In robot combat, a self-righting mechanism or srimech (sometimes spelled as srimec or shrimech) [1] is a device used to re-right a robot should it get flipped. Biohazard of BattleBots was the first robot to self-right.
As of 2016, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL), based at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD, developed self-righting robots for bomb defusal and reconnaissance. [2] Listed as a 2004–2020 effort, the prototype was called CRAM, for compressible robot with articulated mechanisms. [3] [4] ARL scientists were led by Chad Kessens, and collaborated with researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins University to develop a prototype. [5]
Cockroach exoskeletons inspired researchers to manufacture a robot that can move around rapidly in both open and confined spaces with self-righting capabilities. [5]
In 2016, ARL and its collaborators published additional research, "Cockroach-inspired winged robot reveals principles of ground-based dynamic self-righting", demonstrating a bio-inspired design. Researchers showed that robots can use insect body structures to achieve self-righting, as demonstrated in the rounded shell and mobile wings of the robot prototype. [6]
Biohazard was the first robot to self-right in combat, against Vlad the Impaler in the 1996 tournament, however since the match had ended it made no difference to who actually won. Terminal Frenzy had attempted to right itself when it earlier came up against Biohazard, but failed to do so. The next year Vlad the Impaler fought Biohazard again, and the former used its special pneumatic lifting arm to self-right numerous times, yet it still lost the judge's decision.
The first attempted self-right in the UK Robot Wars was by a robot called Chaos, during its Series 2 heat final. However, it was unable to do so. Later in the series, Cassius successfully righted itself with its pneumatic flipping arm, after Sir Killalot had flipped it over with his drill during the semi-final pinball trial. [7] Cassius was flipped again in the Grand Final, but it self-righted and flipped Roadblock to win the eliminator. In Series 3, Chaos' successor Chaos 2 used its innovative rear-hinged flipper panel to catapult itself through the air and then land on its wheels, a technique that later became standard.
The majority of flippers can double as srimechs. However, most flippers are powered by CO2 and therefore have limited uses. Some axes can also be used as srimechs; the first robot to successfully use an axe to self-right was Iron Awe in Robot Wars Series 4.
Robots are listed alphabetically. The weapon indicated is the weapon used to self-right.
![]() |
Robot's name | Competing series | Weapon | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Apollo | Series 8–10 | Flipper | |
Axe-Awe | Series 5, Extreme 1 | Axe | |
Barbaric Response | Series 6–7, Extreme 2 | Flipper | |
Beast | Series 5–8 | Flipper | |
Behemoth | Series 2–9, Extreme 1–2 | Lifting Scoop | |
Bigger Brother | Series 4–7, Extreme 1–2 | Flipper | |
Bonk | Series 8 | Hammer | |
Bulldog Breed | Series 4–7, Extreme 1–2 | Flipper | |
Cassius | Series 2–3 | Flipper | First robot to successfully self-right in UK Robot Wars |
Chaos 2 | Series 3–6, Extreme 1–2 | Flipper | First rear-hinged flipper to catapult the robot back onto its wheels |
Dantomkia | Series 6–8, Extreme 2 | Flipper | |
Dominator 2 | Series 4–6, Extreme 1–2 | Axe | |
Eruption | Series 8–9 | Flipper | |
Firestorm | Series 3–7, Extreme 1–2 | Flipper | |
Gravity | Series 7, Dutch Series | Flipper | |
Hydra | Series 5–7, Extreme 2 | Axe, Flipper | |
Iron Awe | Series 4 | Axe | First robot to successfully self-right with an axe |
Judge Shred 2 1/2, 3 | Series 6–7, Extreme 2 | Flipper | |
Killerhurtz | Series 2–4 | Axe | |
Lightning | Series 7, Extreme 2 | Flipper | Flipper was side-hinged |
Meggamouse | Series 9 | Flipper | |
Mute | Series 7, Extreme 2 | Flipper | |
Ripper | Series 7 | Flipper | |
Storm II | Series 7–8, Extreme 2 | Lifting Arm | |
Terrorhurtz | Series 5–9, Extreme 2 | Axe | |
Thermidor II | Series 4–8, Extreme 1-2 | Flipper | |
Thor | Series 6–9, Extreme 2 | Axe | |
Tsunami | Series 7, German Series | Flipper | |
T-Minus | Seasons 3.0–5.0 | Flipper | |
The Matador | Seasons 4.0–5.0 | Flipper | |
Toro | Seasons 2.0–5.0 | Flipper | |
Bronco | ABC Seasons 1–2 | Flipper | |
The Judge | Seasons 3.0–5.0 | Axe | |
frenZy | Long Beach 1999, Las Vegas 1999, Seasons 1.0–5.0 | Axe | |
Chomp | ABC Seasons 1–2 | Axe | |
SlamJob | Seasons 3.0–5.0 | Axe |
Some robots had weapons that couldn't be used for self-righting, and so incorporated separate dedicated srimechs. These varied in design and effectiveness; examples include Razer's side wings, Hypno-Disc's srimech bar and Panic Attack's top lid. These did not detract from the weapon, but could easily break if damaged repeatedly, and also took up some of the robot's precious weight allowance - Razer, after the addition of its wings, had to have over 450 holes drilled into it to keep it within the 79.4 kg (175 lb) weight limit.
