2015 ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS rules 2015.pdf · 2015 ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS ......

2015 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH – ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS

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2015 ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS

Competition Resources and

Support Page -

Steminabox.com.au/robots

http://www.steminabox.com.au/robots


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Table of CONTENTS PAGE

General Information 3

Dance Competition 4

Rescue Competition 9

Sumo Competition 13


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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 microcontroller platform you wish such as LEGO RCX/NXT/EV3, Makeblock, mbot, Arduino, Picaxe etc.

DIVISONS

Primary School Middle School

Dance Competition (Combined)

Rescue Competition

Sumo (<1000g) (Combined)

AWARDS/RESULTS

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

2. Certificates for first, second and third in each division.

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

4. Presentations will be made at the end of the day at competition end approximately

2:00pm. 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) by 3 pm Friday, 2

weeks prior to the event at the latest (Saturday, 29th August).

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.

http://www.technologychallenge.com.au/

http://www.technologychallenge.com.au/


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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. Human interaction with dancing robots is NOT mandatory.

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.


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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.


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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 doesn’t 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 student’s 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.


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DANCE PERFORMANCE – SCORE SHEET

TEAM NAME: ……………………………………………………… SCHOOL: ……………………………………………………… Manager: ……..………………….…………………………. Team Members: ……………………………………. ……………………………………. …………………………………….. During interview, students demonstrated knowledge of programming & robot YES / NO Performance

TOTALS

Points Robot Construction and Costume The appearance and construction of the robot shows…

0 1 2 3 4 5

Variety of materials and colours used (student produced or not) /5

Additional robots/lights/moving parts /5

Robot was stable throughout performance /3

Costume stayed in place throughout performance /3

TOTAL /16

Points Choreography The dance performed by the robot showed that…

0 1 2 3 4 5

Movements and sequences were in time with the rhythm/beat of the music or complimented the music

/5

Successfully included more difficult movements/sequences/students took risks

/5

Additional robots, moving parts or line followers were used /5

The robot(s) made use of the dance space creatively to provide

interest

/5

It used a variety/combination of movements to complement changing themes of the music

/5

Was inventive and original /5

Set up and performance was within the allotted time including restarts No – 0 points Yes – 3 points

/3

Deduct 1 pt for each indiscretion for the following 3 criteria

Stayed within the defined dance area /3

Performed without restarts (excluding music miscues) /3

Completed routine without human intervention /3

TOTAL /42

Points Entertainment The presentation and performance…

0 1 2 3

Was varied and non repetitive (held interest) /3

Props complimented robot’s performance /3

Robot’s appearance and performance was appealing /3

Robot’s choreography was appropriate to theme/music /3

TOTAL /12

DANCE TOTAL /70

Deduct 2 pts overall for a complete malfunction (where robot needs repair or program

download)

DANCE /70


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DANCE INTERVIEW - SCORE SHEET

**This interview score sheet will only be used in the event of a tie** TEAM NAME: ……………………………………………………… SCHOOL: ……………………………………………………… Manager: ……..………………….….

Team Members: ……………………………………. ……………………………………. ……………………………………..

TOTALS

Points Robot Design and Construction Student(s) must be able to describe their robot to the judges.

0 1 2 3

Student demonstrated understanding of gearing, linkages etc used in their design.

/ 3

Student demonstrated understanding of issues such as robot balance and structural soundness.

/ 3

TOTAL / 6

Points Programming and Preparation Through experience, research and teamwork, the team shows:

0 1 2 3 4

They can explain, describe and demonstrate an understanding of their program.

/ 4

Included more difficult movements/sequences/students took risks / 4

They are able to explain connections between the program and the

music selected.

/ 3

Was inventive and original / 3

TOTAL / 14

DANCE INTERVIEW TOTAL / 20


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RESCUE COMPETITION CHALLENGE Someone has sent a distress call asking for a rescue. There is a person trapped on a sinking water tank in a chemical spill. Your team’s mission is to design, build and program a robot to rescue the person. The chemical spill can only be found by following the road. The robot should find the chemical spill, locate and push or drag the tank from the chemical spill to safety as quickly as possible.

DESIGN BRIEF Design and construct an autonomous robot to “rescue” the victim by travelling along the black road and rescuing the victim located in the chemical spill area. The robot must follow the line completely to enter the chemical spill. COMPETITION RULES - RESCUE The Maryborough Robotics Technology Challenge will be conducted with the following rules: The number of preliminary rounds will be at the discretion of the Robotics co-ordinator depending on the number of entries etc.

1. The Playing Field

1.1 The Rescue Rounds – Rounds will be held on any combination of the following vinyl mats. For Rescue field entry a reflected silver foil strip will be placed immediately prior to the rescue field (on red square). Rescue tracks will be restricted to either left hand turns or right hand turns but not both on the same mat or in the same round- this means single light sensor robots can successfully negotiate the rescue field.


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The field consists of a large vinyl white mat with a 15mm wide black line tracing out a

path. The chemical spill area is coloured green. Note: a silver strip of aluminum foil will mark the entry into the chemical spill or an infrared beacon. Competition printed vinyl mats can be purchased from Steminabox.

