Who are Team Ixion?

The team who built, designed and cheered for SMIDSY are all bikers (except for a few who are 'motorcycle enthusiasts' :-) We know each other through a motorcycle email list called IXION. Currently this list has about 700 members, most of whom ride regularly to and from work and for fun.

The UK has a thriving club motorcycle racing scene and as time went by it became clear that there were a significant number of club racers participating in the Ixion mailing list. These racers eventually formed Team Ixion, a loosely organised self-help co-operative to share resources amongst the Ixion racers.

When a group of Ixion members made SMIDSY, they proudly displayed the Team Ixion logo on the side of their robot to show their motorcycling heritage to the world. SMIDSY holds the distinction of being the only Team Ixion competitor with 4 wheels, as well as being the Team Ixion competitor with the most TV coverage.

The Team Ixion logo you see on this site differs slightly from the standard Team Ixion logo. The round part of the logo, originally intended to symbolise the flaming wheel to which the mythological Ixion was chained has been turned into a gear wheel with the word "Roboteers" at its edge. This is the logo you will now see on the robot, as well as on the left arm of the SMIDSY T-shirts.