Here is the club President's line follower.

This entry stays right on the line.

There is another picture of John's robot.

We ran the course both ways!

We even had a tethered entry.

It was so interesting to look at, John's robot turned into a camera magnet!

Many of our designs were implimented by from a childs toy.

Some liked Basic Stamp controllers...while others just wanted the pure power of an assembly  language programmed microcontroller.

 This is our tethered friend.

Overview:
This contest is a typical line following type, follow a line and beat the clock. Each player gets three tries and keeps the fastest score.
Overall fastest one wins.

Who can Enter:
Any "regular" member can enter, by that I mean anyone who's come to at least two meetings. We want to keep our first "big event" kinda small and for people who come to meetings.

Playing Field:
Still under design but basically it will be a white window shade with a strip of black electrical tape down its length. We're going to
decide just what brand/color shade to use and what width tape at the April meeting. Field will be about as long as a typical window
shade, around ten feet, and will have a "Start" and "Stop" marker on the line. Time starts when robot crosses the "Start" mark and
ends when it crosses the "Stop" mark.

Why window shades? Well, they're cheap, readily available, pretty tough and they roll up into a small space.

Where:
Jay Francis' garage in Merrimack NH. (USA)

When:
June 1996. (Date not yet finalised)


Description of Play:
Robots start on the line already but before the Start mark. Operator presses the robots "Go" button/switch and robot starts moving. Judges start counting time when the robot crosses the Start mark on the line.

Robot must have some part of itself covering the line at all times. If the robot wanders off the line, this turn is forfiet. Each robot gets three tries to follow the line to the Stop mark.

Time stops when the robot crosses the Stop mark. Once past the stop mark the trial is over.

Each robot gets three trials, fastest of the three counts and fastest overall score wins.

Robot Rules:
   Timed contest, shortest overall time wins.
   Maximum Size: 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot
   Must be safe and not destroy or damage the playing field.
   Tethered 'bots OK. (You may run a cable from your PC to the 'bot to run it.)
   No human intervention once the robot starts moving.
   Must sense the line by itself. (ie, assume bad light)
   May not leave parts behind or fall apart on the field. (much)

Human Rules:
   Bring your own PC, table, chair, tools, etc.
   Please try not to draw too much power from Jay's garage. ;-0