This is an awesome story about a robotics competition loophole in response to the question, “What is the funniest loophole you have ever seen?”
Robotics Competition Loophole
Media Chomp
Internet & Geek Culture
Copyright © 2024 Media Chomp
Cause it wasn’t a robot.
I had to build a robot that would navigate this funny-looking obstacle-course. It had touch sensors, but that was it.
Everyone else started figuring out some funny little algorithm. “if it touches on the left, back up, turn right 15 degrees.. blah blah blah”.
The thing is, we all *knew* that the teacher was going to give us a model of the course before the competition. So I designed the guy (two sensors, left and right) and then waited for that day.
I programmed my robot to go EXACTLY through that ONE SINGLE COURSE and no other.
By far the fastest time. Everyone else complained until I LITERALLY quoted one of the first things the professor said in the very first class. “A good engineer does as little work possible by using what they already have and know.” Got an A.
Eh, a spring-powered hammer rig for smashing dry ice certainly sounds like a robot by at least one dictionary definition, though it’s probably not going to fit under all of them. Mythbusters has called things ‘robots’ that weren’t much more complicated.