Blendo

Blendo is a combat robot designed and built by Jamie Hyneman. Adam Savage wired the electronics and control systems. [ [http://www.adamsavage.com/design.html AdamSavage.com] ]

Blendo had the first effective implementation of the full-body kinetic energy spinner weapon that became important in the game.Fact|date=March 2008 The robot had a shell made from a wok and was spun by a lawnmower engine. Blades attached to the shell caused grievous damage to its opponents, removing bodywork and in some instances causing them to be thrown over the Lexan safety shields into the audience.

It first competed in the second "Robot Wars" competition in San Francisco (1995). After two fights (against robots Namreko and Doolittle) it was deemed too hazardous to compete by the event supervisors and the insurance company after throwing pieces of its opponents over the arena walls. It was given co-champion status in exchange for withdrawing from the competition. ['Gearheads' by Brad Stone, ISBN 0-7432-2951-7] . Blendo returned in the fourth "Robot Wars" competition in San Francisco (1997), after the height of the arena walls had been increased to prevent debris from reaching the audience. In this competition Blendo again fought two robots (Hercules and Punjar), and quickly defeated both. After causing damage to the arena walls in both matches Blendo was again asked to withdraw in exchange for co-champion status.

Blendo would later compete in a total of four "BattleBots" competitions. However, Blendo had little success in "BattleBots". A combination of a stronger arena design capable of containing the energy Blendo released, stronger robots able to take multiple hits from Blendo, multiple copycat designs, and Blendo's own tendency to tear itself apart with the force of its weapon caused it to be defeated in its first match in all four "BattleBots" events in which it competed.

Blendo's creators, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, now host the Discovery Channel series "MythBusters", which also features fellow combat robot competitor Grant Imahara and his robot, Deadblow.

Blendo is an inaugural member of the Combat Robot Hall of Fame. Fact|date=August 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.battlebots.com/meet_the_robots3/meet_robot_specs.asp?id=47 Blendo profile at BattleBots.com]
* [http://www.m5industries.com/html/blendo.htm Blendo at M5industries.com]
* [http://www.robotcombat.com/herc1battle1.html Account of the match between Hercules and Blendo at RobotCombat.com]