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April 15th, 2000 RoboRama.01a Results
Held at The Science Place, Fair Park, Dallas, TX
An estimated crowd of 175 were on hand to see the robots and watch the 12 robot contestants compete for prizes, glory, and self-satisfaction. This RoboRama included the Line Following, Quick Trip, T-Time, and Can Can contests. Many great prizes were donated by various companies and several of the local media were present to report on the event.
View this RoboRama in the Photo Gallery, or get the video from Gold Leopard Productions.
RoboRama 2000.a Contestants:
- Eye Reckon - Clay Timmons
- Growbot - James Vroman
- Growler - Michael McQuay
- Jackbot - David Drummond
- LegoBot - Anderson Team
- Mindstorms - Jonathan Anderson
- MinitBot - James Koffeman
- Ortho of Borg - Dennis Draheim
- Robot 1 - Travis Trotman
- Snailbot - David Peterson
- SR04 - David Anderson
- Torbot - David Martineau
RoboRama 2000.a Can Can:
- 1st Place Can Can: SR04 - David Anderson
- 2nd Place Can Can: MinitBot - James Koffeman
SR04 & MinitBot were the only contestants in the Can Can contest. SR04 collected 5 (almost 6) of the 6 soda cans strewn about the course earning 200 points and 1st place. MinitBot knocked over several, but collected none. Smart young James realized that would probably be good enough to place -- and with 48.6 points he did!
RoboRama 2000.a T-Time
- 1st Place T-Time: Eye Reckon - Clay Timmons
- 2nd Place T-Time: LegoBot - Anderson Team (Jonathan & David)
- 3rd Place T-Time: MinitBot - James Koffeman
- Torbot - David Martineau
- Ortho of Borg - Dennis Draheim
Eye Reckon narrowly beat LegoBot to the finish line with a time of 61 seconds (vs. LegoBot's 64) resulting in a winning score of 114 points! LegoBot tried 2 different algorithms to see which resulted in a better score and came in 2nd place with 96.3 points. 3rd place MinitBot scored 70.3 points and completed the course in 154 seconds without touching any walls. The world premier (?) of Ortho of Borg, weighing in at 50+ pounds, mesmerized the crowd with sound effects including some sort of Borg-like scream. Ortho had a nice 1st run . . . except it didn't quite cross the line in Area B. On Ortho's 2nd run a critical drive motor smoked and the Borg's muscular transport team rushed into the arena for a rescue. Torbot was one of many "carpet casualties" and despite many valiant efforts either got stuck on unruly seams or became victim to the friction coefficient.
RoboRama 2000.a Quick Trip
- 1st Place Quick Trip: Eye Reckon - Clay Timmons
- 2nd Place Quick Trip: LegoBot - Anderson Team (Jonathan & David)
- 3rd Place Quick Trip: MinitBot - James Koffeman
- Jackbot - John Drummond
- Torbot - David Martineau
- Mindstorms - Jonathan Anderson
- Snailbot - David Peterson
Eye Reckon glided across the finish line in 40 seconds to take 1st place with a score of 101.3 points. LegoBot's best run came in at 47 seconds scoring 81 points and 2nd place. MinitBot coming in at 113 seconds, and a score of 51 points for 3rd place, narrowly beat out Mindstorms who came in at 52 seconds but did not get the 15 bonus points for avoiding walls. Mindstorms completed with a score of 44 points. Stately looking Jackbot marched down the course only to suffer from some sort of IR (?) hallucination and did not complete. Torbot gave the carpet a good enough fight to reach Area B, but was unable to make it back to the finish line. Even an all-nighter brain transplant the night before, a fancy snail body, and many last-minute tricks were not enough to help 1st time Robot, Snailbot (a.k.a. Robosnail), defeat the insatiable carpet monster.
RoboRama 2000.a Line Following
- 1st Place Line Follower: Eye Reckon - Clay Timmons
- 2nd Place Line Follower: SR04 - David Anderson
- 3rd Place Line Follower: Growler - Michael McQuay
- Growbot - James Vroman
- Snailbot - David Peterson
- Robot 1 - Travis Trotman
Eye Reckon's single big eye flawlessly tracked the line to complete in 66 seconds, scoring 120 points for 1st place. SR04, who completed in 73 seconds with a score of 105 points to get 2nd place, sported pincer mounted line-following sensors which were a big hit with the crowd. 3rd place went to the up-and-coming Growler who didn't complete but did score 14.6 points. Growbot and Snailbot both became early victims of the carpet and despite heroic efforts never could reach Area B. Robot 1 (another 1st time Robot) impressively launched itself down the course several times, easily recognized as the fasted on the track, but unfortunately quickly lost the line and unmercifully slammed into the crowd protection safety barriers -- keep an eye on this young 'Bot!
RoboRama 2000.a Special Awards
Youngest Builder: MinitBot - James Koffeman
James Koffeman at 10 years of age was the youngest competitor in the RoboRama 2000.a contest. As you can
tell by the rankings above, age didn't seem to be much of a hinderance to this young Bot builder.
Best Dressed Robot: Ortho of Borg - Dennis Draheim
Removing a silver quilted night-coat (BBQ pit cover?), Ortho of Borg revealed a splendidly smoked cubic
plexi-glass outer-shell. The cubic shell sported a practical yet elegant T-handle (antennae?) used to
majestically transport Ortho from zone to zone. A pair of dull black wheels on each side of the cube
topped off the effect bringing silent tears to the eyes of all in attendance!
My Robot Fried: Ortho of Borg - Dennis Draheim
Ortho of Borg woke up the morning of the RoboRama to a day just like any other day, except . . .
<twinge!> <spasm!> <sputter!> smoke rises from the main drive motor. "No problem,"
said Bot Builder Draheim. "That's why we have a backup!" Just a short while later while taking the spare
through its paces... <phzzzzzt!> AAAAAAARGH! Spare motor died! With just moments to spare, the Borg
collective re-assimilated the combined motor components to form the one true motor. Valiantly the one true motor
made it through round 1 and then halfway through round 2 tragedy strikes! <poof!> <sputter... sputter...>
The Borg decide to call it a day and Ortho sits dejectedly in the middle of the arena waiting patiently to
rejoin the collective.
Congratulations to All the Contestants, & Special Thanks to:
Contest Committee:
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The Science Place
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Prize Sponsors:
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