CircleBot

My first robot that could actually beat all the sample robots - it can't aim, but it's movement is aggressive and evasive - it simply spirals in to enemies (or away from them if they're too close) in a jerky motion, and it is reasonably hard to hit for people who don't use any kind of advance aiming. It's also hard to hit for people who do circular aiming without averaging the velocity and heading change over several turns. If your robot's movement is such that CircleBot tends to circle you, though, it's a good robot to test your velocity and heading change averaging techniques on with CircularTargeting. -- Kawigi

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How does it move?

Spirals toward or away from the enemy in a jerky pattern, tries to stay at an optimal distance. Changes directions when it hits a wall or another robot.

How does it fire?

Nothing fancy, it just spins its gun and fires whenever it sees something.

How does it dodge bullets?

All it does is spiral in or out.

How does the melee strategy differ from one-on-one strategy?

It keeps track of all enemies and spirals around the closest one in Melee. That way it is rarely to close to anyone, and it does ok against other non-competitive bots.

How does it select a target to attack/avoid in melee ?

I think it always shoots whenever it sees someone while its spinning its gun, so I suppose whoever it sees first once its gun is cooled down is the lucky winner.

What does it save between rounds and matches?

nothing.

Where did you get the name?

The original concept was that it would chase robots that move in straight lines at an angle, but it would circle robots that stay closer to the same spot like a vulture.

Can I use your code?

If you want to. I suppose the turn code (finding the fastest way to move a certain direction, going either forwards or backwards) and the code to move laterally and inward or laterally and outward could be useful, especially for people just getting started.

What's next for your robot?

No future development is planned, although I considered trying to add circular aiming and fitting it into a MicroBot.

What other robot(s) is it based on?

none, although there are probably others like it that I didn't know about. I just sort of sketched up a sudden idea in one of my classes one day.