Last year, supported by ACS and the Gateway to Industry Schools ICT program, Trinity College and Micromelon kicked off their first Balloon Battle Bots Competition.
Students used Micromelon Rovers to learn programming in Blocks and Python, then moved into 3D modelling and printing to design their own battle bots. Most designs were done in TinkerCAD, with a few using Fusion360 and Blender.
After about 10 weeks of learning, designing, and practicing, they were ready for the final battle. The school hosted the Battle Bots event at lunchtime, with students battling their robots against each other along with a handful of teacher-designed entries.
To kick the program off, Adam and Tim from Micromelon visited the school with their own creations. We supplied base files for all the designs, including toothpick holders, balloon and ping pong ball holders, and motor mounts on top of the base shell with mounting holes for all the attachments. In that first session students drove the robots around the desk in remote control mode, trying to pop each other's balloons.
As the term went on, students' designs got more and more elaborate, including spray painting and extra skewers to pop balloons from all angles.
For the final event there were over 10 teams competing, including a few teacher entries from around the school. The rules were fairly simple, with points awarded for each accomplishment.
Rounds were timed, ending at 2.5 minutes or when one challenger was defeated (both balloon popped and ping pong ball dislodged). Robots leaving the arena were replaced once, otherwise eliminated. If robots became attached or made no progress, they'd get returned to opposite corners and the round would continue.
1 point - Knocking off ping pong ball
1 point - Popping opponent's balloon
All the 3D print files are available on Printables to get you started with your own Battlebot.
Huge thanks to Trinity College Beenleigh for being such great partners in bringing robotics competitions to their students. If you'd like to run a Balloon Battle Bots program at your school, we'd love to help you get started.
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