[Robocomp] Competition Update 1

[Sam Moore]

Hello everyone,

Congratulations on signing up to the mailing list!

Unfortunately there have been very few signups at the moment (6). I will 
be working on advertising this competition more, but I have been somewhat 
delayed by 3rd year physics assignments (of death). You can help by 
threatening/asking your friends to join, or by recruiting team members.

I propose that instead of holding single formal competitions, we make this 
more informal, with perhaps one day/night a month organised where people 
can come to ucc and show off their creations. If interest increases 
throughout the year we can then consider holding a larger competition.

I am still keen on having the first event in the study break; several 
people have already begun making a robot so those who haven't should 
hurry up and start something! To pick a date I would choose the Friday 
(29th April), but this is open to change and I still have to 
make sure 
the committee and/or guild don't object.

The 29th of April is only a few weeks away, so here is a conservative 
challenge:
1. Build a chasis for your robot
2. Mount some motors and have some way for them to move forward
   (You can just hookup a switch directly to the motors if you want)
3. If you are interested in the sumo competition, see if/how far/how 
quickly you can push a ~1kg brick a distance of 1m

More "scientific" people should be able to choose their motors and 
gearing system to be able to do this. If you can't push the brick, 
consider a lower gearing ratio and more powerful motors.

If you can do all three of these, you will be well on your way to having a 
working sumo bot!

The UCC is of course open throughout the week and has a lot of tools and a 
project bench for anyone who wants to use them.

Please mail to this list with your thoughts. If you are already building 
something (or have a plan), feel free to tell everyone what you are going 
to do.

tldr; see above

Sam Moore [SZM] matches
UCC Ordinary Committee Member 2011