SETTING UP WORKSHOPS,
DEMONSTRATIONS, AND
COMPETITIONS
DEMONSTRATIONS, AND
COMPETITIONS
Robotics is an exciting and fun hobby and one that can attract a lot of interest by getting
together with other hobbyists or club members and staging a public event where many
people can watch and interact with the robots. The event could consist of different robots
battling it out in various competitions, a chance for your club to demonstrate what its members’
robots can do, or a workshop to give people a chance to experiment with robots on
their own. Organizing an event can be a lot of fun and will bring some favorable publicity to
you and your robotics club. Here are a few things to consider when putting together a show.
The first order of business will be deciding where the event is going to take place. There are
many different public locations to choose from, including schools, community centers,
libraries, and shopping plazas. All these locations should have a room large enough to
house four or five large "pit" area tables for work to be done on the robots along with a
competition/demonstration area big enough for at least half of the robots to be operating
at any one time. Chairs for a gallery should be arranged around the competition/demonstration
area and a table for the judges and organizers should be placed in such a way that
the entire room is visible. Fig. 40-1 shows a basic floor plan for just such an area.
This layout will allow the competitors/demonstrators the ability to perform last minute
tweaks of their robots and give them ready access to the areas the robots will be running in. It will also make it obvious for visitors where they should be at any given time and not
get in the way of the competitors or potentially stepping on robots. Often rooms will have
large glass areas to bring in the sun. These areas should be to the backs of the gallery so
visitors are not squinting from the sun to see what is going on. Before arranging chairs and
tables, a few minutes should be spent surveying the room and deciding where everything
should go.
Along with taking time to think about where to place tables and chairs, you will also have
to think about how to run power, network, public address and video wires and cables. Ideally,
the cables should run around the perimeter of the room and be taped down to the edges of
the floor to prevent any potential trip hazards. This is not always possible, so the cables
should be located away from high-traffic areas and taped down with Gaffer’s or duct tape.
If video displays are to be used in the room, then their screens should be located at a convenient
location, away from where people will be traveling. The same goes for video projectors.
Ideally they should be suspended from the ceiling, but if this is not possible, they
should either be put on a raised platform or in a location where it is unlikely people will walk
through.
Setting up the room is one thing, while a major headache will be ensuring that all the basic
needs are met. These include paying rent for the room and any administrative/custodial
costs of the venue, getting insurance for the event (if it is required), making sure washroom
facilities are open and available, as well as providing the opportunity for everyone to get
refreshments. A major concern is child management; often a parent that is interested in the
event will bring along small children hoping to interest them in robotics. These concerns can be surprisingly major and can result in having to go through several potential venues before finding the one that works best with your resources.
In today’s environment of reduced funding for public facilities, you will probably find
yourself having to rent the space. These costs can range from very nominal to very expensive.
Along with this, a security deposit may be required to ensure that any damage will be
paid for. Asking how much the room will cost should be your first question, even before how
big is it and what days it is available.
Finding the money to pay for this can be difficult and may require a deposit up front and
charging admission to visitors and taking a cut from selling refreshments. Club dues may be
sufficient to pay for the venue, but this use should be agreed to well before the event. Fees
can be minimized or avoided all together if the event is cosponsored by another group, such
as a Boy Scout Troop, which already has the venue. In this case, the event could be primarily
for the other group to observe and participate in.
Along with money for renting the space, you may have to arrange for liability insurance
for everyone attending. The venue should have some arrangements already made that you
can take advantage of in terms of getting a reduced rate as well as minimizing the amount
of work required to arrange the insurance. Insurance should always be purchased if it is not
provided as part of the rental of the venue; more than once somebody has broken a window
moving chairs or tripped over a robot or sumo platform and injured themselves. The
small headache of making sure you are protected will save you a much larger one if something
happens later.
Biological needs should also be considered. Washrooms should be close by with no
chance of anyone locking themselves in (or if they do, somebody with a key is available).
