Red from the Flames

Hawk Hunter with their robot in Season 1

"*From the West Lake, by surprise, it kills, but it is the most calm kill - from the flames!*"
— King of Bots website (translated from Chinese)

**离火红缨** (**lí huŏ hóng yīng**, directly translating to **Away from the Flames**, also translated as **Red from the Flames** (Mech+ version), **Get Away from the Flames** or **Flaming Red Decoration**) was a heavyweight robot which competed in Season 1 of *King of Bots*. Built by the team **Hawk Hunter** (Mech+: **Eagle Hunter**) - itself comprised of mechanical automation major graduates from Zhejiang University - it lost its only battle against UK representatives Spectre, catching fire spectacularly.

## Design

Red from the Flames was a large box-shaped robot with a dark gray, silver, orange red and golden yellow color scheme. Its most distinctive features were a pair of two red triangular wedges at the front, alongside a forward-firing flamethrower concealed within the middle of both wedge assemblies. The robot's primary weapon was a large tungsten steel pneumatic spear, which operated on a 'semi-automatic' system operated by sensors. Red from the Flames' spear worked in tandem with the flamethrower, though both weapons were capable of operating independently of each other in testing.

A pair of rear-hinged arms allowed Red from the Flames to self-right if it got flipped over. The back and side panels of the robot were painted black with an orange/yellow gradient 'scorch' effect added to the sides. While one of the largest robots to compete in *King of Bots*, Red from the Flames had a low top speed, while its flamethrower system ironically contributed to an internal fire in its only battle.

## Robot History

### King of Bots (Season 1)

"*From the bank of West Lake, it kills with one shot in the most unexpected way. This is the calmest killer, Red from the Flames!*"
— Ling Zhou introduces Red from the Flames (Mech+ subtitles)

In the first round, Red from the Flames fought the British robot Spectre, impressing the show's presenters and audience with its flamethrower during pre-match checks. As the battle started, it immediately drove into the front of the Team Robo Challenge entry, but its slower movements left it vulnerable to an early clamp from the right-hand side. Spectre sunk its teeth through the top of Red from the Flames, which was pushed into the spiked drums before being released. Small chunks of Red from the Flames' back corner had been shredded off, and both the top and bottom armor plates had been bent out of alignment.

Red from the Flames flailed its lifters and reversed directly across the drum hazards. It was grasped twice more by Spectre; firstly from the back, then the left-rear side, while still keeping its srimech raised in mid-air. The second attack resulted in Red from the Flames being pushed over the flame jets; Red from the Flames drove away as Spectre let go, the fire seemingly dying down in an instant. Seconds later, it turned and began igniting its flamethrower at a pursuing Spectre, but struggled to aim correctly as Spectre also had difficulty getting another bite.

Another head-on drive gave Red from the Flames the chance to burn Spectre from the right-hand side. However, the flamethrower had little effect, and it missed an attempt to spear the side of the UK machine. Eventually, Spectre got underneath Red from the Flames again from the front-left, clamping and slamming it against the wall spikes. Red from the Flames was completely immobilized by this attack; Spectre rushed in, puncturing the gas tank for Red from the Flames' flamethrower and causing the whole robot to combust.

"*Red from the Flames just exploded! It's a huge fireball, Jianxiang!*"
— Wu Day Wei (David Wu) as Spectre triggers a major internal fire aboard Red from the Flames (Mech+ subtitles)

Following this spectacular moment, Red from the Flames was rammed into a spinning drum by Spectre before being let go, still burning from the inside. The fire, which had died down, rapidly spread again as Spectre began celebrating its looming knockout win. Red from the Flames was counted out and eliminated after approximately one minute and ten seconds, still burning during post-match celebrations. It was revealed immediately after the fight that the robot had sustained 'eight to ten holes' left by Spectre's crusher, as Huang Jian Xiang and Wu Day Wei shared their analysis and amazement over the latter's weapon capabilities.

"*I've lost before. I used to feel sad too. But later, I understood that feeling sad wouldn't change anything. To change this, I can only keep improving myself to defeat my opponent.*"
— Su Zhanpeng (Mech+ subtitles)

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 0
* Losses: 1

## Outside King of Bots

Prior to competing in *King of Bots*, the Zhejiang University graduates won the 2017 *RoboCup Iran Open* championship in Tehran, an event primarily focused on autonomous robotic soccer tournaments.

## External Links

* Red from the Flames on the *King of Bots* website (Chinese, archived)