Servo - December 2012

The History of Rob t Combat:

Robot Combat in Brazil

● by Morgan Berry

In recent years, robot combat has expanded to have a large international following. Countries all over the world have adapted the sport in unique ways. Many countries currently have robot combat events, including Australia, England, Germany, and the Netherlands. One country that has a particularly active community is Brazil.

Professor Marco Meggiolaro at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro works with students at the university to build some of the most competitive robots in the world, including the renowned Touro series of bots. Prof. Meggiolaro also wrote the Riobotz Combots Tutorial, an incredibly helpful tool for builders.

Several large events are held in Brazil every year; one of the most notable of these is RoboCore. Prof. Meggiolaro gave me all the details on RoboCore, the Riobotz Tutorial, and much more.

FIGURE 1. The Riobotz team shows off their trophies and bots.

I see your most recent event was in early November. Tell us about it. What was the same as others, what was new?

Since 2005, there have been two national combat events in Brazil: Winter Challenge and the ENECA. The latter is the annual meeting of control students and engineers. However, unfortunately, the ENECA event does not include combots anymore — after 2009 — so the Summer Challenge was created last year. Same event, same rules, mostly the same competitors.

How about a little history on RoboCore. How long, how many, what's changed?

[RoboCore] started with the first Winter Challenge in 2005. Their arena was a huge upgrade from the one used between 2001 and 2004 in Brazil in the ENECA event. Since then, the Winter Challenge has been held every year. They also became the main organizers of the ENECA events from 2005 to 2009, and now the Summer Challenge, in its second edition.