A rarer and more difficult type of srimech was to design the robot's body in such a way that it could roll back onto its wheels when flipped. Sometimes known as a "rollover" design, robots with this ability included Mega Morg. While a fairly ingenious solution, that did not require any additional power or mechanics, there were still flaws. It was extremely difficult to get the design perfect, and if flipped without enough momentum or flipped from the front or back, the robot would be left stranded. Mega Morg's predecessor, The Morgue, was also defeated in Series 4 by Firestorm when it was flipped against the arena wall, preventing it from rolling over.
Some robots were not true rollover designs, but had other design elements intended to aid them in self-righting. Examples include the rounded Lexan panels on the rear of Behemoth, without which it would have stranded itself on its back when self-righting, and Spikasaurus' roll-bars. These were often effective but, like active srimechs, they were vulnerable to damage.
An autonomous robot is a robot that acts without recourse to human control. Historic examples include space probes. Modern examples include self-driving vacuums and cars.
A railgun or rail gun is a linear motor device, typically designed as a weapon, that uses electromagnetic force to launch high-velocity projectiles. The projectile normally does not contain explosives, instead relying on the projectile's high kinetic energy to inflict damage. The railgun uses a pair of parallel conductors (rails), along which a sliding armature is accelerated by the electromagnetic effects of a current that flows down one rail, into the armature and then back along the other rail. It is based on principles similar to those of the homopolar motor.
Robot Wars is a robot combat competition that was broadcast on British television from 1998 to 2004 and from 2016 to 2018. Each series involves teams of amateur and professional roboteers operating their own constructed remote controlled robots to fight against each other in an arena formed of steel and bullet proof glass fitted with arena hazards and containing areas occupied by hostile and heavier "House Robots". Earlier series included assault and trial courses for competing robots.
Chaos 2 is a combat robot from the UK Television Series Robot Wars, designed and built by self-employed mechanic George Francis, from Ipswich, and operated by Team Chaos. Twice winner of the UK Robot Wars Championship and the only robot with that distinction, it was the first robot to use its flipper to throw its opponents out of the arena altogether. This machine was also the first to defeat Hypno-Disc in Series 3. Its flipper is commonly considered to be one of the most powerful in Robot Wars, although it is not as powerful as the catapult-style flipper of Wheely Big Cheese. However, its weapon is superior in terms of efficiency, but has a limited supply of CO2, which provides the power for the weapon. The robot has been reincarnated several times over the years, previously appearing as Robot The Bruce and Chaos. Its flipper was also used as a self-righting mechanism when the robot was inverted, flipping the entire robot over in a half-somersault so it could continue fighting.
Robot locomotion is the collective name for the various methods that robots use to transport themselves from place to place.
Robot combat is a type of robot competition in which custom-built machines fight using various methods to incapacitate each other. The machines have generally been remote-controlled vehicles rather than autonomous robots.
Hypno-Disc was a contestant entry in the Robot Wars TV series, and was one of the first robots permitted to use the kinetic flywheel weapon. Hypno-Disc's design, however, was somewhat basic, and its high ground clearance made it an easy target for robots armed with flipping weapons, such as Chaos 2. Hypno-Disc was the creation of the Rose family — twin brothers Derek and David, and their father Ken. It was the first competitor robot recreated in toy form when the Robot Wars pullback toys were released.
Razer is a combat robot that competes on the British television series Robot Wars. It was constructed by Simon Scott and Ian Lewis from Bournemouth; the team later expanded to include webmaster Vincent Blood. Razer was designed and constructed in 1998 to participate in the second series of Robot Wars, but subsequent modifications and improvements enabled it to remain competitive until its retirement after the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. Despite gaining a reputation for being unreliable, it was champion of the fifth series of Robot Wars, runner-up in the sixth, and won the first two Robot Wars World Championships.
