Sumo Wrestling Robot
Combat Robot
About the Project
A combat robot that competed in sumo-style robot battles. The goal: push the opponent out of the ring before they push you out. The robot uses infrared sensors pointed forward to detect opposing robots and IR sensors pointed downward to detect the ring boundary line and avoid falling off.
I built the entire thing from scratch: designed and cut the chassis, wired all the components, designed the custom PCB in TraxMaker, and wrote all the code in Great Cow BASIC.
My strategy was deliberate: the robot spins in place continuously until its front-facing IR sensor detects an opponent. The moment it gets a reading, it locks on and charges full speed. This means the robot never has its back exposed for long — it is always rotating, always hunting. Constant motion as a defensive and offensive tool at the same time.