Yes, an old school movie reference for those of you old enough to remember that movie. No hints on the title - go figure it out for yourself if you don't already know. Let me just say, it was one of the last movies where Ally Sheedy was still "all that". What does that have to do with anything? Well, Microsoft has launched RoboChamps (www.robochamps.com), a simulated robotics league that is open to academics, hobbyists and developers from around the world.  From the official announcement...

RoboChamps is built on top of the Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio(MSRDS) 2008 CTP, and uses that product’s robust, physics enabled simulation environment to remove the barriers of entry that exist for many today. This simulated league provides individuals with immersive 3-d environments, simulated versions of robots, and compelling scenario-specific challenges where they can win real robots.  Environments range from a maze to the surface of the planet Mars to downtown driving to robot rescue to soccer.  The top four finalists will be flown to PDC, where the competition moves to the real world and participants apply their code to real robots.

It looks really cool and fun.  Even the web site is cool.  There are six different types of robot challenges you can choose from - navigate a maze, build a Mars Rover-style robot to explore alien worlds, drive through an urban setting, build a rescue bot, a bot that wrestles, or head-to-head tournament action.  Work a check out!