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There has not been a great deal of public discussion about having a Great Ball
Contraption at BrickFest '06, but there WILL be a GBC at BF06.
If you missed your chance last year, when we had almost fifty modules, now is
the time to start building. It doesn't have to be a big module with lots of
functions. Actually, those are usually the first to break down.
In fact, it doesn't have to be anything fancy, or exciting. Once the whole
thing is up and running, very few modules stand out, no matter how good (or bad)
they are. The true joy is watching them all work together.
If you're wondering exactly what a Great Ball Contraption is, check out this
page: http://www.teamhassenplug.org/GBC/
Or, this one: http://www.greatballcontraption.com/
If you'd like to see a little footage from last year's BrickFest, check out
Jordan Bradford's video: http://www.blockpartymod.com/brickfest/
Or look at the bottom of the TeamHassenplug page (above).
If you're planning on bringing a module to BrickFest, please send me an e-mail,
or add your GBC MOC to the BrickFest website.
Thanks
Steve
ps Several people have asked me to send them soccer balls. Sorry for the delay,
they will be sent soon.
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Hello Steve,
In lugnet.robotics.events, Steve Witt wrote:
> Wanted to get this back on top. Anyone interested needs to contact me at
> steve@lego.com
>
> Thanks guys. I hope to get you all involved.
FreeLUG will be here :-)
We hope to have NXT in France before the date of competition, to learn how to
use it.
See you at Billund,
JLB
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On Tue, June 27, 2006 1:57 pm, Steve Witt wrote:
> In lugnet.announce, Steve Witt wrote:
> > We have great news for you. The 2nd International LEGO MINDSTORMS
> > Competition is on the horizon
> >
> > We are in the early planning phase but for now we can disclose the date and
> > the location. It will take place the weekend of October 6-8 in Billund,
> > Denmark. Come and meet other LEGO MINDSTORMS enthusiasts, get an inside LEGO
> > factory tour and take on the ultimate challenge:
> >
> > who is the worlds MINDSTORMS champion?
> >
> > There is a max. capacity of 16 teams and each team can have 3-6
> > participants.
This was a bunch of fun last year. I'm not sure, but I'm hoping I can go again this
year.
The great part was meeting the "Best of the Best" in the world of LEGO Mindstorms.
I assume the event will use the NXT. It should be interesting to see how these
builders adjust and learn to use the NXT.
I really want to go...
Steve
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In lugnet.announce, Steve Witt wrote:
> We have great news for you. The 2nd International LEGO MINDSTORMS
> Competition is on the horizon
>
> We are in the early planning phase but for now we can disclose the date and
> the location. It will take place the weekend of October 6-8 in Billund,
> Denmark. Come and meet other LEGO MINDSTORMS enthusiasts, get an inside LEGO
> factory tour and take on the ultimate challenge:
>
> who is the worlds MINDSTORMS champion?
>
> There is a max. capacity of 16 teams and each team can have 3-6
> participants.
>
> One slot is already taken by the LEGO All Stars Team,so come to Billund
> and beat them!
>
> If you want to take part in this once in a lifetime (well 2nd once in a
> life time) competition and challenge the Best of the Best in the LEGO MINDSTORMS
> World, Hurry up and send an e-mail to steve@lego.com to reserve
> your team slot.
>
> More detailed information about this event will be available beginning of
> August.
>
> See you all in Billund.
> Steve Witt and Jan Beyer
Wanted to get this back on top. Anyone interested needs to contact me at
steve@lego.com
Thanks guys. I hope to get you all involved.
Steve
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Official Rules to Two Mindstorms Challenges Released! And odds and ends!
We are pleased to release the rules to two of the upcoming Mindstorms
challenges. PDF Rules to these are the
Gladiator Sumo and
Great Ball Gathering.
“Great Ball Gathering” Contest
The Goal
Score more points than your opponent by collecting Lego® balls off the playing
surface.
The Playing Surface
The playing surface shall be a 4’ x 8’ area with 2”x 4” walls (like a FIRST Lego
League table). The surface shall be a white mat (upside down FLL mat). There
shall be a home base defined on each half of the playing surface. The home
bases shall be at opposite corners of the playing surface. Each home base shall
be defined by 2 strips of ¾” black electrical tape. The inner size of the home
base shall be 10” x 10”, making each home base a 10” square.
Game Play
Each match of the competition shall be 90 seconds. The winner of a match is
determined by the points the robot scores in the 90 second match. Tournament
format will be chosen based on the number of participants. Possible tournament
formats are single elimination, double elimination and round robin. In the
event of a tie of win-loss records at the end of round robin (if that format is
used) total points scored will determine the winner.
Approximately 1,000
soccer balls and 50 basketballs will be randomly (as evenly as possible)
distributed on the table prior to each round. Additionally, there will be 10 1
½” plastic balls (like the balls from FLL) on the table in random locations.
