Student "edition" found at {csi dot journalspace dot com}.

Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.
In the first meeting of my second class for Introduction to Robotics for the thirteenth week of the third term, we had the second batch of preliminary confrontations.

In this set of teams, there were more disputes about the bases more than anything.

One team, for example, started out with a ten by twelve stud base, but places two “legs” in front, so that only those legs and the back edge of the base were touching the floor. When measured though, the distance between the two points was farther than ten by twelve, so that had to be disqualified.

Another group asked if they could use a wheel laying flat on the ground as their base, so that their robot could swivel. I said that I would allow it if the other groups did not complain, but they did, even though the new design would have been bottom light and would have been easy to topple if they tried.

By the time of the trial competition, this group still had a base that was not up to regulation, but there was no time to change it, so they fought with that base under the promise to put it back to regulation by the next meeting.

I also clarified the rule that if the robots are still standing at the end of the three minute battle, then the number of times that they tilted, even though the robot did not fall, and the number of dislocated parts would be counted against them.

There was also a special emphasis made by the teams to ensure their opponents that they did not use any batteries to weigh down the bases of their robots, and this was evident when for one group, while they hit their opponent, the base would dance because of how light it was.

When one group asked if someone could continually push the robots forward during the match in case they weren’t reaching each other anymore, I told them that it would be me who will move the robots closer, except if they had legs that would serve that purpose programmed.

I also gave them fair warning about what the teams in the other class were doing, and were planning.

Session 1067’s base is too big. Class dismissed.