Panic Attack was a robot that competed in the British television show Robot Wars. In Series 2, it was just a box, with a set of electrically powered lifting forks, powered by a homemade system. It was emblazoned with the image of a spider. The spider was the result of a school competition to come up with a design of something that made you panic. A 12-year-old girl designed the spider. With his prize money from Series 2, Kim built a newer machine. This one had a srimech, a new body shape, and more effective forks, which were capable of completely overturning opposing machines. The top-mounted self-righting mechanism proved to be unreliable, and was eventually removed. Added in Series 4 were a set of side "skirts" to prevent all but the lowest of robots from getting underneath it, as well as sloping sides. The fourth model had improved skirts, and the srimech was updated to a top flipper, which was the favourite with the driver Kim Davies, who stated it was, in his opinion, the best version.
Tornado was a competitor on the UK TV series Robot Wars, noteworthy as the champion of the sixth series. It was built by Andrew Marchant, Bryan Moss and David Gamble, from Sawtry, near Huntingdon.
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory is the U.S. Army's foundational research laboratory. ARL is headquartered at the Adelphi Laboratory Center (ALC) in Adelphi, Maryland. Its largest single site is at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Other major ARL locations include Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, Graces Quarters, Maryland, and NASA's Glenn Research Center, Ohio and Langley Research Center, Virginia. ARL also has regional sites in Playa Vista, California, Chicago, Austin, TX, and Boston.
Typhoon 2 was a robot in the UK television series Robot Wars, noteworthy for being the final champion of the show before it was cancelled. It was a full-body spinner with cutting claws. In two battles in series 7, in which it competed, it knocked out the arena wall, causing the match to restart. It was created by the 870 Dreghorn Squadron's Air Cadets from the Air Training Corps and was painted to resemble the RAF crest. It was named after the Eurofighter Typhoon. The team also had a three-time middleweight champion called Typhoon, a lightweight called Typhoon Thunder which also made Typhoon Twins with Typhoon Lightning, and a featherweight called Typhoon Cadet. Gary Cairns, the team captain, later ran a three-dimensional printing business and fought in the 2016 Robot Wars with PP3D, which reached the second round group stage in its heat. Then, it lost, ironically, to Storm 2 in the decisive battle, before losing at the same stage a year later due to control problems in its battles.
The vortex ring gun is an experimental non-lethal weapon for crowd control that uses high-energy vortex rings of gas to knock down people or spray them with marking ink or other chemicals.
Whegs are mechanisms for robot locomotion. Whegs use a strategy of locomotion that combines the simplicity of the wheel with the obstacle-clearing advantages of the foot.
The Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL) was a leading U.S. Army research establishment situated at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland that specialized in ballistics as well as vulnerability and lethality analysis. BRL served as a major Army center for research and development in technologies related to weapon phenomena, armor, electronic devices, and high-speed computing. In 1992, BRL was disestablished and its mission, personnel, and facilities were incorporated into the newly created Army Research Laboratory (ARL).
The Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory, is a specialized research unit dedicated to interdisciplinary scientific research at the Penn State, University Park campus. The ARL is a DoD designated U.S. Navy University Affiliated Research Center. It is the university's largest research unit with over 1,000 faculty and staff. The Laboratory ranks 2nd in DoD and 10th in NASA funding to universities.
The United States Army Futures Command (AFC) is a United States Army command that runs modernization projects. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
The Third Arm Weapon Interface System (TAWIS), or Third Arm, is a passive, stabilizing device developed by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in 2016 to redistributes the weight of heavy firearms to make them easier to hold and carry. It weighs less than 1.8 kg, and consists of a mechanical appendage made out of carbon-fiber composite that has one end attached to a carbon fiber plate that fits inside an armor plate pocket and the other end attached to a Picatinny rail on top of the gun. It was to permit more accurate use of heavier weapons and reduce fatigue by displacing the weight of the weapon from their arms to their torso and mitigate firing recoil. As of 2018, the Third Arm is a prototype and is still in the testing phase of its development.
The self-sealing suction cup is a suction cup that exerts a suction force only when it is in physical contact with an object. Unlike most other suction cups, it does not exert any suction force when it is not in contact with an object. Its grasping ability is achieved entirely through passive means without the use of sensors, valves, or actuators.
The Human Engineering Laboratory (HEL) was a research institution under the U.S. Army Materiel Command that specialized in human performance research, human factors engineering, robotics, and human-in-the-loop technology. Located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, HEL acted as the Army’s lead laboratory for human factors and ergonomics research from 1951 to 1992, during which researchers investigated methods to maximize combat effectiveness, improve weapons and equipment designs, and reduce operation costs and errors. HEL was one of the seven Army laboratories that merged together to form the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in 1992.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)