SRG Day 1

date: 2008-01-09 05:39:00 +08:00 category: robotics

I usually pass by the Science Center on my way to NUS. Today is the first day of the Singapore Robotic Games so I figured I will pop by and have a look and grab lunch at Jurong East before heading to school.

There are three events being held this morning, namely:

• Underwater Robot Competition
• Autonomous Sumo Robot Competition
• Robot Colony Competition

The Robot Colony Competition was the most interesting for me as it involves an interesting combination of hardware and software. In this event, teams must build a pair of autonomous robots that has to collect a number of pellets (blue and green) and deposit the correct colored pellet into a designated hole. There are two collection holes (one for each color) at two opposite corners of the playing field. The playing field is black except for reflective tape at the borders and collection holes. See the YouTube video below for an example.

The robot hardware needs to be able to sense the colored pellets on a black featureless platform and have an effective mechanism to separate/store/deposit the two types of pellets. The software components needs to handle localization of the robot and coordination/information sharing between the two robots.

Looking forward to the Robot Soccer Competition tomorrow.