DPRG will hold its 29th Roborama competition this May 24. See https://www.dprg.org/roborama-2025/ for details on location and schedule.
The competition is a chance for competitors to test their robots againest other robots.
Everyone is welcome to either watch or compete.
DPRG’s RoboColumbus Outdoor Rover competition for 2024 was held on November 23. The competition was hosted by the Edward’s family, which is greatly appreciated by DPRG. The morning started out with the course layout. Donuts and coffee were provided for the judges and competitors. While the course details were finalized and the cone waypoints handed out, competitors made final checks on their robots and used the practice cones to set up vision systems. At midday, pizza was served, then the competition started. Each competing robot was allowed 3 runs. Winners were based on the best runs of each robot. Everyone had a good time.
Results:
| Competitor / Robot | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 |
| Paul Bouchier / MowBot 1st place | 4 | ⭐9⭐ | – |
| Scott Gibson / B.E.L.C.H 2nd place | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| Scott Gibson / T.U.R.D 3rd place | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Ray Casler / Flakey mug winner | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| David Steele / Marty mug winner | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Robot Interviews:
Paul Bouchier – MowBot: MowBot Interview
David Steel – Marty: Marty Interview
Ray Casler – Flakey: Flakey Interview
Scott Gibson – B.E.L.C.H: Belch Interview
Scott Gibson – T.U.R.D: T.U.R.D. Interview
Carl Ott – Duct Tape and Bailing Wire: Duct Tape and Bailing Wire Interview
Robot Run Videos:
Paul Bouchier – Mowbot: run-1 – run-2 Paul achieved the first “perfect score” had at the Edward’s property on run 2.
Scott Gibson’s B.E.L.C.H. robot: run-1 – run-2 – run-3A – run-3B
Scott Gibson’s T.U.R.D. robot: run-1 – run-2 – run-3
Ray Casler’s Flakey robot: run-1 – run-2 – run-3
David Steel’s Marty robot: run-1 – run-2 – run-3
Robot run videos are very helpful in showing the unexpected tribulations that the robots endure while attempting the tasks of the competition. Even runs that did not go well often have lessons.
Here are the robots that participated in DPRG’s Roborama-2024. Click image for larger view.
DPRG held its 28th Roborama competition and its first concurrent international robotics tournament (USA and Canada), with live participation and interactions from both / all venues. The event was successful with epic enthusiasm by all participants and spectators. Unfortunately, the video was lost due to technical difficulties. However, it is hoped that some run videos and robot pictures may make it to the web site. So, look for further updates. The results are below:
Roborama – 2024 Competition – June 1, 2024
Local: Dallas Maker Space, Carrollton, TX, Remote: Stoney Creek, Ontario., Canada
| Contest | Place | Contestant | Robot Name | Score/Time |
| Quick Trip – Wheeled | 1st | Mark Reynolds | PwPw | 7 – 8:86 |
| Remote Quick Trip – Wheeled | 1st | Tom Crawford | One Trick Pony | 6 – 27:08 |
| Quick Trip – Wheeled | 2nd | Scott Gibson | YAR | 7 – 10:43 |
| Remote Quick Trip – Wheeled | 2nd | Pat Caron | Wooden Monster | 6 – 53.26 |
| Quick Trip – Wheeled | 3rd | Harold Pulcher | Jimbot | 7 – 12:20 |
| Quick Trip – Non-wheeled | 1st | Paul Bouchier | PiDog | 6 – 2:05 |
| Remote Quick Trip – Non-wheeled | 1st | Jon Hylands | Roz | 5 – 38.22 |
| Quick Trip – Non-wheeled | 2nd | Doug Dodgen | DougDog | 6 – 2:22 |
| Quick Trip – Non-wheeled | 3rd | Doug Paradis | GimpDog | 5 – ?? |
| Four Corners (12-ft sq) | 1st | Scott Gibson | YAR | 2.125” |
| Remote – Four Corners (8-ft sq) | 1st | Pat Caron | Wooden Monster | 2” |
| Four Corners | 2nd | Mark Reynolds | PwPw | 2.875” |
| FourCorners | 3rd | Scott Gibson | CanMan | 3.5” |
| Six-Cans | 1st | Scott Gibson | Can Man | 6 – 2:40 |
DPRG’s RoboColumbus Outdoor Rover competition for 2023 was held on November 18. The competition was hosted by the Edward’s family, which is greatly appreciated by DPRG. The morning started out with the course layout. Donuts and coffee were provided for the judges and competitors. While the course details were finalized and the cone waypoints handed out, competitors made final checks on their robots and used the practice cones to set up vision systems. At midday, pizza was served, then the competition started. Each competing robot was allowed 3 runs. Winners were based on the best runs of each robot. Everyone had a good time.
