2011 SABRE Games at the CES Science Fair

Starting at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, February 16, 2011, in the gym of Cardston Elementary School, come and watch — or participate in — our third annual SABRE competition.

This year there will be four events, and medals for the winners. Think of this as a warm-up for Robofest in Milk River on Saturday, March 19.

Please send me an e-mail if you are thinking of participating so I can have a rough count.

The events:

We’ll run the events in the following order, with a short amount of time between events to allow for modifying a robot to run in multiple events.

The 3M Dash

Build the fastest robot you can. The first robot to cross the finish line without crossing the disqualification line wins. Here are the rules.

Line Following

The robot to follow a black line on a white surface the fastest (or furthest) wins. We’ll be using these rules.

The Obstacle Course

Build a robot to go down a straight cooridoor, going over obstacles like pencils, chocolate bars, ramps, and books. The robot that goes the furthest the faster wins. Read more details and see the tips.

Tug Of War

Two robots are tied together with a string and each tries to pull its opponent over the center line. We’ll be using these rules, and here is a great video tutorial.

SABRE Competition at the CES Science Fair

On Wednesday, February 10, starting at 5:30 pm, in the gym at Cardston Elementary School , come and watch — or participate in — our second SABRE competition. There will be three events, with certificates for the participants (e-mail me if you plan on participating) and medals for the winners. The event will help you warm up for RoboFest.

The events:

RoboSumo

Two robots are placed in a sumo ring. Each tries to find and push its opponent out without going out of the ring itself. Please read the full rules .

RoboRace

A robot races along a twisting and turning line that has a small wall at each end. When it reaches the far wall, it must turn around and race back. When it reaches the starting wall, it must stop. The fastest robot wins. Read more.

Obstacle Course

A robot (wheeled, walking, or otherwise) traverses a narrow corridor, overcoming all obstacles in its path; pencils and erasers give way to matchbox cars and then to ramps and stairways formed out of books. The robot that goes the farthest (or, in the event of a tie, the fastest) wins. Here are some tips.

RoboRace Event

RoboRace

A robot races along a twisting and turning line that has a small wall at each end. When it reaches the far wall, it must turn around and race back. When it reaches the starting wall, it must stop. The fastest robot wins.

We are using the rules created by Dr. C. J. Chung in 1999, with the following variations:

• Your robot may be made out of any material you want, and programmed with any language. [You are not limited to the old LEGO RCX-style robots.]
• Robots may use a distance sensor to find the wall. The must be within 15 cm of the wall before turning around or stopping.
• The line will be dark and on a light background; however, it may not be on bookshelves. The referee will consider the robot to have lost the line (a violation causing a restart with the time remaining) if no part of the robot is above the line.
• If the robot turns around and it is not within 15 cm of the far wall, it is in violation. Likewise, if it stops more than 15 cm away from the starting wall, it is in violation.

Here are some line following tips that may help you.