Ziggy The Robo Dog Uk

[Stetson Saenz]

Ziggywas a Superheavyweight built by CM Robotics that competed in the first ComBots Cup, and the ComBots Texas Cup, as well as RoboGames 2005 to RoboGames 2010 when the SuperHeavyweight class was discontinued. It was a Silver, six-wheeled, wedge robot armed with a powerful pneumatic launcher which the team nicknamed "The Haymaker". Ziggy did very well in RoboGames, taking home multiple Gold Medals and only retiring when RoboGames discontinued the SuperHeavyweight class in 2010. Ziggy then came out of retirement in 2016 when it was rebuilt into Lucky Canucky which competed in season 2 of the ABC BattleBots reboot, and reverted to the Ziggy name, this time as a Heavyweight for RoboGames 2018.

Ziggy's first fight in RoboGames 2007 was against Little Blue Engine, this fight started well for Ziggy as it flipped over Little Blue Engine leaving its lifting arm useless. Little Blue Engine drives over Ziggy causing it to miss a flip. Little Blue Engine keeps driving over Ziggy for a bit until it gets stuck in a seam in the floor. The match is paused for Little Blue Engine to be freed. The rest of match is Little Blue Engine continuing to drive over Ziggy, eventually Ziggy's wedge became a bit loose. The match ends, and Ziggy wins by judge's decision.

Ziggy's next fight was against former BattleBots champion Vladiator, who just came off a win against RoboLoco. Both bots start the match trying to find a position. Vladiator gets cornered between the wall and Ziggy in which Ziggy flips Vladiator into the lexan causing sparks to fly. Vladiator starts running away from Ziggy. Vladiator gets under Ziggy and tries to ram Ziggy into the wall but Ziggy slips from Vladiator's grip causing it to ram itself into the wall. Ziggys tries to flip Vladiator twice but misses. Vladiator ramps over Ziggy again slamming into the wall in the process. Ziggy corners Vladiator and flips it three times causing it to get stuck on the railing. Vladiator was counted out but escaped just as the buzzer ranged. This caused booing from the crowd. The referees reviewed what had happened and determined that Vladiator was counted out. Ziggy won this fight and advanced to fight The Judge in the final

As soon as the match started, The Judge came in and hit Ziggy with its hammer, and Ziggy launched The Judge into the ceiling. The Judge landed upside-down, and Ziggy flipped The Judge again, flinging The Judge into the Lexan wall. The Judge self-righted, and Ziggy flipped it again from behind, knocking The Judge onto its back. The Judge self-righted and hit Ziggy with its hammer before Ziggy got to the side of The Judge and flipped it twice. Ziggy gave The Judge no time to breathe as it flipped it again. The Judge landed on its wheels, however, and struck Ziggy's top panel, bending it. Ziggy retaliated by flipping The Judge over again and pinning it against the wall. The Judge was stuck on its back with its hammer extended. As it tries to self-right, it would keep getting stuck on its back. The Judge was counted out, and Ziggy had not only won this fight but also won the 2007 RoboGames SuperHeavyweight title.

Built and captained by Jonathan Ridder - later famous for his BattleBots full-body spinner Ziggo - it originally debuted in the 1995 Super Lightweight Face-Off, defeating Slomo II[5] and the flying robot S.P.S. 2[6] to reach the semi-final rounds. This iteration of Ziggy, also referred to by its alternative name Soba[2], was eliminated at that stage by Holobot.[7][3]

An updated 1996 incarnation faired less well, being eliminated in the first round of the Featherweight Face-Off by Slomo 3 - a rematch of its first 1995 victory.[8][9][10][11] It would also compete in the 1996 Featherweight Melee event, but did not progress beyond the first round.[12][13] Ziggy's 1996 incarnation would make minimal appearances in the American Robot Wars 1996 VHS release, with a short clip from its Featherweight Melee being featured in the opening montage.

For the 1997 competition, a completely-redesigned Ziggy fought in the Lightweight Face-Off and Melee events. In the Face-Off, it again lost its first battle, this time to debuting walker Pretty Hate Machine,[14][15] and was ultimately eliminated in the Loser's Bracket by Razor Back.[16][17] Ziggy enjoyed slightly improved form in the Lightweight Melee, qualifying for the final, but losing overall to Defiant.[18][19]

The original featherweight Ziggy maintained a largely similar form factor in its 1995 and 1996 appearances. It was a low-slung, wedge-shaped robot armed with multiple ramming spikes on the front and back. Alongside a red, gray and green paint scheme, the 1996 incarnation was loosely themed to a racing car, with a 'windscreen' and 'steering wheel' both being illustrated on the top-rear of the shell. Illustrations of Jonathan Ridder's pet cat - also named Ziggy - were included the top and upper side panels as well. On the sides were messages reading out the name of the International Robot Warriors Association (IRWA).

