robotrace Fabian Winkler and M.O.T Based on a very simple brush-based robot prototype (see following picture) which was developed in late 1998, the Masters of Technology (M.O.T) have performed robotrace in different locations over the last couple of years. The focus of the different variations of the robotrace installations/performances has been directed toward an aesthetic whole, surprise and critical observation rather than toward a typical race situation (the common practice in the field of robotics - cf. robot soccer, etc.) which would have meant competing with other robot research labs with a purely technological approach. 
The team behind robotrace (M.O.T.) is highly interdisciplinary including students from aerospace engineering, industrial design, mechanical engineering and media art. Starting with a very simple performance setup (ten robots moving in a 2x2m area, projecting laserbeams in dry-ice fog) the setup changed with each performance including live video feeds (see following picture) from the robots' perspective to pattern recognition which allowed the robots - based on what they saw - to compose a soundtrack in realtime while they were moving. 
In 2000 the robotrace team members were invited as guest researchers at the Karlsruhe Research Center (FZK). In collaboration with the fluid muscle group a very simple muscle joint was developed to allow the robots to navigate (see folowing picture). 
Realizing that adding more and more technology to the robots brought the group into competition with robot research on a solely technological level, the last robotrace project subverted the situation again. Instead of following the path of constant technological improvement leading to very specialized and expensive individual robot prototypes the Masters of Technology released a new series of robots that could be purchased for a very low price (less than 10 dollars). The newly released robots technically worked in the same way the old robots did but they were simplified to such an extend that they could be built by anybody using standard household/electronic components. In an organized event copies of the latest robot series could be purchased, the robots were assembled on site and then released by the 50 customers in the largest robotrace performance ever. Sample Quicktime Movies from the different performances:
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