The RoboWrestling team specializes in autonomous robotic sumo wrestling. They’ve had challenges the past few years in finding competitions to compete at because of the cancellation of RoboGames in 2019, and because the pandemic has prevented them from travelling to the All-Japan Robot Sumo Tournament in Tokyo. However, RoboGames 2023 is back on, meaning the team now has a competition to attend. The team is planning to bring a new autonomous sumo robot to the competition: Spici.
The team is making good progress on Spici. At this point, they have received all their parts and need to assemble. The team has also assembled the electronics and tested them successfully, another important milestone.
Spici has significant similarities to Gucci, including similar software strategies and the same electronic design. Alex Peng, the electrical lead in RW, said the team also plans to upgrade the electronics on Spici with new or better sensors to enable new strategies. The major change between Gucci and Spici is the plow design.
Most RoboJackets sumo robots have used a fixed plow, or a compound plow with two sections at different angles. Spici, instead, uses a hinged plow. The major advantage of a hinged plow is that it prevents enemy robots from using the leverage of your plow against you. In addition to the hinged plow, there is a smaller secondary plow underneath it to catch plows that have tilted the hinged plow up.
As mentioned earlier, the current plan is to bring Spici to RoboGames 2023 in April. In addition, because the COVID restrictions are loosening in Japan, the team is keeping an eye out for an announcement from the organizers of the All Japan Robot Sumo Tournament to see if they will be able to attend the 2023 event next December.