I was in the middle of writing “The Chair Challenge” here on the site, and then we got server-problems with this site.
Result was that an unfinished competition went un air, unintended! And before I knew it, it was won by JIP with this robot. But then i realized that hes robot did not in fact circle all the legs of the chair, and he was disqualified!
Therefore “The Chair Challenge” is now “The Chair Challenge! (Part II)” - we try again, and this time the rules are a little different 
The Chair Challenge! (Part II)
Make a robot that drives, walks, rolls… or in any other way makes it´s way around the 4 legs of a chair!
Rules of this competition:
- Robot can be placed in any position and place operator prefers before start
- Robot must then spin around it´s own center at least 10 times before step 3. (so we know it is actually navigating on it´s own)
- Now the robot should try to drive around each of the 4 legs of a chair, like the orange arrow
Additional rules and notes:
- If your robot is too large for a chair, a table can be used
- There should be no markings on the floor for the robot to follow
- The robot must be autonomous, no remote-control of any kind
- If you prefer, you can go the other way around, take legs in another pattern etc, as long as 4 cornered legs have ben circled once each
- Plan is NOT to just hard-code the route, decissions and navigation should to some extend be made by the robot, based upon sensors of some kind
Extra bonus will be given for
- Simplicity: the simpler the more street credibility!
- Code: Dump your code so we all can admire!
- Building instruction: Let us see what you have build!
- Inginuity in general
Deadline: 15 of April 2008
Prizes:
The robot most voted for / with the highest score / the one that comes closest to meeting the challenge by 15 of April 2008 will win the price:
1 * Micro Serial Servo Controller and 2 servos (of editors choice)
In the case of a draw, this humble editor and judge will favour from the most “extra bonus point”, and select the one winner.
This serial servo controller is a very compact solution for controlling up to eight radio control servos from a computer or microcontroller. The controller measures just 23 x 23mm, yet it is one of the most full-featured servo controllers available. Each servo speed and range can be controlled independently, the baud rate is detected automatically over a 1200-38400 bps range, and multiple units can be daisy-chained on one serial line to control up to 128 servos.
Three status LEDs and an integrated level converter for RS-232 applications get you up and running quickly. The micro serial servo controller is dwarfed by even a standard servo, but it can control any standard RC servos, including giant 1/4-scale servos.
The servo controller is less than half the size of most 16-channel servo controllers. This means that the micro servo controller is an ideal solution even if you need to control more than eight servos, as in the case of a six-legged walking robot. Having multiple smaller controllers means less of a wiring mess since servos in one section of the robot can be connected to a more local controller.
The back side of the board has all of the ports labelled, and two mounting holes allow you to secure the controller to your project. The logic supply and the servo supply can be tied together for single-battery operation, or the on-board voltage regulator allows the logic supply to be as high as 16V.
/ Frits
