Alakran

**Alakran** was a middleweight robot built by Jesús Sánchez and his fellow students from the Mayagüez University Campus that competed in the 2004-2007 BotsIQ tournaments. It was a yellow or red robot depending on which Alakran was being used in each competition. Both had a wedge on the back and clamping arms on the front that could be converted into a lifter. The clamp could also be changed to a grabbing hammer to deal with larger robots. It bares a minor resemblance to Complete Control. It did extremely well, winning the whole event in 2004 and finishing runner up in 2005, as well as picking up a 2003 championship in Puerto Rico.

## Robot History

### 2003 Puerto Rican Event

Alakran's first ever event was at an as of 2020 unidentified Puerto Rican event in 2003. Their first match was against a front heavy silver wedge. Only a few clips exist of this match, but what can be gathered from this is that Alakran repeatedly slammed it against the wall til either the unidentified robot stopped moving.

Alakran's second match was against a coffin shaped face spinner. This match Alakran ran with the clamp down, opting to use it's grappler as a lifting wedge instead. The match started with the face spinner either not allowed to, or unable to spin up. Alakran then quickly got to the side, and slowly flipped it's opponent, which unable to self right, was counted down giving Alakran the victory by quick KO.

In it's next match Alakran faced a green pneumatic flipper. Alakran grabbed the side of it's opponent, and attempted to get a ring out. This failed however, and it is unknown how, but Alakran won this fight by either KO or JD, it then fought a black 2wd wedge.

This fight started (and ended) with the wedge charging right into Alakran's grappler. Alakran then started lifting, while driving forward, flipping it's opponent which landed on it's wedge. As the wheels were now unable to touch the ground it was quickly counted out putting Alakran into the final which was a three way melee between Alakran, a fast rambot, and an invertible 4wd face spinner with a lifting wedge.

As soon as the match began, Alakran went after the face spinner while the rambot went after Alakran which had by then got under the lifting wedge of the face spinner. The rambot, lacking space in the tiny arena to properly accelerate then comically started rapidly slamming into the side Alakran to no effect.

While this happened, Alakran started lifting it's target against the wall, but ultimately failed to immobilize it. Alakran's team then turned their attention on the rammer, and got a clamp on it, lifting it up into the air before attempting to drop it on the other opponent. It is unknown what happened after this, however Alakran won, most likely by an easy judges decision, and became the 2003 Puerto Rican champion.

### 2004 BotsIQ Tournement

Alakran's first match was against Gamera. For this match, Alakran used its lifter configuration. When the match began, Alakran rushed out of its square and right at Gamera. After a little bump, Alakran managed to get underneath from behind and lift it.

Alakran soon carried the green octangular bot over to the pulverizer, leaving some dents on the top of Gamera before letting go. Sometime later, Alakran went straight at a spinning Gamera and toppled it over. With Gamera unable to self-right, Alakran won by KO, advancing it onto the next round, where it faced Heshwound II.

For this match, Alakran used its two-bar upper clamp configuration. When the match began, Alakran attempted to reverse into Heshwound II, but they whizz past each other instead. A few moments later, Alakran managed to get under and clamp down on the sit-and-spin bot, lifting it in the air.

 Alakran eventually let go of Heshwound II under the pulverizer, where Heshwound II took numerous shots while trying to sit-and-spin. After a bit of maneuvering, Alakran found Heshwound II in its grasp and took the chance, clamping down and lifting it. The match eventually made it to the judges, who ruled in favor of Alakran, advancing it to the quarter finals, where it faced Whitey.

For this match, Alakran switched out its two-bar upper clamp for a thin, beak-like designed arm. When the match began, Alakran met Whitey on the side of the arena, where it turned around and used its rear wedge to prepare for Whitey's sit-and-spin tactic. After taking a few hits from Whitey's thwacking spikes, Alakran bumped Whitey into the path of the pulverizer, which delivered a couple of shots before Whitey spun out of the way.

