Competition Arena Rules Revised March 21, 2017 General Rules GR1 Only one robot per team will be allowed in the tournament. Backup robots will NOT be allowed. Teams found in violation will not be allowed to compete in the tournament and will forfeit all points earned. GR2 Rounds are two minutes in length. The round will begin with a 3, 2, 1 countdown, blow of a whistle, horn or other sound. The round will end with a blow of a whistle, horn or other sound. GR3 Restarts will not be awarded unless it is deemed that there is a failure of provided game board materials or intervention by something or someone other than the team players. GR4 Timeouts will not be allowed unless related to rule GR3. GR5 All scoring disputes must be settled before the team leaves the competition arena. See rule SC3 for more information. GR6 Robots must remain in the player zone and conform to the starting configuration until a round starts. Once the round starts the robot can be moved to any location within the player zone and assume the competition configuration as long as the robot does not exceed the maximum dimensions. GR7 Robot attachments and components may extend into the robot zone from the player zone after the start of the round. Prior to the start of the round, the robot and all components (attachments, etc.) must be within the player zone. The robot must completely leave the player zone to complete a task. GR8 Player contact with the robot or game elements is limited to within the player zone. Robots and game elements are considered in the player zone when any part of the robot or game element is located within the light blue grid area of the player zone. Items in possession by the robot may be touched by the players without penalty as long as the robot is considered to be in the player zone. See D8. GR9 Items not in possession by the robot must cross into the player zone before players are allowed to pick up those items or the robot without penalty. See D8. Items are considered in the player zone when any part of the item is located within the black line or gridded area of the player zone. GR10 Players may contact the robot in the robot zone, however the robot MUST be returned back to the player zone. Retrieval from the robot zone entails lifting the robot straight up only, players may not use the robot as a tool to scoop or retrieve points from the robot zone. Each occurrence will result in a 5-point penalty and forfeit all score-able items in possession. Items in possession by the robot stay with the robot as it returns to the player zone. All other items not in possession as described D8 will remain in the robot zone wherever the robot left them at the time of pickup. Each individual contact will result in a penalty as described in rule P3. GR11 Players may preload the robot with game elements that originate from the player zone after the start of the round without penalty as long as it does not violate rule GR6. Preloaded game elements may not extend beyond the robot s configuration. Once game elements have been preloaded, on the robot, they are now considered part of the robot and fall under robot configuration limitations. Preloading may involve bundling items using items from RC6. GR12 Players may bring a clear plastic container to hold attachments and game elements to the field. The container may not be greater than 24 long, 12 wide and 12 deep. Containers must be presented at the time of inspection for 1
compliance and may be randomly checked by the referees at any time. Containers may be randomly inspected during the tournament to insure compliance. Players who violate this rule will not be allowed to compete until they are in compliance with the rule. GR13 Players must return all game elements to the game board prior to leaving the field. Violation may result in an immediate delay of game penalty (5 points). See rule P1 for additional information. GR14 Attachments not being immediately used by the robot, must remain in the player zone, or may be stored off the game board in a container (see GR12). Attachments are subject to rule GR9, and any attachment deemed to be in the robot zone must be retrieved by the robot before it can be manually re-attached. GR15 Robots may interact with game elements on the robot zone by spearing, grabbing, lifting, pushing, pulling, storing onboard or other method as long as legal parts are used in said action. Interactions with game elements should not cause damage to the game element during the process. GR16 Players may use alignment guides during the round that do not extend into the robot zone. Alignment guides must be presented at the time of inspection for compliance and may be randomly checked by the referees at any time. Violation will result in forfeiture of said alignment guide and a penalty. See P4. GR17 If a player accidentally drops an item into the robot zone that has been legally retrieved to the player zone by the robot prior to the dropping, then the player may retrieve the dropped item without penalty. GR18Players at the table: each round there can be no more than two players (technicians) at the table during the match. Scoring Rules SR1 The referees make all decisions regarding scoring and have final authority during the competition. Referees will not review video recordings of the round. Video recordings of competition are not allowed. SR2 Final scoring will not be tabulated until after the end of the round unless otherwise noted in the game rules. SR3 Players will initial the bottom of the score sheet indicating that they agree the score is correct for each round. Once this process happens there will be no further review of the score. SR4 rules. All scoring must be done by the robot under its own power and control unless otherwise noted in the game SR5 All game elements will be scored on their final resting place at the conclusion of the match unless otherwise noted in the game rules. Items in possession by the robot will not be scored unless the robot is in the player zone (per GR9) or in a scoring zone when the round clock expires. SR6 Game elements being touched or supported by the robot at the end of the round will not be scored unless otherwise noted in the game rules, or the robot is in the player zone. Penalties P1 Delay of game penalty may incur a 5-point deduction. Violations include: Taking longer than the allotted time to setup at the game board. 2
