Drakes was a Football clusterbot from the University of Plymouth. It appeared in the 2000 Techno Games where it fought two Robotic Soccer matches losing the first but winning the second before having to withdraw.
The name Drakes refers to the location where the University of Plymouth is situated.
Robot History[]
2000[]
In the first match, during the round robin, Drakes fought Merlin. The match began with Merlin taking the "Squares" and the Drakes taking circles. Initially, Merlin team managed to tackle one of the Drakes, however the Drakes committed an illegal move by having two robots near the goal. This meant one of the Merlin robots could have a penalty and scored a goal as a result. After this goal, one of the Drakes got hold of the ball and rammed it into the Merlin goal, scoring a point. Now tied, the robots cornered the ball with the Drakes blocking the entire goal from one of the Merlin robots. Despite the potential penalty, Merlin still managed to squeeze the ball into the goal with help from one of the Drakes. One Drakes got the ball and charged towards the Merlin goal, but missed narrowly with the ball. Getting it back it attempted to score a goal but two Merlin robots blocked the way creating another penalty. Drakes scored a goal through the penalty. Once again even scored, the two team rushed the ball. As the ball neared the Drakes goal, the Drakes created a chain and blocked the entire goal. A third penalty was given and Merlin quickly scored a goal. The match quickly ended soon after and Merlin won 3-2.
In the second match, the team faced the Welsh University's entry NEWI. At the start the Welsh team from Newport (all having individual names for each robot) were able to take the ball and steer it where ever as the Drakes became stuck to each other. The Drakes lost all mobility as the robots from Newport struggled to go for the ball. The Drakes eventually sprang to life and took the ball over towards the Newport goal but once again too many robots blocked the goal resulting in a penalty. The Drakes managed to score the goal and the match resumed with the Welsh goalkeeper seemingly being immobile. This meant that Drakes scored another easy goal. Afterwards, the robots rumbled into the side wall resulting in all robots being separated. Upon separation the Drakes quickly gained the ball and slammed it into the goal with "Geri" remaining immobile. The fourth round was over within two seconds as soon as the whistle sounded, one of the Drakes rammed the ball into Geri's goal immediately. Drakes attempted to repeat this a second time, but the ball swayed to the left and repelled from the wall. The Newport team took the ball away from the Drakes but it was all in vain as the match ended with Drakes scoring a 4-0.
However after the match Drakes were forced to withdraw from the competition.
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