Objective
This contest is about creating a robot that will fight another robot in a field of combat where brute strength and strategy followed will win the ultimate battle! The challenge is to create a robot whose sole purpose is to push, throw, flip, drag, or otherwise move your opponent out of a 4-foot diameter circular ring within three minutes.
The Ring
Robot Sumo Wrestling takes place in a level, circular ring 4 feet in diameter with a 1" black border around the rings periphery. The surface of the playing field is white laminate.
The Play
The robots are placed in the ring 1-foot apart and equal distance from the center of the ring. The robots are set down parallel to each other and facing opposite directions so that autonomous robots must actively search for their opponent and not merely "steamroll" straight forward. When both contestants are ready, the judge will signal the start of the three-minute round at which time the robots may be activated. No movement must occur before the official start (no posturing). The robots will proceed in combat until one unit is disabled or removed from the ring. In the event of a tie at the end of three minutes, the teams will be awarded a point each.
A robot whose body, wheel, or other support stays on the round table during a bout is not considered `off' until it physically tips or is unable to recover from that position (i.e. no traction). Judgments made by the ring officials are final. If a robot crosses over the black border while searching for the opponent, it is not considered “off” as long as it returns to the ring immediately.
If both robots are unable to continue because of entanglement or deadlock, then the clock will be stopped and the robots will be returned to the starting position and the bout restarted.
There will be a four-tier fight schedule. First, the teams will compete in groups of 5 robots. Each team will have 4 matches in these groups. A win will bring 2 points, a tie will bring 1 point, and a loss will bring zero point. Top two teams from each group will advance to the next round of competition. The second round will be a loser out- tournament between 12 teams and there will be 6 matches. At this round, the match will continue until a clear winner is determined. At the end of this round, 6 remaining teams will be paired for another loser out round. The remaining 3 teams will once again compete with each other using the point system and a 1, 2, 3 ranking will be reached at the end. In case there is a tie in points, the two teams will have a final sudden death match until a clear winner is determined.
Contests will start at the times shown on the posted schedule, however, in the event a robot fails to respond, the ring officials may grant no more than ONE, three minute delay for minor adjustments, provided the failure occurs at the start of a bout. At the end of each round, the contestants are responsible for making sure the ring is clean and ready for the next round to the satisfaction of the judges, or the contestant who produced the mess may be disqualified. This includes all debris or marks remaining on the ring.
The Robots
The robots must fit within a 25 cm by 25 cm square in the starting position, but may expand to any size once the contest begins. The height of the robot is unlimited. The robots must weigh no more than 2.5 Kilograms. Autonomous robots must contain all motivational intelligence within its structure. No cues or instructions may be provided from outside the ring. Robots may be turned on or initialized by hand at the beginning of the match, then must be left to their own devices.