technologies available to view. This
year, one of the entertaining things
I saw were the new OLLO robots
from Robotis. This is their new series
similar to LEGOs. There was a whole
OLLO village on a table. Some of
the OLLOs were electronic so they
could move and actually be active,
such as the animals and the Ferris
wheel. Next to all of those booths
is a large pit area where all of the
actual robot-looking things are. The
majority of them are about a foot
tall and can actually dance and box
other robots. These are a lot of fun
to watch because of all the different
movements they can make. It is
incredible to watch them dance.
They move almost like a real
person would and to me that is just
amazing.
After all of that, there is a small
box enclosure about 15 feet long
where the hockey bots perform. I
loved watching the hockey bots this
year. They were definitely one of my
favorite events. Two teams would go
at a time with three robots each
that weighed 12 pounds and they
would play for a total of about 15
minutes. There was a regular puck
in the arena and whoever scored
the most goals won. It was very
fast-paced and exciting!
Next, the event that I go for
and know the most about is the
combat robots. This is the main
event of the weekend and goes on
almost nonstop. Combat robots
compete by weight classes. It starts
at 150 grams and goes all the way
up to 340 pounds! I personally
enjoy the larger ones better because
I think all the work that goes into
them is amazing and some of
them are totally massive. They are
incredible works of art and I love
seeing all of the different robots
that people come up with. Each is
unique in their own way. Some
combat robots have spinner
weapons, while others have
wedges. There are many types of
weapons that can be used.
In the combat robot fights, two
robots from the same weight class
RoboGames draws an all star
line-up of combat robots.
enter the huge arena at a time.
They have three minutes to fight
each other. If one person feels like
their robot is getting beat up too
badly, they are allowed to “tap out”
which basically means they forfeit
the rest of that fight and the other
bot wins. Otherwise, you have the
full three minutes to knock your
opponent out of the arena, make
them so that they cannot move
anymore by getting them stuck, or
just be more aggressive.
It was apparent how important
it is to have good driving skills to do
this and also to keep going towards
your opponent because that will
let the judges see that you are
not intimidated and will get you
more points.
Like I said before,
I love watching the
larger robots because
it is awesome to see
them crash into each
other and go flying
through the air. This
year at RoboGames
there were over 500
different robots and
people from 19
countries to compete.
I encourage
anyone who has not
gotten to experience
RoboGames to come
out next year, June
19-21, 2009. It really is a lot of fun
and there is so much to see. Each
year, the technology expands and
there are always new robots to
check out. It is also a wonderful
thing for families to come to
together. The kids love it because of
the different robots all over the
place, so that keeps them interested.
You’ll also see R2-D2s and other
cool robots just walking around the
grounds. People come out thinking
they will stay for just a couple of
hours, but then it turns into one day
and then they even come back on
Sunday a lot of the time. There
really is so much to see and it is all
so different and exciting. So, hope
to see you next year! SV
Fans of a different kind of fighting pose
in front of the combat robot pit area.
SERVO 09.2008 31
