6.270 is a hands-on, learn-by-doing class open only to MIT students, in which participants design and build a robot that will play in a competition at the end of January. The goal for the students is to design a machine that will be able to navigate its way around the playing surface, recognize their opponents, and manipulate game objects. Unlike the machines in other MIT robotics classes such as Introduction to Design (2.70 ), 6.270 robots are totally autonomous, so once a round begins, there is no human intervention (in 2.70 the machines are controlled with joysticks).

The goal of 6.270 is to teach students about robotic design by giving them the hardware, software, and information they need to design, build, and debug their own robot. The subject includes concepts and applications that are related to various MIT classes (e.g. 6.001, 6.002 , 6.004 , and 2.70), though there are no formal prerequisites for 6.270. The organizers have found that people can learn everything they need to know by working with each other, being introduced to some material in class, and mostly, by hacking on their robots.

The students work in teams of two or three. Each team is given the same kit containing various sensors, electronic components, batteries, motors, and LEGO. The kits are handed out in the beginning of January and they have three weeks in which to transform the parts into a working robot. For participants who need it, there are mini-courses taught in electrical soldering, mechanical design, state machine design, and coding.

The main 6.270 competition is held in the largest auditorium at MIT and is the most-watched event on campus each year. The 26-100 auditorium is generally filled to capacity, as are the overflow rooms where the contest is shown on projection TVs. In addition, the contest is broadcast live over the MIT cable TV network. Some years the TV broadcast is also streamed over the web.

External link

The official 6.270 website