2006 ROBOT MADNESS DAY RULES
General Rules
- Collegiality
- Calibration Period
Dance Rules
- Description of the challenge
- Stage
- Robots
- Routine
- Duration
- Music
- Humans
- Start of Routine
- Re-starts and repeats
- Security
- Judging
- Officials
- Categories
- Winners
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Line Following Pursuit Rules
- Description of the challenge
- The Play Field
- Robots
- Routine
- Contest Start
- Starting Order
- Scoring
Last Bot Standing
- Description of the challenge
- The Play Field
- Robots
- Scoring
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Collegiality
Fair Play:
Robots that cause deliberate interference with other robots or damage to the
stage will be disqualified. Humans that cause deliberate interference with robots or damage to
the stage will be
disqualified. Teams are responsible for removing all debris left from their
routine that may interfere
with the next performance of subsequent activities. No wireless or infrared (IR)
communication
devices will be allowed. Teams will participate in a fair and clean competition.
Behavior:
All movement and behavior is to be of a subdued nature within the tournament
venue. Competitors are not to enter setup areas of other leagues or other teams, unless expressly
invited to do so by team members. Participants who misbehave may be asked to leave the building and
risk being
disqualified from the tournament. These rules will be enforced at the discretion
of the referees,
officials, conference organizers and local law enforcement authorities.
Calibration Period
All registrants will be sent a sample of the playing field and line material. On
the day of the contest,
calibration will be permitted on the actual course for one half hour before the
contest begins. Due to
limitations of electricity, laptops, which will require power, may not be
allowed, so plan to be
calibrated beforehand.
Description of the challenge
Make your robot swing and sway to the music or
just have it move around the floor dancing to its
own beat! Judges will be looking for creative moves, originality and
non-repeating choreography.
Use sound sensors to control lights and movement or just create the dance by
timing the sequences.
Anything goes, but fast paced dances are more exciting to watch and generally
score more points.
Robots can roll, slide or jump, but must be completely autonomous once started.
All dances will last
no more than 90 seconds, so pack in all the moves you can. Humans may and are
encouraged to
dance along side of their robot, but will not be judged. Robots may dance in
teams, but each robot
will be evaluated individually.
Stage
Size:
The dance stage will be a flat, smooth area 12 feet x 12 feet
Lighting:
There may or may not be a direct sunlight on the stage depending on the time of
day and the
position of the dance floor. Teams should design their robots to cope with
variations in lighting
conditions because lighting varies from venue to venue. Teams should come
prepared to calibrate
their robots based on the lighting conditions at the venue.
Scenery:
Teams may provide their own scenery if they choose.
Robots
Size:
Robots may be of any size providing they do not damage the dance floor.
Control:
Robots must be autonomous. Robots may be started by humans, either manually or
with remote
control, but routine must be programmed into robot.
Costumes
Costumes are encouraged. Costumes may be of any material, size or style
providing that the design
or materials do not pose a safety hazard. However, dancers will not be allowed
to wear costumes
with Flames, pyrotechnics or sources of ignition; Themes offensive to any race,
religion, creed, sexual orientation, or gender; sexually explicit themes or costumes that may be
inappropriate for young children.
Routine
Duration:
The dance routine must not exceed ninety (90) seconds including musical intro.
Music:
Teams must provide their own music on CD. Music should commence at the beginning
of the audio
track after a silent leader of a few seconds. The audio source should be clearly
labeled with the
team's name. This is a public venue, so no inappropriate language of any sort
will be allowed.
Please check the lyrics carefully before choosing a song. Violations of the
language rule will dis-quality your
robot.
Humans:
Human team members may perform along with their robots; however, human team
members must not touch the robots except to start them.
Start of Routine:
An official will start the music for the routine. One human team member will
start each robot, either
by hand or by remote control. (Teams should program their robot(s) to begin the
routine a few
seconds after the music starts. It is difficult to judge precisely when the
music will start after the
audio source is cued, and it is hard to time the robot's choreography without
knowing exactly when
the music will begin. In addition, depending on the configuration of the dance
stage and the sound
system at the venue, it is possible that the human starting the robot may not be
able to see the
official starting the audio source; and vice versa. Teams should come prepared
for these
conditions).
Re-starts and repeats:
Teams are allowed one restart of their routine at the end of the regular dance
schedule. No repeats
of the dance will be allowed.
Security
To avoid hazardous situations, each team must submit a report to the judges
before the
competition, outlining the content of their dance routine. At their discretion,
the judges may request
a demo of the activity.
