Sumo Bots

Sumo Bots is a 2010 national trial event which will become an event for C division in 2011. The event consists of building a robot which is able to push another team robot out of a designated area.

The Robot
There are lots of ways to build your robot, you can use vex or some other sort of kit, strap things onto an RC car, or custom build a robot from parts you attain yourself and are not part of a kit. The method that has had by far the most success is the custom built robot as it allows you to put as much motor and wheel into the maximum space and weight without being constrained by a kit or likely underpowered RC car.

The Price
Under the trial event rules Sumo Bots is a bit of a battle of the wallets as most of the components to building a good robot cost a lot. If you can salvage parts such as wheels and motors from old robots or RC cars and the like. Hopefully when the event becomes an event the national committee will make some changes to the maximum size and weight of the bots so as to make the event less dependent on money and more dependent on who has the best design and who is the best driver.

The Design
There are lots of different design possibilities, especially if you're custom building your Sumobot, but by far the most popular design is the wedge.

The Wedge
There are a lot more variations on the wedge that make different designs more or less competitive, however, beyond making the scoop lower, sharper, and more steep (all of which are obvious though important), but they'll come to you more easily by intuition and experience than by reading about it here. There are a lot more variations on the wedge that make different designs more or less competitive, however, beyond making the scoop lower, sharper, and more steep (all of which are obvious though important), but they'll come to you more easily by intuition and experience than by reading about it here.