2013 IEEE Region 5. Annual Meeting and Student Competitions April 6 7 Denver, Colorado

Transcription

1 2013 IEEE Region 5 Annual Meeting and Student Competitions April 6 7 Denver, Colorado Student Robotics Competition Problem Statement and Competition Rules Venue The IEEE 2013 Region 5 Robotics Competition will be held Saturday, in the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center in Denver, CO. The competition will be open to contestants, spectators, and visitors throughout the event. Student teams will be provided with tables, outlets, and practice space the evening before and day of the competition. Students must arrive to the competition prior to the 0800 start time on April 6 and enter their robots; however, participation in the competition will require pre-registration before the deadline. More details on this will be provided on the web site:

2 1 Revisions As in the past, rules are subject to change based upon input received from teams. Changes will be notated here. There will also be a question and answer website that will be updated as questions are received. August 18, 2012 Preliminary release of document to public. At this time, the details for the question and answer website are still not finalized. As soon as we have a working site, this will be published. Furthermore, the details of the file contents with locations of the samples has not been determined. This will also be published as soon as it is finalized. September 2, 2012 Entry requirements section edited to reflect quarantine requirements. September 7, 2012 Information added regarding obtaining access to the R5 Robotics website. The procedure for website registration for questions and answers are detailed in section 2. September 14, 2012 File specifics added in section 5. October 14, 2012 Second paragraph modified in section 5 to include a 1/16" sheet of tin added to the top of the soil samples and to clarify allowable probe movements. The third bulleted item under 4 was changed to clarify the robot size requirements. It was not originally intended to confine the robot size restrictions during the entire round; therefore, the specific rule has been modified to allow the robot to expand during the round. The details on the paint of the playing surface in section 6 have been changed. The obstacles will now be painted gray and not black. The particular paint specifications will be provided soon. October 15, 2012 Second paragraph modified in section 5 to correct typo from 1/6" to 1/16". October 16, 2012 Details on gray paint added in section 6. A change was made in the construction of the standing trees high cut pieces of fir will be used as described in section 6. A modification to section 5 describing the sheet of tin to be added to the Delrin samples. December 12, 2012 A ban on flash photography during competition rounds was added to section 3. Details clarified on the soil samples location file specifications added in section 5; the files will formatted in FAT16 format. The location of the soil samples location example file specifications was clarified in section 5. It was requested and agreed upon that a small weight will be placed on the soil samples after placing on the playing field. The weight used will be a standard Campbell s brand condensed Tomato soup can; label states net weight 10 3/4 ounces (305 grams). This detail is added in section 5. page 2

3 A modification to section 5 further clarifying the sheet of steel panning to be added to the top of the Delrin samples. Scoring specifications were clarified in section 7. The original wording may have implied that there would be no deductions if the robot collects all 6 samples and returns to sector 1 in less than 5 minutes; this was changed to make clear that incurred deductions will be taken regardless of mission time. A 100 point scoring deduction was added in every case of a robot collecting a sample in a motion that is not vertical. A 100 point scoring deduction was added in the case of a robot failing to contract to the original 1 x 1 x 1 dimension upon completion of the round. In section 8, it was clarified that the robot can be placed in any position within sector 1. February 9, 2013 In section 4, further restrictions on flying robots were added. All flying robots will require an external emergency cutoff switch. Also, in this section, the option of using an SD card was added as previously discussed on the community question and answer. The file name containing the sample locations was changed to locatio.csv in section 5. In section 6, a specification was added to the playing surface to include netting to be used for flying robots. A new playing field diagram was added to in section 5. The previous drawing had a mistake on the size of the standing trees ; the were not actually the correct 4 4 size. Please note, due to shrinkage of the landscape timbers, the actual size is closer to Also, the red dots appeared much larger on the drawing than the actual size of 1". In section 2, a minimum team size of 3 and a maximum size of 5 is clarified. It is also clarified that every team member must have a paid registration for the Region 5 meeting. It is clarified in section 5 that a soil sample will not be placed in sector 14 and that samples will be placed as close to the middle of the sector as possible. March 14, 2013 In section 6, the netting concept originally discussed in the change of February 9, 2013, was modified. Netting suitable to contain an out of control flying robot would require considerable time and expense. It was determined we could create the same effect by using a watcher with a tennis racket on each of the 4 sides of the competition board prepared to swat down the robot in the event it becomes out of control and the external emergency cutoff does not function properly. Either way, the robot will most likely be destroyed. This is regrettable; however, out of control flying robots can pose an unsuitable danger to the viewing audience. April 2, 2013 In section 8,the number of teams to compete in the final round was changed from three to eight. In section:round, size requirements was removed from final paragraph. The 100 point scoring deduction, added on December 12, 2013 in section 7, in the case of a robot failing to contract to the original 1 x 1 x 1 dimension upon completion of the round was removed. It is anticipated many groups will fail to complete the challenge in 5 minutes or less. page 3

