Sumo-Bot Help

RobotGurl

Heya Everybody,

I am building my first robot (the Sumo-bot). Unfortunately, I did not purchase the sumo-bot competition kit so I only have one robot.

I have a sumo-bot tournament coming up. Therefore, I am wondering how I can practice by simulating battle without another sumo-bot. In particular, how do I get the sensors on my bot to detect objects other than another robot. Anybody have any suggestions or experience with this? Can a large object placed in front of the bot work? Or do I need to get some sort of infrared emitter?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

~Robotgurl

Mike Green

How about a SumoBot sized cardboard or foamcore cube with a coat hanger handle that you can use to move it around? If you want better IR reflectivity, you can glue aluminum foil to the sides of the cube.

GeorgeCollins

I recently dealt with this exact problem in getting ready for Combots V, which was combat, but autonomous and set up to use a sumo ring. You can see one of my tests here as an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00EHdSygMYU

Here is my advice:

If you watch videos of robot sumo, for new people the biggest problem is driving out of the ring. Make sure you do not do that. If you don't have a ring, create a ring from plywood or particle board. Paint it flat black and add a glossy white ring around the outside. You don't have to make the ring perfectly, but try to get the black white contrast to be about the same. You can find wood already cut in circles at some big home stores, I think I got the one I used at Orchard Supply Hardware. Use the ring to test your line sensors and your program.

Make your test ring the correct size. I had a problem with the Peanut Tin of Terror where I assumed the ring would be four feet in diameter and instead it was about two feet in diameter. The difference was important because I backed up too much for the small ring and ended up backing out of the ring.

Use a little cardboard box as a test target. Make sure the box is not very high off the ground, and if you are using IR sensors, try painting it black. You can expect your opponents to make their robots low to the ground so that they push well and hard to see. They make their robots black to avoid IR detection.

You can try moving the box with a string to simulate a moving target.

Try your robot many times in many different positions and facings.

Good luck!