LVBots Challenge 2.0 - May 6, 2006
Our third robot competition was held at Durango Hills Community Center / YMCA in the north west area of Las Vegas. We had 36 robots competing in the 3 events, and many new builders we had not seen in our previous competitions.
Jan Malasek did exceptionally well, taking First Place in All Three Events! Congratulations Jan!
We would like to thank the following sponsors for their gracious prize dontations:
 Pololu |
 Solarbotics |
 Parallax |
 Wright Hobbies Robotics |
 Nubotics |
 Make: Magazine |
 Norland Research | |
Line Following Results
Robots had to make 3 laps around the track without falling off, and were given 2 chances to do this.
We started with preliminary races to determine the top 8, and then had a single elimination bracket to
pick the top 4 winners. Although Laser had the shortest time, it fell off the track twice during the
semi-finals which allowed What's That Smell? to take first place.
The line following track had 12 straight tiles, and 24 curve tiles, for a total 3 lap length of about 2821 cm.
| Robot | Builder | Best Time | |
| 1st Place | What's That Smell? | Jan Malasek | 0:37 seconds |
| 2nd Place | Blue Lightning | Byon Garrabrant | 0:53 seconds |
| 3rd Place | Laser | Byon Garrabrant | 0:36 seconds |
| 4th Place | Big Ugly | Candice Kamachi | 0:41 seconds |
| Quixo | Scott Garrabrant | 1:14 | |
| Spare Parts II | Rick Rowland | 1:29 | |
| Boe Leg | Dave LeBlanc | 1:52 | |
| Blue Lightning | Amber Zeigenbein | 2:00 | |
| DK1 | Dennis Krostoski | 2:05 | |
| Manly Bug | Sean Jahanpour | 1:47 | |
| Lonely Rider | Julie Tognoni & Michael Narrison | 2:27 | |
| Crimson | Mike Griffith | 2:29 | |
| Line Walker | Josh Beltran | 2:42 | |
| Lil Angel | Angel Penaloza | 3:50 | |
| Spare Parts | Eric Schmidthuber | - | |
| First Time | Leslie Dalton & Kim Krempel | - | |
| Herrmann | Jaime Nikiton & Michelle Foucault | - | |
| Rajha | Wendy Lindow & Angela Denari | - |
Mini Sumo Results
The Mini Sumo preliminary events were a chance for every bot to have a single battle with every other.
Then the top 8 from the preliminaries went on to a single elimination bracket of best 2 of 3 battles.
We had 4 competitors who did not know that there was a size limit, and built bots from Lego Mindstorm kits, so they turned out a bit too large, but the judges decided to allow them to compete anyway.
Although Ultra Violet was in 8th place in the prelimininary rounds, it went on to take First Place Sumobot!
| Robot | Builder | Preliminary Wins | |
| 1st Place | Ultra Violet | Jan Malasek | 6 wins |
| 2nd Place | Crimson | Mike Griffith | 10 wins |
| 3rd Place | Guess What? | Erwin & Rob | 8 wins |
| 4th Place | Junk Man | Eric Schmidthuber | 10 wins |
| Happy Jr. | Byon Garrabrant | 12 wins | |
| Below Average | Jan Malasek | 8 wins | |
| Bucky 2.0 | Scott Garrabrant | 7 wins | |
| Digger | Kelly Dehner & Tamara Cook | 6 wins | |
| M and M | Meehan & MaryBeth | 5 wins | |
| Quarto | Scott Garrabrant | 5 wins | |
| Big Ed | Jeremy & Amber Zeigenbein | 4 wins | |
| Lil Brandon | Brandon Summers | 4 wins | |
| Mr. Happy | Byon Garrabrant | 3 wins | |
| Timmy | Timmy Garrabrant | 2 wins | |
| Lil Josh | Joshua A Beltran | 2 wins |
Line Maze Results
We had 3 competitors in the Line Maze event. All three solved the maze perfectly after the initial exploration.
All three also showed a sign of realization of solving the maze, so all received the 0:10 bonus removes from their time.
