The objective of this year's challenge, Dynamite Duel, is to design and build a remotely controlled robot that picks up sticks of "dynamite" from a "mine," then drives up a ramp to drop the dynamite into a scaled bucket. This game varies from previous matches in that only two teams will compete at a time.


There are 53 dynamite sticks, each 12 inches long. Forty are lightweight, and 13 contain an additional 6 ounces of lead pellets. The sticks appear identical and can be picked up by either team. A bundle of three heavy sticks is located inside the mine entrance while the 10 remaining heavy sticks and all 40 light sticks are located inside a "TNT" box near the center of the field.


The game is played in a 24-foot, square field. Two drivers' platforms sit at one end, and two ramps at the other end lead up to the buckets and weighing mechanism. The ramps are 4 feet wide and 8 feet long, rising 3 feet to a platform.


The team with the heaviest bucket at the end of the two minute round wins. If the scales balance, the team with the fewest sticks in their bucket wins. If the number of sticks in each bucket is the same, the team with the most sticks on their half of the platform wins. If the winner is still undetermined, we'll call it a draw.


Teams can move or pick up their opponents sticks, block other machines or defend their bucket, or do anything else that doesn't disrupt play or damage another machine.