Tag Archives: RoboColumbus

RoboColumbus Plus -2024: Results, Robot Interviews, and Run Videos

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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 / RobotRun 1Run 2Run 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.

 

DPRG Monthly Meeting – RoboColumbus-Plus Canada RESCHEDULED– October 26, 2024

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Join DPRG on October 26, 2024, 10:00AM CDT, at the Dallas Maker Space for a group meeting. The Canadian RoboColumbus Plus Competition to be held in the Stoney Creek, Onterio area has been rescheduled to coincide with the local competition in Farmersville on November 23rd.

At this month’s meeting, Dallas area competitors in next month’s local RoboColumbus-Plus competition, are encouraged to show-and-tell the current progress of their robots.

Pizza will be served at Noon. The meeting is open to all.

note: The featured image of this article is part of an inside DPRG running joke with our Canadian members.

RoboColumbus-2023: Results, Robot Interviews, and Run Videos

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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 / RobotRun 1Run 2Run 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 NamedTarg 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. 

RoboColumbus-2021 Results

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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.

 

RBNV – Robot Builders Night Virtual – Aug 17, 2021

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Meeting Video:

Chat Record:  Chat record (PDF)

When

• August 17, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CST).
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.

How

• Join Hangouts Meet https://meet.google.com/hey-jxuo-esf
• Or join by phone ‪+1 405-586-5598‬ ‬ PIN: ‪682 931 335 #‬

Why

• Talk robots & related stuff.
• Make it easier for people to attend DPRG remotely.

Agenda

• Round table – everybody spends a couple minutes telling what projects they’re working on.
• Ad-hoc presentations – Whoever would like to show & tell.
• “Stump the club” Challenges – Ask for help if you’ve hit a roadblock in your project. Somebody in the club can probably get you pointed in a good direction – or even arrange a side bar session to help.

Note: We record a video of these sessions and post them on the DPRG YouTube channel. By joining the meeting, you’re giving consent to be included in the recording

RBNV – Robot Builders Night Virtual – Aug 10, 2021

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Meeting Video:

Chat Record:  Chat record (PDF)

When

• August 10, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CST).
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.

How

• Join Hangouts Meet https://meet.google.com/hey-jxuo-esf
• Or join by phone ‪+1 405-586-5598‬ ‬ PIN: ‪682 931 335 #‬

Why

• Talk robots & related stuff.
• Make it easier for people to attend DPRG remotely.

Agenda

• Round table – everybody spends a couple minutes telling what projects they’re working on.
• Ad-hoc presentations – Whoever would like to show & tell.
• “Stump the club” Challenges – Ask for help if you’ve hit a roadblock in your project. Somebody in the club can probably get you pointed in a good direction – or even arrange a side bar session to help.

Note: We record a video of these sessions and post them on the DPRG YouTube channel. By joining the meeting, you’re giving consent to be included in the recording

RoboColumbus-Plus Remote Location Guidelines and Rules Update

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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.

RBNV Birthday and RoboColumbus Contest Details

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RBNV’s Birthday

DPRG’s virtual meeting replacement for Robot Builder’s Night Out (RBNO), named Robot Builder’s Night Virtual (RBNV), has celebrated its first year anniversary. RBNV’s initial meeting was held on March 24th, 2020. The meeting has been very successful, joining hobby roboticists from many locations including New Zealand, Canada, and around the USA, to the DPRG community. The talent and creative projects of these new friends has been invigorating to the club. RBNV has also inspired the club’s 2021 team project of developing a standard API and robot for tele-presence.

August RoboColumbus Competition Details

The competition webpage on dprg.org has been updated with all the information concerning the upcoming RoboColumbus contest on August 21,2021. If you are interested in either competing or coming to watch the fun, it is a must read. The revised rules for this year’s RoboColumbus event allow RTK-GPS and have increased the weight limit to 65 pounds. You need to read the rules document for information on other changes. One interesting change is the new prize for anyone who achieves at least one point (i.e., drives within 10 feet of a cone). All contestants that score at least one point will receive a custom RoboColumbus coffee mug that will only be rewarded for this event. The custom  mug for contestants that achieve a score of nine will receive a special mug that has the message “Perfect Score” added to the design. The top three places will also receive an additional prize.

RoboColumbus Plus 2016 Results

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Avondale Park in Denton, TX provided an excellent venue for RoboColumbus Plus 2016 held on November 19th. The weather was a brisk clear Autumn day. Contestants and spectators all had a great time watching the robots make their attempts at the course. This year’s course was the most challenging course in RoboColumbus history.

robocolumbus_nov_2016_home_to_1st_cone_x
Image of home cone showing first target cone in the distance

RoboColumbus is an outdoor robot competition that was patterned after the RoboMagellan competition run by Seattle Robotics Society. RoboColumbus was always meant to be a training ground for DPRG members to improve their outdoor rover knowledge and be simpler than RoboMagellan. It started out as a course with one cone that was positioned about 50 feet from the starting line in a clear path. Participating robots drove autonomously from the starting line to the cone. The robots received points if they touched the cone and stopped.

In 2014, the distance between the starting cone and the target cone was increased to 100 yards. The path between the starting line and the target cone continued to have no obstacles. However, the course could have high grass, holes, and other terrain irregularities. The robots could score points for: coming close to the cone and not stopping (1 pt), being close to the cone and stopping (1 pt), touching the cone and stopping (1 pt).  A perfect score was 3 points.

In 2015 the name was changed to RoboColumbus Plus and  the course was expanded by an extra cone that had no clear path from the first target or home cones. The distance between each of the 3 cones (target 1- clear path, target 2 – obstacles in path, and home cone – obstacles in path) was kept at 100 yards. Scoring was similar to what was done in 2014. A prefect score was 9 points. Time of run determined winners when multiple robots achieved 9 points. This new contest and scoring method has worked well for both beginning and seasoned contestants. It allows beginners to see progress, yet challenges seasoned roboticists.

This year three roboticists participated. Two robots, jBot and B.U.R.P., scored perfect scores of 9 points. The remaining robot, Rover 3, came close to all three cones to score 3 points. B.U.R.P, which participated in the 2015 RoboColumbus Plus sported major improvements this year. Besides major software enhancements, it had a completely new obstacle avoidance sensor array with motorized pitch adjustment, new encoders, new IMU, and also added a camera and GPS. The winning robot, jBot, has achieved perfect scores for 2 years running.

robocolubus_nov_2016_winnersDoug Paradis (rover3 – 3rd),   David Anderson (jBot – 1st),   Scott Gibson (B.U.R.P. – 2nd)

 

The robot runs can be seen on youTube at RoboColumbus Plus 2016