It was very close, but Square pulled off the First Place Win.
| Robot | Builder | Time | |
| 1st Place | Square | Jan Malasek | 0:31 seconds |
| 2nd Place | Clyde | Byon Garrabrant | 0:32 seconds |
| 3rd Place | Quoridor | Scott Garrabrant | 0:56 seconds |
Event pictures
Here are a few random pictures from the event.
2012-05-17
6:00-6:10 Random robot stuff: questions, things in the news, videos, etc.6:10-6:15 Introductions & group matters
6:15-6:45 LED Strip AVR Assembly - David
6:45-6:50 Anything else people want to show off
6:50-7:00 Topics for upcoming meetings
At ~7pm we will adjourn to Applebee's for general discussion.
Add yourself here!
2012-05-03
6:00-6:10 Random robot stuff: questions, things in the news, videos, etc.6:10-6:15 Introductions & group matters
6:15-6:35 Tim: IR remote
6:35-6:45 Eric: Vintage Electronics
6:45-6:55 Anything else people want to show off
6:55-7:00 Topics for upcoming meetings
At ~7pm we will adjourn to Applebee's for general discussion.
2012-04-19
6:00-6:10 Random robot stuff: questions, things in the news, videos, etc.6:10-6:20 Introductions & group matters
6:20-6:40 Zumo demonstration
6:40-6:50 Anything else people want to show off
6:50-7:00 Topics for upcoming meetings
At ~7pm we will adjourn to Applebee's for general discussion.
2012-04-05
6:00-6:10 Random robot stuff: questions, things in the news, videos, etc.6:10-6:20 Introductions & group matters
6:20-6:40 Nathan: Google Sketchup intro
6:40-6:50 Anything else people want to show off
6:50-7:00 Topics for upcoming meetings
At ~7pm we will adjourn to Applebee's for general discussion.
2012-03-22
6:00-6:10 Random robot stuff: questions, things in the news, videos, etc.6:10-6:20 Introductions & group matters
6:20-6:40 ???
6:40-6:50 Anything else people want to show off
6:50-7:00 Topics for upcoming meetings
At ~7pm we will adjourn to Applebee's for general discussion.
2012-03-08
6:00-6:10 Random robot stuff: questions, things in the news, videos, etc.6:10-6:20 Introductions & group matters
6:20-6:40 Jan: MOSFETs
6:40-6:50 Anything else people want to show off
6:50-7:00 Topics for upcoming meetings
At ~7pm we will adjourn to Applebee's for general discussion.
2012-02-23
6:00-6:10 Robot help - ask questions about anything6:10-6:20 Introductions & group matters
6:20-6:40 Jan: Switches
6:40-6:50 Anything else people want to show off
6:50-7:00 Topics for upcoming meetings
At ~7pm we will adjourn to Applebee's for general discussion.
2012-02-09
6:00-6:10 Robot help - ask questions about anything6:10-6:20 Introductions & group matters
6:20-6:40 Emily: RGB LED Halloween Costume
6:40-6:50 Anything else people want to show off
6:50-7:00 Topics for upcoming meetings
At ~7pm we will adjourn to Applebee's for general discussion.
2012-01-26
6:00-6:10 Robot help - ask questions about anything6:10-6:20 Introductions & group matters
6:20-6:30 Kevin - Zumo prototype and QuadBot
6:30-6:50 Kevin - I2C
6:50-7:00 Nathan - Quick intro to 3D scanning with Davidscanner (free version).
At ~7pm we will adjourn to a nearby bar or restaurant for general discussion.
2012-01-05
Neil and Michael: Navigation project with TReX JrEric and Mark: Big Traxx
Kevin: 5m LED strip synchronized with music
Ryan/Paul: General organizational discussion for LVBots
At ~8pm we will adjourn to a nearby bar or restaurant for general discussion.
2011-10-27
Show and tell: everyoneVintage electronics: Eric
Dual VNH5019 Motor Shield RyanTM
2011-10-13
David: New servo control library for the WixelNathan: Hackerspace Status Update
2011-09-29
Kyle S: Heathkit HERO jr. Robot from 1984, educational robot. it has a few problems.
