Annex C

2005 East Zone Robotics Challenge

 

Challenge Description and Judging Criteria

 

Objective:

The objective of this year's Challenge is to build and program a robot to complete a circuit consisting of a black line path in the shortest possible time, and to overcome the obstacles situated at various points along the path and perform tasks to score bonus points.

 

Description:

  1. The maximum starting size of the robot is 30 cm by 30 cm. There is no limit to the robot's height, though the 30 cm by 30 cm size limit applies throughout the vertical extent of the robot.
  2. The robot can be controlled by either (i) the Lego Mindstorms RCX controller, or (ii) by any other microcontroller. Robots controlled by these two different categories of microcontrollers will be judged separately, and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes awarded separately in each of these two categories.
  3. The playing field is approximately 4 metres by 4 metres in size and is white in colour.
  4. The path to be followed by the robot is a black line of width 1.8 cm.
  5. At the starting position, the base of the robot must be in contact with the start line..
  6. Along the path, the robot will encounter 4 different obstacles (see diagram above). Points will be awarded to the robot when it successfully goes past each obstacle (see table below). A pair of red flags (  ) are placed at the end of each obstacle. The entire robot must pass between these two flagpoles before the points for obstacle are awarded.
  7. The 4 obstacles are described in detail as follows:

Obstacle

Description

See-saw ramp obstacle:

This consists of a rigid plank of length 100 cm and width 50 cm, pivotted at its midpoint at a height of 15 cm from the playing field. It is pivotted in such a way that the robot is able to climb its near side.

Note that there is a small 5 mm gap between the floor and the seesaw due to the thickness of the plank used to make the seesaw.

300 points will be awarded for successfully overcoming this obstacle.

Broken Line obstacle:

 

This obstacle consists of the black path itself, but with gaps along the black line. Each gap is approximately 15 cm wide.

200 points will be awarded for successfully overcoming this obstacle.

Winding Path obstacle:

In this obstacle, the black line path is made to zig-zag, and bricks are placed close to the path on both sides. Robots which do not follow the black line closely may collide with the heavy bricks (painted in white) and be stopped. The bricks are placed at a minimum distance of 20 cm away from the edge of the black line at all points.

300 points will be awarded for successfully overcoming this obstacle.

Sand Trap obstacle:

This final obstacle consists of a pit filled with fine beach sand to a depth of 5 cm. The pit is 100 cm long and 50 cm wide. A shallow ramp allows the robot to climb into the pit.

Within the pit, the ramp slopes gently into and out of the sand, so robots will not encounter sudden 'steps'.

Robots whose wheels or tracks are unable to produce traction on the soft sand may become stuck in the sand and be stopped.

No black line exists inside the pit. Robots are expected to make the final dash in a straight line to the END LINE at the end of this obstacle.

Once the entire robot crosses the end line, timing will be stopped.

400 points will be awarded for successfully overcoming this obstacle.

Bonus points:

Along the black line path, there will be side tracks which lead away to light (toy) bowling pins. These bowling pins will be positioned at a distance of 5 cm away from the end of these side tracks. 200 bonus points will be awarded to robots which are able to knock over (topple) each of these pins.

 

  1. The black line-following ability of the robot must be automatic, and may be achieved through the use of any microcontroller such as the Lego Mindstorms RCX microcontroller, though the robot is not limited to this particular type of microcontroller.
  2. Teams are allowed to use parts from sources outside of the Lego Mindstorms kits, though clarification should always be sought from the organisers via email (kwek_eng_yeow@moe.edu.sg) or phone (9698 3550) if in doubt. The organisers reserve the right to disqualify any robot that is deemed unsuitable from the competition.
  3. Teachers are advised to be aware of safety considerations and to supervise the construction of the robot so as to avoid injury to the students.Any robot that is deemed to be too dangerous to its student operators will not be allowed to enter the Challenge.
  4. Timing will be started when the whistle is blown, and stopped when the entire robot crosses the black End Line.
  5. If the robot malfunctions, veers off the black path or is stopped by an obstacle during a run, teams are allowed to switch off and carry the robot back to the previous set of red flags crossed by the robot, and re-start the robot from a position just after these red flags. Note that the timing will not be stopped until the entire robot crosses the End Line, or if the team declares its intention to end its run by raising a provided red card.
  6. Each robot will be allowed to re-start for a maximum number of 5 times, after which the robot is disqualified and the timing stopped at the instant the robot fails the 6th time. No points will be deducted if the robot is disqualified.
  7. Teams may declare their intention to end their run at any time by flashing a red card which will be provided, at which point the timing for the team will be stopped. Teams may wish to do this if their robot gets stuck at any particular obstacle and they wish to reduce the time penalty incurred.
  8. There is no time limit for each robot to complete the entire circuit, though teams that take longer will incur a larger time penalty. The time penalty to be deducted from the score is the total time in seconds taken to finish the circuit.
  9. Robots must follow the black line path closely and should not be programmed to intentionally move away from the black line. Accidental veer-offs will be ignored if the robot can return to the black line by itself.
  10. Robots can only be re-started if they veer off the black path unintentionally. Teams cannot deliberately re-start a robot if it is still functioning properly.
  11. After passing through an obstacle, robots must pass between the red flags without touching them to be considered to have overcome the obstacle. Otherwise, the robot will have to re-start from the previous set of red flags.
  12. If some part of the robot falls off while it is moving through the course, it will be allowed to continue its run. Teams can also choose to repair the robot and re-start it from the previous set of red flags. Note that timing will not be stopped until the entire robot crosses the finishing line.
  13. No physical changes can be made to the mechanical structure of the robot during a run, even if it is re-started, though changes can be made in between preliminary rounds.
  14. When a robot is re-started from the red flags after veering off the black path, the program that it is running can be changed. This is to enable robots to function properly even if they are not re-started from the Start Line.
  15. Nearer to the Challenge, we will send you more details on the playing field in the form of digital photographs. We will also open up the playing field nearer to the Challenge to allow your students to try out their robots. Note that the circuit shown in the diagram above is close to the final field, though minor changes may still be made. The full details of the Challenge, including any changes to the Challenge criteria and rules, will be made available in due course online at the website of the East Zone Science & Tech Centre at http://www.vjc.moe.edu.sg/S&Tcentre/programmes/robotics_challenge/robotics_challenge2005.htm

 

Computation of final score:

The final score achieved by any team will depend on

(i)                  the time that the robot takes to complete the path from the beginning (whistle is blown) to the End Line. Timing will be stopped when the entire robot crosses the End Line, or at the instant that the team declares its intention to end its run or is disqualified (see point 14 above).

(ii)                the number of obstacles successfully overcome by the robot.

(iii)               the bonus points scored by the robot by knocking over the bowling pins along the circuit.

 

The final score of the team is computed using the formula:

 

Final Score

=    Points scored by overcoming obstacles (max = 1200 pts.)

   + Bonus Points scored by knocking over bowling pins (max = 600 pts.)

   - time taken in seconds (no limit)

The teams with the highest final scores will be declared the winners of the Challenge.

 

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