Blendo is a

combat robot Robot combat is a mode 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. Robot combat compet ...

designed and built by Jamie Hyneman. Adam Savage wired the electronics and control systems. Blendo had the first effective implementation of the full-body kinetic energy spinner weapon that became common in '' BattleBots''. The robot had a shell made from a

wok A wok (; Pinyin: ; Cantonese ) is a deep round-bottomed cooking pan from China. It is believed to be derived from the South Asian karahi. It is common in China and similar pans are found in parts of East, South and Southeast Asia, as well as ...

and was spun by a lawnmower engine. Blades attached to the shell caused damage to its opponents, removing bodywork and in some instances causing them to be thrown over the

polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...

safety shields into the audience.

Combat performance

''Robot Wars''

Blendo first competed in the second '' Robot Wars'' competition in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

(1995). After two fights (against robots Namreko and DoMore) it was deemed too hazardous to compete by the event supervisors and the insurance company after throwing pieces of its opponents over the arena walls. It was given co-champion status in exchange for withdrawing from the competition. It returned in the fourth ''Robot Wars'' in 1997 after the height of the arena walls had been increased to prevent debris from reaching the audience. In this competition, Blendo again fought two robots (Hercules and Punjar), and quickly defeated both. After causing damage to the arena walls in both matches Blendo was again asked to withdraw in exchange for co-champion status.

''BattleBots''

Blendo would later compete in a total of four '' BattleBots'' competitions. However, despite its capacity for extreme violence, Blendo had little success in ''BattleBots''. A combination of a stronger arena design (capable of containing the energy of Blendo) was released, stronger robots were able to take multiple hits from Blendo, similar spinner designs were added, and Blendo's own tendency to tear itself apart caused it to be defeated in its first match in all four '' BattleBots'' events in which it competed.

After ''BattleBots''

Blendo's creators Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage went on to host the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

series ''

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television program, developed by Peter Rees and produced by Australia's Beyond Television Productions. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast internatio ...

'', which also featured fellow combat robot competitor Grant Imahara and his robot,

Deadblow Deadblow is a combat robot that was built and driven by Grant Imahara. It competed on ''BattleBots'' in the middleweight division using a fast pneumatic hammer as its weapon. Deadblow won 2 rumbles and was ranked number 2 among middleweights, r ...

. Blendo is an inaugural member of the

Combat Robot Hall of Fame Robot combat is a mode 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. Robot combat compet ...

.Combat Robot Hall of Fame
{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224044145/http://members.toast.net/joerger/hall_of_fame.html , date=February 24, 2007

References

External links

* ttp://www.tested.com/tech/robots/456791-ask-jamie-killer-death-robots-and-robot-bloodsport/ Ask Jamie: On Killer Death Robots and Robot Bloodsport video interview with Jamie Hyneman, July 17 2013, tested.com BattleBots competitors Robot Wars (TV series) competitors Robots of the United States 1995 robots Rolling robots