Huntsman

**Hunstman** (Chinese: **大刀阔斧**, romanized as **Dàdāokuòfǔ**, meaning **Radical**, also referred to by Zhejiang STV as **Vigorously Axe**) was a Chinese-Australian competitor robot which fought in *King of Bots II*. Entering the competition with past experience from *RoboGames*, Huntsman was not selected by any celebrity captains in Round 1, but it still fought a whiteboard battle with Shrederator Tiger Claw during the filming. Huntsman's only televised battle was its rumble against Hold Me Up, Magic Windmill and Thunder in the Redemption Round, but it was immobilized by Hold Me Back and lost the battle overall to Thunder.

## Design

Huntsman was a two-wheel driven robot using two large tires for movement, which were exposed at the side of the machine. Huntsman's weapon was a chain-driven bladed axe, powered electrically for unlimited usage during battle, also providing self-righting capabilities from certain angles. The axe head weighed 20kg, and was rounded in an effort to pin spinners into the arena floor, although it was very slow in firing. Critically, Huntsman lacked any sort of wedge, with the front of the robot being sloped upwards, providing it with a large ground clearance, although this front armor was still very thick, consisting of 10mm AR450.

"*I use the curved hammer for pushing spinners into the floor and for shaking internal components. It is not sharp and weighs 20kg.*"
— The team on their curved axe

## Robot History

### King of Bots II (Season 2)

Mid-way through the filming of the main series, Huntsman voluntarily fought the Season 1.5 fourth-place finisher Shrederator Tiger Claw in a whiteboard battle, to help the American team test their new brushless electronics.

Huntsman was hesitant in its approach, and sustained a full-power blow from Shrederator Tiger Claw, with metal being torn from it in the process and breaking Shrederator's shell. Huntsman drove near to Shrederator Tiger Claw and lowered its axe into the floor, which Shrederator Tiger Claw struck, but Huntsman did not relent, and charged into Shrederator Tiger Claw, barging it into the arena corner. Huntsman caught up to its ailing foe, and brought its large axe down onto Shrederator Tiger Claw, which was able to immobilize the full-body spinner, but Huntsman also received a blow at the same time which caused the drive batteries to become unplugged. The battle resulted in a double-knockout, with Huntsman declared the winner by the audience, however team Shrederator claim a draw.

"*The first part of the fight is gauging how well the spinner drives. Don't charge in are you may over shot and get hit from behind. You may need to absorb a few hits first. A good spinner driver doesn't want to hit your armour and will try to drive around behind you. Then you try to push or deflect it toward a corner. Use the corner to help contain its location and make it easier to hit. Then try to hit it. Use the hammer to cause sudden stops for its weapon. This will break something internally inside their robot. In this case it caused a fire in the drive speed controllers. External damage is a bonus.*"
— The team on fighting spinners

In the main competition, Huntsman was among the Chinese robots available for the celebrity team captains to select for their teams in the first two episodes, although Huntsman was never nominated and did not participate in this round. Its first and only televised fight was a four-way rumble against Hold Me Up, Magic Windmill and Thunder, which Huntsman needed to win outright in order to remain in the competition.

Huntsman was hesitant in the opening stages, and both Thunder and Hold Me Up swarmed around it. The Hellfire Labs machine responded by firing its hammer into the eggbeater spinner of Hold Me Up, and was thrown over in the process. Thunder slid the overturned Huntsman across the arena, although it quickly self-righted. Thunder quietly drove Magic Windmill into the wall, while Hold Me Up tossed Huntsman over again, and clipped one of its tyres in the process. Huntsman bounced back onto its right-side up after colliding with the Grinder, but with a wheel missing, it could not move and was counted out. The battle would ultimately be won by Thunder, while Huntsman was eliminated from the main competition.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 0
* Losses: 1

*NOTE: Huntsman's whiteboard battle with Shrederator Tiger Claw is not included.*

## Series Record

 Season 2 | **Eliminated in Redemption Round**(0-1 record)

## Outside King of Bots

Although the version of Huntsman seen in *King of Bots II* was an updated robot, the original version of Huntsman dates back to 2012, where it competed in the USA at *RoboGames* under its original team Hellfire Labs, defeating The Wasp before losing to Last Rites and Kick Me. It was then sold to Team Death by Monkeys for $400 after the event, who renamed it to **Big Monkey** for the 2013 *RoboGames* competition, but Big Monkey lost both of its battles, to Sewer Snake and Prometheus.

## Trivia

* Huntsman is one of only two Chinese robots in Season 2 to be armed with a bladed axe weapon, alongside Fat-Head Fish, and one of only four Chinese robots in the season to use an axe or hammer, alongside Agate and Giraffe.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/brkx11/tiger\_claw\_v\_huntsman\_exhibition\_match/eofbnxi?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x
2. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/brkx11/tiger\_claw\_v\_huntsman\_exhibition\_match/eoftemc?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x
3. ↑ Added to the Huntsman article by its team
4. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/brkx11/tiger\_claw\_v\_huntsman\_exhibition\_match/eoh169w?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x
5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZeiaCxgbiM
6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSADHg2QpEw
7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBq9ple8njg

## External Links

* Hellfire Labs website
* Huntsman build diary