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Next: Assembly Manual Up: Lego Robots 2002 Course Previous: Course Notes Overview
Subsections
This year's contest is "Robo-Ball," a game played by two
autonomous robots.
Have your robot earn more points within a 90
second period. Points are earned by retrieving balls from your
ball feeder and moving them across the board. Additional points are
earned by placing balls in your goal, and by preventing the opposing
robot from moving its balls across the board.
 | Balls are restricted-flight golf balls. |
| At the start of the round, 20 white balls will be in the white feeder, and 20 black balls will be in the black feeder. |
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The balls are inert and all have identical mechanical properties.
One set of balls will be painted flat black, the other set will be white or yellow.
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Robots may gather any number of balls "into" their body. |
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Robots may pick up, push, throw, kick, or otherwise move any ball at any time. Robots are permitted to move balls of either color, and may remove balls from either feeder and from either goal.
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| The balls may not be altered or destroyed in any way. |
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Figure 1.1: 2006 Robo-Ball Contest Game Board
Specification
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The powered portion of a round will last 90 seconds. After the
machines are started, they will have 90 seconds to apply battery power to their actuators.
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| The round ends when all machines and balls come to rest. |
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The round will be started by the judges turning on the starting
lights, located underneath the table in the center of each robot's starting circle, for the first one second of the round. |
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The contestants will place the machines on the game
board within the designated starting circles. The robots may be placed in any
orientation within the starting area. |
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The contestants will have 60 seconds to place their machines on the
game board from the time the judges call them. If the contestants fail to prepare their machine in that time, it will be treated as a false start (see below). |
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The contestants must stand a given distance away from the
game board. Any contestant who touches their machine during the round of play will automatically disqualify their robot from the
round. |
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False
Start Rule: Robots that fail to start
when the start light is activated will be awarded 1/2 of a loss and removed
from the board. If the other robot scores at least one point, it will
be awarded a win and continue in the competition. If the other robot
scores no points, it will be awarded a loss. The robot that false started will
then compete against a new opponent. If both robots false start, the
round will be restarted (after awarding both robots a 1/2 point loss).
If, in the sole opinion of the judges, a robot is made to deliberately false
start in order to avoid a loss against a superior opponent, a full loss will
be awarded and the other robot will be allowed to compete against a new
opponent. Robots will not be penalized if the start light fails to
operate correctly. |
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The machines must have their own internal clock (software will be
provided to do this) that cuts off power to the motors at the end of 90 seconds. Any machines that continue to supply actuator power after 90
seconds will be disqualified. |
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The contest will be a double elimination competition held over
two days, as follows:
 | Round 1. All machines will play at least
one round. If a machine loses its round against
an opponent, it will run against an inert placebo. A
machine must win (i.e., score at least one
point) against the inert placebo in order to
qualify for the second round. |
| Round 2. The main competition. Machines will play until they lose twice. Losses
against opponents from the first day are not included.
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| All rounds will have two robot players. |
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All kits contain roughly the same components, with the exception
that some LEGO parts may be colored differently in different kits. Trading of parts between teams is permitted. The instructor and/or TAs may provide additional Lego parts at their discretion.
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Only LEGO parts and connectors may be used as robot structure.
Rubber bands are counted as LEGO parts; therefore, rubber bands may be used to provide structural support to your machine. |
| LEGO pieces may not be glued together. |
| LEGO pieces may not be altered in any way, with the following exceptions:
- 1.
- The LEGO baseplate may be altered freely.
- 2.
- LEGO pieces may be modified to facilitate the mounting of sensors and actuators.
- 3.
- LEGO pieces may be modified to perform a function directly related to the operation of a
sensor. An example: Holes may be drilled into a LEGO wheel to help make an optical shaft
encoder.
