Stateside with Rosalea: The robots in my machine

A couple of weeks ago, I checked out the RoboGames at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Took lots of photos, and a couple of videos, interviewed some folks, and thought I’d write something about it for Werewolf.

Alas! Mechanical failure on the part of my Big Olde Mac means that the robots are trapped inside its cold dead heart, and you will never get to see Elizabeth Baron and her brother Wande, who were minding the Robot Power table. They come from the tiny town of Roy, WA, where their Dad Chris owns a business that is “dedicated to providing and supporting economical motor and motion control solutions for a wide variety industrial, research, hobby, and military/police applications.” Lucky for him, Fort Lewis is just next door.

For sale on their table were tiny motors for Bot Hockey robots. Bot Hockey is one of the sports contested at the RoboGames. Teams of three radio- controlled robots compete to score goals in a small arena. There are three different weights of robots “to allow players of all ages and skill levels to compete and have fun. Bot Hockey rewards teamwork and driving skills more than exotic materials and expensively built robots.”

Nor will you get to see Amy Jenkins, who was there selling Cozy Robots, but you can see her creations on their very own blogspot here . “Are these semi-automatic robots?” I asked, thinking of the F&P semi-automatic washing machine I used to have, which required a human operator to make it work. On reflection, I doubt she understood what I was talking about—“semi-automatic” has a quite different meaning here in the U S of A, otherwise known as the N R of A.

Strictly speaking, all the robots I saw required human operators to work them. One team at the Sumo ring was nattily dressed in khaki pants and T- shirts with the IEEE logo on them—electrical engineering students from some college. Their bot was immediately pushed straight out of the ring twice in a row by a bot operated by a more motley crew. So much for higher education!

But the big attraction was the Big Perspex Cage, where bigger bots got to duke it out for three minutes at a time causing serious damage to each other. After all what’s a bot without a buzz saw or a flame thrower? No photos of either I’m afraid. But you can see a professional audio slideshow on CNet, or go to the RoboGames website itself.

And if you’re desperate, you could also watch the video I posted on YouTube. The postproduction was done by the movie making robot that came with my laptop. The young man who features prominently in it was part of a team from Pasadena, CA, called ThinkTank. He was sitting amidst the wreckage of all their robots from various weight classes. Although he fits what you might think is the stereotype of a bot-builder, you’d be surprised at the gender, age, and ethnic diversity of robot gamers.

rosalea.barker@gmail.com

--PEACE--

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