Robot Wars (TV Series) - Format - Arena and Hazards

Arena and Hazards

The arena and mechanical hazards for the early non-televised Robot Wars in the U.S. (1994 through 1997) were rudimentary. The arena itself was a 30 by 54 foot rectangle with an asphalt surface. The 1994 arena was defined only by 2-foot high plywood walls—there was no bulletproof plastic enclosure. The following year saw the addition of braced 1/4" thick clear plastic panels extending four feet upward from the plywood panels to enhance audience protection. By 1997 the arena walls had grown to eight feet plus two feet of netting at the top.

Early hazards included a wide ram that could push a robot away from the side railing, nets on hinged arms that could descend to entangle robots that ventured too close, large horizontal pivoting arms to swat passing robots, and a bowling ball pendulum swinging across the arena.

The arena was completely re-done for the televised UK Robot Wars. The arena was approximately 32 feet by 48 feet. For Series 1 to 3 the Arena was not enclosed as such as the audience were raised above the arena. For Series 4 the battle zone was enclosed in a huge clear plastic box 20 feet high. There were assorted hazards in the arena that changed from one series the next:

• The Pit of Oblivion – Introduced in Series 2, The Pit of Oblivion was a 4-foot square hole in the arena floor painted black on the inside, and partially filled with old tyres into which a robot might drive, fall or be pushed, instantly eliminating said robot. In Series 2 pits were added to both lanes of The Gauntlet. In Series 3, The Pit was open during the first two rounds of each heat, then covered during the heat final and following matches. For Series 4 The Pit was redesigned as a yellow and black chevron tape outlined area that would descend at some point during the match to form a pit. From its very first appearance in Series 2, The Pit included a small pyrotechnic "explosion" that formed a large ball of white smoke. This would activate when a robot fell into the Pit, primarily used to show that a competitor had fallen in. This was changed to a small firework explosion for Series 3 but the smoke returned for Series 4 and remained until the end. From Extreme 1 onward, there was a device on the arena wall that competitor or house robots could use to activate the pit opening. In Extreme/Series 5 that device was a tyre. For Series 6 the tyre was replaced by a metal bumper. The tyre returned for Extreme 2.
• The Floor Flipper – a powerful pneumatic flipper that can toss a robot across the arena. This device made its debut in Series 3, where it just looked like a part of the arena floor. For Series 4 the flipper was given yellow/black paint scheme similar to the redesigned Pit of Oblivion. Series 5/Extreme 1 saw the power of the flipper increased, allowing it to hurl even the heaviest robots into the air, and flip featherweight robots out of the arena.
• The Disc of Doom – a spinning panel set into the arena floor activated by a button similar to the pit release. This hazard was used to disrupt a robot's driving, and worked well on lighter competitors. It first appeared in series 6 but was removed for Series 7 due to being ineffective during most battles.
• The Drop Zone – a spot on the arena floor where heavy objects (television sets, ocean buoys, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) fell from the top of the arena. It first appeared in series 6; although the spot where the object would fall, a black square with a yellow 'X' shape across it first appeared in Extreme 1 not serving any clear purpose at the time.
• The Patrol Zones (Series 1) – four large squares marked with striped tape, each occupied by one House Robot and a hazard.
• The Perimeter Patrol Zone/PPZ (Series 2) – a narrow band around the perimeter of the arena where competitor robots were open to attack by any of the house robots.
• The Corner Patrol Zones/CPZ(s) (Series 3 onwards) – From Series 3 onward, the House Robots were confined to the four corners of the arena and moved in a rota system through all of the machines. In Series 4, the house robots switched to a rota system of Shunt, Matilda, Sgt.Bash, and Dead Metal. Sir Killalot consistently appeared every round. From Extreme/Series 5 onwards, only two house robots were allowed in the arena at a time, and this moved in a rota through all of the machines.
• Flame Pit (Series 2 onwards) - A large square grill located close to the right bottom corner of the arena. Used to set fire to flammable robots and damage electronics etc.
• Several propane powered flame jets located at the front of the arena. A smaller flame pit was installed for Series 4 but was removed shortly afterwards.
• Angle Grinders, abrasive grinding wheels built into the arena railings. (replaced with spikes in series 4, but brought back from extreme 1 onwards)
• CO₂ geysers, actually useful for putting out flames.
• Early hazards included spikes that came up from the ground (Removed in Series 4 after many upsets were caused by these flipping and immobilising robots that were on top.), arena sidebars and grilles that could immobilise robots crossing them (Series 1 only), and swinging spiked maces on chains that were more atmospheric than damaging.

In early 2004 the Robot Wars arena was purchased from the television production firm who produce the show (Mentorn) by a company called Robot Arenas Ltd based in the UK. They are an organisation set up by a past competitor of Robot Wars to continue the sport of robot combat in the UK.

The Robot Wars arena -valued originally at £11,000- was sold for scrap in 2005 for £250 by the new owners of RAF Newton where the arena was housed. A suit filed against RAF Newton by Robot Arenas Ltd found that RAF Newton had acted reasonably in the matter and owed no compensation to Robot Arenas Ltd.