November 1999. This is Moose the Mindstorms Sumo Robot. It was built around the large silver wheels because of their fantastic traction. Sumo robot wrestling involves pushing another bot out of a ring of some type so traction is a key ingredient. This particular bot has two light sensors facing down for ring detection (a painted line) and another facing forward to help locate it's opponent. It is powered by four motors. This is more due to ease of assembly than anything else because the beam running through the middle would block most drivelines connecting the wheels together.
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The bot above was one beam thickness too big (for the local rules anyway) so I rebuilt it into 'BORG' below. Note the 24T gears are now inside the wheel rims to get the width down. It now has only two motors but uses worm gears to keep the torque high. Now it just needs to put on some weight...
September 2001. 'Borg' now has it's forward looking light sensors in a better location for use as IR proximity detectors. Also, the large yellow plates on the bottom of the robot cover areas designed to hold extra weight in the form of metal plates.
TCRG Robot Sumo Wrestling Rules