Robot-sumo
The engineering challenges are for the robot to find its opponent (usually accomplished with infrared or ultra-sonic sensors) and to push it out of the dohyō.
[2] The most common mechanical design is to use a wedge with a blade at the front to lift the opposing robot and push it more easily.
Robot-sumo competitions still hold amateur status, but sumo robots design has been the subject of studies and research in academic environment as well.
The competition began with an idea from the president of FUJISOFT Inc., Hiroshi Nozawa, whose goal was to promote his company and recruit excellent human resources.
European teams achieved significant results in the 3kg Auto class, including top places and championship titles.
[4] In 2017, the last edition of the International Robot-Sumo Tournament was marked by Mexican dominance in the Mega Sumo RC class, taking the first three positions and ahead of the Japanese champions.
[19] In 2021 and 2022, FUJISOFT organized an alternative competition for the 32nd and 33rd editions remotely for high school competitors (Japanese: 高校学校 koukougakkou), which consisted of a sumo robot design contest.
[23] In 2023, All Japan, in its 35th edition, returned qualifying participants from overseas competitions for Mega Sumo class, for the first time since 2019.
In the All Japan Robot-Sumo Tournament, the judge, at the start of a fight, usually announces "Hakkeyoi nokotta" (はっきよい 残った), which can be imprecisely translated as "Ready?
High level competitions tend to follow standardized rules, such as the rules from All Japan Robot-Sumo Tournament.For example, FUJISOFT requires the usage of a standardized remote controller for the judge in Autonomous category in the All Japan Robot-Sumo Tournament and in its qualifiers Overseas Tournaments, so the judge may control the start and the stop of the robots' movements.
[25] In this class, the dohyō should ideally be a 5cm in height circular aluminum structure with a diameter of 154 cm (+/- 50 mm), including the border line, and covered by a black cold-rolled steel (SPCC) sheet located on top.
The Micro and Nano classes are less popular than the Mini and Mega Sumo, but they are held at some relevant events such as RoboGames, RobotChallenge in China, and Robochallenge in Romania.
The mains robotics events with humanoid robot-sumo featured are the RoboGames,[32] the chinese RobotChallenge,[39] and the romanian Robochallenge.
[43] The Mechanics consists in the infrastructure that supports and accommodates all the components and systems of the sumobot, including motors, wheels, PCB's, sensors, among others.
[44] Motors from Maxon or Faulhaber brands have been popular choices among highest level competitors,[3] such as robots in the All Japan Robot-Sumo Tournament.
This wedge is usually coupled with a blade with the purpose of invading the opponent from below and lifting it, so it becomes easier to push it out of the arena.
[28] Sumo robots, in general, employ Lithium polymer batteries to supply energy to the motors and other electronic components.
[3] Microcontrollers are mainly employed to receive data from sensors and send command to the motors and other actuators based on the programmed control logic.
The robot control system consists in setting the behaviour of the actuators (mainly the motors) based on the feedback of the sensors.
Competitors are usually organized into teams, consisting of the sumo robots themselves and the members responsible for their creation, operation and maintenance during the event.
Furthermore, the high school regional qualifiers make up a significant portion of the japanese slots for the All Japan Grand Final.
[50] FUJISOFT also organizes the "High Schooler's Robot-Sumo Tournament" (Japanese: 高校生ロボット相撲大会 kōkōsei robotto sumou taikai).
[50] AEON Mall, with the support of FUJISOFT, organizes the "High School Robot-Sumo Championship" (Japanese: 高等学校ロボット相撲選手権 kōtō gakkō robotto sumou senshuken), which is also exclusive to students from secondary education.
[19] Participants from Mexico, one of the robot-sumo world powerhouses, have achieved great success in competitions in Brazil, mainly in Mini Sumo.
RoboCore is an online store, developer and manufacturer of boards and kits in Brazil and an organizer of robotics events.
However, the IRONCup, the RSM Challenge and the RoboChallenge Brasil have also become prominent competitions due to their relevance to the national robot-sumo scenario.
Though RoboCore organizes and sanctions a number of events, most of them are hosted in the Southeast region of Brazil, mainly in the São Paulo state.
Humanoid Challenges; Combat; Robot Soccer; Open; Jr League; Autonomous Autos; Art Bots; BEAM, and Sumo.
[6] The popular internet meme "Omae wa mou shindeiru" (お前はもう死んでいる, English: You are already dead), from Japanese manga series Fist of the North Star, has been adapted to robot-sumo fight videos and became viral.
[68] In 2018, Japanese robot-sumo has been the subject of a short video from Great Big Story named "The Freakishly Fast World of Robot Sumo" released on YouTube.