Results:
| Competitor / Robot | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 |
| Scott Gibson / B.E.L.C.H 1st place | Targ 3 Chall 3 6 Home 0 | Targ 3 Chall 3 8 Home 2 | Targ 3 Chall 3 6 Home 0 |
| Ray Casler / Not Named mug winner | Targ 0 Chall 0 0 Home 0 | Targ 3 Chall 0 3 Home 0 | Targ 0 Chall 0 0 Home 0 |
| Paul Bouchier / MowBot 2nd place | Targ 0 Chall 0 0 Home 0 | Targ 2 Chall 0 4 Home 2 | Targ 2 Chall 0 5 Home 3 |
| Scott Gibson / T.U.R.D 3rd place | Targ 0 Chall 0 0 Home 0 | Targ 3 Chall 0 4 Home 0 | Targ 0 Chall 0 0 Home 0 |
| Raj Prabhakar / Not Named | Targ 0 Chall 0 0 Home 0 | Targ 0 Chall 0 0 Home 0 | Targ 0 Chall 0 0 Home 0 |
Robot Interviews:
Paul Bouchier – MowBot: https://youtu.be/YolhCBCL1M0
Raj Prabhakar – not named: https://youtu.be/y2wCjd1kKZo
Ray Casler – not named: https://youtu.be/V-3ihW_hVs0
Scott Gibson – B.E.L.C.H: https://youtu.be/VLsHgy2Qr9w
Scott Gibson – T.U.R.D: https://youtu.be/AgF3U74yt9k
Robot Run Videos:
Paul Bouchier – Mowbot run-1: https://youtu.be/i_Vaz9umCDk
Paul Bouchier – Mowbot run-2: https://youtu.be/7xMSVBU_tXM
Paul Bouchier – Mowbot run-3: https://youtu.be/PuKplhWdNf4
Ray Casler’s un-named robot run-1: https://youtu.be/5_KFftKTdU8
Ray Casler’s un-named robot run-2: https://youtu.be/t8kH0OlS9BA
Ray Casler’s un-named robot run-3: https://youtu.be/ZcI92QCcK7Y
Scott Gibson’s B.E.L.C.H. robot run-1: Run not recorded
Scott Gibson’s B.E.L.C.H. robot run-2: https://youtu.be/DWkmYp8ATOU
Scott Gibson’s B.E.L.C.H. robot run-3: https://youtu.be/0nnqIz4XzYo
Scott Gibson’s T.U.R.D. robot run-1: https://youtu.be/l3wp4BWpVxw
Scott Gibson’s T.U.R.D. robot run-2: https://youtu.be/lReMMvJhqbM
Scott Gibson’s T.U.R.D. robot run-3: https://youtu.be/2VgmgBYOIx8
Raj Prabhakar un-named robot run-1: https://youtu.be/Mw6jTA4_pjE
Raj Prabhakar un-named robot run-2: https://youtu.be/OqOZXEvrUEo
Raj Prabhakar un-named robot run-3: https://youtu.be/XyGGVH5PbN0
Robot run videos are very helpful in showing the unexpected tribulations that the robots endure while attempting the tasks of the competition. Even runs that did not go well often have lessons.
