2016 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH –
ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS
Saturday 10th of September 2016 (ONLY)
VENUE: Maryborough SHS Gymnasium
2016 ROBOTICS RULES
AND REGULATIONS
Competition Resources and
Support Page –
StemAcademy
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2016 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH –
ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS
Table of Contents
Page
General Info- Changes from 2015
3
Competition and Divisions
3
Awards and Results
3
Registration and Scrutineering
4
Privacy/Permission
4
Sumo Plus Competition
4
Sumo Rescue Competition
6
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2016 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH –
ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS
1. GENERAL INFORMATION- Changes from 2015
A cordial invitation is extended to schools and individuals 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 teachers/parents to ensure
their robots and their programs are the competitors’ 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, Arduino, Picaxe etc.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Changes from 2015:
No Dance
SUMO replaced with SUMO PLUS and is points based with a time limit.
Rescue replaced with SUMO RESCUE and is points based with a time limit.
No Age/Grade Divisions
Weight Divisions Only: Midget < 750grams =>Monster < 1250g
Size Restrictions of 16cm by 25cm with no height limit
2. COMPETITIONS AND DIVISIONS
This event is comprised of two separate competitions. Sumo Plus and Sumo Rescue, with Migit
and Monster divisions.
2.1 Sumo Plus Competition: Your team’s mission for the Sumo Plus Competition is to; design
and construct an autonomous robot to push all three victims (cans) and the mad robot
(opponent) out of the ring.
2.2 Sumo Rescue Competition: The robot should find the chemical spill by following the road,
locate and push or drag the four victims from the chemical spill to safety as quickly as possible
(push the cans out of the ring) and dispose of the mad robot (push your opponent out of the
ring).
2.3 Midget Division: Robots will be categorized into the Midget division if the robots weighs less
than 750 grams.
2.4 Monster Division: Monster robots are categorized as weighing larger than 750 grams but
less than 1250 grams.
Divisions
Competitions
Midget
Monster
Sumo Plus
Robot < 750g
750g ≤ Robot < 1250g
Sumo Rescue
Robot < 750g
750g ≤ Robot < 1250g
Size Restrictions: 160mm width by 250mm length – no height restrictions
All competitions are combined Primary/Middle/High School
3. AWARDS/RESULTS
3.1 Metals will be provided for winners of Sumo Plus Competition – Midget and Monster
Divisions – and Sumo Rescue Competition – Midget and Monster Divisions.
3.2 Certificates will be provided for first, second and third in each competition division.
3.3 Participation certificates will be distributed for all participating students.
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2016 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH –
ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS
3.4 Presentations will be made at the end of the day at competition end approximately
2:00pm competition day - Saturday the 10th of September. Results will continuously
be updated during the competition and displayed at the competition venue.
4. REGISTRATION AND SCRUITINEERING
4.1 Competitors are to register online (http://www.maryboroughtech.org/entries.html) by 3
pm Friday, 2 weeks prior to the event at the latest (Friday, 26th August).
4.2 Upon arrival, students are to confirm their registration and present their robot for division
scrutineering.
5. PRIVACY/PERMISSION
5.1 Media including Maryborough Chronicle, Courier Mail, Channel 7 News, and 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.
6. SUMO PLUS COMPETITION
6.1 Your team’s mission for the Sumo Plus Competition is to; design and construct an
autonomous robot to push all three victims (cans) and the mad robot (opponent) out
of the ring.
6.2 Points are awarded to competitors as per the below table. A 90 second time limit applies
to game play.
Challenge
Victims (cans)
Opponent
Grand Total
No. of Challenges
3
1
No. of Points
10
70
Total Points
30
70
100
6.3 The number of preliminary rounds will be at the discretion of the Robotics co-ordinator
depending on the number of entries etc.
7. SUMO PLUS PLAYING FIELD
7.1Robots must begin back to back opposing
each other in the center - start location is
shown on the sumo mat picture (right)
7.2 Points are attained as indicated in above
table.