Shortly after, Alakran pushed Whitey back under the pulverizer with its rear end, where it took several more shots while trying to sit-and-spin out of the way before getting lifted by Alakran briefly. Afterwards, Alakran found Whitey running into its grasp, so it tried to clamp down and lift it, but only managed to flip it over. Alakran performed another topple on Whitey before the time eventually ran out. Alakran won by judges' decision and moved to the semi finals, where it faced Icewave.

For this match, Alakran converted into its lifting configuration and added forks to the rear wedge, in addition to an extension to the front lifting forks. When the match began, Alakran performed a box rush to try and stop the blade before it got up to speed. However, Icewave simply advanced forward to the left to avoid it and get its bar up to speed. Alakran moved back to the center of the arena and slowly reversed into Icewave with the forks keeping distance from the blade, before taking a minor graze to the right rear.

Afterwards, Alakran turned to face a maneuvering Icewave and took a slightly bigger hit. Alakran was unfazed by that hit, but Icewave started becoming unstable. Just a split second after, Icewave's blade tore into its own engine, causing it to kinetically self-destruct. Icewave shook violently, its blade flew out from its weapon shaft, and its internal combustion engine shot up to 8 feet in the air. Amazingly, Icewave was still moving, even after taking a couple shots from the pulverizer.

Eventually, a pushing match ensued. Icewave attempted to push from the side, but Alakran wouldn't budge, instead turning around and attempting to get under with its lifter. After a bit of maneuvering, Alakran started playing around with the engine housing that came off, flicking it three times with its lifter. Icewave tried to stay in the rear of Alakran, but Alakran soon turned around, lined up its lifter, and flipped Icewave onto its back. With Icewave unable to self-right, Alakran won by KO and moved on to the finals, where it faced a hinged forked 4wd box shaped bot named Class Act I.

For this match, Alakran reverted back to its two-bar upper clamp configuration. When the match began, the two bots met at the center of the arena, and Alakran immediately got a clamp on Class Act I, lifting it and slamming it down repeatedly before letting it go. After a bit of maneuvering, Alakran got in a pushing match with Class Act I from the front before immediately clamping down on the side and lifting it, repeating the process of the first clamp and letting it go.

After a bit of maneuvering, Alakran got rammed on the side by Class Act I before swinging around to put Class Act I in its grasp and getting another lift as Class Act I moved past. After another head-to-head pushing match in which Alakran got another lift in, the match made the distance. Alakran won by judges' decision and was crowned the 2004 BotsIQ champion.

### No te duermas

Sometime between 2004 and 2005 Alakran appeared on the Puerto Rican TV show No te duermas, where the team was interviewed, and Alakran fought a demo match against a silver flipper. This match started with the flipper attempting, and missing a flip before getting under the side of Alakran, and lifting it for a few seconds before releasing.

The flipper than turned it's side to Alakran, this driving error allowed Alakran to get underneath it, nearly flipping it. However it landed on it's wheels, and it became immediately clear that the left hand drive was out of commission. With it's opponent now crippled, Alakran charged in again, and attempted another flip but failed.

### BattleBots IQ 2005

Alakran was completely rebuilt, with upgrades including the ability to raise its catapult up to 90 degrees. Its first match was against fellow Mayagüez University robot Manta Raya. For this match, Alakran used a tall 2 bar upper clamp in case it needed to self-right. When the match began, the two bots tried to maneuver into position as they met in the middle of the box, but Alakran managed to get under from the front and tried to lift it in a pirouette-like maneuver. However, the exceptionally long upper clamp could not get a grip on Manta Raya, so Manta Raya landed on its wheels. The battle for position went on for several moments until Alakran got under from the left side and lifted it briefly. After a bit of maneuvering, Alakran ran head-to-head with Manta Raya, but due to the angle, Manta Raya managed to get under from the side of the forks and nearly get a lift of its own. Fortunately, Alakran slid off before it could. After a bit of maneuvering, Alakran managed to get under a spinning Manta Raya from the side and lift it again. After another few bits of maneuvering, Alakran ran over the wedge of Manta Raya and nearly got lifted, but it slipped off once again. Some time later, Alakran managed to get under from the side as Manta Raya turned to face it before successfully overturning its fellow Puerto Rican representative over. With Manta Raya unable to self-right, as well as Alakran hampering its efforts by backing into it, Alakran won by KO and advanced into the next round, where it faced Spider Blade.