Taking longer than the allotted time to remove the robot from the game board (unless the referee is still scoring the round). Removing a game element from the robot zone prior to the start of the round. Players not present in the cuing area when called for the next round. Referees may use discretion on this rule in the event that the team has been delayed by a judge s interview, or some other action. It will be up to the head referee to determine if a penalty should be assessed in cases not specifically listed on this rule. P2 Placing of a game element in a scoring area (bin, platform, etc.) by a human player will not be scored. Additionally, any scoring area interfered with by a human player will invalidate any scoring for that round for that specific scoring area. P3 P4 P5 Picking up the robot in the robot zone during the course of the round will incur a 5 point deduction. Alignment guides that extend into the robot zone will incur a 5 point deduction. Team members who refuse to adhere to instructions issued by the referee or head referee will be disqualified. P6 Teams found to be using programming used on another robot in the competition will be disqualified. Both teams will be disqualified. Competition Arena CR1 CR2 CR3 CR4 CR5 CR6 CR7 ERIC will compete on a 4 x 8 competition game board. All game boards will be provided by Edgewood schools. Competition game boards are constructed in house. They will adhere to game board construction guidelines and are set up prior to the competition by the challenge designers to ensure consistency. Each team will compete in three 2-minute rounds during the challenge. Teams will be randomly assigned a game board for each round. Up to eight teams will compete per round. Teams start with zero points at the start of the round and accumulate points based on the results of each round. Teams earning negative points will receive a No Score (NS) or a score of zero on the round or final score. Negative scores will not be posted on the scoreboard; however, negative scores will remain on the score card. Teams will count the sum of their two highest rounds toward their final score. In the event of a tie, the following criteria (in order) will be used to access the rank order: Third round score Highest scoring round The lowest number of penalties The flip of a coin by the referee Definitions 3
D1 Robot: An autonomous device designed and built by students to perform specific tasks as dictated by the game challenge. It is electrically powered by the onboard NXT or EV3 brick. A robot consists primarily of one NXT or EV3 brick and up to four NXT or EV3 motors, and their NXT or EV3 sensors as well as any additional materials listed in rule RC5 to accomplish its tasks. D2 Competition Configuration: The maximum allowable dimension (16 long, 16 wide, and 16 tall) a robot may expand to after the start of the round. D3 Starting Configuration: The maximum allowable dimension (12 long, 12 wide, and 12 tall) allowed for a robot prior to the start of the round. D4 Robot Zone: The area on the official game board outside of the Player Zone. See P3 for robots touched in this zone. D5 Player Zone: The gridded area where competitors may touch the robot without penalty, each round begins here. D6 Cuing Area: The area where players are assembled prior to approaching the competition area. D7 Competition Area: The area where players compete on the game boards. D8 Possession: An item that is in control by the robot and that is not touching the robot zone surface. An item is considered in possession if the robot is fully supporting the item, and changes in speed or direction cause the item to remain in the same position relative to the robot. Items pushed or pulled are not considered in possession. D9 Preloading: The act of loading game element onto the robot prior to the start of the round. Robot Construction Rules RC1 Only students are allowed to design, build and program the robot. Adults may assist with troubleshooting and design problems. RC2 Robots must fit in a box 12 long, 12 wide, and 12 high during registration and must remain with the player zone before the start of each round. Robots may expand up to 16 long, 16 wide, and 16 high after the round starts. RC3 The minimum robot that may be used in the tournament must contain the following parts: NXT or EV3 controller brick and up to four motors Up to eight sensors: two light/color sensor, two touch sensors, one sound sensor, one ultrasonic sensor, one gyroscopic sensor and one temperature sensor. Associated cabling for motors and sensors Batteries (including rechargeable) Any structural component currently available in the LEGO world. RC4 Pneumatic systems, Infrared parts or wireless remotes are not allowed. RC5 Additional Non-LEGO Materials: A list of additional items that are not part of the Lego NXT or EV3, but are legal to use in the construction of the robot. Quantities listed are per round. Items limited in length or quantity are per round, not per day. 1 foam, paper, or plastic cup up to 24 oz. in size 20 Paper clips, any size. 10 Rubber bands, up to 6 inches in size 1-8.5 x 11 file folder 4
1 - Empty tissue box, any size 2 - Wooden pencils not to exceed 8 in length and ¼ in thickness (Example: standard #2 pencils) 1 - Paper towel, or toilet paper tube String (not to exceed a length of 2 feet) 2 feet of masking tape (tape may not exceed 2 inches in width) Paper glue 5 - Drinking straws 12 Craft pipe cleaners (12 in length) (NOTE: There will be no restriction on the quantities or sources of non-electric Lego components, however all Lego components must be in original factory condition. Use of non-lego components will be prohibited (I.E. Mega blocks components), except for the additional items listed in rule RC6 of the general rules.) RC7 The robot may be decorated using materials not listed; however, these materials must be non-functional, meaning that they can be removed without affecting the performance of the robot. Rule RC2 will apply to non-functional decorations. RC8 No remote control (wired or wireless) devices of any kind. Tethering devices will be considered as remote control devices and are therefore not allowed. Robot Inspection RI1 All robots must pass inspection before they are allowed to compete in the tournament. Robot inspections will take place immediately following registration. RI2 RI3 RI4 RI5 All robots from the same school must be inspected at the same time. Each team must have their own robot. Robot sharing is not allowed. Robots may be re-inspected at any time during the tournament to ensure compliance. The following criteria will be used to determine compliance: Robot conforms to a 12 long, 12 wide, and 12 high footprint. The largest attachment or preloaded items do not cause the robot to exceed a 16 wide, 16 long, and 16 high dimension. Robot meets the minimum robot requirements Robot is constructed using only allowed materials Non-functional materials do not enhance robot capabilities Game element containers may not exceed 24 long, 12 wide and 12 deep and must be plastic. Programming must be unique o Each team from the same school will be asked to run the same program side by side o Each program must be unique or one or more robots will be eliminated from the challenge, not players o Referees may ask to see team programs to ensure uniqueness 5