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About
The Robotics Society (RoboSoc) is for students of any discipline and skill level, to get involved in building robots for fun, research, and competition.
Our membership fee is £20 annually, for which you will receive a Combat Bots kit of parts*, entry to the Combat Bots competition, access to our discord, and the opportunity to get involved in the other RoboSoc projects, listed below.
Combat Bots
Combat Bots is a destructive robot competition, essentially a mini robot wars, and the core activity of RoboSoc. Ant weight division robots weighing less than 150 grams and fitting within a 10cm cube are remote controlled in an arena for 3 minute matches. Membership purchase will buy you a kit of parts* with everything you need to get a robot up and running, as well as access to a discord server where we'll be running virtual workshops, and entry to a competition at the end of each semester. We've also planned for a variety of different covid scenarios, to ensure we can run a competition as soon as it is safe to do so. Post covid, we intend to run three tournaments per year.
* which is worth £25-£30. If that's not bargain then I don't know what is.
The Combat Bot competition and rules https://www.robotwars101.org/ants/rules.htm
Robot Fighting League
The IET on Campus in partnership with Leeds University are launching a UK university wide combat robot competition, to be held April 2022. Robots must weigh less than 5kg, fit within a 40cm cube, and respect the Geneva convention regarding weaponry. The Robot Fighting League (RFL) is a great project for students with a passion for CAD design, mechanical engineering, and control electronics.
RoboSoc has recieved financial support from UPSU (University of Plymouth Student Union) and is seeking addtional funding from SECaM (School of Engineering Computing and Mathematics) to build a robot for this competiton and represent both the society and the university. The IET on Campus will provide travel and accommodation. We currently have a team of three students working on this project from home, and plan to expand in September.
The Competition http://www.theiet.org/career/routes-to-engineering/student-hub/on-campus/iet-on-campus-and-leeds-university-robot-fighting-league/
The Rules http://wiki.shocksoc.org.uk/index.php?title=Rules
Autonomous Sail Boats
We have sought a collaboration project with members of the Autonomous Marine Systems Group, to build an autonomous sailboat for the World Robotic Sailing Championship (WRSC) and International Robotic Sailing Regatta (IRSR). Dr Jian Wan has led multiple entries into the international competition in recent years, and has now generously offered to lend RoboSoc an RC Sailboat. We are currently have a team of three students working on this project from home, and plan to expand in September. This is a great opportunity for students keen to develop sensors and navigation algorithms, using embedded C++, as part of this exciting project.
Autonomous Marine Systems Group (AMSG) http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/autonomous-marine-systems
AMSG Sailboat project http://plymouth-sailboat.github.io/
World Robotic Sailing Championship (WRSC) https://www.roboticsailing.org/
International Robotic Sailing Regatta (IRSR) https://www.sailbot.org/
Robot Humanoids
The University of Plymouth has a history of building robot humanoids for the FIRA and RoboCup international competitions, which compete in Olympics style events and play football. In 2015 a new 1m tall humanoid “Scott” was built, but never saw competition, as the project was cut. In 2019 PhD student and RoboSoc chair Olly Smith led team of students in a revival of the project, and in January 2020 Scott stood for the first time in five years.
The humanoids project has been paused during the coronavirus, but will resume post covid, and if you are keen to get involved in an advanced robotics project, there are opportunities to develop aspects of the robot from home.
FIRA competition http://www.firaworldcup.org/VisitorPages/default.aspx?itemid=3
RoboCup competition http://humanoid.robocup.org/
Plymouth Robot Football 2004-2014 https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/schools/school-of-engineering-computing-and-mathematics/electronics-robotics/robot-football
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