Robo-Hoops Competition

The Robo-Hoops competition is a robot basketball competition held by Penn State Abington every winter. In this competition, robots are required to identify and scoop up a yellow foam ball, then shoot the basketball through the hoop.

Overview
The Robo-Hoops competition allows autonomous robots to compete solo and head to head, in a basketball type format. Each robot must be able to identify the yellow foam balls, scoop them up, and shoot the ball through the hoop. Robots are judged based on how many baskets they are able to score. If the robot is able to shoot the ball into the basket from outside the two point line (six inches from the basket), the robot is awarded two points. Scoring from within the two point line only awards one point per basket.

Solo Round
In the Solo Round, one robot on the court has 60 seconds to sink as many baskets as possible. Robots must identify where the balls are resting, collect them, and put them through the hoop. Robots are judged based on how many baskets they make.

Head To Head Round
In the Head to Head competition, two robots are placed at opposite sides of the court, with the hoop in the middle. The robots have 60 seconds to score as many baskets as possible, while simultaneously blocking the efforts of the opposing robot to score. The robot with the most points at the end of the 60 seconds wins the round. This mode of competition takes the form of double elimination, where robots are eliminated from the competition after losing two rounds. The robot that lasts the longest without losing a round wins the competition.