Chiyung Jinlun

**赤阳金轮** (romanized as **Chì yáng jīn lún**, spelt by the team as **Chiyung Jinlun**, meaning **Chiyang Golden Wheel** or **Golden Sun Wheel**) was a competitor robot from Suzhou, China, which fought in the first season of *King of Bots*. Featuring a powerful drum spinner and a durable construction, it reached the final round of Season 1 with five consecutive victories, two of which were achieved against famed American full-body spinner Megabyte, ultimately losing the final to Spectre after having its battery punctured and set on fire by the British crusher.

Chiyung Jinlun was succeeded by Xiake, which found success in *This is Fighting Robots* and *King of Bots II*.

## Design

Chiyung Jinlun was a red and black, box-shaped robot, driven by four externally-mounted wheels enabling it to drive either way up. Its main weapon was a large vertical spinning drum, capable of spinning at 7,000rpm, which used two teeth to cause significant damage to opponents. The robot also featured a set of interchangeable front wedges to get underneath and push opponents around – the wedges themselves varied from flat and angled types to smaller wedgelets and even a pair of narrower forks. Each of Chiyung Jinlun's front wedge configurations allowed it to adopt different tactics to suit certain opponents (e.g. the angled wedge was used to deflect horizontal spinners), while also serving to lead opponents directly into the drum. Chiyung Jinlun itself took three months to design and build, and had its chassis and armor made out of 7075 aircraft-grade aluminium.

For its battles with Megabyte and Great White, polycarbonate walls were added to the side of Chiyung Jinlun, offering it greater protection against spinning weapons while protecting its wheels.

## Robot History

### Season 1

Chiyung Jinlun first appeared in Episode 3, where it fought overhead flail spinner Steel Dragon in the first round.

Both robots started tentatively, with Chiyung Jinlun slowly approaching Steel Dragon and driving into it; in doing so, it momentarily launched Steel Dragon off the floor while simultaneously getting underneath the latter and buckling its shell. Seconds later, its drum made contact with Steel Dragon’s flails; undeterred, Chiyung Jinlun drove into Steel Dragon again, causing it to lift off the floor a second time before pushing it towards the grinders.

Once more, the two competitors separated, with Chiyung Jinlun driving away before turning round, ramming Steel Dragon again and causing it to rebound towards one of the hammers. With its drum powered down, it nudged Steel Dragon into the wall spikes shortly after the latter sustained a blow from the hammer, and drove away once it became clear that Steel Dragon had become immobilised. In doing so, Chiyung Jinlun bumped into a screw protruding from the arena floor, but emerged victorious by knockout anyway, progressing to the second round.

In the second round, Chiyung Jinlun faced the North American entry Megabyte. Prior to the battle, the Xiake team fitted the robot’s extra side armor in an effort to protect its wheels from the latter’s full-body spinner, while also swapping its front wedge for the angled one.

Straight away, Chiyung Jinlun drove into Megabyte as the latter spun up – the impact deflected Megabyte into the wall and caused it to spin uncontrollably across the arena. Chiyung Jinlun followed up this attack with an attempted lunge at Megabyte, but missed; after briefly hesitating, it positioned itself in front of Megabyte before charging and buffeting it across the arena perimeter.

This attack resulted in a gyroscopically-destabilized Megabyte clipping the wall and flipping itself over; Chiyung Jinlun tore one of Megabyte’s top blades off before flipping it back onto its wheels. The attack left Megabyte stranded as its pole landed on top of the wall and left its wheels suspended off the floor; Chiyung Jinlun initially bumped into its opponent, then the nearby wall spikes, before leaving Megabyte to be counted out as the latter attempted – and failed – to break free. With this, Chiyung Jinlun earned a surprise knock-out victory and progressed to the third round.

There, it faced Greedy Snake, a heavyweight from Team Unknown Son, who the Xiake team had previously fought against in *Fighting My Bots*. With Greedy Snake not being armed with a spinning weapon, the team chose to remove Chiyung Jinlun's extra side panels prior to the battle, while reverting to the flat front wedge.

In the opening seconds, Chiyung Jinlun waited in the blue square to get its drum up to speed, before driving slowly into an approaching Greedy Snake; the collision momentarily launched Chiyung Jinlun off the floor. It proceeded to reverse and drive away from Greedy Snake, with both teams activating smokescreens in each other’s control areas. Chiyung Jinlun bounced twice as it drove up one of Greedy Snake’s front wedges, before again ramming head-on into the latter – however, its drum could not gain a bite on Greedy Snake’s snatch weapon. It continued to drive into and away from Greedy Snake, which proceeded to shepherd Chiyung Jinlun towards the grinders before getting underneath it. Escaping, Chiyung Jinlun continued to dodge Snake even as it backed into the floor rods; however, it was soon grabbed from the side by Greedy Snake, which lifted and threw Chiyung Jinlun over itself. Inverted and with its wedge nullified, Chiyung Jinlun dodged Greedy Snake again, before chasing, ramming and pushing it over the flame jets. It continued to pursue Greedy Snake before speeding into the blue square, its drum clipping the front of Greedy Snake as the latter drove in. Chiyung Jinlun kept avoiding Greedy Snake’s attacks for some time; however, in an attempt to escape its opponent, it reversed into the wall spikes, allowing Greedy Snake to get underneath and push it towards a nearby hammer. It sustained two hammer blows to its baseplate as it tried to drive away; despite driving up Greedy Snake’s front end again, Chiyung Jinlun avoided getting grabbed, speeding away and continuing to dodge Greedy Snake for some time.