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| String may not be used for structural purposes. |
| A non-LEGO part may be attached to at most five LEGO parts via glue. |
| Cardboard, other paper products, and tape may be used for the purpose of creating
optical shields for light sensors. |
| Wire may only be used for electrical purposes, and not structural. |
| Rubber bands may be glued to LEGO wheels or gears to increase the coefficient of
friction. |
| Rubber bands may be used to provide stored energy. |
| Contestants may not alter the structure of their entry once the competition has begun,
but may repair broken components between rounds if time permits. Components that are designed to be modular (for example, structures that can be quickly reversed to function in either a right-handed or left-handed manner) may be attached or detached between rounds if time permits. |
| The dimension of the machine may not exceed an imaginary 1 foot cube at the start of
each round. Entries may however expand once the round has begun. |
| Entries may not drag wires or string between two or more structurally separate parts of their
robot. One portion of the robot is considered structurally separate from another if
when the machine is lifted from a supporting surface and held from the other portion, the
two portions are supported mainly by wire. However,
two apparent structural components connected by Lego parts (e.g., lego chain
links) will be considered the same structural component. |
| No lubricants may be used. |
| Cable ties may not be used for structural purposes. |
| Some parts in the Lego Robots kit are considered tools and may not be used on the robot.
Examples are: the plastic parts container; the small rectangular parts container; the
soldering iron sponge. If there is any question about whether an object is a
"kit part"
or a "tool part," ask the instructor. |
| Any machine that appears to be a safety hazard will be disqualified from the
competition. |
To
encourage creativity, contestants may spend up to $20 of their own
all
non-kit-standard additions:
| The following components, categories of components, or varieties of circuitry are disallowed:
| Batteries of any variety. |
| Motor driver circuitry, including relays, power transistors, or any other replacements
or modifications to the standard motor driver circuitry. |
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| No single part may cost more than $5. |
| Resistors rated less than 1 watt and capacitors valued less than 100 |
| Contestants who add any non-kit parts to their project must turn in a design
report that includes: description of the modification, schematic of all added circuitry,
and store receipts for parts purchases. This design report must be turned in to the
instructor at least one week prior to the first round of competition. Any machines
found with added parts that have not been documented in this fashion will be disqualified.
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| If a contestant wishes to use a part that has been obtained through other means than
retail purchase, an equivalent cost value to the part will be assigned by the instructor.
Contestants must obtain this cost estimate in writing from the instructor and
include it in the design report mentioned above. |
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One point will be awarded for each of your opponent's
balls that is no longer in the ball feeder when the game ends. It does not matter which robot removed the ball from the feeder. |
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Two points will be awarded for each of your balls that is on the goal side of the board when the game ends. A ball is on the goal side if it is on the game board and more than 50% of the ball is across the half-court line, which runs down the middle of the board. It does not matter how the ball arrived on the goal side. |
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Five points will be awarded for each of your balls that is in your own goal when the game ends. These points are in addition to the two points awarded for being on the goal side. It does not matter how the ball arrived at the goal. |
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In order to win a round, a robot must score at least one point through its own action. Robots that, in the opinion of the instructor, failed to contribute to their own score will receive a score of zero, regardless of the position of the balls. For purposes of this rule, removing an opponent's ball from the goal or the goal side of the board counts as a contribution. |
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The
winner will be the machine with the most points at the end of the
round. |
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In rounds containing a placebo, the contestant's robot must score at
least one point in order to be declared the winner of that round.
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If
no points are scored a double loss will be awarded by the judges. |
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If
there is a tie at a non-zero score at the end of the round, the round will be replayed with the robots starting on opposite sides of the board. If they tie again, each robot will receive a half loss.
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A
double win may be awarded at the judges' discretion. |
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The
judges will decide any discrepancies in the contest play.
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| Contestants may approach the instructor to consult about possible designs that may be
questionable under the rules listed above. |
| Final arbitration of any rule disputes before the day of the contest will be decided by
the instructor. |
| During the actual contest rounds, the decision of the judges will be final. |
It is possible that it will be necessary to change these rules during the semester. Any
such changes will be made only by the instructor, who will announce any changes in class
and lab with as much advance notice as is practical.
This section lists all of the parts in the 2002 Lego Robots parts kit, including pricing
and source information.
The prices indicated for most parts represent modest quantity discounts (usually 10 to
20 percent) from commercial suppliers like Arrow and Digikey. Considerably better prices
may be attainable with some scrounging around.
Overall, the LEGO component of the Lego Robots kit is valued at about
$250 retail.
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Next: Assembly Manual Up: Lego Robots 2002 Course Previous: Course Notes Overview
jkb
11/30/01
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