Water, soda, doughnuts, and other snacks should also be available (proceeds can go to the
robot club, the rental of the room, or prizes). The venue’s management must be consulted
on these issues to make sure that washrooms are available and to understand any rules they
have regarding providing refreshments.
Finally, you should plan for younger children that are going to be bored with what is
going on. While robots are generally fascinating for the general public, to toddlers and small
children they are little more than animated toys that will become objects of frustration when
they discover they can’t pick them up or play with them. Some distractions that will make
the event run smoothly include having a TV and a DVD player set up showing children’s
movies (animated movies are a good choice because they are engaging for a long period of
time), and boxes of blocks or building materials should be available for the children’s play
and minimizing conflicts over who has a certain toy. Chances are that some of the people
involved in the event will have small children, and they can help plan for the children’s
entertainment while the event is going on.
Competitions are very popular for the people taking part in the event as well as members
of the public. In Table 40-1 a number of popular event types are listed along with web sites
where you can get more information about them. For many types of events, the organizers
will have to provide sumo rings, scales, size gauges, and so on.
EVENT TYPE |
WHERE TO FIND INFORMATION |
Sumo-Bot |
Robots are designed to search out and push another robot outside of
a circular ring within a given amount of time. A set of rules for the different
classes can be found at
www.sorobotics.org/RoboMaxx/sumo-rules.html |
Lego |
Lego Mindstorms competitions involve teams that are given the task to
design a robot that will compete in some area against other robots.
Ideally, the teams are given the design constraints and are allowed to
start building before visitors enter to avoid them spending time watching
teams do nothing more than talk amongst themselves. Ideally, visitors
should be allowed in when the robots are being tested before the
competition begins. |
Firefighting |
Robots are given the task to find a candle in a house-like maze and
extinguish it in the least amount of time. The Trinity College Fire Fighting
Robot Competition is one of the most widely accepted, and their
rules can be found at
www.trincoll.edu/events/robot/Rules/default.asp |
Line Following |
Design a robot that can follow a meandering path accurately in the
least amount of time. The typical track consists of a white surface with
a black line about  in wide. Curves should have no less than a 4 in
radius. |
Maze Following |
Maze-following robots are very popular and instructive for competitors
to build. Rules for maze-following robots are generally finding the
robot that can negotiate a random maze in the least amount of time.
There doesn’t seem to be a standard for the size or complexity of the
maze. |
Combat Bots/Laser-Tag |
Combat robots like the ones shown on television (e.g., RobotWars)
are not reasonable for the open venues discussed in this book. But
there are analogs to combat that can be performed that are very
entertaining, such as laser-tag modified for robots. Circuitry for a
type of laser-tag (called IR Tag) can be found at www.tabrobotkit.com |
BEAM Robot Games |
There are many different BEAM robot competitions available. Many
of them are variations on the different competitions listed in this table.
BEAM robots are generally inexpensive and easy to make, which
makes them ideal as a way to get high school students interested in
robotics. A list of BEAM robot competitions can be found at www.nis.lanl.gov/projects/robot/ |
Best . . . |
Coming up with fun categories such as “best dressed” robot or “best
robot dance” can be entertaining and fun for competitors and
observers alike. This is an excellent way to introduce robotics to children
and get them to start thinking about how robots work and are
built. |
In
Table 40-1, you may have noticed that the FIRST (“For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” www.usfirst.com) competition and other organized competitions
are not listed. These competitions are generally large, centrally organized affairs that
would be difficult to stage at a local or small level. This does not mean if you are part of a
FIRST team that you cannot set up demonstrations of your robot, but you should recognize
that it will be difficult for you to set up your own FIRST robot competition.
It should go without saying, especially after the discussions regarding insurance and liability,
that the competitions should be safe for the audience, competitors, and the venue
they are taking place in. You should watch for robots that break the rules in ways that could
result in injury or property damage such as a sumo-bot that has a powerful flipper for its
competition, a LEGO robot that has a spinning action which could end up throwing parts,
or a laser-guided robot that can shine laser light into somebody’s eyes. You should make
sure to note in the competition entry form that any robot felt to be unsafe will not be
allowed to run or compete.
