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Robotathon Hath Begun!
Robotathon has begun and teams are off to a running start.
Tuesday, the Robotathon 2018 game, RASumo, was revealed. Each of approximately 21 5-person teams will be taught how to build basic robots, then use their newfound skills to create a sumo robot. These sumo robots attempt to push each other off a circular platform—but this requires a good bit of finesse to do properly. The full rules are provided on the Robotathon page.
Today, all teams attended the first Robotathon workshop to learn how to connect the electronics in their provided kit of parts.
It was quite a success! Ben taught a large roomful of people how to assemble what is, in all likelyhood, their first microcontroller circuit. Several teams managed to complete the basic assembly before the workshop ended, lighting an LED, meeting a checkpoint, and earning points towards resolving Robotathon match ties.
This workshop format—the first time RAS has tried such a thing—appears to be working splendidly! Future workshops will teach programming and mechanical design so teams can begin their robot construction in earnest.
It’s looking like Robotathon 2018 might be our best competition yet.
Author: Daniel Teal