Gallery: Robogames 2011: Flame Throwers, Rocket Launchers and Endless Robot Mayhem
01texas-heat-lighweight-robot
Walking into the arena, the first thing you notice are the noises: booming, clanging, the sound of metal crashing upon metal a short distance away. Followed by the smell of flames and burning rubber. Welcome to Robogames. [Robogames](http://robogames.net/) is an annual robotics competition that features more than [50 different events](http://robogames.net/events.php), including combat, sumo, hockey and mech warfare. Dubbed “the Olympics of robots,” this year’s event took place April 15 to 17 in San Mateo, California, with a colorful array of robots in attendance. The three-day event has much to see and learn, with electronics, robotics and educational-toy distributors’ booths lining the path to the back of the auditorium, where the largest fighting stage is located. The completely enclosed structure separates spectators from the carnage within by a scratched-up sheet of [Lexan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexan) polycarbonate over aluminum support beams. Other competition areas included a maze, a mini soccer field and a smaller, enclosed “ComBot” stage with four 2-foot tall buildings. And of course, plenty of bots were just mingling with the public.
02lightweight-combat-video
Texas Heat: A 60-Pound Flamethrower ----------------------------------- Dominating the Lightweight Combat category was a wedge-styled bot named Texas Heat. This veteran bot was originally a vertical spinner-head named Killer Moose. It got a new name and a new weapon when Texas Instruments sponsored the bot a few years back. Texas Heat uses a 5-inch titanium wedge to drive itself underneath its opponents and mash them into the wall. When that doesn’t work (or when it’s time for its competitor to *really* be punished), out bursts a 6-foot flame fueled by a precise mix of propane and butane. A sensor double-checks the fuel composition before ignition: If it’s off even the slightest bit, flames are a no-go. Robert Frankovich, a member of the team behind Texas Heat, says that reliability is a key component for a winning robot at Robogames. “And one-third is the driver,” he adds, since all the competitors in this type of event are remote-controlled.
03heavyweight-combat-video
The Heavyweights ---------------- Some of the competitors were as quiet (and about as large) as a mouse. Not the Heavyweight Combat participants. The echos of these behemoths crashing into one another reverberated around the entire auditorium, and necessitated wearing earplugs. One shining member of the category was Original Sin, a 218-pound “simple strong wedge.” Its maker Gary Gin designed it to be fast, maneuverable, and powerful, able to get under its opponents and bash them into the arena walls. It’s no n00b. Original Sin has been competing at Robogames since 2006, and its team has entered robots in every Robogames to date. An entrant that didn’t fare quite as well in this year’s competition was Bob and Chuck Pitzer’s Predaraptor. Inspired by the attacking bird (or the dinosaur), it features a somewhat organic-looking grabber-lifter design: Predaraptor uses its big claw to grab hold of its opponent, then lift it up from the ground. Its made entirely of titanium, chrome and aluminum and runs on a 24-volt battery. This is the third year it's participated in Robogames. Predaraptor's team said that the most difficult things to prepare for in the arena are the spinners, which shred into their opponent with deadly effect. The Pitzers plan to increase the voltage of their bot for next year. It was a bit sluggish, and a higher voltage directly correlates with higher speed in their design. A higher velocity also means it's better able to scramble away from competitors or attack them with greater force.
04hardcore-mechwars-video
Mech Warfare: Pint-Sized Bipedal Destroyers ------------------------------------------- If any of the robots at Robogames were nightmare-inducing, it was certainly the MechWars entrants. Being bipedal was a requirement. Being creepy was not. Hino Hikari was the lesser of two evils, donning a dress and a pink bow atop her robo head. Hino Hikari’s maker, Che Edoga, controls her using some hacked music software and keyboard commands transmitted by wireless serial board. A Wi-Fi camera transmits a video feed to Che’s computer so he can properly direct her attacks. And how does she attack, you say? Bottle rockets. And when that doesn’t work, as when her left rocket pack malfunctioned in the video above, she just tackles her opponent. A nightmarish Chuckie-bot named TX.000000000000000001 was Hino Hikari’s opponent (that’s 17 zeros, but we’ll just call it *TX* for short). TX uses an in-eye camera to stream video to its driver, who monitors vitals like battery voltage, the quality of the wireless connection, an error feed, and mode (walking or firing). using a custom computer interface coded in C. Movement is controlled with a joystick, and a laser sight helps direct TX’s weapon of choice — CO2-powered, high-velocity BBs — at its nemesis. These were the only two entrants in the hardcore, hand-to-hand MechWars category this year. There were, however, other bipedal robots engaged in duck-and-cover BB-gun battles on the small ComBot stage. “Not too many people are enthusiastic about having their robots blown up,” said Zachary Rubin, TX’s creator. Next year he plans to add a flame thrower to his doll-headed bot.
05partybot-video
Tupper Bot Dance Party ---------------------- It wasn't all combat at the Robogames: Some bots come in peace. Tupper Bot is Spaniard Angel Hernandez’s Tupperware-based partybot. It's bright green and blasts fist-pumping tunes. Angel drove this bot around using “the force” (or so he told curious kiddos). In actuality, he uses a sensor-filled TI watch, the [EZ430-Chronos](http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/EZ430-Chronos), which he programmed in C so that his hand gestures directed his robot’s motion. The watch is loaded with a 3-axis accelerometer, pressure sensor, voltage sensor and temperature sensor (not used). For example, flexing his hand upwards in a "stop' motion halts the robot in its tracks. This is the second year Tupper Bot made the trek to the states for Robogames.
06hockey-bots-and-more
A Few Other Competitions ------------------------ An competition for autonomous firefighting robots featured a number of university [IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers)](http://ieee.org) teams. The robots had to navigate a four-room playing field with a candle located in one of the room’s corners, and put out the flame as fast as possible. The candle was randomly placed, with teams drawing numbers to determine room and corner placement. Cal State Long Beach’s Ladder 49 team whizzed through the challenge in a mere 20 seconds. Robot Hockey pitted two teams of three super-speedy 15-pound-and-under bots against one another in order to slide a puck into the opposing team's goal slot. Although the bot (and puck) occasionally got wedged next to the wall, this competition was generally high-speed and high-action. For more video of the Robogames, check out [Robots Dreams](http://www.robots-dreams.com/), which covered the line-following robots, the winner of the micromouse competition, and "the humanoid robot rumble," among other events.
