mgm hackathon #02: Robot Race at 31 Degrees

With 30 participants at four locations – in Munich, Berlin, Hamburg und Cologne – the second mgm hackathon took place on the 25th of August. In spite of the late summer heat, the participants kept a cool head, showed eagerness to experiment and sent a few strong autonomous robot-cars in the race. First of all, the Pi2Go-robots needed to be screwed together. Strengthened by pizza and drinks, the coding started afterwards.

The challenge has been to develop a python-script for the Rasperry Pi, which enabled the robots to drive back and forth a test track. The winding track was made up of black duct tape, where the vehicles had to grope along their way with their sensors. It was soon clear that the devil is in the details. Sensors can deliver faulty values and excessive speed results in the vehicles straying from the road.

Time just flew by, so that the participants asked for extra time for the coding session. At 10 p.m. the final started. One by one the vehicles drove along the test track. This video demonstrates what it looked like. The robot of the winning team from Munich completed the parkour successfully in two minutes and eight seconds.

We would like to congratulate the winners and thank all participants for a nice evening!