This is the Century High School Science Olympiad Robot Arm that competed at the Minnesota 2012 State Science Olympiad tournament with 32 other teams. I built and ran this remote control robot arm for the tournament, placing 8th (due to unforeseen problems). I am about to graduate high school (in 3 days!) as a legal adult (having turned 18 after the state tournament), and built this over the course of my senior season on the Science Olympiad team. This wasn't my first time dappling in Remote Control Robots, as my previous Instructable, How to Make a Sumo Bot (Science Olympiad 2011 Rules), but was my first time building a robotic arm.
Here's a brief overview of the competition:
Science Olympiad is a team-based science competition with events ranging from so-called "study events" to "lab events" to the menacing "build events." Robot Arm was one of these "build events." The event consisted of building a Remote Controlled Robotic Arm to pick up as many objects and place them in containers made out of half gallon milk jugs to score as many points as possible during a 3 minute period of time.
This robot arm is clearly not the most sophisticated or most complicated robot arm ever made, but it gets the job done, while recycling parts, learning about Remote Control systems, and using common (and cheap!) building materials with a few motors to make a functional robot arm to pick up and move things around.
Here's a brief overview of the competition:
Science Olympiad is a team-based science competition with events ranging from so-called "study events" to "lab events" to the menacing "build events." Robot Arm was one of these "build events." The event consisted of building a Remote Controlled Robotic Arm to pick up as many objects and place them in containers made out of half gallon milk jugs to score as many points as possible during a 3 minute period of time.
This robot arm is clearly not the most sophisticated or most complicated robot arm ever made, but it gets the job done, while recycling parts, learning about Remote Control systems, and using common (and cheap!) building materials with a few motors to make a functional robot arm to pick up and move things around.
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Signing UpStep 1: Rules of the Competition
Now for the extended overview of Science Olympiad, and specifically, the Sumo Bots competition:
Science Olympiad is, as I stated previously, a team-based science competition. Competitions include Invitationals hosted by schools around the state, Regionals, State, and Nationals. According to the Science Olympiad National website, soinc.org, Science Olympiad has been around for 28 years, and "has led a revolution in science education." Teams, for Division C (high school division), are made up of 15 members, who participate in multiple events, usually with different partners for each event. Events range from "lab events", such as Chemistry Lab and Forensics, to "study events", such as Ornithology and Fossils, to "build events", such as Gravity Vehicle and Robot Arm.
For Robot Arm, specifically, the robot has specific construction parameters, required documentation, a specific competition area and competition details, and a unique scoring system, as the two rule sheets outline.
Science Olympiad is, as I stated previously, a team-based science competition. Competitions include Invitationals hosted by schools around the state, Regionals, State, and Nationals. According to the Science Olympiad National website, soinc.org, Science Olympiad has been around for 28 years, and "has led a revolution in science education." Teams, for Division C (high school division), are made up of 15 members, who participate in multiple events, usually with different partners for each event. Events range from "lab events", such as Chemistry Lab and Forensics, to "study events", such as Ornithology and Fossils, to "build events", such as Gravity Vehicle and Robot Arm.
For Robot Arm, specifically, the robot has specific construction parameters, required documentation, a specific competition area and competition details, and a unique scoring system, as the two rule sheets outline.
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It is such a great time and i hope your team had a good season! Keep up the great work!