Coming up with ideas for prizes for a robot competition is something that requires a great
deal of imagination and perseverance. Poor prizes will be received graciously, but well
thought out prizes will really excite the competitors and have them coming back for more.
Really, there is no such thing as a bad prize and the winners are sure to walk away happy
no matter what they get, but the perfect prize will not only be enticing for future events but
be an excellent advertisement for your group in the future.
Imagination is required to come up with appropriate prizes for different people and their
different skill, education, and resources. Having said this there are a number of different
prizes that are always well appreciated. Tools that are appropriate for robot building such
as rotary (Dremel brand) cutters, thermostatically controlled soldering irons, microcontroller
development kits, and, ironically, robot kits themselves are always appreciated. Toys that
mimic robots on TV or movies are good for a chuckle and will be valued for being more
than they are worth. Homemade plaques and trophies, especially made from robot parts,
are probably the most special type of prizes and ones that will be a source of pride for the
winners for years to come.
Of course, the authors’ books are considered to be the most special prizes that a competitor
can receive.
Having chosen the prizes, you will then have the task of figuring out how to pay for
them. Again, many methods for paying for the venue can be used for raising money for
prizes. Local retailers and manufacturers can be approached for donations of tools and
equipment but care must be taken to ensure that you do not appear greedy or unwilling to
work with the supplier and their corporate guidelines for giving.
With the planning complete, the venue chosen and all the arrangements made, you will
want to let people know that the event is going to take place. Today the obvious method for
disseminating this information is either through email or updating your group’s web page. Unfortunately, these methods are probably not going to be as effective as you would like as
the only people that will see these announcements are those who are actively involved in
robotics. Ironically, you will have to use more traditional methods of communications.
Flyers should be left at community centers, libraries, schools, and local bulletin boards. A
phone number and a web site should be available for people to find out more about the
event as well as allow them to print out a page they can put up in their home to remind
themselves of the event. You might want to ask people to register to come to the event to
give you some idea of how many people will be coming.
Community newspapers will often mention your event free of charge and may send a
reporter/photographer (they are usually one and the same) to cover the event. They will
usually require an email notifying them of the event. You should first contact the newspaper
to learn the procedure for submitting your event (including learning the lead time for publishing
on a specific date) as well as how reporters are assigned to stories. Most newspapers’
assignment editors task reporters to different events that morning. To maximize the chance
that a reporter will be sent to your event, make sure that you send a media alert email to the
assignment editor the day before so it is in their pile of events to cover. The same procedure
should be followed for local TV stations.
Remember that it is not unusual to not have reporters come to your event, no matter
how hard you work to make sure the newspapers are aware of it. Community events like
yours are given to reporters based on whether they will be in the area, and if it is possible
for them to make it to the event, and whether a “big story” is happening.
So far in this book the “From Here” sections of each chapter have been introspective—
pointing you to different chapters of the book to get information reinforcing what is discussed
in the chapter or giving you additional background information needed to work
through the topics covered.
Having reached the end of the book it is really time for you to go “From Here” and start
experimenting with your own robot.
Remember that the first goal is to have fun, and the second goal is to learn. Chances are
your first attempt at designing and building your own robot will be long and arduous and will
require you to perform a lot of redesigning, rebuilding, and reprogramming to get it to work
exactly the way you want it to. When the robot starts working and running about on its own,
all the hard work that took place to get you there will become totally worth it.
Try not to feel discouraged that it took longer than you expected or that you weren’t as
smart or as efficient as you thought you were; instead celebrate that you have built a robot.
It will get easier as you build additional robots and you should feel proud that you have done
something that only a small fraction of humanity has accomplished.
The authors look forward to hearing from you, seeing your creations, and we hope that
if we meet in competition, your robot won’t be better than ours.