Ziggy Dog Robot

[Jomega Gibson]

PreviouslyEV Safe Charge has helped find its clients ideal charging solutions based on their needs, recommending charging technology from a multitude of partners including ABB, Enel X, evconnect, and Bosch.

Following an EV visit, ZiGGY will be able to return to its home base to recharge from the grid, battery storage, solar energy, or a combination of these sources. The ZiGGY robots can also be implemented for offsite charging if no infrastructure is available.

EV Safe Charge plans to lease ZiGGY robots to customers under a Charging-as-a-Service (CaaS) business model, which will include ongoing technical support and maintenance. Following production, ZiGGY will come equipped with two large screens that can serve as informational kiosks or interactive advertising, offering additional income options for parking facility operators.

It was a six-wheeled robot with a low front wedge, and was armed with a powerful pneumatic launcher that the team dubbed "The Haymaker". Ziggy did well in the 2005 competition, becoming superheavyweight runner-up after making its way through the loser's bracket to reach the event final.

Ziggy enjoyed a long and successful career at RoboGames since its first and only appearance at an event sanctioned by the BattleBots name. From 2006 until the last superheavyweight competition in 2010, Ziggy went undefeated and picked up five consecutive gold medals in the process. In part due to its sheer dominance as well as the drop in superheavyweight entries, the entire weight class was discontinued after 2010. This gave Ziggy an honorable mention in the Robot Combat Hall of Fame in 2013. Despite having not competed in over a decade, Ziggy remains under the ownership of Mark Demers.

The team also built a scaled-down heavyweight version which predated their 2016 BattleBots entry, called Son of Ziggy. However, it failed to achieve the same success as its superheavyweight predecessor.

For the 2018 RoboGames event, Lucky was converted into Ziggy for the final competition before it went into hiatus until 2023, where it entered as Ziggy Jr. but otherwise reflected their most recent build of Lucky.

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]

Ziggy started tentatively, maneuvering towards and turning either way within the center. While S.P.S. 2 drifted into range from the other side, it drove forwards in sudden bursts, keeping track of the former's movements as it collided with the Ball of Doom.[6]

Ziggy kept its distance, then charged into S.P.S. 2's net as the latter descended precariously close to the arena floor. In doing so, it succeeded in bursting both of S.P.S. 2's balloons, immobilizing J.D. Street's machine in an instant. Ziggy finished the battle by ramming and trapping the main body of S.P.S. 2 against an arena flipper, in what quickly proved to be a popular victory among audience members.[6]

Ziggy would advance to the third round - effectively the semi-finals of the 1995 Face-Off tournament. For a chance to fight for championship honors in the overall Final, it would face returning veteran Mike Winter and Holobot.

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