The Robotics & Algorithm competition is in full swing. These geniuses of coding and basically the “best of the best” at algorithms are spending all night (and in to the morning) competing and writing autonomous code for sumo robot bots.
Plan to attend the Final Robo Bot today Sunday July 5 at 11 a.m. in Abdeen 1. Rogerio Panigassi, the Robotics & Algorithm captain and Vincent Maurin from SimplySim promise that it will be quite an event. Not only will the robots be battling in sim but there will be some serious… robot dancing. What other competition at Imagine Cup can promise you that level of fun and entertainment? A few quick facts about this challenge: 
1. Students were provided with use of an iRobot, an e-box equipped with a camera, their own computer and 24 hours.
2. During this time, they have had to figure out a way to create an autonomous algorithm and add artificial intelligence to not only drive and control their robot but also protect their robot from being knocked out of the sumo bot ring by the other competitor.
3. The challenge of each round in this competition is to have used such amazing algorithms, code, strategy and foresight - that the robot knocks its competitor out of the arena successfully.
4. Scoring for each battle is as follows:
Win a battle= 3 points.
Tie a battle= 1 point for each competitor
Lose = 0 points
Successful robo dance= 1 point
Robo dance with image recognition (ex: wave your hand it stops) = 3 points
5. All of the Robots will battle in sim today at 11 a.m. Then the two with the best score will “duke it out” in a final battle. This fight is done in sim for fairness. Sim allows the robots to battle on a flat playing field and creates an environment that works regardless of a broken wheel sensor, battery life of the robot etc.
Attend the final bot and learn even more about each of these competitors.
- Toddy Dyer
