Frequently Asked Questions

  1. When is Maslab 2009?
  2. When is registration, and how does the lottery work?
  3. Do I get credit for Course 2, 6, or 16?
  4. When/where is the final competition?
  5. Are you 6.270?
  6. Is this the right robotics competition for me?
  7. Should I take 6.270 or 6.186 first? What are the prerequisites?
  8. Do the teams get to keep the kits?

1. When is Maslab 2009?

Maslab meets every day (M-F, and lab is open Saturday) during IAP, which is January 5th through January 30th. There will be 5-10 mini-lectures during the first two weeks of IAP, and 1-2 workshops in the lab. You shouldn't miss these. Most days are open lab (thus no particular hours, but attendance is crucial), but most people show up just about every day. Maslab is a very significant time commitment: people routinely put in >50 hours a week for all of IAP.

2. When is registration, and how does the lottery work?

Registration started on October 22nd and will end on November 15th. We have a limited number of spots, and registered teams will be randomly selected to fill those spots. Each team has an equal chance in the lottery; there is no priority system.

An organizational meeting will be held in early November, at which time teams must provide the $50 team fee. Otherwise, their spot will be given to an alternate team. A personal check made out to "MIT/6.186" is preferred.

3. Do I get credit for Course 2,6, or 16?

Maslab is now cross listed under Courses 2, 6, and 16. For all three you'll get 6 units of P/F credit. If you register as Course 6, then you'll also get 6 EDPs.

4. When/where is the final competition?

We plan to have the final competition in 26-100 on January 30th during the late afternoon/early evening.

5. Are you 6.270?

Nope! We're a completely separate student group with a different focus, different types of hardware, and a different contest. Maslab (also known as 6.186) and 6.270 complement each other, and we think robotics enthusiasts should take both!

6. Is this the right robotics competition for me?

MIT has a number of fine robotics related courses. All of these balance the various aspects of robot-building (mechanics, control systems, artificial intelligence) in different ways. Much can be gained by taking each one! Which one should you take? Look at all of them and see which is right for you at this point in your academic career.

To find out more about Maslab, look at what we've done in past years and see what we have in mind for this year.

7. Should I take 6.270 or 6.186 first? What are the prereqs?

Maslab robots tend to be more complex, and participants can benefit from 6.270 (and other class) experience. In fact, it is one of our goals to give students a chance to apply what they've learned at MIT. There are, however, NO prerequisites and novices have done very well in the past!

Other classes that might prove helpful (but not essential!) include 6.00x, 6.034, 6.170, 6.836, 6.341/6.344, 6.867, 18.01, 2.70, 10.100, and probably a bunch others. It's a fun moment when, late at night working on your robot, you realize "Hey, I could actually use that thing I learned in that class!" or "Oh! That's what they meant when they taught us about ____!"

8. Do teams get to keep the kits?

For the most part the answer is yes, provided the teams complete the course.