I don't referee the big robot contest. I'm usually involved with some other project or out of town. But today was a warm sunny day, so I decided to take a break and go down to see the practice rounds. These robots are about 3 feet on a side with thick red or blue bumpers around the base (they help to protect the electronics when the robots start going crazy). The robots are remote-controlled by students standing at either end of the playing field. This year's robots were playing a ball game - kind of a cross between soccer and basketball. They threw the balls through big rectangular goals at the ends of the playing field. If the robot accidentally throws the ball out of bounds, one of the students on the sidelines can throw the ball back in to the robot. It's kind of strange to watch people and robots playing ball together. This year's event is being held at St Louis University. Since Bruce likes basketball, I took him with me to watch a couple rounds - it was cheaper than a MIZZOU game.
