Robot Sumo Wrestling in DC

[Admin]

This post is for those interested in being involved in the Sumo in DC robot contest.

The official link is here:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/sumo_robots_in_DC.shtml

Signing Up
If you plan to come, please tell us how many people are in your team by replying to this post. If you are not sure you can make it, you can still come without siging up. Signing up will automatically add you to the mailing list, and you will be notified of all further anouncements.

Questions
Post any questions you may have for the competition, including 'is my robot allowed to do this' type questions.

[eblade]

Since there are no replies yet, does this mean the event is not happening?  If it is still on, I attend with my son(5) and possibly my daughter(.   We have a robot under construction, and hopefully will be finished engouh to at least supply fodder for someone elses bot.

Eric Blade

[Admin]

My sumo bot is halfway done (I wont be competing for a prize, just for fun), so its still on. There are a few others that havnt posted that said they will come.

The location will be at University of Maryland, but I havnt arranged for it yet. Ill talk to them by this weekend.

[CraigShelden]

Hi,

I would like to bring my son ( and maybe my daughter (6) to see what other kids are doing and to encourage them in math / science, etc.

Any details on the venue and times?

Thanks,
Craig Shelden
 

[Admin]

So I was seriously considering calling it off as no one has signed up . . . 

Ive gotten requests from four dads wanting to bring their kids to watch, but no one wanting to actually compete.

Thinking about it, perhaps I can just give a demonstration and bring some hands on stuff. Would that be acceptable?

It will be held this Saturday at University of Maryland campus, I just need to reserve a room and a time. I will aim for around 2pm, but I can change the time by request if needed.

Ill make the reservation as soon as I can and post it here.

[CraigShelden]

Thank you very much for keeping this on.

Pending a crisis, hope to see you there.

All my best,
Craig Shelden

[Admin]

Bad news 

So I called up UMD to reserve a room, and they said they have a strict policy of requiring a 3 week prior notice.

Poor logistics, too low of interest . . . Ive decided to cancel the event and reschedule for in maybe 6 months from now. Perhaps I will make connections at UMD to offer the contest to the campus . . .

Considering unexpected interest by younger children, I will probably add a remote control category next time - a task much easier to tackle.

Sorry for the disappointment!

[Admin]

If anyone is interested in the next event, just sign up here anyway. When enough people sign up, Ill arrange for it 

[Del]

Just in case you're still considering this, I would be interested. 

 

[sghazzaw]

Nice, finally robotics interest in D.C

I would be interested, haven't started building one yet, but if a date is set far enough in advance, I would definateley participate

[Admin]

I know this is kinda last minute, it took me forever to get a place to hold it at . . . but everyone is welcome to come whether you have a robot or not. I will talk about how to build a sumo bot from scratch for those who dont know how. Even if you do not have a robot that can compete, bring your robot anyway for fun.

SUMO BOT

When: Saturday, August 25 at 1:00PM
Where: Univerity of Maryland (near Washington DC)
College Park Campus


Event Description:
The Fairfax Robotics and AI Society and the Society of Robots
http://societyofrobots.com are collaborating on the August 25th
SUMO BOT COMPETITION. You and your guests are welcome to
compete (RSVP please) for the August Sumo BOT Competition.
COMPETE FOR PRIZES AND HALL OF FAME RECOGNITION...

PRIZES:
Prizes will be awarded to the best Sumo bot(s).

DATE & VENUE
August 25 (Saturday) @ 1:00 PM
Univ. of Maryland, College Park Kim Engineering Bldg.
(Rm. # TBD)
Refreshments will be provided.

DIRECTIONS
http://www.eng.umd.edu/visitus/visitus_directions.html

Parking:
Is free on the weekends in most lots. Check the lots for sign
regulations.

[Brandon121233]

Well I don't exactly have a sumo bot, but I might be able to show up with Walbot, I'll check my schedule and get back to you.

[Admin]

Ok I got the exact address:
Univerity of Maryland College Park Campus
J.M. Patterson Bldg Room 1202
College Park MD 20742

Hope some of you can make it!

[HDL_CinC_Dragon]

Who knows admin, even I might be able to show up! that would be pretty cool... no promises though.
I predict ill be busy in 6 months >_<

[Admin]

Ok so it was a decent sumo robot meetup. 9 people showed up, and we had 4 robots.

But someone forgot to bring the sumo playing board, and none of the other robots really worked . . . Stampy went on a stampy rage

I gave a presentation about building sumo bots from scratch (a very simplified presentation, so you didnt miss much).

And I got a corporate sponsorship for prizes . . .

I think the next one will be much better . . .

We will probably hold a competition every two months maybe? Ill keep posting new events to this list.

[Rebelgium]

I'd love to be able to come, but there's one slight problem... I'm on the other side of the globe.
All starts are difficult, I'm confident this event will grow every edition.

Maybe, in a few months and after some editions, we can expect movies filmed at the contest!

[Brandon121233]

Hey Admin
I'm really sorry I couldn't make it to the competition, but I promise if you have another one soon I will try really really hard to make it. The main problem is school and cross country practice which take up pretty much all of my free time during the summer. For now I can tell you which dates I cannot make it due to cross country meets- Saturday Sep 8th, Saturday Sep 29, Saturday Oct 13th, Saturday Oct 27th, and Saturday Nov 11. If there is a Saturday other than those that it could be held on in the future, there is a good chance I can show up with Walbot.

[Admin]

Any chance you can turn walbot into a sumo bot? Perhaps use sonar to find the closest object, then ram it?

[Brandon121233]

Well free time for me is rather limited during the school year...so most likely not.

[Admin]

The next sumo competition has been scheduled:

When:
Saturday, December 8, 2007, 1:00 PM

Where:
Univerity of Maryland College Park Campus
J.M. Patterson Bldg Room 1202
College Park , MD 20742

We got prizes too . . .

(if the main entrance door is locked, go around to the right of the building to see if another door is unlocked)

[Admin]

The contest was a success (yaaaay!) with five people showing.

Event video:

[ddemarco5]

hey, i know those robots


http://www.robotstore.com/store/product.asp?pid=414&catid=1554

[HDL_CinC_Dragon]

geez, when we had battles with our sumo bots, the rounds rarely lasted more than 30 seconds. It was pretty sweet.

My robot went undefeated even in the battle royale (a 5 or 6 robot free for all) It placed 1st or 2nd every time =D Im proud of my little robots performance... =)

[kevinhines]

Hello All,

Please count me in!  So long as I can get to the DC area for the next DC robotics event, I'd like to participate.

I'm located about 3.5 hours southwest of DC, near Roanoke, VA, and so it would take a bit of planning for me to schedule the time to get to the event in DC. 

There is currently no year-round robotics club in the Roanoke area (yet)... it's good to know you fellow roboticists are nearby.

I appreciate you organizing this effort.

Thanks,
Kevin

PS - I am new to the Society of Robots web site... it's very helpful, and I appreciate you creating this resource.

Kevin Hines
KevinHines@aol.com
www.RoanokeRobotics.org

[Admin]

Hey Kevin (and everyone else here)

Robot contests and get togethers have now been moved to our new and growing DC robotics group:
[removed]

Just sign up to keep updated with robotics in DC.

On last saturday we decided to no longer do robot sumo (due to lack of interest), but instead do an informal robot fire fighting contests at GMU every few months.

edit:
Cancel that about the meetup group, it appears the organizer has recently disbanded the group. I just spoke with a few of the ex-members and so we still plan to do the GMU event. I'll post about it as it comes up.