Epic LEGO® MINDSTORMS® sumobot h4ckathon

We admit it. We were totally inspired by Breadpig's Hack Club and wanted to bring the same experience to SHDH@SXSW.

Makes you want to hack, amirite?

The Details!

6:30pm: Team members arrive at Speakeasy and get checked in.
At 7pm, teams assemble on the Speakeasy roof bar where rules will explained and kits will be distributed.
7:15pm - 10:30pm: hardcore hacking action!
10:30pm: 30 minute warning, battle order is assigned
11pm: battles begin until there is only one! (see the rules)
Once the battles have finished, the victor will be declared and the Most Creative H4ck will be awarded. We'll also announce the fate of the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® kits.

You'll need to bring your own laptop for hacking, but we'll have plenty of power and WiFi.

Lesbian Bondage Fiasco: Michael Evans, Sam Sheets, Matty Duell, Benjamin Duell
listora: Doug Farre, John Gordon, Alec Hashim, Dakota Smith
Work it Warriors: Paul Arellanes, Kyle Golden, Chris Fohlin, Chris' friend, Eric Marshall, Michael R
Olis: Hyunji Lim, Dewi harjanto, Andy Mills + Bill Welense, Kevin Urbick
1337 bloxorz: Steve Farrell, Matt Turpin, Dan Chapman + Erik Bigelow, Niall Smart
ClayBoys: Brad Martin, Evan Ryker, Paul Zavalney, Tim Rueger + Todd Siegel, Travis Ward
V0!D807$: Marty Henderson, Jett Rink, Kelly Rink, Shawna Henderson, Sharon Walsh
Beer Thirty: Kyle Bryson, Andrew Moch, Dane Wagner, Joe Hershberger, Ed Rodriguez
BEAM me up, Scotty!: Danny Diaz, Randy Hoskin, Marcelo Izaguirre + Chrissie Brodigan, Evan Jacobs
Super Team Domination: Jeff Pflueger, Connor Lightsey, Nick Frost + Zaki Saadeh, Kirill Zdornyy
Subsonic: Claude Barker, Daniel Cabezas, Jonny Dahm, Garrison Hester, Nate Roberts
Team Bi-Winning: Cal Henderson, Michael Bernstein, Chris Hunter, Nader Askari, Antonio
#TigerBlood: Quinn Vidal, Tim Rueger, Way, Brett Bendele, Evan Ryker, Karl Muecke

Here are the rules, which are pretty final but might be adjusted for clarity:

Each team gets 1 LEGO® MINDSTORMS® kit. There will be additional LEGO® pieces available.
Each team must build with the pieces given at the event — thus no outside parts, modifications, or LEGOs will be allowed! No exceptions!
You can use any programming environment you prefer.
No remote controlled robots — they must operate autonomously.
Bots can not be larger than 8" by 10" by 10".
The arena is a 3’ diameter circle, with a white surface and bound by black electrical tape.
Double elimination: robots have at least two battles. Final (W vs L) is best of 2.
Battles last 1 minute. If there is no clear winner when the time runs out, there can be at most one rematch.
- Each battle is best two out of three.
- In cases of three draws, we may swap competitors in the same tree.
Battle cannot occur outside of the ring
Qualifications before entering battle:
- Robots must be battle ready by the scheduled battle time
- Robots must do a 180 degree turn before engaging in battle

Conditions for winning a battle:
- Other robot exits the sumo arena by more than half of its footprint
- Other robot is incapacitated
- Other robot is lifted up and doesn't recover
External interference may cause the battle to be restarted
Judges have the final say. Arguing will result in disqualification! Don't do it!

The first and second place winning teams will be awarded gift credits good at the Breadpig Store, which is on the internet.

There is also a prize for the most creative bot, or the best hack. And yes, judging will be very subjective!

Note: Prizes are awarded per team — not individual. Sheesh.

Thanks to Breadpig for providing these great prizes!