Nathan: ST L6384E H-Bridge MOSFET driver troubleshooting.
David: AVR Studio 5 demo, featuring the Pololu USB AVR Programmer
RyanTM: New arduino shield
2011-09-15
2011-09-01
Dave: 2-way wireless communication with PICAXE using Wixels
Brian: RGB led strip demo
RyanTM: exciting new motor driver
Kevin: IMU board (gyro+compass+accelerometer) demo
2011-08-18
Paul G: reflectance sensor demo (requested by Paul I)
Dave/Paul/Kevin: Try to wirelessly program a PICAXE - should be much easier since they just use RX, TX, and GND.
2011-08-04
Paul I: Line follower
Dave: Request a demo of how to wirelessly connect a Parallax Sumobot with a serial interface to a computer using Wixels. I have the Sumobot and will purchase the Wixels.
2011-07-21
Paul I: HexapodDiscuss contest ideas.
Dave: Flea and Ant fighting robots (live demo), Boy Scout Electronics Merit Badge Kit (before and after assembly) and a FingerTech motor controller demo.
Andy H: DSO QUAD pocket oscilloscope
Kevin: Tank chassis sumo battle
Paul G: new shiftbrite LED modules
2011-07-07
David: Programming the ATmega2560 with ICSPRyanTM fun small-robot drive: link
2011-06-23
Kevin: more tracked chassis examples using new tracksNathan: Sailboat motor regeneration bench demo
2011-06-09
Kevin: 3d gyro
RyanTM: Wixel Shield for Arduino
David: Programming the Wixel on Linux and maybe a Mac
Someone: new current sensors
2011-05-26
Kevin: building a tank chassis with Tamiya plates and Pololu wheels & treads
Nathan: Regenerative Motor Control Demo (Untested!!)
2011-05-12
RyanTM: new Satellite LED modules (003, 004)
Ben: 25D gearmotors
Ben: tank treads and bolts
Ben: m3pi POV LEDs
Jan: USB microscope
2011-04-28
Kevin: Wixel i2c interface demos - wireless compass and barometer
RyanTM: m3pi (a board for mounting an mbed on a 3pi)
Mark: ?
2011-04-14
Kevin: Wixel wireless tilt mouse and joystick
Paul: new robot arm from Dagu, several new metal gearmotors
2011-03-31
David/Kevin/Paul: new Wixel apps
2011-03-17
David: Deskpet Robot Body from Shapeways
David/others: Wixel
2011-03-03
Paul: Scorbot-ER III robot arm (dropped off by Eric O)
Nathan: Even more regenerative electric motor stuff (batteries included).
2011-02-17
Nathan: Regenerative electric sailboat motor part IIKevin: wireless robot with Rover-5 tank chassis, wixel, and Arduino SVP
David/JanH: wixel bootloading software
RyanTM: AutoHotKey demo (easy way to control servos and other things with a keyboard or joystick)
RyanTM: CHR-UM6 Orientation Sensor
Fang/Paul: torque meter
2011-02-03
Nathan: Regenerative electric sailboat motorRyan: Wirelessly controlled 3pi Robot
Ben: 25mm-diameter encoder motors
2011-01-20
Kevin/Ryan: 3d compass / accelerometerDavid/Kevin: wireless serial port
Paul: absolute encoder
Travis: mbed-based robot ?
Kevin: wireless router robot
Henry: XMOS
2011-01-06
Ryan: barometric pressure sensorByon: removing email addresses
Byon: email requesting help with Sahara West Library robotics program (see Yahoo Group)
David & Kevin: wireless serial port demo
2010-12-16
Henry: XMOSHenry: Windows CE touchscreen computer
Aaron (visitor): demoing his REVO 1 robot
JanH: update on Pololu AVR library support for OSX
RyanM: Relative humidity sensor.
Byon: Minimal progress on the encoder bot chassis
2010-12-02
David: mbed robot racing videoRyan: Demo of computer cable for Agilent meters
Paul: Demo of Octobrite DEFILIPPI driving 24 LEDs
Jan H: Preview of support for Pololu AVR Programmer
Kevin: Demo of 20x4 Character LCD with LED backlight