Gruff

**Gruff** is a Heavyweight robot built by students from the University of South Florida going under the team name Ram Robotics. It is a 6-wheeled, box-wedge shaped robot armed with a lifting arm.

Despite managing to reach the Quarter-Finals in every ComBots Cup it contested, Gruff never really had much success in RoboGames itself, usually barely getting out of the qualifying rounds.
However in Robogames 2018 a new version of Gruff debuted after a 3 year hiatus from Robogames, and went on a Whiplash Run. After defeating several opponents including the feared Touro Maximus in the winners bracket, and ultimately took Bronze after losing to the same robot in the loser's finals. A new version of Gruff competed in Battlebots 2019-2020 with 2 flamethrowers and a black, dragon themed design. It performed decently, getting 2 wins in its debut season.

## Robot History

### ComBots Cup V

In its debut match, it had to face another rookie that is **Ragin Scotsman**. For the start of the match, both robots were trying to get under each other. Gruff's untimely raising of the lifting arm allowed Ragin Scotsman almost into the railings. Gruff immediately countered it by shoving its opponent against the railings. Both started to distance themselves before the flame of the scottish robot was released towards the Gruff. Gruff was able to get a lift as Ragin Scotsman drove over, not affected much. They started driving around the arena with some determination. The lifter was displayed to slide under Ragin Scotsman's wedge effectively. Another pursuit lead to Gruff being stuck under the railings by the tip of the lifting arm. After Gruff was separated by a staff, the match continued with Gruff able to perform a good flip on the Ragin Scotsman. Ragin Scotsman seemed to be scorching Gruff every time it wedged underneath. Ragin Scotsman continued to shoot its flame onto Gruff and its lifting arm as it tried to get away. Gruff was backed into a corner and suffered from more fire projection with a still-functional lifting arm before the end of the battle. Gruff lost to Ragin Scotsman by a very close Judges' Decision of 16-17.

In its next match, Gruff had to confront **Vlad The Impaler II**, the successor to the original. Gruff was able to evade the controlled box rush of Vlad the Impaler II before partaking in another wedge battle. Gruff managed to slam Vlad against the railings from below. Gruff pinned until it was told to stop. Vlad the Impaler II had some struggles turning properly and was on top of Gruff a couple more times before getting pinned to the railings again, waving its lifting plate but this time, both robots had to be separated by a staff. Vlad The Impaler II would then continue to ride off the wedge of Gruff with its charges. Vlad became inverted but was driven nearly as well as it had been. The lifting plate was given an advantage as Vlad could halt Gruff from lodging itself. It still stumbled next to the railings. Gruff continued to dictate the remaining course of the match, even after allowing Vlad back on its original side. Yet another a narrow split decision was decided, this time, giving Gruff the victory.

In the Quarter-Finals, Gruff fought against the multi-bots, **Death & Taxes**. Gruff decided to pull its lifting arm back before charging towards the drum spinner, Death, in the beginning. It backed the drum spinner with its rear towards the railings before getting wedged by Taxes. Taxes was surprisingly pushing Gruff around with some ease. Gruff returned on the offensive against Death before the spinner achieved its full speed. Death was able to deliver some minor hits to Gruff's armour. Gruff was able to flee from the collision of Death & Taxes. Gruff kept shoving Death around and lodge it into the railings diagonally before leaving. Gruff then pursued the pesky Taxes. A time-out was called by the referee to pull Death away from the railings. Taxes slid under Gruff again before the lifter bot got struck by Death. A chain seemed to hanging loose from the drum spinner. Despite that, both Death & Taxes synergised an attack onto Gruff as it got pinned. Taxes was slightly overturned by Gruff with a piece flying off as a result. Taxes retaliated by slamming Gruff into the railings. The drum spinner robot with its inactive weapon tried to shove Gruff from behind to no avail. Taxes got its wedge underneath its much larger opponent again and pushed it around before the end of the match was announced. Gruff lost to Death & Taxes by a unanimous decision of 15-18 and was eliminated from this competition.

### RoboGames 2011

Not much is known about Gruff's fight against Vera but it won and advanced to Winner's Round 2 where it faced the defending champion, Sewer Snake.

For this match, Sewer Snake entered with its scooping wedgelets and Gruff caught **Sewer Snake** with its raised lifting arm when Sewer Snake attempted to wedge under Gruff. Gruff proceeded to ram Sewer Snake into the railings before both separated from each other. Sewer Snake then scooped under Gruff, and flipped it over, against the rails. Gruff quickly self-righted but it did not stop the champion from slamming it and flipping it onto the railings again. Once more Gruff self-righted, Sewer Snake overturned Gruff into the rails. This caused Gruff's arm to get stuck in the rails, Sewer Snake tried to score an Out of the Arena flip on Gruff but it only resulted in Gruff being freed. Gruff then righted itself and failed to get a lift on Sewer Snake. The ruthless Sewer Snake continued with its barrage of rams and flips before it placed Gruff onto its side, vertically against the railings. Gruff was not able to self-right and was counted out.

**Double Rainbow Party** slowly spun up and Gruff was not hesitant in charging towards it and into the rails. Double Rainbow Party then reached decent speed and attacked Gruff's front, merely just shaving sparks off of it. Eventually, Gruff took Double Rainbow Party into the corner where the full-body spinner became stuck. Fight was paused for a free unstick before the shell spinner could spin again. However, Double Rainbow Party was immobilised right after. Gruff won the match by knock-out.

A footage of its fight against Preda Raptor has yet to be found but it is known that Gruff lost to **Preda Raptor** in the Round of 16.

### RoboGames 2018

Gruff is currently registered to compete in RoboGames 2018 after a 6 year absence from RoboGames.

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 12
* Losses: 14
* Byes: 1