7.3 The referee may call a force restart after 5
seconds of “locked robots” at their
discretion.
7.4 Robot handlers must not touch their robots
unless instructed by the referee.
7.5 Rounds will be held on a vinyl mat with a
95cm diameter white circle and 5cm
black border (shown right)
7.6 All competition printed vinyl mats can be
or
purchased
from
Steminabox
improvised with black tape on a white
surface.
8. LIGHTING
8.1 Teams must come prepared to calibrate their robots based on the lighting conditions
available at the venue
8.2 Every effort will be made to keep ambient light to a low level with infrared (IR) source
from incandescent lights and natural lighting minimized.
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2016 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH –
ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS
9. ROBOT DESIGN RULES
9.1 Robots must be controlled autonomously and must be started manually by humans. The
use of a remote control of any kind is forbidden.
9.2 Competitors may mark or decorate their robots to identify them
9.3 Any robot kit or building blocks may be used, including pre-constructed robots such as
Edison. Construction from raw electronic and hardware components is also allowed.
9.4 All robots must be able to be placed in some configuration in a box 160mm wide by
250mm long - with no height restriction - without touching the sides.
9.5 There are no size restrictions on extendable components in any plane beyond this size
limit once the game has started. However extendable components but be fully
autonomous and must self-deploy after game play has commenced.
9.6Robots will be divided into two divisions based on weight – Midget and Monster. Robots
will be categorized into the Midget division if the robot weighs less than 750g. Monster
robots are categorized as weighing larger than 750g but less than 1250g.
9.7 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.
10.VICTIM
10.1
10.2
In the sumo ring there are 3 victims to be rescued (pushed out of the ring). These
victims will be standard 375ml aluminium cans, wrapped in aluminium foil. Each can
will contain rice bringing its total weight to 60grams.
Each of the victims will be placed randomly within the sumo ring.
11. INSPECTION
11.1
The robot must be scrutineered by a panel of referees upon arrival to ensure that the
robot meets the robot design constraints listed in ROBOT DESIGN RULES.
12. MENTORS
12.1
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.
13. RULES FOR EACH ROUND
13.1
13.2
13.3
13.4
13.5
13.6
13.7
A time limit of 120 seconds will be imposed per round.
At the instruction of the referee, the robot’s handler is to start the program on the
robot.
10 points are awarded for each victim (can) your robot pushes out of the ring and 70
points for pushing your opponent out of the ring.
Scoring is the same for all games including the finals.
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. – A maximum limit of 3 attempts applies.
The overall rankings will be determined by adding the points for each preliminary
round. The team with the most points will be ranked first.
During rounds, the referee’s decisions will be final.
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14. FINALS
14.1
2016 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH –
ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS
The top four ranked teams based on points will be in
the 2 finals matches:
• 1st ranked team vs 2nd ranked team
• 3rd ranked team vs 4th ranked team
15. SUMO RESCUE COMPETITION
CHALLENGE- Someone has sent a distress call asking for a
rescue. There are 4 victims trapped on a sinking water tank in a
chemical spill (sumo ring). Your team’s mission is to design, build
and program a robot to rescue the victims.
The chemical spill (sumo ring) can only be found by following the
road. The robot should find the chemical spill, locate and push or
drag the victims from the chemical spill to safety as quickly as
possible (push the cans out of the ring) and dispose of the mad
robot (push your opponent out of the ring).
Design and construct an autonomous robot to “rescue” the victims
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. The Sumo Rescue Mat measures 1.3m wide by 2.5m long
and can be improvised with black vinyl tape on any light surface
and some silver tape or printed vinyl mats can be purchased from
Steminabox
15.1 SUMO RESCUE COMPETITION RULES
15.1.1 The number of preliminary rounds will be at the discretion of the Robotics coordinator depending on the number of entries etc.
