"Mataura" is the winner of the Newcastle Supernova Robot Bilby Competition held on saturday May 1. It was built and programmed by Victor Li, Alan Murray and Gavin King of Merewether High School in Newcastle, Australia.
The boys are in year 11. The robot is designed to find it's way around a track consisting of 180 mm square white wooden tiles in the shortest possible elapsed time. It uses the "Bilby2" electronics and simple IR sensors to find its way.
"Mataura" has a (fake) fur coat as befits a robot marsupial and features sharp metal prongs to clear it's way. These add a "Mad Max" aspect the design.
The machine cost about $55 (Australian) to make. The steppers are from old disk drives and the wheels are off a radio controlled model aircraft. The Bilby2 control electronics use a Stamp 1 microcontroller driving
UCN 5804B driver chips. Details of the competition, building a Bilby, and other useful information is available on the project web page at http://www.newcastle.edu.au/department/av/bilby/bilby_in.htm
