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Yesterday was the Workshop 3D RCX Challenge #5. The Lego robotics
competition took place in the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. Events were
line following (two divisions), sumo, and puck gathering. The code-only line
tracking event will be held at a later date.
The first line following division was "Single RIS" - you can build a line
tracking robot, using only the pieces from only a single Mindstorms Robotic
Invention System set? This means only a single light sensor may be used.
Robots this time were run for 30 seconds on a looped track, and one which
traveled furthest would win. A fair number of robots were entered here, and
Kyle Stone won! Congratulations, Kyle!
The second division is "Unlimited", meaning any Lego pieces may be used,
including multiple RCXs, and if desired, alternative sensors may be used as
well. Gus Jansson entered two robots in this division, one using
rack-and-pinion steering, the other a more traditional design. Interestingly
they both robots reached exactly the same position on the track after thirty
seconds, but the traditional design had managed to squeeze in an extra lap,
and the win. Congratulations, Gus!
Of interest in the unlimited line tracking competition were several
non-traditional robot designs this year. Most robots used two motors, one
for the left and one for the right wheel. Besides Gus' rack-and-pinion
steering, there was also a 6-legged *walking* line tracker. There was a
*one*-motor line tracker! And finally there was a line-tracker that balanced
on only two wheels! More on this one later.
The second competition was Sumo. More robots were in this category than any
other, and the competition was fierce. The final winner, after a
pseudo-double eliminiation tournament was Steve Hassenplug's robot "The
Combine". Congratulations, Steve!
The third competition was puck gathering. This time there were five robots
in this event. Gus Jansson has won each year except last year, where Barton
Place stole the title from him. Well, after three rounds, with the total
pucks collected in all rounds counting, Gus won the title back!
A final event was exhibition robots. There were several entries for this.
Gus Jansson displayed his helicopter, someone brought an interesting walking
robot, and Emmit Lalish won the event with a crane/claw combination robot
that used only two motors but had perhaps five degrees of freedom. Displayed
at several key moments during the other events was a final entry by Steve
Hassenplug who had a robot named LegWay, which balanced itself on two
wheels. (Wonder where he came up with that name? :-) It could stand (quite)
still, spin in a very quick circle, and finally it could follow a line! An
extremely impressive display of programming finesse, and a wonderful use of
a pair of EOPD sensors from John Barnes! I'm sure after seeing this robot,
there will be many people interested in buying one or two of these!
In any case, way to go, everyone that entered!
I've put pictures of the event up on Brickshelf, at:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=26849
You might have to wait a day until they've been moderated before being able
to see them.
--
David Schilling
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: WS3D RCX Challenge #5 Results
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| (...) I should also have added a thank you to Ray for holding this competition, and the other sponsors for the venue, and prizes, etc. We appreciate all the work that goes into putting something like this on. Thanks! -- David Schilling (22 years ago, 14-Oct-02, to lugnet.robotics, lugnet.org.us.smart)
| | | R: WS3D RCX Challenge #5 Results
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| Dear David: I have built something similar to LegWay. How I can get in touch with Hassenplug, do you have his mail address? Giuseppe Menga menga@polito.it -----Messaggio Originale----- Da: "David Schilling" <davidNO@SPAMsunteleia.com> A: (...) (22 years ago, 14-Oct-02, to lugnet.robotics, lugnet.org.us.smart)
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