What do 21st-century kids do during their annual spring vacation? Build robots, of course!
In preparation for TRU’s Sumo Robot Competition 2006, to be held during TRU’s School of Trades and Technology’s March 25 Open House and Skills Canada competitions, TRU’s School of Advanced Technologies and Mathematics is offering neo-engineers a chance to build their robots with help from a mentor.
On Thursday, March 16 electronics students will be on hand to help kids of every age (contest categories include grades 9 & under, grades 10-12, and an open category for everyone else) assemble robots from a kit. The workshop will run from noon to 3:00 pm in room 282 of TRU’s Trades & Technology Centre.
“The winning robot last year was built by an elementary school student,” said TRU electronics instructor and contest coordinator Darryl Hutcheon.
“Building a robot from these kits, then programming and customizing them is a great introduction to the world of electronics,” “We had round one of the Sumo competition last year. It was a great event. We’re really looking forward to round two on March 25.
Building a robot is a two-stage process, explained Hutcheon.
“Putting the robots together from a kit is relatively easy. It takes about three hours. The hard part is giving the robot its personality. People don?t have to do this part. There’s a default “mind” that comes with the robot, but it can be modified.”
Modifications can mean life or death for the tiny machines.
“The world of the Sumo is a meter-wide circle with a white perimeter,” said Hutcheon, “and it doesn’t like to share its world. Anything appearing in its meter-wide sphere of influence is attacked and pushed out, if possible.
“When both robots claim the world, which they’re all programmed to do, something has to give. In this case, it’s the weaker robot. Sometimes they stalemate, and remain locked in an embrace until their batteries run out. Sometimes, one gets confused and before it gets its boundaries figured out, its opponent takes advantage and smacks it out of the circle.”
Once the robot is built, Hutcheon and his students can help the builders to customize the robot’s mental gears.
“Robots have eyes which see as far as 10 centimetres. One eye looks to the left and one to the right to keep track of the opponent, and two additional eyes look straight down in order to keep track of the white perimeter line. So if the robot looks and doesn’t see its opponent, it may be programmed to turn to look, or maybe to go in a straight line for a certain distance, and then turn. This is the custom aspect of creating the robot mind.”
While Hutcheon encourages those wishing to take part in the competition to attend the March 16th workshop, there are alternatives. People can pick up their robot kits anytime (the contest’s $50 entry fee includes the kit) and call Hutcheon to organize a time to build it in the evening with an electronics student mentor, or to build it on their own.
To find out more about the contest, call 250-828-5137 or email.
