Antbotica!
 Team Run Amok hosts the unique antweight competition
  What's more fun than trashing a whole field of robots that are trying to do the same to you? How about out thinking, out maneuvering, and just plain out running them. Welcome to Antbotica!

Antbotica -- the competition with four different phases for one-pound (antweight) robotic competitors.

  • Dodge and run in the 'Shuttle Race'.
  • Chase strategy and your opponent on the 'Scramble' playground.
  • Show off your power and control in 'Pushover'.
  • Make gravity your friend in the 'Showdown'.
Download the current Antbotica rules, revised August, 2007: Antbotica.PDF (143 KB).
Da Vinci Days - Corvallis Oregon

Antbotica returned to the Da Vinci Days Technology Festival for 2005. The weather was warm and bright for the second Da Vinci Antbotica. The preliminary rounds were the wildest ever seen at Antbotica!

  • Top qualifier 'Tread Head' piloted by Adam Conus ran into trouble when its tank treads came out of alignment and left it skittering on hard plastic wheels in the Shuttle Race.

  • Rich Olson removed the spinning weapon from his fierce antweight combat robot 'Another B' and tried to control the beast's speed for Scramble, but just couldn't slow it down enough to keep it in the arena.

  • Newcommer Ray Mutchler drove veteran 'bot 'Mini Max 1.0' into a lead over the Robothon champion 'Manic Marmoset' going into the Pushoff round, but failed to note his opponent's attack on the giant paint can to lose a close one!
The three-way showdown was quick and decisive. Rob Farrow and 'Manic Marmoset' locked onto Dylan Feral-McWhirter's for a quick toss-out. Last year's Da Vinci champion Aaron Joerger and 'Mini Maxbot 2.0' had been hanging back and found themselves with their collective back turned to a corner ejection port! Manic Marmoset broke Mini Maxbot 2.0's grip with it's lifting scoop and ejected the mighty pusher without much drama. Congratulations to Rob on the Victory! Rob repeated his win at the 2004 Robothon -- he's on a roll!

Antbotica at Robothon!

Robothon at the Seattle Center, 2004 - Antbotica! 
Antbotica gets the best locations! Here we are at Center House at the exciting Seattle Center. The Robothon festival was packed with interesting competitions, but I don't think that any of the competitors had more fun than the Antbotica crew!

After three frantic preliminary events, the final Showdown boiled down to a three-way battle between 'Squirrel' (Dylan Feral-McWhirter), 'Scoop Bound' (Rob Purdy), and 'Manic Marmoset' (Rob Farrow). Squirrel was the first to depart the arena, being ejected over the wall in a huge 3-way collision.

 		The 'Walls of Lagagna' obstacle from Antbotica's scramble arena. The 'Push Box' obstacle from Antbotica's scramble arena. The 'Seed Pit' obstacle from Antbotica's scramble arena. The 'Speed Bumps' obstacle from Antbotica's scramble arena. The 'Turntable Bridge' obstacle from Antbotica's scramble arena. The 'Robot Fishing' obstacle from Antbotica's scramble arena.

Mike Morrow and his Mars Rover
Eight inches, Mike -- not eight feet!
Manic Marmoset shoves Scoop Bound on top of the wall! Photo by Adam Conus

The struggle between Scoop Bound and Manic Marmoset was titanic! Scoop Bound was forced up and over the wall, but locked it's scoop into the front prow of Manic Marmoset and held on for dear life. To the delight and applause from the cheering crowd, Scoop Bound somehow pulled itself back onto the arena floor and launched an offensive charge. Locked in a tight grapple with Manic Marmoset, Scoop Bound had it's wheels spinning wildly when it suddenly broke free and darted out of controll through a corner slot and plummeted to the floor. Manic Marmoset wins!

Read the latest Antbotica rules and see arena diagrams here: Antbotica.pdf

Questions about Antbotica: joerger@toast.net

Mini Max 2.0 and Squirrel compete on the Scramble arena.
More Antbotica Photos

The first Antbotica competition site on the lower campus of Oregon State University, 2004
Antbotica, the Antbotica Logo, and the 'Angry Ant' image are trademarks held by Mark Joerger.

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