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The inaugural Pop Can Challenge ran at Robothon 2016.  This challenge is focused on autonomous bots working within a simulated apartment space, with a primary goal of retrieving of a can of pop from a mini-refrigerator in the "kitchen" and delivering that can of pop to the coffee table in the "living room".  In this first iteration of the Pop Can challenge, none of the robots entered were able to retrieve the can of pop.  One of our research chassis, equipped with the optional active bumper module, an Arduino main processor, an IonMC RoboClaw 15A motor controller, an HC-SR04 sonar sensor combined with the...

A father/daughter driving team won the beetleweight division, prevailing over 18 other beetleweight bots at Robothon 2016.  Congratulations Rebecca and Rob!

We've noted development of drum-spinner bots designed specifically to defeat our very successful D2 beetleweight combat robot kit.  In response, and continuing the combat robot "arms race" :) , we are developing a weapon module that would replace the wedge for fights against these types of robots. We will test this new weapon at the "Great Seattle Bot Brawl" at Robothon on October 1.  Assuming this new weapon proves to be as successful as we expect, we will make this available as an add-on accessory for our D2 combat robot kits.

After a long hunt for just the right anodizing color, we are happy to announce that we have D2 kits available in green!  We are super happy with the bright green color that are now able to get from our anodizing supplier.

Based on customer feedback, we have decided to make changes to both the D2 and Ant1 kits. The D2 kits are now coming standard with the titanium wedge.  Aluminum wedges will be available in limited quantities as an add-on option, but experience has shown that the titanium wedge is the way to go for fighting bots with powerful spinning weapons.  The D2 kits are also now coming standard with hook-up wire and self-adhesive Velcro strips for mounting the speed control and receiver.  We have also decided to remove the magnet set from the standard D2 kit, as many have found...