Servo - August 2010

BRIGHT IDEA

Students at KAIST and Yonsei University in South Korea have created a robot called Mung that they hope will instill the spirit of sportsmanship in players at events like the World Cup 2010. Mung was originally conceived as a “language purification” robot which would change color upon detecting profanities in elementary schools and at home — similar to the idea of a “swear jar” only without the monetary penalty. It was also used to promote the clean and safe use of nuclear energy.

Image credit: HelloDD

SPARKFUN ANNOUNCES ANTI-ASIMOV CONTEST

Do you love robots? Do you love destruction? Are you tired of the same old robot competitions? SparkFun has just the thing for you: the SparkFun Antimov competition. Based on Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, this competition challenges you to design a robot which breaks the laws of robotics (well, except for hurting humans, of course). A robot is traditionally designed to perform a complex task as efficiently as possible. Building a competent and efficient robot that completes its task unharmed is so last year, according to contest organizers.

SparkFun wants you to build a robot that completes a trivial task in the most inefficient and laborious way possible. Oh, and it needs to destroy itself doing so.

This competition focuses less on engineering abilities and more on creative ingenuity.

There is a $300 cash first prize, but this event is definitely more about the glory.

This is an incomplete list of the rules and is subject to change.

1. Robot must be autonomous. The only external control is a required kill switch which can be wired, but if so, must prove to not be a control mechanism.

2. Robot must complete at least one task performed upon an object external to itself.

3. Robot must destroy itself after the completion of the task in Rule 2.

4. Robot may use any prop, structure, or external device that can be placed in and removed from the exposition area. It can also use any of the existing features in the exposition area.

5. Robot cannot violate Asimov's first law, i.e., no hurting humans, and must have a reliable kill switch if something goes more wrong than intended.

6. Robots will be given three chances to complete their performance. If at any point during the performance the designer wishes to stop the robot, she/he can do so without penalty, up until the third run.

Scoring: Scoring will be based on a set of four criteria, listed below. Each category is 25 points for a possible total of 100 points.

1. Inefficiency (0-25 points) - the inefficiency of the initial task. The more complicated and inefficient, the higher the score.

2. Pointlessness (0-25 points) - the pointlessness of the performed task. The more trivial the task, the higher the score.

3. Drama (0-25) points) - the dramatic element to the robot's self-destruction. The more poetic, creative, and dramatic the death, the higher the score.

4. Destruction (0-25 points) - the completeness of the robot's self-destruction. The more in-operable and devastated the robot is at the end of its performance, the higher the score.

Prohibited Items: This is a partial list only. Each applicant will be required to send in a project proposal for review by a third party safety panel. If the delivered project is not as safe or safer than the proposed project, the competitor will be disqualified. SparkFun reserves the right to prohibit any item or items it feels will compromise the safety of the competition, its participants, or spectators.