Strike Terror

Strike Terror
Participation Information
Comedy Central Seasons	Season 4.0 Season 5.0
Team Information
Team	Team Mauser Combat Robotics
Team Members	Richard Chandler Robert Trousdale Cara Plata
From	Everett, WA
Robot Statistics
Weight	308.5lbs
Power	NiCad batteries
Drive	EV-Warrior motors (Season 4.0) Magmotor S28 motors (Season 5.0)
Weapons	Pivoting vertical/horizontal spinner
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"The concept was to take a vertical spinner and make two improvements. First, to maximize the moment of inertia of the wheel, and second, to relieve the stresses of gyroscopic precession that prevent most vertical spinners from bringing their powerful weapons to bear. I like to call it a "Second Generation Vertical Spinner"."

— Richard Chandler on the concept behind Strike Terror's weapon

Strike Terror was a superheavyweight robot built by Team Mauser Combat Robotics which competed in two seasons of Comedy Central BattleBots.

Built and operated solely by Richard Chandler, it was a reverse U-shaped robot armed with an innovative spinning weapon. Dubbed a "Second Generation Vertical Spinner", the four-toothed, 60lb disk was mounted on a horizontally-hinged 'fork', enabling it to pivot between the vertical and horizontal orientations. This gave Strike Terror's spinner an optimal moment of inertia (MOI), while also canceling out the gyroscopic forces acting on the disk as it rotated. An arm-mounted spring enabled the fork to reset the disk into the vertical position once it powered down. Strike Terror was also going to be fitted with custom speed controllers designed by Chandler himself. It is unknown if these were completed. If they weren't four Victor 883s were to be used instead.

Originally designed to compete in the heavyweight division of Season 4.0, Strike Terror was transferred to the superheavyweight category at the last minute. During construction, it was found to weigh in at 215lbs without the weapon installed, prompting communications between Richard Chandler and Greg Munson allowing for this switch. Though managing to reach the Round of 64 following Tenderizer's forfeit, Strike Terror enjoyed very limited success, being eliminated by Little Blue Engine while taking major damage to its chassis, weapon assembly and motors.

A rebuild for Season 5.0 brought several improvements to Strike Terror's design, including the switch from EV-Warrior motors to Magmotor S28s, a reinforced weapon 'fork' and the addition of welded skirts on either side of the machine. However, these were not enough for Strike Terror to match or improve on its previous performance, as it was eliminated in its initial preliminary match of the season by Pro-AM.

Team Mauser also teased the idea of building a lightweight named Strike Fear which would have made use of a 10lb weapon and EV Warrior motors. However, this was only ever discussed as an idea and it is unknown if construction of this idea was ever started.

Richard Chandler with Strike Terror.

Outside BattleBots

Following its appearance at Season 5.0, Strike Terror appeared at the Oregon Clandestine Street Fight in July 2002 as an active robot. There, it performed demonstrations of its pivoting spinner, using the weapon to fling and tear apart a Chevrolet van door.

Richard Chandler also built the 1lb antweight Strike Too, featuring a wedge shape, a clamping panel as its main weapon and a two-wheel drive system. Strike Too competed at Western Allied Robotics and RoboMAXX events throughout its brief career, achieving an overall 3-3 match record according to BotRank.com.

Some time in the late 2000's, Chandler would dismantle Strike Terror's chassis and sell off the salvageable parts. The whereabouts of any of these parts is currently unknown.

Strike Terror launches a chevy van door into the air..png

Strike Terror demonstrates its power against a Chevrolet van door.

Robot History

Season 4.0
Strike Terror vs. Tenderizer "My first fight was supposed to be Tuesday night against Tenderizer. I arrogantly took a "Before" picture, since I thought he'd be an easy mark, what with oscillating spikes in the back that seemed higher than the bulk of my robot, and 1/4" Lexan sides. Apparently he was never able to get through safety, and I guess shouldn't have been scheduled." — Richard Chandler Strike Terror was first scheduled to fight Tenderizer in the preliminary rounds, with Richard Chandler confident that the box-wedge shaped machine would be an 'easy' opponent to defeat. However, Tenderizer forfeited after being unable to to pass safety inspection, promoting Strike Terror to the next stage.
Strike Terror vs. Little Blue Engine Strike Terror's first battle would occur in the Round of 64, where it would face Little Blue Engine. Prior to the match, Richard Chandler inspected the partially-assembled Little Blue Engine, criticizing its decidedly fragile appearance and unaware of its yet-to-be-installed lifting weapon at that point. Immediately, Strike Terror and Little Blue Engine collided head-on, the impact causing damage to Little Blue Engine's construction and weapon frame, while also breaking one of its drive chains. "Not having seen the lifter on LBE before and not knowing what it did, my biggest mistake was trying to go head on. My wheel, with its very slow 20 second spinup time, was only up to maybe 1/3 speed, when we collided. Still, it packed a whollop, the Lexan where it hit was permanently deformed, and the weld in the frame behind it was cracked apart. This deformed some of the support for the lifter, and the left front wheel, which threw a chain." — Richard Chandler describes the damage inflicted by Strike Terror Strike Terror, however, was also damaged, with both the weapon 'fork' and left-front wheel pod badly warped. From that point, Little Blue Engine gained the upper hand, repeatedly pushing it across the BattleBox while also damaging its chassis further using its spikes. As a further consequence, two of Strike Terror's EV-Warrior motors burnt out, likely contributing to it losing the match by knockout. Strike Terror was thus eliminated from the Season 4.0 superheavyweight championship, though Richard Chandler was still critical of Little Blue Engine, along with Team Circuit Breaker's conduct leading up to the match. The latter ranged from the team placing a Scheduled for Destruction sticker on Strike Terror without Chandler or Team Kirwan's knowledge, to an unauthorized test session for Little Blue Engine which took place the night before.
Season 5.0
Strike Terror vs. Pro-AM Strike Terror returned for Season 5.0, again beginning its run with a preliminary match against Pro-AM. While very limited information is known about the match, it would end up losing by knockout, eliminating Strike Terror from the superheavyweight championship once again.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 2

NOTE: Tenderizer's forfeit in Season 4.0 is not included in the Wins tally.

Strike Terror in The Pits during Season 5.0.

	Wins	Losses
Season 4.0	Tenderizer (Forfeit)	Little Blue Engine
Season 5.0	None	Pro-AM

External Links

• Team Mauser Combat Robotics website