The sumo competition takes place in a round ring located in a simulated sumo arena.  The inner part of the ring is a non-reflective black surface while the outer part of the ring is brightly colored and reflective.  Two robots are placed within the ring and must remain within the ring.  A match consists of three rounds which are each 60 seconds long.  A round ends when one robot goes outside of the ring and a point is awarded to the other robot.  The point is awarded even if the robot was not pushed out of the ring.  The robot with the most points at the end of the match wins.  If the round finishes with neither robot leaving the ring, no points are awarded.

The services are used with iRobot Create robots with an on-board CE computer and a mounted webcam.  The robots have a differential drive which allows them to move forward or backward at any angle and also to swivel in place.  The robots have left and right bumper sensors to sense contact with another robot and IR sensors on the bottom to detect a change in the IR reflectivity under the robot.  The different reflectivity of the outer part of the ring allows the robots to sense when they are about to leave the ring.

The challenge kit, available in the Challenge section of the Downloads area of the site, provides a sample project that will provide you with the basics. Your challenge is to be the sumo master - enhancing the programming to defeat your sumo opponent by pushing it out of the ring twice in a best of three competition.

This challenge does use the recently released July CTP, which can be found in the Software section of the Downloads area of the site. 

Complete rules and prizes can be found in the Details section of the League area on this site.

Best of luck!

Marc