I normally don't referee robotics competitions in January, but there were too many events going on this weekend and not enough refs to go around.
Relic Recovery is this year's theme for the Tech Challenge - the competition that's a step above Lego robots, but smaller than the 3-foot robots you always see on the news in the spring.
The game has an
Indiana Jones flavor with many ways to score, but it also has a 42-page book of rules - mostly of things you can't do (hence my job). However, like most competitions early in the season, the robots aren't sophisticated enough to do more than a few tasks, so mostly I just do a lot of cheering and put things back together when the robots tear them apart. The hardest part for me was remembering all the names for the scoring pieces so I could get it right on the score sheet.
The game starts with the robots on the balancing stones. They have a 30-second autonomous period - no remote control driving; the robots have to score on their own. True, some of the tasks are a little tricky like knocking one of the jewels off the holder or putting a glyph into the cryptobox, but a robot could get 10 points just by driving off the balancing stone. I'm always dumbfounded by how many robots just sit there. It's like a 2-line program. I think even Baby Violet could do it.
But then the 2-minute driver-controlled part starts and it gets a little more exciting, because all four robots are going for the same 48 glyphs in the middle of the field. Lots of robots lost some screws, wheels, or tank treads, but I only saw one robot flip itself over.
After the qualifying rounds, the top 4 teams get to choose their "alliances" - 2 other teams to run in the final rounds. All the team captains stand in a line hoping to be picked. I think the fox didn't have the greatest robot, but was hoping to be picked for its personality.
It's always a goofy fun day working with kids (and adults who act like kids). I think the part I like best about this job is that the vertical stripes in my ref shirt make me look skinny. Forget Boot Camp; I'll just go to robotics meets.