1.2 Lighting Teams must come prepared to calibrate their robots based on the lighting conditions

available at the venue.

Every effort will be made to keep ambient light to a low level with infrared (IR) sources from incandescent lights and natural lighting minimized.

Combined Sumo and Line Follow Track

http://www.steminabox.com.au/


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2. Robots

2.1 Control Robots must be controlled autonomously. Robots must be started manually by humans. The use of a remote control of any kind is forbidden except infrared TV remote by

competition officials as a Rescue field entry beacon.

2.2 Marking and/or Colouring Competitors may mark or decorate their robots to identify them.

2.3 Construction

Any robot kit or building blocks may be used, as long as the design and construction are primarily and substantially the original work of the student(s).

Construction from raw electronic and hardware components is also allowed, as long as the design and construction are primarily and substantially the original work of the student(s).

3. Victim

The victim is a standard 375ml aluminium can, wrapped in aluminium foil. The can contains rice bringing its total weight to 60gms. There is only one victim per rescue attempt and it will be placed anywhere within the

green rescue field.

4 Inspection

4.1 Schedule/Registration The robot may be examined by a panel of referees before the start of the tournament

to ensure that the robot meets the constraints described above.

4.2 Students Team members may be interviewed in order to explain the operation of their robots in

order to verify that the construction and the programming of the robot is their own work.

5. Mentors – Mentors and teachers are allowed in the programming area and reasonably

assist students but not directly write or program code for students. Additionally experienced robotics students from Gympie SHS will be available to assist teams during the day.

5. Game Play

Games will be organised into rounds, then a finals series if needed. A time limit of 120 seconds will be imposed per game. (This maybe altered for a

particular round by the event coordinator at their discretion) The robot is placed at the starting position and checked by the referee. At the instruction of the referee, the robot’s handler is to start the program on the

robot. Points are scored by completing individual tiles, taking appropriate short cut markers

and completing a rescue.

5.1 Restarts

A robot may re-start the run as many times as the handler(s) deem necessary within the 120 seconds game time.

The game clock will continue to run during all restarts. A robot must restart if:


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• The robot ceases to follow the line, • The robot is touched by a human, • The robot moves off the field.

5.2 Following the Line The robot must follow the line completely to enter the chemical spill. Some portion of the line segment the robot is following must be under the ’plan’ view

(viewed from the top) of the robot at all times. Should the robot stray from the line, it will deemed to have ceased following the line and have to restart.

5.3 Scoring

Scoring is the same for all games including the finals.

Teams will be awarded 10 points for each tile successfully negotiated. Each green short cut marker taken correctly is 2 points. Points are not cumulative therefore for each restart, teams will start again on 0 points.

The run that scores the most points will be the one that counts for that round. A successful rescue (victim is pushed or dragged completely outside the chemical spill)

- 20 points. If the robot fails to rescue the victim in the allocated time, it will be given a time score

of 120 seconds.

5.4 Preliminary Rounds There will usually be four preliminary rounds. Competitors are allowed to re-compete a particular mat in a round once all other

competitors have finished the round and if time still remains prior to beginning the next round.

The victim will be located in a new position in the chemical spill for each round. It will be in the same position for all competitors during that round.

The overall rankings will be determined by adding the points for each preliminary round. The team with the most points will be ranked first. If there is a tie on points the team with the lowest overall time for the preliminary rounds will be ranked first.

5.5 Finals

The top four ranked teams will be in the 2 finals matches: 1st ranked team vs 2nd ranked team 3rd ranked team vs 4th ranked team

Finals shall be a head-to-head competition. 6. Conflict Resolution

During game play, the referee’s decisions will be final.


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SUMO COMPETITION The objective of the sumo competition is to push your opponent out of the ring. An example

using LEGO is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSI_Ldy1l2A and another scratch built robot

competition http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUmagHz-vqA. Sumo Competition: Either Lego NXT or EV3 or any micro controller based robot but must be fully autonomous and must not be remote controlled in any fashion and must conform to the design specifications.

Competition Ring: 95cm diameter white circle with a 5cm black border on 15mm board. Game Play:

1. Robots begin back to back opposing each other in the center- the loser is the robot that leaves the ring first

which is defined as touching the surface which the competition ring is placed. The referee may call a draw after 60 seconds or force a restart after 5 seconds of “locked robots” at their discretion. Robot handlers must not touch their robots unless instructed by the referee.

2. Double playoff elimination rounds. Once you lose two matches you are out of the competition.

Sumo Robot design rules:

1. Maximum size of robot is 250mm long by 150mm wide with no height restriction as measured with any articulating components in their upright position.

2. Maximum mass of 1000 grams. 3. Articulating or moving components are allowed as long as they fit the above design rules

however the no intentional harm rule applies- this means that flippers and skid plates are

fine but deliberately destructive mechanisms such as abrasive spinners or hammers etc are not allowed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSI_Ldy1l2A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUmagHz-vqA

2015 ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS rules 2015.pdf · 2015 ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS ......

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