Photovore Exhibition

In 2004, the BEAM group discussed a sort of BEAM X-Prize. The idea was an active Robotic Jurassic Park, a cross between competition and exhibition. Yes, the goal was the same: seek light. Micro-controllers were more than welcome. Team and cooperative swarming robots were encouraged.

ECRG agreed to run this as an event in the 2005 Games. Six robots competed, two of which were made specifically for this exhibition.

Kyle Simmons brought a BeamAnt named Tweak. It used the conventional BeamAnt Master/Slave Bicore arrangement. It ran well in bright light but had difficulties running under the exhibition’s lighting conditions.

We ran Manta Ray, one of the robots built just for the event. The idea is that of a steer-able solaroller. For a variety of technical reasons, Manta Ray scrapped in at forth place. It’s an example of a good strategy poorly executed, I think.

Third place went to Cindy Loo Who by Lynda Woloszyn. Cindy Loo Who was a modified Solarbotics Photopopper Photovore. The robot did pretty well, though it had some difficulties with the tactile sensors.

Shapour Shahidi's Huwawa took second place. Huwawa followed a similar strategy as Manta Ray. It used a head circuit to steer and a second solar engine for propulsion. It was strong and it was accurate. It was fast under the lights. Huwawa simply ran a little infrequently at the light changes.

Handling low light proved key to winning this event. Surprisingly, a stock Bug ‘n’ Bots Fred kit came in first. Blaster by Andrew Batty was the only robot capable of moving continuously at the light changes, thanks to the efficient Fred solar engine. I suppose slow and steady beats fast and infrequent.