- "Team Raptor was formed in April of 2000 by a group of robotics enthusiasts to explore the forms of devastation and pain they could inflict on others in battle arenas."
- — Team Raptor's website
Team Raptor are one of the best-known teams in BattleBots, responsible for their 'Raptor' series of robots which have competed in both eras of the show. Their most recent entry was the 250lb build Ghost Raptor, which debuted in World Championship I and ran until its elimination from BattleBots: Champions I.
The team's first lightweight robot, W.L.O.W., competed exclusively at Long Beach 1999. Captained by Bob Pitzer, it chalked up three wins to its name before losing to The Crusher.
Ahead of Season 1.0 of BattleBots on Comedy Central, W.L.O.W. was repurposed and became Alpha Raptor. Now captained by Chuck Pitzer, Team Raptor's nomenclature stuck for the remainder of their BattleBots career. Having knocked out future fan favorites such as Dr. Inferno Jr. and Mouser Mecha-Catbot en route to the final, Team Raptor fell short of the Giant Nut in the lightweight division with a loss to Jim Smentowski and Backlash.
In Season 2.0, Alpha Raptor became Beta Raptor and again had a very successful run for the championship. However, it fell a stage earlier than the previous competition after drawing Ziggo in the semi-finals. The team also debuted their superheavyweight entry Tripulta Raptor this season, but it lost early on to Toro.
Returning for Season 3.0, Team Raptor reapplied with Tripulta Raptor which again fell in its second televised fight. Their most successful entry to date Beta Raptor, now called Gamma Raptor, replicated the team's Season 1.0 success and made the lightweight finals, but again lost to Dr. Inferno Jr. Driven by Chris Harriman, Carnage Raptor debuted in Season 3.0 but lost to Sallad early on. The team also debuted middleweight multibot Pack Raptors, but could not escape the preliminary rounds after losing out to T-Wrex.
Season 4.0 proved to be Tripulta Raptor's final superheavyweight competition following a premature exit to Agitator. As the reigning runner-up, Gamma Raptor also fell well short of expectations, losing to Gary Gin and The Big B. Carnage Raptor had slightly more success, but suffered the same fate, ultimately also losing to The Big B. After receiving a bye in the middleweight competition, Pack Raptors returned but fell in the Round of 32.
Once again coming back for Season 5.0, Pack Raptors advanced through several early matches but lost out Wrath Jr. driven by Todd Mendenhall. Gamma Raptor also returned and advanced all the way to the lightweight semi-finals, but lost by knockout to Dr. Inferno Jr. and Jason Bardis. Carnage Raptor also came back but was held to a modest season, losing out to Death By Monkeys.
As BattleBots returned in 2015, so did Team Raptor with a 250lb heavyweight called Ghost Raptor. The Pitzers and Chris Harriman returned for the ABC reboot, accompanied by Matt Herron, Vincent Cheung, Rachael Lucas, Darryl Dawson and Joel Meine. Though it went through various rebuilds over the years, it found its greatest success in World Championship I as it finished a semi-finalist. However, it fell short in World Championship II after losing to Son of Whyachi in its first fight. Though it received a wildcard and was reinstated, Ghost Raptor lost its very next fight to Razorback.
The team were subsequently absent from BattleBots for the 2018 and 2019 seasons, marking the first years of BattleBots without at least one Team Raptor representative. After a two-season long hiatus, Team Raptor returned for the 2020 season with a mostly new look. Although some members remained from the ABC seasons, Team Raptor picked up Sabri Sansoy and Eric Diehr for World Championship V. Darryl Dawson and Vincent Cheung did not return for the 2021 season, but Team Raptor picked up Xo Wang and Anouk Wipprecht as Ghost Raptor returned for another competition. Chuck Pitzer built a brand new Ghost Raptor for World Championship V having withdrawn a year prior, but lost its first two fights of the 2020 season. It earned a win over 500lb walkerbot Chomp, but failed to make the Top 32. Ghost Raptor returned for BattleBots: Bounty Hunters and defeated Deadlift in the first round of its bracket, but lost out to HyperShock.
