BattleBots Switchback

Switchback is a heavyweight robot built by Team Midnight Invention, which competed in Discovery Season 6 of BattleBots.
The robot boasts a 10,000rpm spinning drum, which swings on an arm with 180 degrees of rotation, allowing it to attack from the front or back. Switchback can swing its arm from front to back or vice versa in approximately three seconds according to the team. The drum is made up of a row of 6.5lb AR500 steel discs, which are sandwiched together to form a larger spinning mass. Switchback is able to run their heaviest drum configuration, 80lbs of discs, at 250mph albeit sacrificing armor to achieve this. As such, weight can be redeployed to their armor if deemed necessary ahead of a battle.
The robot also features custom-molded wheels for a bespoke finish and to fit the team's orange and black color scheme.https://www.instagram.com/switchbackontv
Depending on the opponent, individual discs can be added or removed from the drum for when the team want to prioritize weapon speed or weight in the BattleBox. At its heaviest, the drum can be made up of twelve identically cut discs. However, to redistribute weight to additional armor at the front, back and sides, fewer discs can be added to the primary weapon. 
Team captain Greg Needel is the CEO of REV Robotics, a company which aims to educate young children on engineering and robotics through the means of extra-curricular activities within schools. He has also designed products for Hexbug in the past, who produce the current Rivals line of BattleBots toys. 
Following Discovery Season 6, Team Midnight Invention sold several of their used and spare custom wheels at Robot Ruckus in November 2021.
==Robot History==
===Discovery Season 6===
Switchback vs. Gruff
Switchback's BattleBots debut came against veteran Gruff. For this fight, Switchback had purposely aligned their 6.5lb AR500 steel discs in the drum to evade Gruff's forks. Switchback captain Greg Needel had also watched all of their previous fights in preparation for Gruff.left|thumb|link= As it began, Switchback immediately spun up and delivered a shot as Gruff tried to slide underneath the rookie bot. Gruff successfully breached their ground clearance from the side and pushed Switchback against the barrier before allowing their drum to pop make contact with the floor and free their opponent. Gruff returned to the middle of the BattleBox and activated their flamethrowers as Switchback was momentarily held up in the killsaw slot, but this largely served to obstruct the view of Switchback's team as they lined up an attack with the drum.Gruff got underneath Switchback again and sent them to the pulverizer before freeing them, all while evading their primary weapon. Switchback was able to spin back up and naively charged in, flipping themselves over on impact. For unknown reasons, Switchback could not self-right and was counted out as Gruff charred the rookie bot with their flames. Gruff took the win by KO.
===Wins/Losses===
*Wins: 0
*Losses: 1
Competition 	Wins	Losses
Discovery Season 6	None	Gruff (Undercard Match)
==Faruq Tauheed Introductions==
“From Dallas Texas, don’t mess with Texas or he’ll eat you for breakfast. Give it up for SWITCHBACK!”
==Trivia==
*Team member Scott Allen also runs the YouTube channel Strange Parts, which has amassed over 1.84 million subscribers as of August 2021.
**Scott's second channel, Stranger Parts, has over 69,000 subscribers, and was where he announced his involvement with the team.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VZM-qZITys
==References==
Category:Robots which debuted in Discovery Season 6
Category:Heavyweight Robots
Category:Robots armed with Spinning Drums
Category:Robots armed with unique weapons
Category:Robots from Texas