Hebocon

What is Hebocon?

Watch this video of the original HEBOCON as introduction and inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46ivFpsmEVQ

In the words of Daiju Ishikawa, HEBOCON Inventor:

Hebocon is a robot sumo-wrestling competition for those who are not technically gifted. It is a competition where crappy robots that can just barely move gather and somehow manage to engage in odd, awkward battles. To my knowledge, this is the only robot contest in the world where people with no technical capabilities to make robots are presented prizes.

You can attend the workshop on Friday, and Hebocon will take place on Saturday night, everyone is invited to enter a robot or watch!

Get involved

Everyone is invited to compete with a self-made robot, especially if you've never done it before. High-tech is penalized, creativity encouraged. Build a robot before the event - the event will just be the battles and may some short introductions. Building a robot doesn't need to take long though - you can probably make an entry in an hour from things found on camp. You can decide to enter right up until the start of the event.

Hardware donation box

Even if you just want to watch, it would be great if you could bring some old hardware which could be repurposed. Floppy drives, old toys, motors, battery holders, wheel-like objects or even just gaffer tape would be useful.

We'll have a small supply of basic electric components - AA batteries, battery holders, gear-motors and connectors.

A few people will bring spare hardware for spontaneous participants, we will collect it in a hardware donation box in the Hack Tent. Feel free to donate things!

Guidelines for entrants

The best way to win at Hebocon is to enjoy the competition, but there is some structure. The following guidelines may help you prepare for the competition:

1. Watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46ivFpsmEVQ
2. Don't bring anything heavy or powerful enough that it could injure someone. If your robot could hurt someone by dropping it on their foot, it's too heavy. Official Hebocon rules recommend a 1kg weight limit.
3. Battles will take place on a 1m x 0.5m table, or as close as we can get to that with the tables we have available. To win a battle, you can push your opponent off the table, or tip them over. Fights will last for one minute. If the robots don't touch during the fight, the fight will be restarted; on the third restart, the first to leave the table or tip over will be the loser.
4. Trailing power wires are allowed. Control by trailing wires is also allowed. Radio control is acceptable, but you will probably be given a high-tech penalty if you make your own radio control system. Re-purposing an existing radio control system like a radio controlled car would be better.
5. Physical remote control, such as pushing your robot with sticks once it's in the arena, or pulling on power wires, is not in the spirit of the competition. Rolling your robot down a ramp into the arena is OK.
6. Don't spend so much time or effort on your robot that you would mind if it got destroyed. If you are beaten, it would be great if you can let your opponent glue a part of your robot to theirs to carry on your robot's spirit.