2012 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS

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2012 ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS

2012 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS

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CONTENTS PAGE

General Information 3

Dance Competition 4

Rescue Competition 10

HPV Race Competition 14

2012 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS

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GENERAL INFORMATION

A cordial invitation is extended to schools to participate and enjoy our Robotic Challenge

Competitions introduced for the first time in 2006.

Our aim is to allow students to have Fun with Technology and ask schools to ensure their

robots and their programs are the students own work.

Please note that for all divisions, the competition is open to any platform you wish (LEGO, Fischer

Technic, Picaxe programmable micro chips Elekit, etc).

DIVISONS

Primary Lower Secondary

(8-9)

Upper Secondary

(10-12)

Dance Competition

Rescue Competition

Robot Race Competition

Note: Depending on the number of entries the in the secondary division there maybe only one

open division rather then lower and upper.

COMPETITION RULES

The Technology Challenge Robotics rules are based on the rules of the RoboCup Junior Australia

competition, with some minor variations.

Please make sure you are familiar with these rules.

AWARDS/RESULTS

1. Medals will be provided for winners in each category.

2. Certificates and gift certificates for first, second and third in each division. (depends on

sponsorship)

3. Participation certificates will be distributed for all participating students.

4. Presentations will be made following each division competition. Results will continuously

be updated during the competition and published on the Technology Challenge website

(www.technologychallenge.com.au)

REGISTRATION

1. Schools to register online (http://www.technologychallenge.com.au/rules_entry.html) by

3 pm Friday, 2 weeks prior to the event at the latest.

2. Upon arrival, students are to confirm their registration of their robot at the registration

desk.

PRIVACY/PERMISSION

Media including Maryborough Chronicle, Courier Mail, Channel 7 News, Channel 10 are usually in

attendance. All schools are asked to have parent/guardian permission for such publicity. Please

notify the co-ordinator if such permission is not granted.

2012 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS

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DANCE COMPETITION

CHALLENGE

Design a single robot or a team of robots to dance to music for a minimum of one minute and not

more than two minutes.

Your task is to entertain, delight and thrill the audience. We expect your robot to be decorated

and dressed to please. The challenge is intended to be as open ended as you choose to make it.

Your robot(s) is/are to perform on an area of maximum size 3m x 3m. The surface provided will

be a dark wood printed lino mat with the 3m x 3m boundary marked with 50mm white tape. You

may supply your own surface marked or decorated in any way you choose.

Team members may design a T-shirt that reflects the theme of their dance/team. This is not

essential. The wearing of school uniforms is encouraged.

RULES

1. The Robot/s

1.1 Robots can be of any size or number of motors, microprocessors or sensors.

2. The Performance

2.1 The performance will be longer than one minute but less than two minutes. The music

will be stopped after two minutes.

2.2 The allowable floor area is 3m x 3m. This area will be marked with white masking tape

(width 50mm) with the 3m being measured to the inside edge of the tape.

2.3 Robots whose performance extends beyond the allowable area will lose points in the

programming/choreography section.

2.4 The team members may dance/interact either inside or outside the designated area. Any

human interaction will be considered as props.

3. Lighting and Special Effects

3.1 This will only be permitted if the equipment is operated by a team member.

3.2 Equipment must have been constructed/developed by team members.

3.3 Scenery and props are permitted.

3.4 Set-up is not to take longer than 3 minutes.

4. The Costume

4.1 Costuming/decoration of the robots is encouraged.

4.2 Commercial elements such as dolls, soft toys, commercial costuming are permitted,

however, higher marks will be allocated to teams whose robots feature student

made/assembled elements.

4.3 Costumes are to be mainly the students own work.

2012 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS

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5. Music

5.1 Music is to be supplied by the students.

5.2 Audio sources (CD) should be high quality and contain only the music for the performance

on it.

5.3 Music must be labelled with the team name, school, performance title, track number and

title of music.

5.4 Music must not be of a suggestive or offensive or violent nature as decided by the judges.

5.5 Teams are advised to start the music first, and then synchronise the robot start.

6. Mechanical Malfunction

6.1 Robots who lose parts, become stuck, fall over or mechanically malfunction may be

righted/quickly repaired by a team member. (one point is lost for each malfunction).

6.2 Competitors are advised that the dance surface may not be perfectly flat and tail

dragging type robots may incur some difficulties. Provision of your own dance surface is

allowable however it is to be no larger than the allowable dance area as per rule 2.2.

7. Programming Computers

7.1 No remote control devices are permitted in the performance hall.

7.2 Competitors are advised to mask/shield their RCX infra-red window to prevent the

program being corrupted (eg: black electricians tape).

7.3 Competitors are reminded that the LEGO RCX infra-red tower has a range of about 3m. It

is the responsibility of the computer operator to ensure that the IR power is turned to low

and the tower is shielded to reduce stray emissions.

7.4 In the case of a complete malfunction due to the program, the team leader indicates to

the performance judge that the program has malfunctioned. The following team must be

ready to take the stage while the malfunction is fixed. A penalty will be incurred for the

team with the malfunction.

7.5 The team leader may take the robot to the teams laptop and download the program

again.

7.6 It is the teams responsibility to have their laptop on and showing the correct program

should this eventuate. The computer is not permitted on the dance floor area.

8. Re-Starts

8.1 If the robot experiences a mechanical or programming malfunction, the team leader must

request a re-start immediately by signalling clearly to the judges.

8.2 Re-starts are at the discretion of the Robotics Director.

2012 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS

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9. Scheduling

9.1 Every effort will be made to adhere to the pre advertised running schedule, however, due

to late entries and un-foreseen circumstances, there may be some variation. Teams must

be available for interview/performance up to 30 minutes prior to the advertised times.

9.2 It is expected that all teams will be in attendance on competition day to support all/some

performances.

10. Programming and Practice Area

10.1 Teams must assemble in their designated area.

10.2 Parents/supporters are not permitted in the programming and practice area after the initial setup.

11. Performance/Judging

11.1 Students will be given 10 minutes.

11.2 During this time, a brief interview will be conducted where they have to demonstrate their

robot is their own work:

The full team must be present The robot must accompany the team The team must have their laptop ON displaying their program. If a team doesnt have

a laptop, a print out of their program must be submitted.

The interview will be a simple YES/NO in the categories indicted on the evaluation sheet on the following page.

11.3 During this same ten minutes, the students robot will perform and be marked out of 70

according to the evaluation sheet on the following page.

11.4 The winner of the competition will be the team with the highest number of points. In the

event of a tie, the judges will conduct another interview with the tied teams to determine

the competition winner. The dance interview score sheet (following page) will be used

during this interview.

2012 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS

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DANCE PERFORMANCE SCORE SHEET

TEAM NAME:

SCHOOL:

Manager: ....

Team Members: . . ..

Knowledge of Robot

During interview, students:

1. Presented a copy of their program (printout or laptop) YES / NO

2. Discussed programming YES / NO

3. Worked as a team YES / NO

4. Demonstrated their robot and program(s) were their own work YES / NO

Performance

TOTALS