Inspired by the last local robot tournamet at Omega, the Norwegian initiative Lær Kidsa Koding and a few discussions at my local hackerspace (Hackhem) I decided to revisit the BBC Micro:bit platform to see if it would be suitable as a mini sumo controller. The idea was that it would be really cool to attempt a design of an entry level mini sumo platform, that used commonly available parts, didn’t cost an arm and a leg, was easy to build and easy to program.

After having wanted to get into kit making for some time, I finaly decided to give it a go. This year, I had a few Nixie clocks on display at Trondheim Maker Faire, and later also at [Oslo Skaperfestival] (https://deichman.no/aktuelt/Oslo%20skaperfestival%202019_f3766aba-5436-4077-97b1-08cdc5641e0c). The clocks generated enough interest to justify a limited run of kits. I am now offering a Nixie Clock kit in two versions. A “Full kit” version that contains all necessary parts for the clock.

Norwegian Spar 7 machine. You will probably want one of these… Spar 7 replacement boards. I made a new batch of these a few days ago. Initially I thought that I had lost the gerber files and the Target 3001 design files, but I was fortunately able to locate them in one of my old backups. If the files had been lost, I could easily have redesigned these boards, using SMT components in order to make them even more compact.

The short version Mostly Harmless won the obstacle course challenge and decimated the targets in the arena, but got its ass thoroughly whooped by the fearsome drum spinning Ascend robot in the finals. To the audience’s disappointment, the whooping didn’t take too long. The robot was on its back - dead in the water after just a few seconds. However… Robot fighting is a spectator sport and the audience demanded more carnage.

How much of a punch can a 2kg robot throw ? And how much sustained beating can a 2kg robot tolerate and still remain operational ? The answers to these questions will become clear on Nov 9th at the next local robot wars competition, hosted by Omega Workshop in Trondheim. The Inspiration For some reason, I have managed to miss out on all previous tournaments, but this spring I was persuaded to join as a referee (I later discovered that the tournament date conflicted with the date for a local whiskey festival - hence an acute shortage of available referees).