Road Rash

Road Rash
Participation Information
Reboot Seasons	World Championship II
Other Names	Rubber (Original name)
Team Information
Team	Team Danger 4
Team Members	Frederick Moore (Captain) Dane Kouttron Julian Merrick Ciaran O'Neill Cheetiri Smith Alex Hattori Jared DiCarlo
From	Boston, MA
Associated Robots	Uppercut (Alex Hattori, Jared DiCarlo) Valkyrie, RIPperoni, Starchild (Frederick Moore) Overhaul (Dane Kouttron)
Robot Statistics
Drive	2x Ampflow motors
Weapons	Twin circular saws Grabbing arms
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Road Rash was a robot built by Team Danger 4 which applied for BattleBots World Championship II.

It had a pair of independently-moving horizontal claws either side of a steep front wedge, with the intention of grabbing and holding an opponent in place. This allowed for a pair of cutting saws to come into play and slice into a robot's top armor. These saws were mounted to a mechanism which moved the saws forward into the path of an opponent as they continued to spin, very similar to everpresent Robot Wars House Robot, Dead Metal. The saws were chain-driven, and the mechanism was housed above a low, ovular chassis with 20lbs of car tire wrapping around the rear UMHW armor.

Road Rash as "Rubber" in the team's application video.

According to an early CAD seen as part of their application video for World Championship II, the robot was initially going to feature interchangeable weaponry replacing the saw and horizontal grabbing arms. This included, but was not limited to: an overhead crowbar, sword, pitchfork and a spiked hammer inspired by a drinking bird toy, but this, along with the original name Rubber, was dropped by the team.

"Rubber is a proposed 250lb BattleBot where the only wheel is the one we're using for armor."

— Dane Kouttron narrates Team Danger 4's application video for World Championship II

Road Rash showing off its claws in the test box.

Road Rash was due to sport a unique drive system known as "induction drive", which featured electromagnets and was interchangeable with a more traditional system if required, though Team Danger 4 opted for the latter configuration in its only battle. This drive system was inspired by a system of train transportation called Maglev (magnetic levitation), though how successful this was on Road Rash remains unknown. The team also claimed that their robot could increase their traction with the floor to prevent opponents from bullying it around the BattleBox.

The electromagnets on the underside of Road Rash

The robot featured large electromagnets driven at around 400V to move around the arena.

Relegated to a reserve for World Championship II, Road Rash was ultimately not selected to compete in the main competition. But it would fight in a three-way exhibition match, against Overhaul and SawBlaze, two other teams with members who were students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As such, the rumble was declared The Battle of MIT.

Sparks fly as Road Rash demonstrates its primary weapon.

Though Road Rash did not compete in any future seasons of BattleBots, team members would branch off to several teams who would become more established in the show, such as Valkyrie, Uppercut and Overhaul. Most recently, Frederick Moore joined Team Omega as the collaborative effort of existing teams competed in World Championship VII with RIPperoni and Starchild.

Road Rash was briefly displayed outside the Boston Children's Museum alongside fellow MIT robots Overhaul, Sawblaze, and The Dentist in July 2016 before it was repurposed for future events. Road Rash remains in possession of team member Dane Kouttron.

Outside BattleBots

A closer look at Road Rash's saws.

Outside of BattleBots, Team Danger 4 participated in the 2017 edition of RoboGames with Boris Badenov, which was actually Road Rash painted black. Dane Kouttron and other team members also fought with 30lb featherweight Atomic Bumble Prime in events such as Motorama Robot Conflict.

As well as this were combat robots of various weight classes including horizontal spinner BEST KOREA, drum spinner RNR, shuffler bot Fission Product and thwackbot Satan's Segway.

Robot History

World Championship II

Road Rash vs. SawBlaze vs. Overhaul (Exhibition) Despite not competing in the main tournament, Road Rash was functional and competed in The Battle of MIT rumble against Charles Guan's Overhaul and Jamison Go's SawBlaze. Road Rash is flipped by Overhaul. As the rumble began, Road Rash drove directly into the killsaws, destroying its self-righting mechanism in the process. As it tried to run at SawBlaze, Road Rash was then quickly overturned by Overhaul and unable to right itself. Road Rash being attacked by SawBlaze. Road Rash immobile as SawBlaze and Overhaul fight on. Road Rash was left by the screws as it desperately moved its jaws, but played no further part in the battle. Meanwhile, SawBlaze and Overhaul continued to battle among themselves, with Jamison Go able to take advantage of Overhaul's feeble attempts to right Road Rash. Time eventually ran out, and the judges deemed SawBlaze the winner by a unanimous vote.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 1

Competition	Wins	Losses
World Championship II	None	SawBlaze

Faruq Tauheed Introductions

"Ask your doctor if he's ever seen a rash like this. Then, make an appointment for some ointment! It's ROAD RASH!"

Trivia

• The name Road Rash was inspired by the Sega Genesis game of the same name.
• Four days prior to shipping, the team calculated Road Rash to be 60lbs overweight. However, this issue was exaggerated due to the team using the wrong unit of measurement when weighing the robot.
  • As it happened, Road Rash was recalculated to be 30lbs overweight with three days until the robot needed to be shipped.
• The team donned red caps saying "Make Science Great Again" in their official photo for the BattleBots website, an ironic reference to Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan from his 2016 presidential campaign.
• Brutus was initially set to compete in the MIT rumble, but Adam Bercu wanted to give Dane Kouttron and Road Rash a chance to participate.