Robotics competitions provide a fun and engaging way to help students develop basic coding and problem solving skills that will serve them well in their academic and professional careers.  

However, costs of purchasing the necessary equipment and tools and traveling to national and international competitions make it difficult for many groups to benefit from these experiences.

Fortunately, it's possible to significantly reduce and even eliminate many of these costs by using standardized, open source parts and designs as the basis for hosting and participating in these events.

While most educational robotics platforms cost hundreds of dollars per unit, it’s possible to build similarly capable devices for under $20 each by using open source Arduino microcontrollers and sensors, servo motors, and 3D printed chassis.

Furthermore, by requiring that all participants use the same standardized design for the competition, it’s possible to remotely participate in national and international events by sharing and uploading code into robot chassis anywhere in the world.

My goal is to create a website that contains everything students need to assemble, program, and test their own competition robot, submit the code to a remotely hosted competition, or even host their own event.

Tournament Robotics will introduce readers to the rules, designs, and coding techniques required to participate in a broad range of robotic challenges.  For example, the current Line Racer project will soon provide the rules, tools, and instructions necessary to remotely host a Line Racer tournament in which independently programmed robots race to follow a twisting line to the end and back again. 

Subsequent projects will describe competitions involving programmable devices that swing from a wire, battle in a water-filled arena, or race to push balls up a slope.  Each tournament will introduce students to a unique robot design with its own set of coding challenges.

Be sure to check out the Code Library for useful C++ classes.