Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

Now I get to the second (and last for the term) robotics competition we had, which was a boxing event.

I would give my fourth place award to the two teams that did not rely on the common design of a motor spinning on top like a helicopter rotor (with wheels of different shapes and sizes as their ‘gloves’, which two thirds of all the teams used. These two groups came up with an arm at the bottom just like they did for the Defend the Line robot.

The only problem, which is why they are only get lowest mention, is that they did not make their bases heavy enough for some of their competitors to be knocked down. Instead most of the time, they just pushed themselves away, and had to be returned to their original position six inches away from the body of the opponent.

Third honorable mention is the group that used the rubber bands (supposed to be for driving gears) to secure their robot’s body. This shows that they anticipated the possibility that their design might fall apart, which was actually what lost the matches for the non winners rather than a knock down. There were some students who complained of that strategy, but in fact we allowed it because they still used parts that came from the kits.

Second place goes to a robot that first of all had a revision of the helicopter rotor side puncher, in which they made TWO arms. So imagine an old lady swinging two heavy purses at an attempting robber simultaneously at a tilted angle. This double attack from unexpected directions was what made it reach the top two slots in the competition.

Besides that, they also used several tires to place as heavy back ballast for their robot. That made them more difficult to knock down.

But the champion trophy (and the highest grade) goes to a robot that had four extension feet that plunked down whenever the body was tilted over. This was because of a light sensor placed at the base of the robot (which necessitated a write floor for its matches). Usually the sensor would be in the dark, but as soon as it tilts, light hits the sensor, the white floor is seen, and the supports come down. Of course, our rules on the dimensions of the bases required that the supports cannot be in the down position all of the time, so after a predetermined amount of time, the struts would go back up. But it was enough to secure the top place.

Besides that, there was an additional program that the arms would only swing (and punch) after a delay from when the robot was tilted, sort of like catching the opponent off guard.

All in all it was another great display of the students’ creativity.

The culmination of the contest was not what we expected though, which I will have to discuss next time, as well as the start of finals week and some other teacher practices I have not encountered before. For now, class dismissed.