Events

In 1989, with the vision of encouraging young people to develop new and innovative breakthroughs in the world of technology and robotics, Mr. Hiroshi Nozawa, president of Fujisoft, founded the All Japan Robot Sumo Tournament, a robotics competition with rules and guidelines to simulate the national sport of Japan, Sumo. Robot Sumo or Sumobot has been gaining popularity worldwide ever since. In 2019, more than 30 countries had participated in the World Robot Sumo Championship. With the advancement in technology and robotics since the tournament began, the possible upgrades for a Sumobot are limitless.

This project will focus on creating a Sumobot according to the guidelines set by the Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering (MIME) department of Oregon State University (OSU) and Robogames. The main purposes of the robot are to both display and participate in the mini Sumobot tournament at the OSU Engineering Expo in June. With Robot Sumo slowly gaining popularity over the years, there is an abundance of literature and research papers available online. Countless upgrades and new technology have been fitted on to Sumobots, with varying degrees of success. The project team will use the information gathered to build a competitive Sumobot.

After going through the many iterations of Sumobot designs, our latest design is shown here. Our design incorporates a lightweight aluminum base plate, with a low center of gravity, and 4-wheel drive system for maximum traction. The body panels are manufactured from a lighter and more flexible material, polycarbonate sheets. The top panel of the Sumobot is a perforated polypropylene sheet for increased airflow to prevent the batteries overheating. Additionally, adhesive is used to hold the body panels to the wings of the base plate, while mechanical fasteners are used to reinforce structural strength. Powered by 4 high-speed motors, we will be bulldozing our way through the competition.

Attachment	Size
sumobot_rules.pdf	1.57 MB