Cyber Snail

**Cyber Snail** was a robot from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire that competed in the Lightweight Sprint during the final two series of *Techno Games* in 2002 and 2003. It was finished in two weeks and is uniquely powered by a gyroscope which used its tiny bristles to achieve its own unique movement like an actual snail.

In its debut in Series 3, it lost in its heat to the two-time Lightweight Sprint champion Scuttle and almost made the semi-finals with its time of 2:45.07 seconds.

In Series 4, it was slightly faster than it was before and performed much better as it reached the Lightweight Sprint finals, which finished third overall and received the bronze medal.

## Robot History

### Techno Games 2002

In Cyber Snail's first heat, it went up against Scuttle, Strut and Lovebug. After an easy and quick first place from Scuttle at 4:40 seconds, the three remaining robots were walking very slowly for a spot in the Lightweight Sprint semifinals. Among the three robots, Cyber Snail was clearly the slowest of the three and finished third overall at 2:45.07 seconds behind Strut who finished second at 1:37.62 seconds. At this point in the competition, Cyber Snail had the sixth best time and was sure to reach the semi-finals, but its time would constantly be knocked out by faster opponents like Jimmy Struts, Mammoth and Eruptor who finished at 51.81 seconds, 26.88 seconds and 1:07.16 seconds respectively. This meant that Cyber Snail was eliminated from the Lightweight Sprint.

### Techno Games 2003

In Cyber Snail's first heat, it went up against ExcelR8 and Where's My Form. Where's My Form got the quicker start in this heat, but it crashed against the wall and stopped all together. While ExcelR8 didn't make the start, Cyber Snail kept a slow and steady pace and finished first at a quicker time of 1:44.40 seconds. This was a good enough time for Cyber Snail to qualify for the Lightweight Sprint semi-finals.

In its semi-final heat, it went up against Mad Dog and the feared Bumble. Bumble easily passed all of its opponents and finished first at a swift time of 10.12 seconds. While Mad Dog was just walking around in circles at the starting line, Cyber Snail once again kept a slow and steady pace and finished second at a slightly quicker time of 1:42.00 seconds. With the forth best time overall in the semi-finals, Cyber Snail advanced the Lightweight finals for the first time.

In the finals, it went up against Scuttle and Bumble again along with the three-time veteran TF3. At first two seconds, Scuttle easily took the lead but it was having steering problems and crashed against the wall. After this, Bumble kept on going since Scuttle couldn't recover in time and it surprisingly finished first overall at a quick time of 9.04 seconds. After Scuttle finished second at 33.00 seconds, it was neck and neck between Cyber Snail and TF3 to win the bronze medal. TF3 managed to walk pass Cyber Snail and was about to finish third, but it broke down and Cyber Snail easily passed it to finish third at another slight quicker time of 1:40.70 seconds. In the end, Cyber Snail receiving the bronze medal for finishing third overall in the Lightweight Sprint.

## Results

* Wins: 2
* Losses: 2