15.1.2 Points will be awarded as per the table below.
Challenge
Green Markers
Victims (Cans)
Opponent
Grand Total
No. of Challenges
3
4
1
No. of Points
10
5
50
Total Points
30
20
50
100
15.1.3 A time limit of 120 seconds applies
15.1.4 Competitors may restart during game play but any accrued points are annulled.
15.2 THE PLAYING FIELD
15.2.1 Robots must begin from the start location at the beginning on the line follow segment
shown on the playing field.
15.2.2 The Rescue Rounds – For the preliminary rounds the line following segment of the
challenge will only consist of either left hand OR right hand turns on the green markers
but not both. However the finals may include left hand and right hand turns in the one
line follow segment at the organisers’ discretion - this means single light sensor robots
can successfully compete in the preliminary rounds.
15.2.3 Rounds will be held on any combination of vinyl mats. For the chemical spill (sumo
ring) entry, a reflected silver foil strip will be placed immediately prior to the chemical
spill field (on red marker).
15.2.4 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 white (resembles the Competition Sumo
Ring). Note: a silver strip of aluminum foil will mark the entry into the chemical spill.
15.2.5 Competition mats can be improvised or purchased from Steminabox
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16.LIGHTING
16.1
16.2
2016 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH –
ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS
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) source
from incandescent lights and natural lighting minimized.
17.ROBOT DESIGN RULES
17.1
17.2
17.3
17.4
17.5
17.6
17.7
Robots must be controlled autonomously and must be started manually by humans.
The use of a remote control of any kind is forbidden.
Competitors may mark or decorate their robots to identify them
Any robot kit or building blocks may be used, including pre-constructed robots such
as Edison. Construction from raw electronic and hardware components is also allowed.
All robots must be able to be placed in some configuration in a box 160mm wide by
250mm long - with no height restriction - without touching the sides.
There are no size restrictions on extendable components in any plane beyond this size
limit once the game has started. However extendable components but be fully
autonomous and must self-deploy after game play has commenced.
Robots will be divided into two divisions based on weight – Midget and Monster.
Robots will be categorized into the Midget division if the robot weighs less than 750g.
Monster robots are categorized as weighing larger than 750g but less than 1250g.
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.
18. VICTIM
18.1
18.2
In the chemical spill there are 4 victims to be rescued (pushed out of the ring). These
victims will be standard 375ml aluminium cans, wrapped in aluminium foil. Each can
will contain rice bringing its total weight to 60gms.
Each of the victims will be placed randomly within the white chemical spill (sumo ring)
19. INSPECTION
19.1
The robot must be scrutineered by a panel of referees upon arrival to ensure that the
robot meets the robot design constraints listed in ROBOT DESIGN RULES.
20. MENTORS
20.1
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.
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2016 RACQ TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE MARYBOROUGH –
ROBOTICS RULES AND REGULATIONS
21. RULES FOR EACH ROUND
21.1
21.2
A time limit of 120 seconds will be imposed per round.
At the instruction of the referee, the robot’s handler is to start the program on the
robot.
21.3 A Robot may re-start the line follow segment (not in the sumo segment) as many
times as the handler(s) deem necessary within the 120 seconds – the timer will
continue to run during all restarts
21.4 A robot must restart if:
• The robot ceases to follow the line,
• The robot is touched by a human,
• The robot moves off the field.
21.5 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.
21.6 The robot must follow the line completely to enter the chemical spill (sumo ring)
21.7 10 points are awarded by taking appropriate short cuts (turning on green marker), 5
points for each victim (can) your robot pushes out of the ring and 50 points for
pushing your opponent out of the ring.
21.8 Scoring is the same for all games including the finals.
21.9 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. – A maximum limit of 3 attempts applies.
21.10 The overall rankings will be determined by adding the points for each preliminary
round. The team with the most points will be ranked first.
21.11 During game play, the referee’s decisions will be final.
22. FINALS
22.1
The top four ranked teams based on points will be in the 2 finals matches:
• 1st ranked team vs 2nd ranked team
• 3rd ranked team vs 4th ranked team
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