|
Could you give us some more details about
the quality, type of wood, details of paint, number of coats of paint,
etc.?
The field is called “floor underlayment” or “particleboard underlayment”
with dimensions of ¾” x 48” x 96”. Two pieces of particleboard will be
used to form the entire field. The white paint used will be Kilz 2 latex
interior/exterior water base white primer. Four coats of white paint
will be applied on the field. The black paint used will be American
Accents latex flat black smooth flat finish (224171 - Flat Black).
Will there be a 0.5 inch-wide black line
bordering the outside of the field? Will there be an elevated border
around the outside of the field?
The answer to both of the above questions is
‘No’. We are trying to minimize the potential to find the four cargo
containers using a line-following method, so there will not be a painted
border on the perimeter of the field.
I’m confused about the order of events
when starting a competition run.
- Each team will first be given 1 minute to
place their robot somewhere on the field (in the white space).
- Once the robot has been placed, the team will be given the sequence of
the corners that have to be visited (so the robot placement involves
some strategy). The sequence will resemble the form 2-4-1-3 (for
example), meaning that the robot needs to go to corner 2, followed by
corner 4, corner 1 and finally corner 3.
- The team then has 1 minute to pre-program this sequence into their
robot.
- Once pre-programming or 1 minute (depending on which finishes first)
is complete, the colored boxes will be placed randomly on the four
corners.
Will the color of the center squares be
subject to change from round to round?
No, the colored squares in the center of the
field and the numbers at the corners of the field will not change from
the pattern shown in the document of rules. However, the colored blocks
will not be in the same position every round. They will be randomized at
the beginning of every round.
Will each frequency be specific to the
color of the box in the corner or just to the corner itself?
Once a frequency has been assigned to a
corner, it too will stay constant. Each frequency will be specific to
only one corner. For example, if we decide to set corner 1 to 15 kHz and
corner 2 to 20 kHz, those frequencies will be valid for those corners
throughout the competition. The frequencies will be released long before
competition day so that teams have plenty of time to prime their robots
for the specific frequencies.
Does the robot have to be completely in
the white space at the end of the run? Can the robot finish the round
with any part inside the goal area?
The position of the robot at the end of the
run is irrelevant. The only thing that matters after the robot has
placed the last cargo container is the position of the containers
themselves.
Could you expand on the position,
orientation and suspension method of the LEDs used?
All the LEDs used will be side-emitting. The
LEDs at the four corners will be facing upwards, and the suspended LED
at the center of the field will be upside down (or facing downwards).
The corner LEDs will
be positioned atop a white segment of PVC piping. The LEDs will be at a
height of 8 inches from the surface of the field. The PVC piping itself
will be outside the field, so running into the pipe should not be an
issue.
The center LED will
be suspended with some sort of twine. In case the center LED cannot be
hung from the ceiling, a support structure will be built over the field
to suspend the LED. The support structure will not interfere with the
competition field.
Assuming the robot is capable, is it
allowed to pick up and hold all 4 blocks, then deliver all 4 cubes at
once?
Once the sequence of numbers is given, the
corners must be visited in that order. A robot may visit all the 4
corners (in the correct given sequence) and pick up all 4 blocks before
heading to the center, or the robot may place each block in the center
before moving to the next corner.
If the robot agitates but doesn't damage or
destroy the light hanging in the middle of the field, will there be
points deducted, or team disqualification?
For simply agitating the light hanging in the
center of the field, there will be no disqualification or point
deductions. Damage to or destruction of the light, however, will have
point deductions.
After a robot has started can it go through
the center square to reach a desired corner?
Yes, the robot can move through the center of
the field at any time during the competition.
Regarding the LEDs at the corners of
the course, will there be an approximate duty cycle that we can assume
they will be flashing at?
All the LEDs will be flashing at a duty cycle
of approximately 50%.
How high is the surface of the course from the
floor?
The top surface of the field will be
approximately ¾ inches from the ground.
Are bins being considered in case of a
third round?
Bins (or any other sort of housing) are not
currently being considered if we have a third round.
If our robot splits up into multiple
robots, do the separate robots have to reconnect when the run ends?
In case of a robot that splits up, reconnection of the separate robots
is required at some point prior to measuring the robot after the
completion of the run. This reconnection can either be done
automatically during the run, or manually (reattaching the pieces
together by hand) after the robot completes the run and is taken off the
field.
If using multiple robots, do they
have to be physically attached together to start the round (i.e. if you
pick one up, it has to be connected to the others) or are the multiple
robots just required to fit within the 1’ x 1’ x 2’ space?
Yes, at the start of the round the multiple robots must be physically
attached together. If you pick one up, all the other parts must come up
with it. (We want to ensure that the entire robot starts from one
location - not 4 different locations on the field.)
Will the robot really
be disqualified if any part of the robot besides the wheels (like a
sensor or an arm) cross over or above the painted black line?
After thinking through this aspect of the competition, a new stipulation
is being added to the rules that does not allow any part of the robot to
be outside the 8’ x 8’ boundary of the field for more than 5 seconds
at a stretch. However, the robot will be immediately disqualified if
any part of it touches the ground (the surface on which the field is
placed).
How will the robots be
measured?
