TexLUG Austin 6/12 meeting report; sumo contest results

Folks,

Attending the 6/12 Texlug Austin meeting were:

  Kurt Baty
  David Perdue
  Lee Rahe
  Tim Rueger
  and many assorted others (see below)

We held the first TexLUG Austin Lego Mindstorms Sumo Robotics
contest.  About twenty people were in attendance, from TexLUG
regulars, to robot team members and parents, to robotics
enthusiasts and other generally interested folks.  Everyone had
a great time.

There were five robot entries: two from David, one from Tim, and
one each from AustinMetroGifts ("Team AMG", a group of
8-to-10-year-old homeschoolers from Austin and the surrounding
area) and Evan Ryker, age 14, another Austin homeschooler.

David's first entry used a novel light sensor configuration to
detect opponent collisions and the black sumo arena border with
the same sensor.  His second was a lightning-fast, but erratic,
variation of a Zip-Zam bot from his "Competitive Mindstorms"
book.

Tim's entry implemented a two-speed transmission (a fast speed
for searching and a slow speed for torque/pushing), with two
front bumpers for turning toward a detected opponent.

AMG's robot was a two-tread design with a light sensor in front.
They had trouble getting their robot working consistently, but
we worked the matches out anyway.

Evan's robot was also a two-tread design, with a very slow,
very high-torque drive train.  An arm assembly in front was
designed to raise an oncoming opponent off the arena.

(Photos of all the entries may be found via the links below.)

The contest was structured in two rounds.  First, a round robin
tournament matched each robot against every other one.  The
total wins in this round determined the placement in a final
single-elimination bracket to determine the winner.  (For the
rule set, see the URLs below.)

After the round robin matches, the scores were:

Tim - 4 wins
Evan - 2 wins
AMG - 2 wins
Perdue #1 - 1 win
Perdue #2 - 1 win

The elimination bracket was thus:

Play-in: Perdue #1 vs Perdue #2
Semifinal 1: AMG vs. Evan
Semifinal 2: Perdue1/2 vs. Tim
Final: Semi 1 winner vs Semi 2 winner

David's #1 robot beat his #2 in the play-in round; #2 had
difficulty staying on the arena due to its high speed.

In the first semifinal, Evan handily pushed AMG off the arena,
ending a very enthusiastic run by the AMG team.

In the second semifinal, Tim hung on to beat David's #1 robot.
A spectacular entanglement occurred during this match: one of
David's large motorcycle wheels got ensnared in the yellow
elastic band which held Tim's front bumpers open.  David's
wheels kept turning, so the elastic caught and wound around the
wheel *multiple* times, while, astonishingly, *not* breaking - a
true testament to the resilience and quality of Lego components.
An entanglement was eventually declared, and David's robot had
to be disassembled to release the elastic band to finish the
bout.  (And I didn't bring any spare elastics - yikes!)

In the final match, Evan's superior tread friction won out over
Tim's complicated high-torque transmission.  Tim twice became
immobilized when trying to push Evan's bot off the arena: Tim's
transmission changeover catches were driven by clutch gears,
which didn't hold the catches in place when the transmission was
subjected very high opposing force.

Evan took home the grand prize, a Technic 8435 4WD set.  The
runner-up prize of a Technic 8415 Dump Truck will be given away
at a future TexLUG event (Tim donated the prizes).

Many, many thanks to all who came out and helped make this a
very fun, exciting day.  I'm looking forward to seeing more
folks at TexLUG meetings in the future, and to other robotic
competitions.

-Tim

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TexLUG Sumo Robotics Rules:

  http://www.davidjperdue.com/competitivemindstorms/upcomingevent.html

Prize links at LUGNET:

  http://guide.lugnet.com/set/8435
  http://guide.lugnet.com/set/8415

Tim's contest photos Brickshelf gallery:

  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=132763

Team AMG setting up:

  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260807

The main competition table:

  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260808

David Perdue checks things over:

  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260809

Evan vs. Team AMG:

  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260810
  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260811

Evan vs. Tim:

  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260812

The obligatory sumobot melee:

  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260813
  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260814

Details of Evan's robot:

  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260815
  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260816

The elimination round bracket:

  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260817

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