Robot-sumo, or pepe-sumo, is a sport in which two robots attempt to push each other out of a circle (in a similar fashion to the sport of sumo). The robots used in this competition are called sumobots. The engineering challenges are for the robot to find its opponent (usually accomplished with infrared or ultra-sonic sensors) and to push it out of the flat arena. A robot should also avoid leaving the arena, usually by means of a sensor that detects the edge.
The purpose of this project is to explore and apply AI/ML/RL techniques to a sumobot, and if successful, attend the Swedish Robotics Championship in the mini-sumo class.
The hardware is certainly not state of the art in the world of sumo robots, but should be a good start.
- Five IR-sensors aimed to the front and the sides for measuring distance to the opponent
- Three IR-sensors aimed towards the ground for detecting the white circle edge
- 3-axis gyro+accelerometer+compass sensor (MPU-9150)
- Four DC motors, controllable in left/right-pairs
- Arduino-compatible Atmega 328 MCU
- Li-Po 3S (11.1 V) battery
Raspberry Pi is planned to be used for running the algorithms.
