The Probe

The Probe
Participation Information
Comedy Central Seasons	Season 3.0 Season 4.0 Season 5.0
Team Information
Team	The Penetrators
Team Members	Jeff Banks Mark Whitehouse Bud Williamson Ed Sweet Charlie Steele Jeana Banks Neil Bulger Eric Clarke Mark Dunn Neil Gehrke Bob Martin Lonnie Oliva
From	Napa, CA
Robot Statistics
Weapons	Lifting Forks
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

The Probe was a superheavyweight robot which competed in the final three seasons of the Comedy Central BattleBots run. Originating from California and entered by a team lead by Jeff Banks, it was a simple box-shaped design with a set of lifting forks capable of rotating a full 360 degrees. This enabled The Probe to self-right, as well as carry up to 500lbs by the time of its Season 4.0 run.

Team with The Probe at season 4.0

The Probe proved reasonably successful during its run, reaching the Round of 32 in Season 4.0 before being defeated by Season 2.0 division champion Diesector. For Season 5.0, the robot was redesigned to become invertible and was considered a ranked entry, reaching the Round of 16 before losing to Season 3.0 champion Vladiator.

Outside BattleBots

The Probe was an enlarged version of the Banks family's Robot Wars entry Probophobia, which featured a similar lifting weapon and also achieved reasonable success in both Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors and Nickelodeon Robot Wars.

The Probe was due to compete at RoboGames 2007 under the name Probe O Death. With the team at this point running out of Crosby, TX. However, based on the known tournament bracket, Probe O Death did not end up competing.

Robot History

Season 3.0
The Probe vs. The Brainsters of Triskellian The Probe's first and only match in Season 3.0 was against The Brainsters of Triskellian. The Brainsters of Triskellian won on a 27-18 judges' decision and The Probe was eliminated from the tournament.
Season 4.0
The Probe vs. Trial & Error The Probe's first match in Season 4.0 was against Trial & Error. The Probe immediately got under Trial & Error and lifted it off the ground, but The Probe couldn't flip it over. The Probe stayed on Trial & Error through the entire fight with its slow, but strong drive. The Probe lifted Trial & Error again and pushed it against the arena wall. Eventually, with only a few seconds left in the match, The Probe finally flipped Trial & Error and pushed it against the wall again. The Probe won on a 44-1 judges' decision and advanced to the final preliminary round, where it faced Armageddon.
The Probe vs. Armageddon In the match, The Probe very swiftly rammed and flipped Armageddon. Both robots seemed to become sluggish after the first hit. The Probe seemed to have some steering trouble because one of The Probe's drive motors were burning out. It became a pushing match for the most part and The Probe got cornered in the exit ramp. Armageddon accidentally hit the arena wall after trying to trap The Probe and The Probe managed to escape before the time ran out. The Probe won on a 32-13 judges' decision and advanced to the TV rounds, where it faced Fantom Thrust.
The Probe vs. Fantom Thrust The Probe lifts Fantom Thrust off the ground. The Probe Rips off Fantom Thrust's wedge bar. In the beginning, The Probe tried to get a lift in on Fantom Thrust, but Fantom Thrust slipped away. The Probe then had trouble getting its lifting bar to touch the floor without going too far and lifting the front of the robot into the air. Fantom Thrust rammed into the side of The Probe and pushed it around the BattleBox. As The Probe was pushed around the killsaws, Fantom Thrust drove over them, ripping off one of its tracks and leaving it with less mobility. The Probe got underneath Fantom Thrust again, finally lifting it off the ground and tried to take it to the pulverizer, but there was a little trouble steering. The Probe tried putting Fantom Thrust back down, but it was stuck on the prongs, but it managed to get them off by ripping the front wedge bar off of Fantom Thrust. Fantom Thrust stopped moving and it was being counted out. The Probe won by KO and advanced to the Round of 32, where it faced Season 2.0 champion Diesector.
The Probe vs. Diesector Diesector won on a 43-2 judges' decision and The Probe was eliminated from the tournament again.
Superheavyweight Consolation Rumble The Probe also participated the superheavyweight consolation rumble at the end of the tournament. Despite lifting Minion off the BattleBox floor at one point, it lost overall to Atomic Wedgie and Odin II.
Season 5.0
The Probe vs. Phere Due to previously competing in Season 4.0, The Probe was allowed to skip the preliminary rounds of Season 5.0, where it faced Phere. The Probe won by KO and advanced to the Round of 16, where it faced former superheavyweight champion Vladiator.
The Probe vs. Vladiator Vladiator pushes The Probe against the base of the screws. After Vladiator pushed The Probe against the base of the screws, The Probe stopped moving and it was counted out. Vladiator won by KO and The Probe was eliminated from the tournament once again. The Probe couldn't compete in the Superheavyweight Royal Rumble because the rest of the rumbles were canceled due to an accident with Nightmare during the heavyweight consolation rumble.

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 4
• Losses: 3

Competition	Wins	Losses
Season 3.0	None	Brainsters of Triskelion
Season 4.0	Trial & Error Armageddon Fantom Thrust	Diesector
Season 5.0	Phere	Vladiator

The Probe in the pits in Season 5.0

Mark Beiro Introductions

"Speak softly and carry a big stick, so that he can take it from you and beat you like a scrap metal piñata! Here is... THE PROBE!"

"Abiding by none of the laws of thermodynamics. This bot lives by his own rules. He is THE PROBE!"

See Also

• Probophobia (Robot Wars)