This was until Greedy Snake got underneath Chiyung Jinlun from the side and rammed it twice into one of the grinders – Chiyung Jinlun’s wedge was buckled as a result, as the robot drove itself into the same grinder to try and re-right itself. While avoiding Greedy Snake, Chiyung Jinlun eventually drove over one of the circular saws, which flipped it back upright - however, the damage to its wedge left its right-front wheel lifted off the floor, hampering its maneuvrability as it drove at high speed into the grinder and spun towards the floor rods. The rods momentarily lifted Chiyung Jinlun, which attempted to drive away from a pursuing Greedy Snake. Spinning near the grinders, Chiyung Jinlun was grabbed and pushed near the wall spikes by Greedy Snake, again getting lifted and thrown onto its back as a result. It retreated towards the wall, then drove over the flame jets and circular saw mounts as Greedy Snake suddenly lost mobility on the other side of the arena. Shuttling back and forth, Chiyung Jinlun rammed Greedy Snake one last time with less than 25 seconds remaining; as a result, it was left stranded on Greedy Snake’s weapon, its wheels spinning helplessly in the air as both machines were burned by the flame jets. The subsequent Judges’ decision ruled that Greedy Snake had been completely immobilized before both competitors became locked together; as a result, Chiyung Jinlun was declared the winner.

Through to the top eight of the competition, Chiyung Jinlun next faced the Anglo-Australian multibot, Great White – for this battle, the Xiake team refitted the robot’s extra side panels, while also swapping its front wedge for a set of smaller ones.

Chiyung Jinlun began tentatively, leaving the blue square before shuffling back and forth towards Great White. Despite sustaining an attack from Great White’s minibot, Remora, it drove into and buffeted the main robot into the wall spikes – seconds later, its drum threw Great White back against the bulletproof screens, dislodging a few of the latter’s armor panels. Spinning its drum up, Chiyung Jinlun turned and rammed Great White again – the impact, however, bent its middle wedge upwards, preventing its drum from turning for the remainder of the battle. Undaunted, Chiyung Jinlun repeatedly drove into Great White, pushing and deflecting it across the arena and into Remora while taking more damage itself. Withstanding more attacks from Remora, it rammed Great White and sent it skidding over the flame jets, and turned away as Great White inadvertently immobilized Remora with its own spinner. However, Chiyung Jinlun then sustained a side-on attack from Great White itself, which tore through its left-hand side panel. It dodged and drove head-on into Great White’s spinner once again, all while constantly nudging, deflecting and pushing it further towards the arena perimeter. Despite Ellis Ware of the Great White team activating a smokescreen in the Xiake team’s control area, and Great White almost tearing its other side panel clean off, Chiyung Jinlun continued to pressure its opponent, eventually pushing it into and pinning it against the spikes.

Chiyung Jinlun held Great White in place for several seconds, after which the referee advised its team to cease the attack. The two competitors separated, with Chiyung Jinlun being promptly tipped by one of the floor flippers, prematurely activated by the Great White team. Again, it maneurvered itself into Great White’s spinner, its wedge being completely torn open as it buffeted and pushed the Australian machine back once again. Dodging a charge from Great White, it steered its opponent towards the grinders, only to have its right-front tire shredded by Great White’s spinner as the two machines collided head-on once again. With only three wheels gripping the floor, Chiyung Jinlun pushed and deflected Great White back again; it briefly hesitated in the corner, before slamming into Great White and sending it sliding onto one of the floor flippers. It got underneath Great White as the flipper tipped the latter onto its spinner, and bumped it again before briefly hesitating in the blue square. Moments later, Chiyung Jinlun pushed Great White twice more – firstly towards the flipper, then towards and into one of the circular saws. In a shower of sparks, the saw threw Great White over – Chiyung Jinlun capitalized by pushing the inverted Great White into the grinder before the latter self-righted. For the remainder of the battle, the two competitors pushed each other around, with Chiyung Jinlun pinning and pushing Great White into one of the grinder mounts until time ran out. Both competitors survived to a Judges’ decision as a result – after the battle finished, Chiyung Jinlun immediately caught fire as a result of the damage inflicted by Great White, although this moment was not broadcast in the televised episode.

During the Judges’ assessment of the battle, the Great White team’s use of the floor flipper on Chiyung Jinlun was deemed to be illegal, as they fired the flipper earlier than 90 seconds after the battle started. As a result, Chiyung Jinlun received a higher points tally in the subsequent decision, and was declared the winner.

Through to the semi-finals, Chiyung Jinlun next fought a rematch with Megabyte, refitted with the angled wedge and still sporting a half-torn side panel on the right-hand side.

