Well I had two things to do this weekend. The first was Robofest, and the second was the Austin American Statesman Capitol 10K. See the latter in Watt’s Running blog.
The former was held at the Hill Country Middle School in their gym. The organizer Diana H. did a great job and the team of people she put together (for example, the judges) was hardworking, conscientious, and fun. I was the scorekeeper because I don’t know the first thing about robots. However, after now seeing what everyone did I probably could have been a judge. Maybe there is something there in the future. I arrived about 8AM and helped Wally unload audio, video, and other electronic equipment – I was a “junior roadie”. Then I assisted the judges setting up the two official Robofest courses. Next I got my computer all ready to handle the scoring. Around noon I had lunch with the judges and chatted. They were all very much technical geeks. Then we were “off to the races” with the students presenting their robots, answering judges questions, and running the course. After the first round we had a short break and then completed the second round. It was very interesting watching how the robots worked and seeing how the students talked about their “bots”. At the end all the scores came to me and I entered them on a pre-provided spreadsheet. I wrote the results out for the chief judges, awards were given, pictures taken, and the event was over around 5PM. Altogether a very satisfying day primarily because of Diana, the other volunteers, the students and their bots. I’d do it again in a flash.