Today we met up in Holywood with the intention of creating, recording, and disassembling the DIY Obstacle Course in a single day... and we did it!
According to the rules, the course needed to be:
loaded up with DIY equipment
include changes in terrain (stone, smooth, etc)
include changes in elevation (ramps, steps, etc)
According to the points, we were going to be judged on:
How imaginitive your obstacle course is – out of 100 points.
The complexity of your obstacle course – out of 200 points.
The amount of humour on display – out of 300 points.
The agility of your robot – out of 200 points.
The following bonus points are also judged:
For remote control robots – the skill of the driver – out of 200 points.
For autonomous robots – the accuracy and maneuverability of the robot – out of 300 points.
Certain control methods gain additional bonus points:
Fully autonomous robots will be awarded a bonus of 400 points.
For remote-controlled robots, if audio commands are used as well, a bonus of 150 points will be awarded.
Well, because we only had a day to make it, and we didn't know what we were going to build until we got there, we were forced to go with remote-control... but we already knew we were imaginative, agile, complex and hilarious, so we weren't too worried about making up points!
Everybody brought whatever DIY equipment they had. Sadly, my parents would not let me bring the chainsaw even though I asked and I am hella responsible.
We built it in the carpark out behind Kevin's office. We forgot to get an overhead photo of it, but here's most of it:
We had ramps and seesaws, big steps, little steps, gravel, bricks, an mess of tangled electrical cords, and even broken glass.
One of the most clever parts of the course was the bridge made from two thin tracks. The tracks were too wide for Stev3 to drive across, so he needed to push the board inward, then go up the ramp and drive across.
And of course, the flaming ramp at the end was nothing short of spectacular. I know the rules say that the robot was not allowed to emit sparks or flames, but it doesn't say anything about the course.
Stev3's middle name is Danger. His driving license says Stevie Danger Three.