I just came across information about a robot event being held on April 2 by the Rhode Island School of the Future. It's not obvious what it will be like, but you can read more about it here:
Here is an excerpt:
When and Where? Saturday, April 2, 2005 CCRI Warwick Campus
9:00(check in) 10:00-3:00 (competition)Who's Invited? This challenge is intended for individuals or teams as an out of school or hobbyist activity. Participants should be age 13 or older. Whether you have a lot of robotics experience or a little, whether you are a raging robotics maniac or just someone who thinks it sounds like a Saturday of fun, come out to meet other folks who are robot enthusiasts. Note: This challenge is specifically geared to an older crowd of high school, college, and adults who don't have the opportunity to compete otherwise.
What's the Contest? The contest is a combination of contests designed by rtlToronto, a group of Lego enthusiasts from Toronto. Two robots play against each other at a time. The goal is simple: There are three islands - two 30"x72" tables on the outside, and an island of two 30"x72" tables put together, making the middle island 60"x72". These islands are separated by a gap of 8". The robots must get from their table to the middle table, where they will have to get to a box filled with uncooked rice and search to find and extract black 2x4 Lego blocks while sorting out white 2x4 Lego blocks.
Mitch