Judging
Officials:
Routines will be judged by a panel of five officials. The officials shall not
have any relationship with
any of the teams entered in the tournament.
Categories:
(Routines will be judged according in the following categories):
- Programming.
- Construction.
- Costume.
- Choreography.
- Creativity.
Winners:
A 1st, 2nd and 3rd place will be awarded based on total points for the 5
categories above. The decision of the judges is final.
Description of the challenge
Two Robots will compete to follow a black line on a white background. There will
be straight-aways,
turns, but no crossings, 'Tees' or dead ends. Each robot will start at opposite
sides of the course
and follow the line with both robots traveling in the same direction (e.g.
clockwise). The objective of
the race is to close the gap on the opposing robot. The winner of each round is
determined by a)
catching the other robot, b) having the opponent leave the line, or c) being
closer the back of the
opposing robot (as measured along the black line) at the end of 90 seconds. The
exact details of the
course will not be known before the contest.
The Play Field
The curves will be as circular as possible, considering that the black track is
made from electrical
tape. The radius of the curves will be about 6 inches.
Robots
All robots must be Autonomous Mobile Robots. By autonomous we mean that once
started - the
robot proceeds without external equipment, human intervention, or external
computers. Robots
may use any type of sensor (passive) for detecting the line or the playing
field, but may not interfere
with the other robots sensors or guidance systems in any way.
Size:
Size is limited. Dimensions shall not exceed at any time prior to or during
competition:
- Length 12 inches max
- Width 12 inches max
- Height 12 inches max
- Weight – no limit, but lighter is generally faster.
Prohibited Items:
Other than the black line, nothing external may be used to guide the robot. This
includes any device
that is not attached to the robot that transmits, receives, or reflects any
energy, such as
acoustic/sonar, microwave, radio wave (HF, RF, UHF, etc.), light, laser, or
infrared energy. All
motion must be controlled autonomously by the robot.
Routine
Contest Start:
When the contest start is announced, all practice will end. Two line-following
robots will start at
opposite sides of the track. A digital photograph will be made to document the
path to be followed.
Starting Order:
Contestant starting order will be chosen by random drawing.Scoring
The winner will be
- the last robot still following the line
- the first
robot to touch the back of the
opposing robot or
- closer to the opposing robot at the end of 90 seconds.
Some
parts of the robot
must remain over the black line at all times. If the robot is not directly over
the line at any instant
or does not maintain contact with the playing field, that robot will be
eliminated.
Description of the challenge
- Stay running on the tabletop for 2 minutes.
- Navigate back and forth from one end to the opposite end as many times
as possible. The opposite end means any edge after the 2nd black lines. The
location of the black lines will be described in the Play Field section.
- Part of the robots should extend beyond the edge of the opposite end before
it should try to traverse back to the end.
- Robots must be autonomous. No outside control or
intervention is
permitted once each robot is started.
- Robots will be disqualified for damage to
the tabletop or obviously deliberate charge against another robot.
- Robots
must move at the rate of 1 inch in 10 seconds or faster.
- No edge runner! That means no robot should stay using the edge of
the table to guide navigation.
- During the run time, it should try to avoid hitting other obstacles
including other robots.
The Play Field
The Tabletop is a smooth light colored wooden plank, 60 inches long by 36 inches
wide, square on one end, a 18 inch radius on the other, with two 3/4 inch wide
black lines 20 inches in from each end across the width, dividing the table into three sections. The table is
supported from
underneath with sections of PVC pipe at a height of 10 inches above the floor.
Robot
- Length - 12 inches max
- Width - 12 inches max
- Height - 12 inch max
- Weight – no limit
Scoring
| Red point = loss Blue point = gain |
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| 1 red point |
initiates hit against another robot |
| 1 red point |
hits an obstacle |
| 5 blue points*** |
any portion of the robot crosses over the opposite end of the
table.*** |
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Any robot
that falls from the table will be eliminated from the round.
To calculate the final score of a
round, red points will be subtracted from Blue points.
The robot with the most blue points at the end of 2 minutes wins that round,
provided it is still running on the tabletop.
*** Only one set of 5 blue points
will be rewarded for one complete path. That means if your robot keeps
hitting the same end without traversing back to another end, it will not
gain additional 5 blue points. As shown in the following diagram, the
robot at the top will be rewarded 10 blue points (from the two green paths),
while, the lower bot does not gain any blue point as it never manages to
reach the opposite end of the table.