For this match, a black quarter inch thick piece of steel with 2 forks was added to Alakran's rear wedge to deflect the blows that Spider Blade might dish out, in addition to changing to its lifter configuration. Very little footage is shown of the fight, but what is known is that Alakran charged with its rear end into Spider Blade's square, where it managed to pin Spider Blade into the wall and stop it from spinning. From there, Alakran turned around and used its lifting arm to lift Spider Blade onto its back against the arena wall. With Spider Blade unable to spin itself off the wall, nevermind right itself, Alakran won by KO and advanced into the quarter finals, where it faced The Revenant.

Much like the previous fight, very little footage was shown. What is known, however, is that Alakran took several blows to the rear forks from The Revenant, even managing to get a lift in as the time ran down. Alakran won by judges' decision and moved on to the next round, where it faced Talus Morsus.

When the match began, Alakran charged into Talus Morsus' drum, but Talus Morsus moved over to the left side to avoid getting caught in the box rush. Afterwards, Alakran took several more shots from Talus Morsus' drum, none of which causing any noticeable damage. After a bit of maneuvering, Alakran started taking a couple of rams into the right rear from Talus Morsus. After the last one, however, Talus Morsus was suddenly incapacitated due to the positive battery cable inside disconnecting. Immediately, Alakran took the chance, getting under and toppling Talus Morsus over with its lifter. Alakran continued to toy with the dead Talus Morsus until it was counted out, giving Alakran the win by KO and advancing it to the finals, where it had a second encounter with 2004 BotsIQ semi finalist Icewave.

For this match, a long extension was added to Alakran's lifter, sheets of steel armor with jagged lined pieces were added to the armor that was already present, and a half-circle extension was added to the rear to try and stop Icewave on its tracks. When the match began, Alakran charged with its rear end and collided with Icewave's bar, sending both into opposite directions and mangling the rear extension. Alakran then turned around and caught Icewave on its lifter, but then Icewave started pushing it due to Alakran encountering radio issues. Eventually, it managed to lift Icewave off the ground, causing Icewave to strike a tube on the extension and destabilize, sending it 5 feet into the air. This caused Icewave's weapon shaft to bend, breaking the pulley and disabling the weapon completely. After a standstill, Alakran turned and lifted Icewave. However, from that point on, Alakran started encountering radio issues. Alakran suddenly stopped moving for several seconds before eventually turning around and lifting Icewave nearly over a couple more times. Afterwards, Alakran got pushed under the pulverizer by Icewave, where it got hit twice on the top. After some maneuvering, Alakran nearly got pushed under a second pulverizer, but it soon escaped by getting another lift in. After getting pushed a few more times by Icewave, it suddenly stopped moving next to the wall. Right when Icewave moved back to its square, however, Alakran started moving again. Alas, after a few more clashes with Icewave, Alakran's radio issues struck again, and it stopped moving for the final time. With just 3 seconds left on the clock, Alakran was counted out, giving Icewave the win by KO and finishing as the 2005 BotsIQ runner up.

## Record

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 18
* Losses: 3

## Trivia

* With a 18-3 record, two championships, and a runner up position, Alakran is the most successful robot to hail from a US Territory in the history of Robot Combat.
* Alakran was built relatively cheap. It's drivetrain cost 630$ to build, it is unknown what the weapons system, or metalwork cost, but the robot was likely somewhere under or around 3000$ (2003 Dollars) as a whole.

## External Links

* Alakran's 2004 BattleBots IQ highlights
* Alakran's summary and tribute video
* Alakran on No te duermas
* Team RumbleBots Website (Archived)