Dec 30, 2010
The Fifty Dollar Sumobot Challenge, Part I
Many readers of this blog have probably either built a mini-Sumobot or watched one in a mini-Sumobot competition. They are works of art, a tight little bundle of power, sensors and control, with one task in mind: push the other little bugger off the mat. The designs on these little bots vary widely in design as well as performance. Did I mention that they can be expensive? Even ready to make kits are over $100 shipped to your door. And if you are going to buy a lot of specialized parts online including the right motors, wheels, sensors and a brain can cost you a fair amount.
My fellow LVL1′er Brian Wagner and I were hanging out at our favorite hackerspace one night sharing a couple of beers and wondering, is it possible to come up with a design to use sources that can cost $50 or less? Surely there are enough deals out there that this would be possible. Brian is very good at electronics, and I rarely ever pay retail for anything. Hell, my mother raised me to think “irregular” was a brand name. So thats the goal. A $50 mini-Sumo. So we thought we would put this blog post out there to get the ball rolling. Nothing makes you commit like some big words posted on a hackerspace site. We’ll keep you posted!
This is something I can get into! Is there a list of rules (i.e. size limitations, mat size, prohibited features, etc.) somewhere, like in a PDF?