Servo - June 2012

from our very generous event sponsors Finger Tech Robotics ( www.fingertechrobotics.com), Pololu ( www.pololu.com), Parallax ( www.parallax.com), BotBrain Educational Robots ( www.bot brain.com), and SERVO Magazine ( www.servomagazine.com).

EVENT REP RT:

Gulf Coast Robot Sports Completes its 10th Event

January 2012 marked the 10th South Florida Insectweight combat event from Gulf Coast Robot Sports (GCRS). Since March 2009, veteran robot builder Jim Smentowski has been hosting these events every 2-3 months at The Robot MarketPlace store in Bradenton, FL. They usually average 15-25 bots ranging from 150 grams to three pounds. Robot builder and announcer extraordinaire, Seth Carr, has set up a live webcast of recent events so audiences from around the world — even friends from Puerto Rico and Canada — can sit at home and root for the South FL builders via comments on the feed as they settle the score in the 8 x 8 arena.

In the summer of 2010, GCRS 5 marked the first Insectweight event for our team — Busted Nuts

● by Andrea Suarez

Robotics — after years of building 120 lb bots. After several weeks of building our new robots, we loaded up the car and started the 3. 5 hour trek from Miami to Bradenton. We pulled into The Robot Marketplace and were instantly welcomed by the familiar enthusiasm for new competitors and new bots that is so common in this sport.

Eleven year old Reid Kauffman joined the GCRS group for his first robotics event at GCRS 9. He brought his own Antweight robot — a modified RC car with a custom Lexan wedge body — and competed as his friends cheered him on. He was eager to learn as much as he could from all the competitors and he came back with an added ice pick weapon for GCRS 10. He even challenged a Beetleweight, DejaVoodoo, to a grudge match.