I've often wondered who's really the best of the best in mini sumo, and standard events leave a lot to be desired in this area. For one, many competitors never even go up against one another. Any given sumo robot could kick butt against every competitor it meets and make its way all the way to the top, but if along the way it never goes against a few robots that, though having other weaknesses, would inevitably concure it, then how can it be said that it's the best. I for one would like to know exactly who I can beat and who I can't. I've traveled to many events in hopes to test my witts against a certain competitor only to miss the chance because mine was never paired with theirs. This is most discouraging and leaves me wondering if those who have been winning are really the best of the best.
This lead me to another dilema that has perplexed me for three years now. Many attendees of the events I've participated in have left feeling jipped that they missed the competition they came to see by a matter of an hour or so. I've been approached several times at RoboMaxx and asked if we'll be doing more mini sumo (or whatever) before the day is out. It seems to me that the crowd would feel more fulfilled if they could come at any time during the event and see what they had hoped to.
As it turns out, there is a simple solution that addresses both problems. What we plan to do this year at RoboMaxx is to make every competition (except Open Class) an all day Round Robin style challenge. We'll set each event in it's own booth so-to-speak, mini-sumo being in the center, and every enterant will go up against every other in it's class including paring beginners with advanced for the first part. Then depending on how many wins each robot takes, we will take the top 6 from beginner and top 6 from advanced to top off the day with a single elimination finally. The top three will receive prizes and trophies as usual. This also pertains to line following, maze solving, micro and nano.
What we will find out in the end is who is really the best of the best in every area of expertease. Not only will we know who's the fastest and strongest, but we'll know who's holds together best, who's maintains power longest, who's programming is better adept, and a miriade of other things (of course you can switch batteries and do repairs throughout, but some may exhaust their resources).
There are a lot of fine details, but this is the jist of it. So what do you say... do you want to know once and for all who's the best of the best amoung those who attend? Talk about bragging rights!
-Dan