ROBOCODE

DEFINITION

Robocode A programming game

that teaches Java in a fun, rewarding
manner by letting you create Java
"Robots," real Java objects that
battle it out onscreen against other
robots.

WHAT ROBOCODE ACTUALLY

IS:
Robocode is actually a user
programmable game platform in
which competitors write software that
controls a miniature tank that fights
other identically-built (but differently
programmed) tanks in a playing field.
Robots move, shoot at each other,
scan for each other, and hit the walls
(or other robots) if they aren't careful

ROBOCODE COMPETITION
Mainly robocode competition is all
about two things:

Avoid getting hit too much

(Movement)
Try to predict where the opponent(s)
will move and hit them as much as
possible (Targeting)

TOP BOTS TECHNIQUES

Many sophisticated techniques have
emerged. However, many top bots
utilize:

Wave Surfing
Statistical Targeting
Guess Factor Targeting

SAMPLE BOTS

Several sample robots are included

in Robocode to help the beginners
get started. They demonstrate
various basic techniques used in
coding robots, from event-driven
programming to writing out data to
be used later

CODE SIZE RESTRAINTS

To force the competitors to prioritize

what features to include in a bot
there are four used code size
categories. (Codesize is measure
in bytes by a tool.):
Megabots - no codesize restriction
Minibots - less than 1500 bytes
Microbots - less than 750 bytes
Nanobots - less than 250 bytes

RR@H Champions
The champions of the rr@h in feb.
2006 are:
Code
size

Battle
type

Megabots 1-on-1

melee
Teams
overall

Bot

Comment

Dookius

Currently rated 2112, the highest

rating ever attained

Aleph
Aleph
Shadow

A specialized team version

Among the runner-ups in both 1on-1 and melee and undefeated in
1-on-1 at that

Minibots

1-on-1

Melee
Overall
Microbots

1-on-1

Pugilist

Unthreatened champion for over a

year also undefeated by other
minibots. And it is with open source

Glow Blow
Melee
Hard to tell
Thorn

No mini melee bot is very good at

the 1-on-1 act
Open source

Melee

Shiz

Open source

Overall

Hard to tell No micro melee bot is very good at

the 1-on-1 act

Nanobots

1-on-1

Spinter

Open source

Melee

Lib

Open source

Overall

DoctorBob

coding of a robot

Actual platform of battle

screenshot of the summary

CONCLUSION:

In summary, the Robocode platform

(which is a free download from IBM's
Robocode website) is an ideal tool to
use for AI programming in addition
to learning the basics of Java
programming

BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.robocoderepository.com
www.robowiki.net
www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/jrobocode2
www.robocode.yajags.com
www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/robocode
www.robocode.sourceforge.net
www.robocode.ie
www.robocode.com