Robofest

Robofest Logo

Robofest is a competition for 5-12 graders.^[1] It is similar to FIRST Lego League (FLL), but while FLL limits the student's robots to Lego Mindstorms robots, Robofest allows the student to use any robotics system, or even custom electronics, in some of the events. In addition, FLL students are required to use parts manufactured by Lego, preventing the use of such aids as string or glue. Robofest was founded by Computer Science Professor Dr. Chan-Jin "CJ" Chung and is sponsored by Lawrence Technological University.^[2]

Robofest is also held internationally, in countries including Canada, Mexico, China, Hong Kong and South Korea.^[3] Teams who win their regional event are welcome to participate at the worldwide tournament held in Michigan.

Competitions

There are a total of seven different competitions in Robofest.^[1]

• Game Competition - Students compete with two robots to work together autonomously to complete the given missions. The missions change per year, and an "unknown challenge" must be adapted to on the competition day.^[4]
• Exhibition - Robotic contraptions to do the designers task.^[5]
• Robosumo - Competing robots attempt to push each other out of the ring.^[6]
• VEX Pentathlon - VEX robots compete in five events.^[7]
• RoboFashion and Dance Show - Costumed robots present themselves on a track.^[8]
• Vision Centric Challenge - Robots drive along a realistic road, stopping at "traffic lights" drawn on the road.^[9]
• VEX Bridge Battle - Two VEX robots compete on a bridge.
• Bottle RoboSumo - Robots compete to either push a bottle or the other robot off of a table.

Competition Levels

• Junior - 5th-8th graders can compete with an easier unknown problem
• Senior - 9th-12th graders can compete with a somewhat harder unknown problem
• Collegiate - College students can compete in the Vision Centric Challenge.

Other RoboFests

The word RoboFest was used for a robot event by the Robot Group of Austin, Texas,^[10] at least as early as 1989.^[11] The Robot Group had a yearly RoboFest through the 1990s.

There are various other RoboFests:

• Malaysia (archived at www.archive.org, archive retrieved 2008-09-01]
• Hawaii
• Maine
• Kansas City
• México^[12]

See also

• Lawrence Technological University

References

1. Robofest homepage
2. Robofest sponsor list
3. "Site Host Websites". Robofest. Robofest. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
4. Robofest Game Competition page
5. Robofest Exhibition page
6. Robofest Robosumo page
7. Robofest VEX Pentathlon page
8. Robofest RoboFashion Show page
9. Robofest Mini Urban Challenge page
10. "The Robot Group". blog.therobotgroup.org. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
11. "The Robot Group _RoboFest 1-1989". www.robotgroup.net. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
12. "Robofest México". Robofest México. Retrieved 2016-08-09.

External links

• Official website