7. Hay Bales

CajunBot spins it wheels after getting stuck on some hay.

The lowly hay bale proved to be the most dangerous obstacle, disabling many vehicles and causing headaches for the teams. Hay is more difficult to detect because the organic fibers tend to absorb LASER energy. In addition, the brownish yellow colored hay blends into dirt and grass quite well. The result is that many robots plowed into them, with the smaller bots becoming disabled after getting their tires caught on top of the hay.

GhostRider tries to get back up after hitting some hay.

On their first qualification run, GhostRider got stuck on some hay bales just before the plywood tunnel. The bales were arranged as a wedge to funnel vehicles into the opening of the tunnel. The motorcycle hit the bales of the left side of the course and got stuck. Earlier in the run, GhostRider had gotten back up after hitting a wall, but it would have no such luck this time.