Taylor’s Robotics Club (TRC) held its biggest event of the term on the 9th of June 2024, called the ‘Battlebots Championship’, a robotics competition in collaboration with Sunway Robotics from Sunway University.

The excitement ignited in Lecture Theatre 21 and 22, where robotics enthusiasts from diverse fields gathered to kick off the full-day event. 13 teams, each consisting of three to five members, brought together participants not only from robotics or engineering backgrounds but also from fields such as Finance, Biomedical Sciences, Mass Communication, and more.

The event commenced with three opening speeches: first by Kayana, President of Taylor’s Robotics Club, followed by Dr. Julian Tan, the club advisor, and finally by William, the Event Manager. After that, the robots were inspected thoroughly to ensure compliance with competition standards, followed by judges scoring the best design.

The competition consists of two parts. Firstly, the group stage, which is named the ‘Rocket League Football Match’, is where participants are divided into two teams. The objective is to score as many goals as possible within the time limit and the top four teams advance to the next stage.

The second part is the SUMO Battle stage, a 1v1 knockout round where two bot teams duel against each other. The final robot left standing on the Grand Final stage is declared champion of the Battlebots Championship event. Once both parts of the competition were over, a prize-giving ceremony was held for the top three winners of the competition. 

A diverse array of robots in all shapes and sizes were seen at the event. Participants managed to come up with out-of-the-box designs for their Battlebots, demonstrating their creativity. There was a pyramid design and even an L-shaped open robot design revealing its internal components. One robot stood out with a very simple design but was also very effective in combat. The winning team, with their bulldozer-inspired robot, had a square-shaped bot equipped with a scooper-like weapon. This design proved highly effective in pushing opponents out of the arena during the competitions.

Moreover, a special thank you to the five judges, one of whom is from Taylor’s Robotics Club, two from Sunway Robotics, and the other two are lecturers from Taylor’s University—Dr. Julian Tan, Programme Director for Robotics Design & Development, and Dr. Chew Wei Jen, Electrical Engineering Lecturer.

Throughout the entire event, the audience’s enthusiasm was tangible as they were fully engaged and caught in the moment. It was evident that everyone, including the participants and project teams had fun.

Prior to the event day, three workshops were held weekly every Friday to prepare participants for the competition. The first workshop is on circuitry and coding. This workshop introduced the mutual principles of electronics and the practical application of Arduino microcontrollers in robotic systems.

The second workshop is on 3D designing, where participants are introduced to the basics of 3D modeling software—the AutoCAD Fusion 360, where they learn how to design and simulate parts of their Battlebot. The workshop covered essential skills, including designing the body structure, understanding the utilisation of the tools, and optimising the weight and balance of the bot.

Finally, the last workshop was on troubleshooting and optimisation, which focuses on diagnosing and resolving common issues that may arise during the construction and operation of a Battlebot. All the workshops were held in Taylor's and led by members of Taylor’s Robotics Club together with the help of members from Sunway Robotics.

TRC has been planning this event for almost two months since the start of the April semester. The original plan was to collaborate with both Sunway and Monash; however, Monash was unable to join as they were in their exam season. And so, TRC, and Sunway Robotics worked together in the planning and execution of the event.

Each team was given one packet containing seven to eight components to build their robot. This included one Arduino, one motor driver and one Bluetooth module. However, despite the event’s success, there is always room for improvement. According to William, something that would have enhanced the event’s outcome is to put more focus on the participants and prioritise their education in programming and robotics.

This is actually the second time TRC has organised a Battlebots Championship event, and this one has been more successful than the last. The most rewarding experience for the project team was the opportunity to network and meet with other university students from various courses.

So far, TRC has no upcoming plans for future events. However, it is up to the next Board of Directors if they are planning to make this an annual signature event for TRC. This event has laid a solid foundation for even larger events in the next term, leaving no doubt that TRC will achieve greater accomplishments in the future.