Sioux CCM Mechatronics Trophy 2018 assignment description Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 1 of 13
Index Index... 2 WIPE-OUT... 3 Assignment description... 3 Element descriptions... 4 Robot... 4 Brush... 5 Contest area... 5 External disturbances... 11 Time schedule... 12 Concept presentation... 12 Robot presentation... 12 Questions... 13 Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 2 of 13
The Sioux CCM Mechatronics Trophy contest for 2017-2018 will be another robot-race, this time called WIPE-OUT. Each participating student team will design and build a robot that can autonomously travel over glass surfaces at an angle of 45. These surfaces represent solar panels on a roof. The robot has to go over the centre of each panel and navigate around a chimney and a skylight. The date of the contest is Wednesday 6 th of June 2018 during the Dutch Technology Week in Eindhoven (date to be confirmed). As always the contest will take place on the Market in Eindhoven. WIPE-OUT Solar panels are losing efficiency during their lifetime due to contamination; this causes a substantial loss in efficiency and loss in revenues for owners of solar panels. For an average household with 12 solar panels this is a loss of energy of 200 kwh per year. Autonomous robots could be of help by cleaning them with some water and a brush. Ideally these robots find the panels by themselves and clean them by hopping from one panel to the other. Robots can be placed by drones at rooftops and moved from one rooftop to another. Also the supply of power and cleaning fluid can be realised with drones or by passing by a supply station when moved from one rooftop to another, or use the drone as a supply station. Typical solutions put limits to size and weight of a cleaning robot. This contest will be about how to move and navigate with a cleaning robot over a slippery (when wet) glass surface and how to move from one solar panel to another around obstacles. Assignment description Design and build a robot that is able to navigate over a flat panel which is at an angle of approximately 45. The robot must move from its start position to the opposite end of the roof. Each solar panel on its way has some dirt in the centre of the panel which must be removed using a brush and water. The brush is a prescribed item and the robot must carry 1 litre of water which will be filled into the robot at the start of a race. The robot which cleans fastest all panels wins a race. When not all panels are cleaned in the maximum time (5 minutes) the robot which has cleaned most panels wins. The dirt on the panel will be such that it can only be sufficiently removed with the brush and water, at least half the amount of dirt must be removed to count as a cleaned panel. The robot must be working autonomously when it is at the contest area. It is not allowed to help the robot while at the contest area. If the robot gets stuck the teams are allowed to stop the robot and move the robot back to the start position from which the robot can be restarted. During the competition up to 4 teams will compete against each other on adjacent contest areas, see figure 2. Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 3 of 13
Figure 2: Impression of contest area Element descriptions Robot Height: max 0.3 m. Width X Length: max 0.45 X 0.6 m when starting, this is allowed to extend during the competition. The robot must function autonomously when it is in the contest area. Interaction with the robot is only allowed before/during the (re)start. When the robot gets stuck in the contest area it is allowed to stop the robot and move it back to the start location to restart. The robot must use the brush which is supplied by Sioux CCM. Before the start the robot must be filled with one litre of water (the water compartment can be a closed compartment). The water must be applied (used) in the 5 minutes of competition. The robots must not cause safety risks for the audience. The appearance of the robot must be professional; this means that a robot taped together from some pieces of wood and cardboard will not be accepted. This will be one of the criteria at the concept presentation, and can be ground for not accepting a concept. A team name is required and must be clearly visible on the robot. Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 4 of 13
Brush The brush will be supplied by Sioux CCM and has to be used. Rotation of the brush and water are required to make it work on the stains we place on the solar panels. The water can be supplied form a closed container on the robot. Specifications (link to brush) Material: Sponge, foam, wool (to be decided which) Diameter: 15 cm Figure 3: Pictures of the brush Attention: The main goal of the robot is to navigate around the solar panel. Cleaning the dirty spot is a way to judge where the robot went. In the next 2 weeks we will test how to put dirt which is simply to remove with a twisting brush and some water. Not using water will be too difficult. For this reason you need to use the brush, delivered by Sioux CCM. You are only allowed to use one (1) brush, which must be actuated. It is not allowed to get rid of the dirt in any other way than using the one brush prescribed by Sioux CCM. We will test the brush in week 42 and publish more details afterwards. Contest area The contest area is a surface at 45 made of multiplex with on top a sticker representing the solar panel. Each team will receive such a sticker after their presentation at Sioux CCM. Separate panels are realised by grooves in the panel. These grooves are available for the robot to navigate and move. The following pictures show the dimensions which have to be taken into account. Note: during the competition the surface of the solar panels will become wet which can reduce the traction. Also the grooves are likely to damage to some extent and/or will contaminate during the competition. Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 5 of 13
Figure 4: Impression of contest areas Figure 5: overview contest track Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 6 of 13
Figure 6: size roof and position obstacles (example) The position of the obstacles (chimney and skylight/window) will not be announced before the competition and can be changed during the competition (obstacles will be placed at same position for competing teams). Chimney and skylight will never touch, not even at the point. The contamination will be placed in the middle of each free panel. Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 7 of 13
Figure 7: start area and dirt positions Figure 8: dimensions grooves and orientation roof Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 8 of 13
Figure 9: dimensions grooves and position on roof Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 9 of 13
Figure 10: dimensions chimney and skylight (window) Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 10 of 13
External disturbances Lights: Illumination of tent and flash lights from cameras. Rain: the contest area will be inside but can be wet due to weather conditions outside. Sunshine: the tent will not have walls around the contest area. Public: standing close to the contest area, see figure 10. Figure 11: Impression of the Sioux CCM Mechatronics Trophy S.A.F.E. 2017 Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 11 of 13
Time schedule Concept presentation The concept presentation is used as a go/no-go decision for the project. Sioux CCM must be convinced that the project will result in a competitive robot by means of presenting the following: - A concept with solutions for all functions. - A professional design of the robot, no pieces of wood and cardboard taped together. - A realistic planning with sufficient time for testing. - A balanced budget. - A team name, and clear contact information. When the presentation is satisfactory the budget from Sioux CCM will be assigned. When the presentation is unsatisfactory the budget is rejected. It is also possible to decide to give a provisional go, extra actions and effort will be required to get the budget. Robot presentation A working robot must be presented to Sioux CCM by means of a movie in April, these movies will be shared on Facebook as well. Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 12 of 13
Questions Questions can be sent to trofee@sioux.eu. This assignment can be found at the Sioux CCM website www.sioux.eu/trophy2018. At this site the answers to the contest questions and additional information is shared with the teams. There is also a Facebook page at which pictures and movies from the contests of previous years can be found as well as some announcements with respect to the competition. Nov 2017 v0.9 Page 13 of 13