Team Raptor returned again for World Championship VI but lost its Fight Night battles against Glitch and Cobalt respectively, suffering a brutal knockout in the latter which left it unable to return for another Fight Night battle. However, they got Ghost Raptor back together for the post-season spin-off, BattleBots: Champions I.
Outside BattleBots[]
Before becoming "Team Raptor", team member Chris Harriman originally entered the 1996 US Robot Wars competition with Nemesis, which lost to TerMinal FreNzy.
Outside of BattleBots, the team also entered Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors with Cyclone and Rippa Raptor. Chris Harriman was leant the loanerbot Tut Tut to compete with in later the first season due to damage sustained to Cyclone.
Team Members[]
Chuck Pitzer[]
- "I have been building robots, probably for the past 20 years. I don't care really what people think about me. I don’t talk a lot of smack. I just deliver in the ring."
- — Chuck Pitzer during World Championship I
Chuck Pitzer is a veteran BattleBots builder. A professionally licensed mechanical engineer by trade, he has captained and been part of every US competition Team Raptor have entered dating back to 1999. By the time of the first ABC Season, he had gone on to work for Neato Robotics as a senior mechanical engineer.
Chris Harriman[]
A founding member of Team Raptor, Chris Harriman remained with the team until their hiatus in 2018. Although Ghost Raptor returned in 2020, Chris Harriman did not. Away from BattleBots, Harriman notably captained the Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors entry Cyclone, and was part of their other entry Rippa Raptor.
Bob Pitzer[]
Robert "Bob" Pitzer originally served as a judge during the 1999 Las Vegas event and organized BotBash events. Representing Team Raptor, he captained and entered Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors with Rippa Raptor. An engineer by trade, he worked as a robotics specialist for Fortune 100. Alongside Chuck Pitzer, he ran a company called Pitzer Consulting, which gave advice about mechanical design, using computer simulations to predict problems and find solutions ahead of time.
Anouk Wipprecht[]
A fashiontech designer by day, Dutch-born Anouk Wipprecht joined the team ahead of the 2021 season. She was responsible for Team Raptor's aesthetic appearance for their most recent BattleBots competitions. Several of her fashion projects include a dynamic dress[1] with sensors fitted to extend spider-like legs to protect personal space, and prosthetic legs fitted with Tesla coils and spark gaps.[2]
Matt Heron, Rachel Lucas & Joel Meine[]
All three team members were only present for Team Raptor's ABC seasons in 2015 and 2016, and did not return with Ghost Raptor in 2020.
Xo Wang & Eric Diehr[]
Both team members joined Team Raptor in the 2020 and 2021 seasons respectively, having previously attempted to enter the 2016 season with Honest Abe. Xo Wang also competes alongside Jamison Go and Aaron Fan of Team SawBlaze as part of the collective trio, FanWangGo.
Robots[]
| Robot | Weight Class | Season |
|---|---|---|
| W.L.O.W. | Lightweight | Long Beach 1999 |
| Alpha Raptor | Lightweight | Season 1.0 |
| Beta Raptor | Lightweight | Season 2.0 |
| Tripulta Raptor | Superheavyweight | Season 2.0 |
| Heavyweight | Season 3.0 Season 4.0 | |
| Gamma Raptor | Lightweight | Season 3.0 Season 4.0 Season 5.0 |
| Pack Raptors | Middleweight | Season 3.0 Season 4.0 Season 5.0 |
| Carnage Raptor | Lightweight | Season 3.0 Season 4.0 Season 5.0 |
| Ghost Raptor | Heavyweight | World Championship I World Championship II World Championship V World Championship VI BattleBots: Champions I |
Win/Loss Record[]
- Wins: 38
- Losses: 24
See Also[]
- Team Raptor website (Archived)
- Team Raptor on Instagram
- Team Raptor on Twitter
- Team Raptor on Facebook
- Team Raptor (Robot Wars)