There's a Battle Royale afoot. The challenge: collect the most balls in a limited amount of time. The tool: a robotic box on wheels with a scooper. STEAM programs around the world bring robotics design from the lab into the ring. Competitions have been set up for everything from genteel ball collecting tasks to axe-wielding gladiatorial combats. Over the years, robot Darwinism evolved the battling robot design to three basic types: lifter, spinner and wedge. In a rock-paper-scissors cycle of strategy, lifter beat wedge, spinner beats lifter, and wedge beats spinner.

03.15.18