4 In 8, a statement regarding the final authority of the head judge was added. page 4

5 2 Contestant Eligibility The competition is open to all undergraduate students attending IEEE Region 5 educational institutions. Teams may not include any non-undergraduate students. Teams may have no fewer than 3 members and no more than 5. All registered team members must have a valid IEEE membership at the time of the competition and must have a paid registration at the Region 5 meeting in Denver. Contestants are required to register appropriately for the regional conference and student activities. In order for your team to participate in the ongoing internet based Question and Answers, your team must be pre-registered. To register for the questions and answers, please submit the name of your school, your team name, one team member responsible for monitoring questions and answers to (robotics AT r5conferences DOT org) requesting registration for the R5 Robotics website. You will receive an containing a unique invitation key which will allow you to access the website. The requesting team member must be an IEEE member and have an IEEE web account to register. You can recover or open a web account at the following link: Please limit access requests to one request per team. 3 Contest Description This year s contest will preserve the tradition of compact mobile and autonomous robots operating on a predefined playing field. The challenge will be to collect simulated soil samples placed on the field, the competition will be won by the robot that collects the most samples in the allotted timeframe. The competition will begin at promptly 0800 MDT. No flash photography will be allowed during competition rounds. 4 Entry Requirements The robots will be screened by a judge before each round of competition. Entries not meeting the requirements will be disqualified for the round. At the beginning of each round of competition, all qualified robots will be placed in a quarantine area and will remain there until the robot is scheduled to compete. Prior to the scheduled time (during the round of the previously scheduled teams), a team member will come to the quarantine area to collect their robot. The team member will not be allowed to leave the competition area with the robot until after the robot has competed in the round. Any violation of these rules will result in disqualification. 1. Entries must be fully autonomous and self-contained. Human or remote computer intervention is prohibited during play. However, there will be an exception in the case of flying robots. The safety of the public requires that all flying robots must have an additional remote emergency cutoff control. The control will be provided to the judge at the beginning of the round. If the judge believes the robot is out of control, the judge will activate the emergency cutoff, and the round will be complete. 2. The robot must be able to read soil locations from a usb flash memory drive or an SD card at the start of the round. page 5

6 3. The maximum dimensions of the robot are 1 wide 1 deep 1 high. The robot in its entirety should fit within this bounding box at the start and at the end of the competition. However, the robot may exceed these dimensions during the round as long as the robot returns to these dimensions upon completion. The round will not be considered complete until the robot returns to the original dimensions. 4. Entries must be generally safe in the opinion of the judges. The possibility of the robot causing harm to persons or property will be the deciding factor. This precludes the storage of flammable gases or liquids. Batteries should be enclosed in a way that will not present any danger to the operator or playing field. 5. Robots may not exceed a generous weight limit of 50 pounds. 6. An easily accessible start/stop button must be provided for the judges to initiate competition. This button must be distinct and separate from any other buttons. 5 Objective One of the biggest problems with revegetation after forest fires is the determination of the level of human intervention required. After some fires, it is possible to let nature take its course to restore the forest to optimal health. Other fires can be so devastating to the forest ecosystem that intensive human intervention is necessary to assist nature. One of the best ways of making the determination is through soil samples. This year s objective is to build a robot capable of entering the playing surface and collecting soil samples at points specified prior to the start of the round. The locations will be provided to the robot in a file contained on the team s choice of either a Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drive or an Secure Digital (SD) memory card. The flash drive will be provided upon entry into the robot quarantine area.the robot must be able to read the file and subsequently act on the information. The memory device will contain a single file, named Locatio.csv, containing six quadrant locations in a comma separated variable format. The quadrant locations will be specified, as shown in figure 12, from sector 1 to sector 16. Due to obstacles, a soil sample will not be placed in sector 14. A sample file will be placed on the IEEE Region 5 robotics community page; this file can be found under the Content tab and under the files tab. The file will provide the locations of the 6 desired samples; the sample locations will list the number of each sector containing a sample. The locations will remain constant throughout the round; each team will receive identical sample locations. The locations will change for the second round and the final round. The sample will be located in the middle, or as close as possible to the middle, of the sector specified. The successful robot will move to each location and collect a sample returning to sector 1 upon completion. There will be no specified order for sample collection. Due to the inherent problem of bringing a large quantity of soil into the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency, the soil samples will be simulated. Each sample will consist of a disc, constructed of Delrin R and with a 1.5" diameter circle of 30 gauge galvanized steel panning (Home Depot Part No: ) epoxied on the top of the disc. The disc will be secured to the floor, in the center of the designated sector, using one square of Saunders UHU TAC R Adhesive Putty (OfficeMax Item # ). After the disk is placed in the correct location on the competition surface, a small weight will be placed on the soil samples for 15 seconds. The weight used will be a standard Campbell s R brand condensed Tomato soup can with a stated net weight of 10 3/4 ounces (305 grams). The adhesive square will be replaced after each round for all collected or moved samples. Each sample disc will be approximately 3 in diameter and in height. In keeping with the nature of the challenge, the robot will be required to collect the sample using a probe which moves page 6

