For those of you looking for an introduction into the finer points of robotics, the team is going to be running two tutorials over the coming weeks.
There will be a three part Controls tutorial starting Thursday Nov 12 in RCH 211 and continuing on Nov 19 and Nov 26. There will also be an introductory circuit design tutorial starting Saturday Nov 14th in DWE 3518 and continuing on Nov 21.
During some downtime at the 2009 Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition in Michigan we decided to see exactly what the Polar chassis was capable of. Entertainment ensued.
The Fall 2009 Mini Sumo Competition has Begun!
Registration has closed due to overwhelming interest. We have 30 teams this year!
Captains should have been contacted with regards to tutorials and information on getting started. Everyone needs to be finished by Oct 17th so be sure to attend. Feel free to contact us at robotics@engmail.uwaterloo.ca if you need help or are interested in getting involved with one of our other projects.
We'll be contacting the recruitment meeting attendees who wanted to get involved in our non-sumo projects shortly.
Website updates are in progress, so bear with anything that seems out of date.
Gearing up for Fall 2009!
FALL RECRUITMENT MEETING - Tues Sept 22, 5:30pm in RCH 302
As September edges closer, the UW Robotics Team is getting ready for an exciting term! We will once again be holding a Mini-Sumo competition, this year as part of a series of first-year engineering competitions sponsored by IEEE. The Mini-Sumo competition, which takes place in September and early October, is an excellent opportunity to new students to become acquainted with the mechanical, electrical, and software elements of robotics.
If you'd like to join the team this term, give us a shout at robotics@engmail.uwaterloo.ca, or drop by our lab in E3-2103B!
Argo Autonomy
The Argo chassis is now fully autonomous!
Also interesting - the full video of our first autonomous test.
Mini Sumo Competition
Congratulations to the Powerpuff Boys of BC for winning this year's Mini Sumo Competition and Circle of Current for winning the Judges' Choice Award!
Kodiak RC Test and Other Videos
The Kodiak robot was successfully run off of a remote control yesterday. This video and others can be found on our youtube account:
Mini Sumo Competition
New Members are encouraged to participate in the UW Robotics Team's Mini-Sumo Competition. Teams of approximately 4 or 5 will create mini sumo-bots that will compete to push each other out of a sumo ring. This is an excellent project for anyone with minimal to average experience. For more info, see the Sumo Contest page.
An Information Session will be held on Tuesday September 23 at 5:30pm in CPH 2387. Anyone interested in participating in the competition should attend!
MATE-ROV Competition
Within a week, the UW Robotics-affiliated Underwater Technology Team will be leaving for the 2008 MATE ROV competition in San Diego, CA. Team members are currently putting last touches on "Neo", including a brand new manipulator arm, backplate, and camera gimbal.
RoboGames
The UW Robotics Team recently sent the "Marauder" robot to compete in the RoboGames. Though we were unable to integrate a camera in time, our software was able to compensate enough for the GPS inaccuracy to complete the competition and achieve 4th place. We received many compliments on our robust chassis, and look forward to the year we have to refit the robot for next year's competition.
Team Photo
Even given everyone's busy schedules, we still managed to get around half of the team members out for a team picture out in front of our lab. We tried to take the picture in the lab, but we couldn't fit everyone in at once. Too many robot parts.
Membership Requirement
The UW Robotics Team requires all new recruits to prove their worth by defeating Asimo in two of the following three competitions:
Long jump. Farthest distance wins.
Object recognition. First one to pick out the apple from a group of fruits wins.
Multiplying two 30 digit numbers. Fastest time wins.
