The old forward
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N.B. This version of the forward, while the most polished, is not the most recent - a new version has been built since this one.

Hardware
The forward is a pretty simple robot compared to the goalie; it is just a one-motor-per-wheel skid-steering chassis (albeit a rather nice one, in my opinion) with three sensors attached to it. These are: a downward-facing light sensor, to read the colour of the ground (the pitch has a gradient from black at one end to white at the other, so the robots can work out which way to push the ball); a forward-facing light sensor, collimated with a 1x2 girder which also blocks the LED from confusing the other robots; and a touch sensor on a scoop, to detect when the robot has run into something.

You can download a 3d model of the forward in MLCad format.

Pictures
An overview of the forward robot
An overview shot from the side, showing the bumber at the front (the touch sensor is activated by the cam), the downward-facing light sensor and one of the wheels. The large bundle at the back of the robot is a coiled wire - I did not have enough short ones and had to use one of the very long ones!

The bottom of the forward robot
The bottom of the robot, showing the two motors and drivetrains and the round skids, as well as the downward-facing light sensor. Apologies for the graininess of this photograph; it was taken with a very bad camera and I had to sharpen it quite a lot to make out the fine details.

Software
The code is fairly complicated compared to the generality of the robot. After being calibrated for its and the opposing team's ends, the robot heads towards the brightest thing it can see in a complete revolution until it runs into something. If the forward-facing light sensor is also stimulated at the same time it is reckoned that the robot has run into the ball, otherwise the robot backs off and searches again. If the object is the ball and the robot is pushing it towards its opponent's end, it keeps on pushing it for a time; if not, it tries to get around to the other side of the ball before beginning again.

You can download the programme for the forward in NQC format.