7 vertically. The probe may move outward horizontally and then down vertically, but the actual collection must occur vertically. There is no specified location for this probe; it can be located on the front, back, or sides of the robot. The robot can use whatever method deemed appropriate to pick up the discs. The robot may either store the discs on the robot, or the robot may deliver each disk to sector 1 and then return to the field to collect the remainder. The playing field, with obstacles from a top-down viewpoint, can be seen in figure 12 below. downed trees Figure 1: 2013 IEEE R5 Student Competition Playing Field Diagram - obstacles will be placed on the field in the positions shown page 7

8 6 Playing Surface The playing surface base is an 8 x 8 surface constructed out of MDF or equivalent (two 4 x8 sheets). The face of the surface will be painted with White Rust-Oleum R The playing surface will contain a random placement of obstacles such as might be found in a typical forest; these obstacles will be painted with Satin Granite Rust-Oleum R The obstacles are: 1. downed trees - simulated by a simple wooden dowels of 2 in diameter placed as shown across the playing field. The dowels will be nailed to the floor. As you can see from figure 12, the starting location is the such that the robot cannot go around these obstacles. In short, the robot must be able to go over the downed trees. 2. standing trees - simulated by high cut pieces of fir bolted to the playing floor. The robot must navigate around these obstacles. Point deductions will occur if these obstacles are in any way damaged by the robot. Damage will be determined by denting or significant scratching of the obstacles. 3. rocks or boulders - simulated by gallon sized paint cans nailed to the playing floor. The field is broken up in to 16 2 x2 sectors as shown in Figure 12. The sectors will not be painted onto the surface; there will be a 1" diameter red dot to indicate the intersection points of the lines making up the sectors as shown in figure 12; the paint type used will be Krylon R Pimento The robot will enter the field in sector 1 and proceed thenceforth to collect samples. At the completion of the collection sequence, the robot is to return to sector 1 with the 6 samples. In the case of flying robots, the board will be monitored by 4 watchers with tennis rackets in order to contain the robot in the event of a loss of control. The watchers will be instructed to swat down the robot if the robot leaves the perimeter of the board or climbs above the 6 foot height limitation. 7 Scoring Scoring will be based on both success of the mission and the time required to successfully complete the mission. Each sample successfully collected will score 100 points; the points will be scored with successful collection. If a robot does not successfully complete the entire mission, the score for each collected sample will remain. If the robot is able to successfully collect all samples and return to sector 1 fully contracted in less than 1 minute, the team will receive 480 bonus points. The 480 bonus points will be reduced by 20 for every additional 10 seconds required to complete the mission. Thus, if a robot collects all 6 samples and returns to sector 1 in 4 minutes, the score attained will be 720 less any further deductions. If a robot collects only 4 samples, the score will be 400. If the robot collects all 6 samples but fails to return to sector 1, the score is 600. If an obstacle on the board is moved or damaged by a robot, the point deduction will be 100 for every violation. If a robot collects a sample in a motion that is not vertical, the point deduction will be 100 points for each incidence. If, at any point during the round, any part of the robot leaves the 8 x 8 floor area, the round is complete and the score is zeroed. In order for the mission to be judged a complete success and receive time bonus points, the robot must end completely within sector 1 and fully contracted to the original 1 x 1 x 1 dimension. page 8

9 8 Round Description Each team will get 2 rounds of play. The scores from both rounds will be added together to make up the final score. The top eight teams will play one final round to determine the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. The rounds will proceed as follows: 1. The judge requests the team from the on deck area. 2. Students have 1 minute to place their robot in the starting area and step back behind the predetermined team observation area. The robot must fit entirely in the starting point of the field. 3. The robot can be placed in any position within sector The judge will press the start button and begin timekeeping. 5. The robot will have 5 minutes of play to collect as many samples as possible and return to the start. 6. After 5 minutes of play, the robot will be stopped or may stop on its own. The number of samples and points scored will be recorded by the judge. 7. All scoring disputes will be settled by the head judge who has the final authority. If a robot leaves the playing field or for some reason no longer meets the safety requirement the round will be ended. The team captain may also give the judge a command to end the round for any reason at any time. 9 Prize A cash prize will be given to the winning team. Amount to be announced at a later time. 10 Technical Award A reward will be given to the team with the best technical report of their robot.the format must be IEEE standard conference format; a template is available at the following link: IEEE templates. Paper will be judged based upon the following criteria: 1. Quality of the writing (e.g., clarity, organization, figure size, style, etc.) (15%) 2. Innovation and originality in the solution methodology and approach to robot design (25%) 3. Sufficient depth and breadth of the research (15%) 4. Ability of a reader in the field to replicate the robot and understand its theory of operation (25%) 5. Validation of results reported in paper (20%) The award amount to be announced at a later time. page 9

10 11 Contact Info For questions regarding the rules and all other matters related to the robotics competition, please follow the instructions in section 2 to register for the R5 Robotics website. 12 Acknowledgements Many thanks to SLATERPAULL Architects, Inc. for printing the templates used to build the competition boards. page 10