Robots are a big part of any maker event, and Gulf Coast MakerCon is no exception.  We’ll have a variety of robots on hand – bouncing balls, flinging frisbees, butlering and battling to the (near) death, a grand kick off for National Robotics Week, and just plain old fun for our 3rd Annual Celebration of the DIY Inventive  Spirit!

The USF Robotics Interest Group is hosting B.A.M.  – Battle at MakerCon – at GCMC.  The USF- Robotics Interest Group (RIG) focuses on sharing knowledge about designing and building robotic devices, promoting robotics at USF, and representing USF in robotics competitions. One of our major focuses is on combat robotics. Popularized by the TV show Battlebots, combat robotics involves a competition where two robots enter an enclosed arena, and fight for a set period of time or until one of the robots has been disabled. Through designing and working on these robots, students learn the principles of design, manufacturing, and programming. RIG will be hosting NRL (National Robotics League) 15 lb and under class fighting robotics competitions at Gulf Coast MakerCon, similar to the video.

The Fun with Bots group will feature a variety of LEGO Mindstorms projects courtesy of the youth Lutz Robotics Club, who is also building a LEGO CNC lathe (who knew right?!)  that they’ll be demonstrating.

And we’ll have a veritable army of FIRST robots, including FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition teams , with student built robots guests can learn about and drive, like the robots 

you’ll see in the video below from LI4E’s ROBOCON Tampa Bay event back in October.

So if you like robots, Gulf Coast Maker Con’s the place to be April 5th & 6th!

Advanced, discounted tickets are on sale now!