Project Name: Sumo Wrestler
Controlled by: Programming 
Programming Difficulty: Medium
Construction Difficulty: Medium
General Comment. This is probably my most popular project

Rules FOR STUDENTS

​You must use:
-1 NXT or EV brick
-up to 3 motors
-one colour/light sensor
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You must:

• Build a robot that can win lots of battles against other robots by knocking them out of a circular arena. 
• Your robot must be programmed to 'see' the white ring and avoid falling off the edge of the circle.
• Your robot MUST do a 360 degree turn before contacting another robot.
  
  

Tips For students

Tip: The stronger your robot, the better it will survive collisions. You won't win if your wheels or motors fall off!
Tip: Add a third motor to create a weapon. 
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SAMPLE PROGRAMMING

TEACHER INFO

​Grading option: Often battles depend on a bit of luck, so instead of a knock-out competition it is good to reward kids who are brave enough to battle as soon as they are ready. Get a copy of this Google Sheet to keep track of wins, losses and draws. Students get 1 point for a loss, 2 points for a draw, 3 points for a win. As with all my sheets, you need to go to FILE and MAKE A COPY. Then only fill in the yellow cells.  

It's helpful to put a one minute limit on battles. 

Additional Equipment needed.
Sumo wrestling arena. You'll have to make one of these yourself. I just got a large square of chipboard (or MDF) and drew a circle with a pencil and string, (string the length of radius). I then cut the circle with a jig-saw. Ideal size is about 120 cm diameter. The outer white ring should be about 10cm.  Sounds like a lot of work? The one I made has been with me for 10 years! 

Here is a video I made during one of my own class sumo challenges. 

Classroom Tips

Score Sheets

Project Ideas