LVBots Challenge 3.0 - May 5, 2007
Our fifth robot competition was held back at Rancho High School in Las Vegas. We had 24 robots competing in the 5 different events, including our new Dead Reckoning competetion.
The Best Of Show award went to Jan Malasek for Road Rage.
We would like to thank our sponsor for their gracious prize dontations:
 Pololu Robotics |
Mini Sumo Results
We had 9 entrants in the mini sumo event.
As we did last competition, the preliminary events were a chance for every bot to have a single battle with every other.
Then the top 4 from the preliminaries went on to a single elimination bracket of best 2 of 3 battles.
| Robot | Builder | Preliminary Wins | |
| 1st Place | Happy Jr. | Byon Garrabrant | 7 wins |
| 2nd Place | Ultra Violet | Jan Malasek | 7 wins |
| 3th Place | Invid | Jon Bosley | 5 wins |
| 4th Place | Borg | Kely Small | 6 wins |
| Striker | Josh Bosley | 3 wins | |
| Bucky 2.0 | Scott Garrabrant | 3 wins | |
| Flat Spat | Kely Small | 3 wins | |
| Dory | Jon Bosley | 2 wins | |
| Mr. Happy | Byon Garrabrant | 0 wins |
Line Following Results
We had 7 robots competing in this event.
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 4, and then had a single elimination bracket to
pick the winners.
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 | Jack Rabbit | Jon Bosley | 41.50 seconds |
| 2nd Place | Laser | Byon Garrabrant | 44.47 seconds |
| 3rd Place | Blue Lightning | Byon Garrabrant | 53.11 seconds |
| 4th Place | Quixo | Scott Garrabrant | 1:40.76 |
| What's That Smell? | Jan Malasek | DNF | |
| Mr. Wiggles | Nicholas Bliech | DNF | |
| Big Ugly | Candice Kamachi | DNF |
Line Maze Results
We had 4 competitors in the Line Maze event.
The first 3 bots showed a sign of realization of solving the maze, so all received the 0:10 bonus removes from their time.
| Robot | Builder | Time | |
| 1st Place | CD Mazer | Byon Garrabrant | 7.43 seconds |
| 2rd Place | Quoridor | Scott Garrabrant | 31.34 seconds |
| 3rd Place | Square | Jan Malasek | 1:08.92 seconds |
| Black Pearl | Kelly Small | DNF |
Pool Race Results
Our second Pool Race only brought 2 robots, but they bothg ran very well.
Bots started equally spaced around the track, and had to complete laps around the track, while hopefully passing other racers.
| Robot | Builder | ||
| 1st Place | Road Rage | Jan Malasek | 1:11.66 |
| 2nd Place | Dog's Pants | Ben Schmidel | DNF |
Dead Reckoning
We created a new event for this competition, a Dead Reckoning contest.
Bots needed to drive around 3 bottles without knocking them over, then return to the starting spot as accurately as possible, and as quickly as possible.
| Robot | Builder | ||
| 1st Place | Genesys II | Byon Garrabrant | 5.5" - 53.41 seconds |
| 2nd Place | Dead Vex | Eric | DNF |
Event pictures
Here are a few pictures from the event.
Genesys II used a laser to measure its distance
The Dead Reckoning event
Dead Vex knocked over a bottle
Black Pearl running the maze
Laser Line Following
Mr. Happy vs Happy Jr.
One our smallest and largest bots
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