In addition to the spikes, Ziggy employed a pivot mechanism for the shell. Contemporary descriptions of this feature suggest that this essentially allowed it to function as a full-body lifter.[10] Two model aircraft servos were used to tilt the shell, allowing the spikes at the front to be raised and lowered to lift an opponent, but this was not very powerful.[20]Ziggy was also unusual in being one of the few robots of its era to use brushless motors for drive, with one brushless motor on each side directly driving a belt used as a track on each side of the robot.[20] The use of twin rubber belts in this way reportedly gave the robot good traction across the arena floor.[10]

The 1995 iteration - referred to on battleboards as Soba - differed in featuring a gray, golden yellow, green and red paint scheme, and the names of both Jonathan Ridder and teammate Linda Kwon on the sides.[6]

While keeping a similar rubber belt track system, the 1997 Ziggy was completely redesigned for the larger Lightweight class. A 'bolted aluminum plate' chassis was combined with a double wedge-shaped Kevlar/foam composite shell, along with a more potent weapon - a large abrasive cutting disc. Much of Ziggy's weight allowance was taken up by the disc assembly, which used a two-stroke internal combustion engine as its power source. The sides and rear of the machine were fitted with skirts as a means to prevent Ziggy's ground clearance from being breached. An all-gray finish was further decorated on the sides by a cat's face, again representing Ridder's pet, in black, along with paw prints in yellow.[21]

Despite being fast and damaging, Ziggy was observed as having recurring reliability issues with its tracks, which were prone to 'slip and fray' during battles.[21] Additionally, the size and power of its disc caused the robot to occasionally be destabilized by its own gyroscopic forces, a phenomenon more commonly experienced by modern vertical spinners.

Ziggy made its first US Robot Wars appearance in the 1995 Super Lightweight category. In the Face-Off championship, it initially fought Slomo II - a completely redesigned version of Klaas Langhout's 1994 competitor.

Ziggy started the match by driving into the center of the arena. There, it was swatted by a mousetrap, after which it began experiencing sudden bouts of immobility while trying to push and dodge Slomo II. Two exchanges enabled Ziggy to breach Slomo II's ground clearance, though Slomo II drove off before it could take further advantage in either of these. More dodging and bumping followed, until Ziggy found itself pinned between the side wall and Slomo II.[5]

Slow to get away, Ziggy took a cursory nudge from Slomo II, before darting back and forth while turning left and lifting its wedge shell. A brush with one of the arena flippers was followed by a backwards retreat towards the center. Ziggy dodged another of Slomo II's charges, only to be nudged from the right-hand side as it kept struggling to position itself for an attack. As Slomo II got itself caught behind another arena flipper, Ziggy held back, but again did not capitalize as it sat, then darted away from its recovering opponent.[5]

Both competitors kept avoiding each other for a few seconds, until a collision enabled Ziggy to lock its rear spikes against the front of Slomo II. Ziggy began pushing back, but was lifted off the floor in the process. Following an unsuccessful attempt to use its lifting shell to break free, it squirmed back and forth, while simultaneously prodding Slomo II with the spikes. A second head-to-head exchange resulted in the two robots trying to exploit each other's ground clearances with their wedge shapes. Ziggy outpaced Slomo II in a subsequent chase, which ended in the latter getting caught by a mousetrap.[5]

Ziggy repositioned itself within the center, waiting for Slomo II to drive towards it once again. This time, it lowered its shell fully, catching and pushing Slomo II back as the latter drove up it. However, it was attacked by the nearby mousetrap, which proved too low to catch Ziggy in its net. Backing out of the hazard's reach, Ziggy slammed into Slomo II at high speed, riding over the top of Klaas Langhout's machine as a result. In retaliation, Slomo II got underneath and held Ziggy following a few more light shoves, though Ziggy was released seconds later. Ziggy began jabbing Slomo II more with its front and rear spikes, as more bumps and fast rams were exchanged between the duo.[5]

Following another encounter with the mousetrap, Ziggy rammed Slomo II again from the left-hand side. The impact was not only enough to throw Slomo II upwards, but also dislodge a shard of armor as Ziggy dragged its slowing opponent back. With both robots now locked together, Ziggy kept twitching backwards, shuffling Slomo II around in a circle as the battle entered its final twenty seconds. During this time, a countdown was initiated, signalling the end of the match as both robots were effectively pinned. Ziggy, still pushing Slomo II across the arena, was soon declared the winner following an audience vote.[5]

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