Blimp Pentathlon a proposal of possible events for an indoor blimp competition The Blimp Pentathlon is an open-source, team guided competition. The competition would involve five events where teams could earn blimps to earn up to 200 points in each event to achieve the maximum score of 1000 points.

Event 1: The Maze (interpreting sensor input) Concept: Navigate a maze in either RC or autonomous mode. Construction: The maze can be completed autonomously through the use of IR beacons. For this to work, the maze and location beacons will be given to design teams. Officiating: Teams are ranked and awarded points based on their final time. Penalties are awarded for touching and skipping over walls. Scoring: +5 seconds per wall touch +15 seconds for touching wall for 3 consecutive seconds -50% of total time for autonomous mode Place Points

Wall Height – 4 ft Construction Materials: 130 ft 1” foam insulation board 10 IR beacons Technical Challenge: Interpreting multiple sensor input as navigation waypoints PID control loop tuning for optimum system response in a confined space Multi-variable control of altitude and yaw Event 1: The Maze (interpreting sensor input)

Event 2: Relay Race (maneuverability demonstration & mechanism design) Concept: Blimps race in two phases: autonomous mode and RC mode. The autonomous mode would include the delivery of a 10 gram ping-pong ball to a target, and the RC mode would include a slalom course. A pit stop zone separates the two stages, and the team is allowed to manipulate the blimp in this zone. Construction: One IR beacon would be placed 20’ from the start to indicate the race lane orientation. Two IR beacons would be placed along each edge of the track 17.5’ from the start and shielded so as to paint an IR line across the lane at the drop zone. The deployment mode for the team is left to the team’s design. Pool noodles will be used to create a slalom course for the RC segment of the race. Officiating: Points will be awarded based on the minimal time in each stage, with bonus points awarded for dropping the payload in the target. Infractions (such as going outside the lane and missing slalom gates) will add “penalty time” to the team’s performance. Scoring: Team rank will be used to assign overall points for the event.

Event 2: Relay Race (maneuverability demonstration & mechanism design)

Event 3: Blimp Sumo (a fun to watch, engaging event) Concept: Blimps start at one side of a 15’ diameter ring and attempt to push an opponent out of the ring as many times as possible in a 90 second match. Construction: A 15’ diameter ring is marked with red and blue halves. Officiating: The official stops the clock each time a blimp is knocked outside the ring. At that time the blimps are repositioned at their starting location and the match continues. Scoring: Competing blimps can score points two different ways. Each time a blimp knocks any part of the opponent blimp out of the ring, it earns 3 points. Also one point will be awarded for every 10 seconds a blimp can keep the opposing blimp and itself in the opposing half of the circle. A team has the ability to earn up to 90 points through this method. The team score will be used to rank order the teams, with scores between 200 and 10 points awarded to teams based on their ranking.

D = 15 ft C = 47.1 ft Starting location Event 3: Blimp Sumo (a fun to watch, engaging event) It is recognized that the blimps were not designed to accomplish this type of competition. This event is suggested to demonstrate how 2-D competitions, such as sumo-robotics, can be adapted for the third dimension.

Completion Concept: Blimps maneuver in autonomous mode across a 48’ course, with height obstacles ranging between 3 and 6 feet. Teams are awarded points for keeping a consistent height above each obstacle. The event tests the blimps ability to maintain altitude control over a range of altitudes. The distance must be covered in a maximum amount of time, and the event is not a race. Construction: 4 standard folding tables (4’x8’) tables mark a course. Two tables are stacked at one point to create the highest barrier. A marker, with a lower and upper band are positioned at the midpoint for each table to determine scores. Team members are allowed to manually guide the blimp so that it remains centered over the row of tables. Foam board is used at the leading edge of each table to provide a slope Officiating: Referees determine the points based on the blimps ability to hit the target height at the target location. Scoring: Five points are earned for each gate that is passed through. Event 4: Mountain Maneuvers (altitude control)

Scoring will be accomplished with a point awarded for each part of the blimp (nose, gondola and tail) that pass through the “target height” window. A maximum score of 18 points can be earned in a single round. Start Finish Target height Event 4: Mountain Maneuvers (altitude control)

Event 5: Tower Topple (IR navigation) Completion Concept: Blimps must knock over 4 towers as fast as possible Construction: Four pool noodles will be positioned in the corners of a 15’ square. The base of the tower will be small enough to allow the tower to fall when it is hit by a blimp. An IR beacon will be placed 3 feet off the floor, embedded in the pool noodle. Officiating: The contest must be completed in autonomous mode. The blimps must remain within 15 feet of a tower. The maximum length of a match will be 90 seconds. Scoring: The time to topple all four towers will be used to score the event. The shortest amount of time to topple all towers will earn 200 points, with a linear scale used to determine scores of other teams (based on the time to topple as many towers as possible).

Event 5: Tower Topple 15 ft IR Beacon (3 ft off the floor) (IR navigation)