Blendo is a combat robot designed and built by

Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (; born September 25, 1956) is an American special effects expert who was co-host of the television series ''MythBusters'' alongside Adam Savage, where he became known for his distinctive beret and walrus moustache. He ...

Adam Savage Adam Whitney Savage (born July 15, 1967) is an American special effects designer and manufacturer, fabricator, actor, educator, television personality, and producer, best known as the former co-host, with Jamie Hyneman, of the Discovery Channe ...

handled the electronics and control systems. Blendo pioneered the full-body kinetic energy spinner weapon, which later became common in ''

BattleBots ''BattleBots'' is an American robot combat television series and company. The show is an adaptation of the American Robot Wars competitions hosted in the mid–late 1990s by Marc Thorpe, in which competitors design and operate remote-controlled ...

''. The robot featured a shell constructed from a

wok A wok () is a deep round-bottomed cooking pan of Chinese origin. It is believed to be derived from the South Asian karahi. It is common in Greater China, and similar pans are found in parts of East, South and Southeast Asia, as well as being ...

and was powered by a 5hp

lawnmower A lawn mower (also known as a grass cutter or simply mower, also often spelled lawnmower) is a device utilizing one or more revolving blades (or a reel) to cut a grass surface to an even height. The height of the cut grass may be fixed by the ...

engine. Blades attached to the shell inflicted damage on its opponents, often removing bodywork and, in some cases, propelling them over the

polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate ester, carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, toughness, tough materials, and some grades are optically transp ...

safety shields into the audience.

Combat performance

''Robot Wars''

Blendo made its debut in the second ''

Robot Wars Robot Wars may refer to: Film and television * ''Robot Wars'' (film), 1993 ** ''Robot Wars'' (soundtrack) * ''Robot Wars'' (TV series), a British TV competition, 1998–2004 and 2016–2018 ** '' Nickelodeon Robot Wars'', a U.S. TV game show ...

'' competition in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

(1995). After two matches against the robots Namreko and DoMore, it was deemed too hazardous to continue by the event supervisors and the insurance company, due to pieces of its opponents being thrown over the arena walls. Blendo was granted co-champion status in exchange for withdrawing from the competition. It returned in the fourth Robot Wars in 1997, after the height of the arena walls had been increased to prevent debris from reaching the audience. In this competition, Blendo once again faced off against two robots (Hercules and Punjar) and swiftly defeated both. However, after causing damage to the arena walls in both matches, Blendo was again asked to withdraw in exchange for co-champion status.

''BattleBots''

Blendo participated in a total of four ''

'' competitions. Despite its reputation for extreme violence, Blendo experienced limited success in BattleBots. Factors contributing to its lack of success included a stronger arena design capable of containing Blendo's energy, more resilient opponents capable of withstanding multiple hits, similar spinner designs in other robots, and Blendo's tendency to self-destruct, leading to its defeat in the first match in all four ''

'' events in which it competed.

After ''BattleBots''

Following its time on BattleBots, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage went on to host the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

series ''

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television series created by Peter Rees (producer), Peter Rees and produced by Beyond International in Australia. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast in ...

'', which also featured fellow combat robot competitor

Grant Imahara Grant Masaru Imahara (October 23, 1970 – July 13, 2020) was an American electrical engineer, roboticist, and television host. He was best known for his work on the television series ''MythBusters'', on which he designed, built, and opera ...

and his robot, Deadblow. Blendo is an inaugural member of the Combat Robot Hall of Fame.Combat Robot Hall of Fame
{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224044145/http://members.toast.net/joerger/hall_of_fame.html , date=February 24, 2007

References

External links

* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWhnHFPLbYA Jamie Hyneman on Killer Death Robots and Robot Bloodsport video interview with Jamie Hyneman, 17 July 2013, YouTube
How Lethal Was Blendo REALLY?
Adam explains the construction and usage of Blendo, Adam Savage’s Tested, 15 July 2023, YouTube BattleBots competitors Robot Wars (TV series) competitors Robots of the United States 1995 robots Rolling robots