Robot Limitations
A competing robot shall meet the following criteria:
- The maximum size of the robot at the start of a competition round shall be 10” x 10” with no height limit
- The maximum weight of the robot is 2 ½ pounds
- Robots may only use Scout, Spybot, RCX, or NXT processors if a processor is used. No third party processors are allowed
- It is preferable that each competing robot stop automatically at the end of a match. This is not required
- Robots may not intentionally disable (physically or electronically) their opponent
Scoring
Each ball held by the robot at the end of the match shall impact the score as
follows:
- Unsorted soccer balls and basketballs are worth 1 point each
- Sorted basketballs are worth 5 points each
- 1 ½” plastic balls are worth 10 points each
A PDF version of the rules of the Great Ball Gathering can be found
here.
Gladiator Sumo
Description of the Contest
The competition will involve two limited sized contesting Sumo robots which will
compete within a circular arena. The purpose of the competition will be for one
robot to eliminate the other by means of pushing it out of the arena or
incapacitating it by tipping, disabling or overturning it within the bout time
limit.
The winner of the bout will be either the robot left functioning in
the arena or the last robot out of the arena in the event that the winning robot
falls out of the arena after it has pushed its opponent out. If both robots are
still moving under their own power or are entangled with no clear winner after
the time limit, then the bout will be declared a draw. (If the robots are
entangled and wear and tear is occurring and both contestants agree to a draw,
the bout may be ended early.)
A winning robot will receive 2 points, a losing
robot 0 points. A draw will assign 1 point to each robot. After each contesting
robot has had a chance to battle with every other, the points will be tallied
and the robot with the highest score will be declared the winner. If there is a
draw, the most appealing design, as determined by a popular vote will be
declared the winner.
The Arena
The arena will consist of a flat and
reasonably smooth circular plywood disk which will be painted with semi gloss
white paint. A black border of flat black paint will be used to assist the Sumo
robots in determining their proximity to the edge of the arena. The arena
surface will be raised approximately 1 inch from the supporting surface (either
floor or tables) so that it becomes obvious when a contestant has been pushed
from the arena, which will be taken to be the point at which it is unable to
return to competition. The overall arena diameter will be 48 inches (121.92 cm)
which will include the 3 inch (7.62 cm) wide black edge marking.
Timing
Bouts will last up to a maximum of 3 minutes, if no clear winner is established
before this time. When a bout is started, each Sumo robot must wait for a
minimum of 5 seconds before moving. A robot must start moving forward, ie; away
from the center of the arena, within 10 seconds of the start of the bout.
Starting Positions
The Sumo robots will start back to back either side of the
center of the arena. The robots will be placed with their rear most structure
spaced 3” (7.6cm) from the center of the arena. Where a robot may be of a design
with no clear front and back, the front will be the direction it will first move
in when it starts.
Each robot must have started moving forward, ie; away from
the center of the arena, after 5 seconds and within 10 seconds of the start of
the bout. This movement must be made in a straight line, as defined below, for a
distance of at least 3” (7.6cm).
Mechanical Rules
Sumo robots must conform
to a maximum horizontal plane size specification. The outline of the robot must
be such that it fits inside a 7 3?4“ (19.7cm) internal diameter cylinder.
The
robot design must be such that it is capable of straight line travel which will
be defined as the ability to move its nominal center a distance of 3” (7.6cm)
with less than 30° change in course or the structure’s pointing direction.
A
robot is permitted to modify its geometry after the bout has started if desired.
This modification may start immediately after the bout has started and is not
required to wait for the 5 second movement start delay. There are no other
weight or dimension limits.
Weapons Rules
Sumo robots may use certain
non-damaging weapons in an attempt to reduce mobility of their opponent
including; deployable objects intended to impede the opposing robot, lances (for
example; Lego cross axles or beams) to be inserted into the opponent’s
structure, or entrapment devices such as strings, wires, chains or nets.
Deployed objects must be inert, ie; not mobile under their own power.
Construction Rules
Sumo robots must be constructed of 100% unmodified Lego
brand parts. No adhesives or melting may be used in the construction of the
robots. The robots shall be designed to remain as a single entity throughout the
duration of a bout with the exception of any deployed objects defined as
weapons. A robot may not release fluid. Robots may not include offensive weapons
or mechanical systems designed to dismantle the opponent. Contesting robots are
to be designed to primarily push, lift, rotate, tip, impede or overturn the
opponent.
A PDF version of the rules of the Gladiator Sumo can be found
here.
Odds and Ends
Don’t forget to take a look at the shirts that are now on sale. Coming soon will
be the Event Kit and other items, so stay tuned!
Also, if you have a presentation or demonstration that has to do with LEGO, sign
up to be a presenter at your BrickFest account! Your presentation will be seen
by AFOLS and maybe a LEGO VIP (yes, they are coming!)
Sponsorships are still
open, so if you want to help out with prizes drop me a line at the above address
- you’ll be able to get a web banner, an ad in the Event Program, and perhaps an
ad in BrickJournal!
More news coming soon!
Joe Meno
Event Coordinator, BrickFest 2006
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