On competition day, each robot must sit inside a box with dimensions 1’
x 1’ x 2’. When inside the measuring box, the robot cannot be tilted or
slanting, but must be upright and in the same manner that it would be at
the start of its run.
Could you give us more details
about the cargo containers?
We apologize, but at this point in time we don’t know exactly what kind
of cardboard will be used in the construction of the cargo containers.
Each cube will be hollow and will have a total weight of 150 grams. If
required, objects may be put inside the cube to give it the weight of
150 grams. We apologize for Version 1 of the rules stating that the
cargo containers would be solid, instead of hollow. That will be
corrected in Version 2.
Can we perform any processing
for the robot using a remote computer (e.g., wirelessly transmit from
the robot to a computer for processing and wirelessly transmit the
control information back to the robot)?
Sorry, but we have decided that the use of remote computers or remote
processing is not allowed in the competition. All processing and control
should be on the mobile robot itself. The robot on the field should be
completely independent of anything else, so using a remote computer
would not follow that standard.
Are the corner squares actually
a closed shape surrounded by black lines? Is each colored square in the
center surrounded by a closed black outline?
We apologize for the lack of clarity regarding this particular topic.
The black painted border will only mark the inner 2 sides of the corner
squares. The edge of the field will act as the outer 2 sides of the
square. However, each colored square in the center will be completely
surrounded by a closed black outline (all 4 sides).
Is every single black line on
the course 0.5 inches in thickness?
Yes.
When you measure where
squares start and end on the course, are you measuring from the
outer edge of the black lines, the center, or inner edge?
The measurements will always be from the center of the black
line. For example, the 6 inch dimension for each quadrant in the center
of the field is from the center of one black line to the center of the
other black line.
How will the boxes in the corners be
oriented?
The cargo containers will be equidistant from (and parallel with) all
the sides of the corner squares.
Also will there be
any type of deflectors behind the LEDs to make them directional
towards the field? Or will they cast 360 degrees of light?
No, there will not be any deflectors behind the LEDs. Since each LED is
side-emitting, they will cast 360 degrees of light.
If 4 robots were to split and go
to various corners, will they need to enter the corners in the order
specified? Suppose there are 4 robots and the prescribed order is
1-2-3-4. If the robot at corner 1 enters
the square and grips the cube, will the robot waiting at corner 2 need
to wait until the robot at corner 1 is
out of the square, or just until it has entered the square?
In the case of 4 robots, they can enter the corners in any order, but
touching or attempting to grip the blocks
would need to be in the required order. To use your example, once the
robot at corner 1 grips the cube, robot at
corner 2 is free to touch its cube. If the robot at corner 1 hasn't
touched the cube yet, both robots may be in their
squares as long as the cubes are picked up in the correct order.
Are the robots allowed
to communicate with an external computer if NO information is SENT
from the
computer to the robots, only received?
You are welcome to use an external laptop to debug before and after the
run, but not during the run. As it is not easy to ensure that every team
is using a laptop only to receive information during the course of a
run, it makes
more sense to simplify the process by ruling out external computers
altogether. The judges may ask the teams to
completely turn off their laptops during the run.
On multiple robots you say that the
robots must all "come up" together if one is picked up. Will you
actually do this? Will you physically try to pick up one and see if the
others come up, and if so, how high
will you lift the robots?
In order to place the robot inside the measuring box, the entire robot
will be picked up. The height lifted is not
really a concern, but yes the link between the robots should be strong
enough to hold all the pieces together if
one robot is lifted up. To be placed inside the measuring box, the
entire robot will need to come completely off
the
ground.
The last FAQ says that if multiple
robots are used then they must be "attached" at the beginning of the run
so that if you pick one up, all the parts come up with it. Can the
robots just be placed on a platform,
so that if the platform were picked up all the robots would just rest on
top?
No, the robots cannot simply be placed on a platform. The multiple
robots need to have some kind of locking
mechanism in place during the initial measurement. During the run, the
robots can split up automatically and
complete the task, and can remain split until the round ends. At the end
of the round, the pieces can then be
reattached either manually (by hand) or automatically for the final
measurement. The main purpose behind this
was to get everyone to make 1 robotic unit. One robot that split into 4
is a lot more appealing than 4 robots that
happened to be sitting next to each other. Also, being attached would
ensure that there would be only one
starting position, instead of four.
Are there any cost/part
requirements for the robot(s)? Must we use a particular part, or be
restrained in
some
way?
No, there are no restraints.
Does the order of
placement of the cubes in the middle matter? If the robot picks up
the blue cube
second, does it have to be the second cube placed in its colored square
in the middle?
The order of placement of the cubes in the center does not matter - what
matters is the order in which the corner
cubes are touched or picked up. It is acceptable to drop all 4 cubes in
the center at the same time or in any
random order.
Are we required to deliver the
blocks to the center in the sequence in which they were picked up? For
example, given a sequence of 2-3-1-4, are we then required to place the
block from corner 2 first, then 3,
and so forth? Can we drop all 4 blocks at once?
The given sequence is only for picking up the blocks. If it is a single
robot, it needs to pick up the blocks in the
correct sequence but can drop all 4 cubes at once or in any order.
Again, just to be clear, sequence of delivery
does not matter, but sequence of pickup of blocks is crucial. |
