Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Hey Buddy, Wanna Be a Robot Designer?

iRobot Corporation, makers of the Roomba, Scooba, and a variety of bomb-defusing robots being used in Iraq right now, have announced the Create Challenge Contest, a new contest for robot hobbyists, developers and students that involves designing and assembling new robots for a chance to win $5,000.

Beginning on May 16, entrants may submit descriptions and photos of their robot creation built on the iRobot Create robot platform at Instructables.com. The submissions will be posted publicly and will be judged based on merit. Final entries will be due Aug. 31, 2007. The grand prize winner will be announced in October. In addition, iRobot is offering a limited number of free scholarship robot packages for those who wish to enter the main contest, but do not have the ability to purchase an iRobot Create kit themselves. For detailed instructions and entry information, please visit Tom's Hardware.

iRobot Create is an affordable, programmable robot designed for aspiring roboticists, advanced high-school and college students, and serious robot developers. Create comes pre-assembled, so developers can design new robots without having to build a mobile robot from scratch. With Create, developers can begin designing new robot applications out of the box. The platform provides access to robot sensors and actuators via an open interface. Create also features standard connections for electronics and threaded mounting holes that allow users to secure their inventions to the robot, streamlining the integration of third-party electronics such as sensors, cameras, arms and wireless connections.

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