User's Guide
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Contests
Extending
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Contests
Now that your Mark III is assembled and programmed, it's time to find something for it to do, and test your abilities against other robot enthusiasts in friendly competition. Preparing for a competition is the best way to motivate yourself to actually get that robot finished and working. There are a number of contests nationwide, with a number of different events featured. Here, we enumerate some of the more common events and some of the larger competitions.MiniSumo
Sumo wrestling for robots, non-destructive, push out of ring, best of 3 falls. Mini class has size and weight restrictions. The Mark III is designed to be small and light enough to qualify for this class. MiniSumo is a fairly well-defined event, held at a number of competitions across the country. An excellent description of Sumo events can be found at http://www.robotroom.com/SumoRules.html.Line Following
Line following robots attempt to follow a line across a course. Great deal of variations in competitions, line widths, course length, absence or presence of obstacles, criteria for winning.Line Maze
Line maze is and advanced and enhanced form of line following. Robots attempt to find their way through a maze, guided by lines on the floor. Typically involvesFire Fighting
Trinity College developed this challenging event, and has held an annual competitions since 1994. Other robotics clubs, such as the Seattle Robotics Society, have also held fire fighting competitions using the Trinity Rules. The Trinity College event is described at http://www.trincoll.edu/events/robot/index.html.PDXBOT
PDXBot is an outgrowth of the mini sumo competitions that the Portland Area Robotics Society, PARTS, has held for two years in conjunction with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, OMSI. PDXBot has mini sumo, line following, and demonstration (non-competitive) events. http://www.portlandrobotics.org/PDXBOT/Robothon
Seattle Robotics Society, well-funded and attended. http://www.seattlerobotics.org/robothon/etc.