Roborama, DPRG’s May indoor competition, was held on May 13th. There were three competition contests conducted:
The results were:
| Contest | Place | Contestant | Robot Name | Score/Time |
| Quick Trip | 1st | Harold Pulcher | JimBot | 7 – 12:53 |
| Quick Trip | 2nd | Scott Gibson | Can Man | 7 – 18:00 |
| Quick Trip | 3rd | Mike Williamson | 6 Pack | 7 – 21:53 |
| Four Corners | 1st | Carl Ott | HoverSim | 0.75” |
| Four Corners | 2nd | Doug Paradis | Club Bot | 1.75” |
| FourCorners | 3rd | Mike Ivison | BenTher | 6.00” |
| Six-Cans | 1st | Scott Gibson | Can Man | 6 – 2:07 |
| Six-Cans | 2nd | Ray Casler | Tin Man | 6 – 5:28 |
A good time was had by all.
When
• November 12, 2022
• Competition Details
Winners
• Scott Gibson – 1st place (3 points – fastest time)
• Ray Casler – 2nd place (3 points)
DPRG held its first non-virtual robot competition since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic on June 18, 2022. The pandemic brought many bad things, but one good outcome was the many friends that the club gained in its weekly virtual meetings. This year’s competition included a method for competitors which do not live in Dallas area to compete by submitting YouTube videos on the day of the contest of robot runs at their location. It worked very well. We hope to grow the number of remote competitors in future competitions.
Results
• 4 Corners Local: 1st Scott Gibson (1-5/8″), 2nd Doug Paradis (2-1/4″). 3rd Carl Ott (4″)
• 4 Corners Remote: 1st Pat Caron (1-1/8″),
• 4 Corners Spinning/Pirouette Demo Local: 1st David Anderson (16-1/2″), 2nd Carl Ott (94″)
note: Local course was 9′ per side, Remote course was 8′ per side.
• 6-Cans: 1st Scott Gibson (6 cans – 1:52), 2nd Ray Caster (6 cans – 2:30), 3rd Jack Jones (6 cans – 5:30)
Next Competition
RoboColumbus, an outdoor autonomous rover contest, will be held in October of 2022. See competition tab for details.
DPRG’s RoboColumbus-2021 competition was exciting and successful, with over 30 attendees and 7 competing robots. In an exciting climax, 2nd place was taken by Raj Prabhakar in the very last run of the competition. This is the first year that RoboColumbus included remote location competitors. Pat Caron competed from Baldwin Ontario, Canada. This is definitely a contest feature we will be repeating next year. The local course was laid out by the competition’s site host, Steve Edwards, and he denies adding extra potholes. A special thanks goes to Trina Edwards, Steve’s wife, for hosting the event at their home and property. Trina made sure that the robots and their keepers all had lunch, snacks, and drinks throughout the day.
Competition Results:
Place Robot Builder Robot Name
1st Scott Gibson T.U.R.D.
2nd Raj Prabhakar/Carl Ott Duct Tape & Bailing Wire
3rd Ted Meyers Skipper
A lot of video was taken at the contest, which will require much editing. Look forward to a highlights video and photo gallery in the near future. When available it will be placed on the site as a separate post.
The RoboColumbus-Plus competition page has been updated with guidelines detailing how to join this year’s competition from a remote location. DPRG hopes that the many friends and potential friends who can’t travel to the local Dallas competition can join by setting up a remote course and using Google Meet to participate in the fun and challenges of an outdoor rover competition.
The RoboColumbus-Plus rules have been updated to add a new contest category and challenge. Participants now have the option of running their robot in the “robot-planned” category and taking the 3-waypoint challenge. In this challenge, the robot must depend completely on it algorithms to complete the course with only 3 target waypoints. The robot’s owner is not allowed to pre-walk the course during the competition or use additional waypoints besides the 3 given by the judges.