It immediately maneuvered around and towards the American spinner, but was unable to hit Megabyte numerous times until its wedge clipped one of its cutting blades. Continuing to maneuver across the arena, Chiyung Jinlun suddenly stopped in the center of the arena, absorbing a hit from Megabyte which sent both robots recoiling. A second collision enabled Chiyung Jinlun to deflect Megabyte into the far wall, sending a shower of sparks flying and causing Megabyte’s self-righting pole to detach. However, the same impact broke the chain driving Chiyung Jinlun’s drum, leaving it weaponless as it drove into Megabyte again and sustained more damage to its wedge. Another hit from Megabyte tore the wedge open, leaving Chiyung Jinlun temporarily stunned against the wall. Despite the damage done, Chiyung Jinlun persisted, slamming into Megabyte again – the impact ripped the wedge off and hurled Megabyte into the grinders, resulting in the American machine being catapulted across the arena again.

Seconds later, Chiyung Jinlun continued its attacks, driving into Megabyte a few more times as it became evident that the latter’s mobility had been impaired. Another head-on slam caused significant damage to its drum mount, resulting in the drum itself falling out as Chiyung Jinlun retreated towards the wall spikes. Weaponless, Chiyung Jinlun turned round and tentatively reversed into Megabyte, sustaining a gash to its rear armor panel as a result. It dodged Megabyte before reversing into the American machine again and having its left side panel completely torn off – despite the damage inflicted, the impact was enough to immobilize Megabyte’s drive. Chiyung Jinlun drove away and sat in the center of the arena as Megabyte was counted out, earning a second knockout victory against the Robotic Death Company’s machine.

In the final, Chiyung Jinlun faced the British crusher Spectre. Prior to the battle, the Xiake team removed both of the robot’s side panels and replaced its wedge with a pair of front forks, with the intention of exploiting Spectre’s ground clearance.

Immediately, it drove towards, turned and pushed Spectre into the wall spikes, maneuvering the latter across the arena perimeter before Spectre swerved away and tried to grab Chiyung Jinlun by the wheels. The two competitors separated, with Chiyung Jinlun attempting to lure Spectre across the arena before colliding and being rammed into the spikes by its opponent. It escaped, only to drive into Spectre again, which rammed Chiyung Jinlun into the spikes again and pierced through its top panel. Unable to escape from Spectre’s grasp, Chiyung Jinlun was rammed into the grinders and wall spikes numerous times, sustaining damage to its chassis and wheels, before finally being let go. However, Chiyung Jinlun’s respite was temporary – almost immediately, Spectre sunk its tooth through its top panel several more times, eventually piercing one of its batteries and causing it to start smoking. It was lifted and rammed into the wall again by Spectre, the smoke thickening before the entire robot caught fire.

Aflame, Chiyung Jinlun was pushed back and forth a few more times by Spectre, and upon being released, drove away from the wall spikes and from its opponent. Surviving another pinch from Spectre’s crusher, Chiyung Jinlun continued to drive around the arena, smoke and flames spouting copiously as it tried to evade Spectre. Eventually, it was pushed towards and against the wall spikes by Spectre, where it was left stranded. Spinning its wheels in an attempt to drive away, Chiyung Jinlun was counted out and defeated via knockout – with this, it finished Season 1 of *King of Bots* as runner-up. Although disheartened at their loss, the Xiake team earned praise and support from the panellists and Team Spectre, with Grant Cooper being left especially impressed by Chiyung Jinlun's performance in the final.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 5
* Losses: 1

## Series Record

*NOTE: The team also entered various featherweight competitions with Little Devil*

## Outside King of Bots

Before appearing on *King of Bots*, the Xiake team competed in the Chinese FMB (*Fighting My Bots*) competitions with the featherweight **Little Beezlebub from Impasse**, also known as **Small Devil Jedi**, or **Little Devil**. A four-wheeled robot featuring a similar shape and drum weapon to Chiyung Jinlun, Little Beezlebub from Impasse debuted at the inaugural FMB Championship in 2016, where it finished runner-up to Gagu Snake.

In addition to this, Chiyung Jinlun was added to the heavyweight waiting list for *RoboGames* in 2018, but ultimately did not compete due to clashes with the filming of *This is Fighting Robots*.

## Trivia

* Chiyung Jinlun was the most successful Chinese entry in Season 1, reaching the final round and finishing the season as runner-up.
* Chiyung Jinlun fought two robots in consecutive fashion which would later be reinstated; Megabyte received a wildcard which eventually allowed it to face Chiyung Jinlun for a second time, while Greedy Snake directly replaced the withdrawal Rust Boar due to its strong performance against Chiyung Jinlun.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 KOB Hall of Fame - Xiake interview
2. ↑ ,https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/7v5p0t/king\_of\_bots\_episode\_5\_discussion\_thread/dtrhtjg/?context=0
3. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/7y1f1d/king\_of\_bots\_episode\_7\_discussion\_thread/duvw3ju/
4. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/7xwimz/a\_bit\_of\_throwback/
5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncL8i2RidVs#t=23m36s

## External Links

* Chiyung Jinlun on the *King of Bots* website (Chinese, archived)