I think it is safe to say that Ive never worked harder at anything in my life thanRobot Wars.
Im not sure youre old enough, came her politely discouraging reply.
I applied for the show and received a call saying I was in.
I was going to achieve what Id set out to do 20 years ago!
This was the stuff dreams were made of!
On these nights I had to be coached through by friends or I may have thrown in the towel.
We were the very first team to arrive at the aircraft-hanger sized set on the Thursday morning.
The calm before the storm, indeed!
First he was set on a large turntable and spun slowly.
This is the shot that is then superimposed onto the battle screen on the show.
A shout out here for the crew who manned this room.
Fans often asked afterwards why didnt you test the robot more?
Any team will tell you that shifting them about is not part of the fun.
We decanted Jelly onto his pit table and went to fill out some forms.
Forms are a key part of any TV production and my advice is to bring your own pen.
Contracts, health and safety guidelines, rules… the show is a competition after all.
There is no fixing or favouritism here.
The reboot was built around fairness.
What happens in the battles is what happened.
This makes the job of the selection committee so much harder.
This is the nature of the game.
Remember when I said Id sunk my savings into Jellyfish?
It is not a show to be entered into lightly.
Next came something that is a big part of any TV production waiting!
Two days of it, give or take.
There was much to occupy us.
Sometimes these were hours apart and then the battle could last mere seconds.
Again, I salute the crew.
Long days, late nights, early mornings.
I didnt sleep well that night and returned to the Pits the next morning feeling rather morose.
We filmed our opening interview with presenter Angela and then resumed the wait.
We were ready to fight.
Again, Jelly drove fine.
A disembodied voice announced Roboteers…stand by!
which is your cue to smile and wave at the crowd.
Then came the famous countdown: 3…2…1…activate!
Even the best teams can be plagued with gremlins that they have no explanation for.
Upon activate!, Jelly barely responded to my transmitter.
Sometimes he drove without input, sometimes he caught my signal, sometimes he stopped completely.
Add in the 3 other machines trying to write us off and it simply became a battle of survival.
It wasnt to be.
We lasted a decent while for the problems we were having, but we were out.
I was pretty upset to go out for such poor reasons.
Thankfully they cut our post fight interview because I was devastated and I dont think I came across well.
It wasnt the losing, I was fine with that.
It was the factors of loss.
Jellyfish had got stage fright and that was it.
One of our opponents was having technical issues and they had to withdraw.
We were re-instated as the third place robot from the opening melee.
This gave us two more fights to contend with.
Our next fight lasted precisely one whack.
Opponent Terrorhurtz bashed one of our speed controllers with their big axe, which disabled Jelly instantly.
The battle lasted about 5 seconds.
Upon autopsy back in the Pits we discovered the speed controller was not repairable on site.
We also discovered that one of our motors had taken some serious damage back in the initial melee.
Teams offered us spares so that we could get Jelly fixed.
This camaraderie is easily the best part ofRobot Wars.
Help comes from all sources.
A few seconds after activate I realised Jelly also still had issues and the batteries were dying.
A faulty charger was the culprit, but too late now.
Safe to say this wasnt the greatest fight ever.
Both robots were simply trying not to die and it eventually went to the judges.
We were awarded the win and, despite all of the problems, I finally felt elated.
I surfed this euphoric wave home and immediately ordered parts for the next version of Jellyfish.
Another large chunk of money was spent.
We failed to win a spot on the next series.
I had no money left and a robot I couldnt do anything with.
With hindsight, I should have handled the rejection better.
I had already been part of the show twice and many teams had not.
They had their reasons not to take us and, looking back, thats fine.
The show still has a special place in my heart.
So these are my lessons.
Firstly, its your money, your time, your effort.
Entertain the likely possibility that it may all be in vain.
Do not spend money you cannot afford to burn as I did.
It can lead to some horrible situations.
Jellyfish worked like a dream up until activate!
and then it imploded.
It is easy to see the fights on TV and think I wouldve done this if I was driving!
but it really doesnt work like that.
Even the best roboteers are basically flying by the seat of their pants throughout.
Its a whirlwind and controlling your journey is rarely an option.
Finally, do not enter into it lightly.
The teams work harder in their few days of filming than most do at their jobs.
It is not a fun holiday.
It is dirty, stressful and tiring.
It is an experience that can bring out the worst and the best in people.
It did in me.
But what an experience it is.
Despite all the heartbreak, would I do it all again?
Whether or not they have me back though, long liveRobot Wars!
There really is nothing else like it.
