Students build a working robot from loose parts, learn what actually makes it fast or strong, program it to sense what is around it, and finish by putting it in a sumo ring in front of their families. No experience needed — everything is provided. Run by Loudoun Robotics in partnership with the Stone Hill Middle School PTO.
Every week builds on the week before — by week 4 each team has a machine that is genuinely theirs, and they spend the remaining eight weeks making it smarter. Weekly topics may shift depending on the pace of the group.
| Week | Date | Session |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 16 | Build and test. Build your first robot and drive it exactly one meter. Measure the error, then fix it. |
| 2 | Sep 23 | Grip and strength. Why some robots push and others spin. Traction, friction, and surviving a hit. |
| 3 | Sep 30 | Speed or strength? Gear ratios — trade speed for pushing power, then see which wins a tug of war. |
| 4 | Oct 7 | Design your fighter. Now you choose — gearing, wheels, shape. Build the robot you keep. |
| 5 | Oct 14 | Make it move. Motors and sequence. Drive an exact distance on purpose. |
| 6 | Oct 21 | Repeat and turn. Loops and accurate turns. Drive a repeatable path without babysitting it. |
| 7 | Oct 28 | Feel a hit. The touch sensor — the moment a robot knows it has found its opponent. |
| 8 | Nov 4 | See the edge. The color sensor — detect the ring boundary and stop before driving out. |
| 9 | Nov 11 | Find the opponent. The ultrasonic sensor — measure distance and close in. |
| 10 | Nov 18 | Decide. If/else logic. At the edge, back off. On contact, push. |
| 11 | Dec 2 | Design the edge. Wedges, plows and low profiles — the attachment that wins matches. |
| 12 | Dec 9 | Tournament. Round-robin sumo in front of families. Awards for design as well as for winning. |
Two dates to put in your calendar: the program starts Wednesday, September 16, and there is no class on November 25 for Thanksgiving. The tournament on December 9 is open to families — please come.
The syllabus is the one-page version of everything on this page. The sumo rules are what your student needs before December 9.
Two other things exist but are not downloads. Every student gets a printed engineering notebook in session one — they write in it every week and keep it at the end. And we write a session plan for each of the twelve weeks, covering setup, timing and what usually goes wrong. If you would like to see either, just ask.
Dates, what students learn each week, and what they will be able to do by December.
Download PDF For students · 3 pagesThe ring, how a match works, what is not allowed, and the checklist to run before every match. Written for students to read themselves.
Download PDFThere is nothing to buy and nothing your student needs to bring.
Email us — a parent will answer, usually the same day.
admin@loudounrobotics.org