We are less than two months away from our eighth annual Autonomous Vehicle Competition! With the inclusion of the Power Racing Series and the continuation of our Combat Bots competition, we’ve done some soul-searching at SparkFun about why we host AVC year after year, and what role we see it playing in our very cool world of innovation and technology at the grassroots level.
That’s why as of today, we are especially pleased to announce CASH PRIZE AWARDS for all competitions! As a playfully competitive organization, we’re always looking for ways to raise the stakes, especially when there’s a lot of smack talk going around the building (*cough* pink Barbie Power Wheels *cough*).
But in all seriousness, there’s a very real case to be made for the role of prizes to catalyze problem-solving, promote individual empowerment, and facilitate effective partnerships between private enterprise (fancy term for SparkFun, I think…) and our community. AVC is a special day, and our favorite way to invite everyone into our world, and we look forward to seeing every competitor’s different solution to the problem of the AVC, PRS and Combat Bots competitions.
So without further adieu, here are this year’s prizes for AVC:*
CLASSIC AVC:
GRAND PRIZE - $750 in all three weight classes
SECOND PLACE - $200 in all three weight classes
THIRD PLACE - $100 in all three weight classes
PRS:
GRAND PRIZE - $750
SECOND PLACE - $200
THIRD PLACE - $100
A+PRS:
GRAND PRIZE - $750
SECOND PLACE - $200
THIRD PLACE - $100
COMBAT BOTS:
GRAND PRIZE - $750 for beetleweight and antweight
SECOND PLACE - $200 for beetleweight and antweight
THIRD PLACE - $100 for beetleweight and antweight
We're also offering specific prizes for teams in the student category:
CLASSIC AVC:
GRAND PRIZE - $250 in all three weight classes
SECOND PLACE - $100 in all three weight classes
THIRD PLACE - $100 in SFE product in all three weight classes
PRS:
GRAND PRIZE - $750
SECOND PLACE - $100
THIRD PLACE - $100 in SFE product
A+PRS:
GRAND PRIZE - $750
SECOND PLACE - $100
THIRD PLACE - $100 in SFE product
COMBAT BOTS:
GRAND PRIZE - $750 for beetleweight and antweight
SECOND PLACE - $100 for beetleweight and antweight
THIRD PLACE - $100 in SFE product for beetleweight and antweight
As outlined in the AVC rules, a student team consists of any vehicle that is 80 percent designed and built by students (high school or younger). If you have any questions, concerns or requests for extensions on the progress verification steps, feel free to reach out to myself and our division leads at avc@sparkfun.com.
*all prizes come with some pretty groovy medals/trophies.
Where can we register?
Teams can register here: https://avc.sparkfun.com/2016/register
Awwww yeah.... excrement just got realz yo... ;P
I'll be happy if I make it around the track or past the discombobulator though... :)