it would cost them damage points if the fight went to the judges. Shatter! held up well against Captain Shrederator's attacks, mostly losing sparks and/or bits of armor. Shatter! kept on its opponent using its omni wheel drive before being tossed upside down but quickly righted itself. Luckily for Shatter! Captain Shrederator drove into the screws and eventually started smoking, leaving them weaponless. Shatter! took full advantage with multiple blows to Captain Shrederator's top and began to control the fight with pushing as well. Shatter brought Captain Shrederator under the pulverizer, where it and the arena hazard took turns landing blows. Captain Shrederator escaped but not before time ran out. The judges awarded Shatter! a unanimous 3-0 decision.
Shatter! made it into the Round of 32 as the No.19 seed and went up against the No.14 seed Lock-Jaw. Shatter! waited patiently as Lock-Jaw looked for an opening. Shatter! then missed with its weapon and lost pieces of its ablative armor. Shatter! was then briefly pushed but was able to escape after Lock-Jaw's move was interrupted by the killsaw slots. Shatter! then delivered a direct hit to Lock-Jaw's newly added top armor, sending shrapnel flying. Lock-Jaw seemed unphased by this so Shattter! delivered another hit, this time more towards Lock-Jaw's left side drive. Shatter! then got Lock-Jaw to the pulverizer and lost sparks from Lock-Jaw's weapon before Lock-Jaw unwittingly flipped itself over using its weapon's gyroscopic forces. Smoke began to pour out of Lock-Jaw as the robot came to a halt so Shatter! delivered a final hit before Lock-Jaw was counted out, giving Shatter! the win by KO and a spot in the Top 16.
Next up, Shatter! faced No.30 seed Mammoth. Despite Shatter!'s attempts to attack, Mammoth remained in the middle of the box and swatted Shatter! away with its weapon, then flipping it over. Shatter! then attempted to swing at Mammoth, but caught the weapon and flung itself over instead. This allowed Mammoth to capitalise and smother Adam Wrigley's machine with its frame. Shatter! recovered however, even managing to hit Mammoth's exposed chain and disabling their primary weapon. Both robots showed that they were able to push the other around the box, and Shatter! landed an axe blow on the protective cover of Mammoth's wheel. This proved costly for Mammoth, as their left wheel visibly fell off as the clock hit zero. This left a lasting impression on the judges, who awarded a split decision in Shatter!'s favour.
Shatter! moved on to face New Zealand's End Game in the quarter-finals. For this fight, End Game was fitted with additional armor plating on the top designed to withstand Shatter!'s hammer blows. The fight started with Shatter! driving the length of the box to meet End Game, but the vertical spinner quickly got to work, taking apart the ablative pieces of armor. End Game had Shatter! pinned, and was able to deliver a brutal hit to its underside. With pieces strewn over the box floor and its left side fork bent outwards, Shatter! tried to push back and fired the axe, hitting but leaving itself vulnerable. End Game manouevred to the rear of Shatter!, delivering a hit which sent it flying into the timer. Shatter! self-righted, but had now lost its right-side fork and was visibly hurt. End Game maintained its spinning speed, waiting for Shatter! to drift out of the corner and return to the center of the box. The next impact decapitated Shatter!, but it still tried to attack with what remained of its axe. Unnerved by Shatter!'s swings, End Game kept attacking until Shatter! was no longer moving. The count started, and Shatter! was eliminated from the competiton.
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 6
- Losses: 5
| Competition | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery Season 4 | Wan Hoo (Undercard Match)
Kingpin (Undercard Match) |
Witch Doctor (Undercard Match)
Minotaur (Undercard Match) Kraken (Exhibition Match) |
| Discovery Season 5 | Ghost Raptor (Undercard Match)
Captain Shrederator (Undercard Match) |
Malice (Undercard Match) |
Faruq Tauheed Introductions
"This bot hails from Brooklyn, so it's going to beat you with all local organic ingredients. Hotter than an L train in July. You better be like Biggie, ready to die. It's SHATTER!"
"This bot will break you like Bernie Madoff. It brings more hurt than ripping a band-aid off. If it were a cocktail, it would be a Molotov. Your parts are gonna scatter, it's SHATTER!"
"This bot is taking over like Oprah, because you get a killing, and you get a killing, AND YOU GET A KILLING, EVERYBODY GETS A KILLING! It's SHATTER!"
"Mirror mirror on this bot, who's the deadliest of the lot? With an axe to grind and an omni-drive, you'll be lucky to leave the box alive. Here to leave you in tatters, SHATTER!"
"When I say Olly Olly Oxen Free, you can all scatter. It still won't matter. It's Brooklyn's own SHATTER!"
"This bot is from Brooklyn, home of the Jigga Baby and his hammer will drop beats like his name was Jay-Z. Hammer, axe, spike, whatever you're calling them, you've got ninety-nine problems, and this bot is all of them. It's SHATTER!"
"From Brooklyn, New York, the brawler from BK, SHATTER!"
Trivia
- Shatter!, under its previous name of Blue, is at least one of five robots that competed at the 2018 Orlando Maker Faire. The other known ones are Kraken, Mammoth, Extinguisher, and HyperShock.
- It would later for the 2019 competition, this time as Shatter! without all its break-off pieces due to no kinetic energy spinners allowed, as well as various other 2019 BattleBot competitors.
