National Event Supervisor Robo-Cross Jeff Anderson National Event Supervisor Dennis Papesh dpapesh@holyangels.cc

WARNING! DISCLAIMER This presentation was prepared using draft rules.  There may be some changes in the final copy of the rules.  The rules which will be in your Coaches Manual and Student Manuals will be the official rules.

Goal Design and build a robot (remotely operated vehicle) Must perform certain tasks on a prescribed playing field

Construction Robot may be controlled remotely: Radio Infrared Wired control boxes See soinc.org for legal devices and frequencies Commercial robot – at least one functional modification Lack of modification means Robot doesn’t work or will work differently

Construction -Size Robot, in ready to run position Fit, entirely, (without compression) in a 30cm x 30cm x 30cm cube Entirely means that no portion of the robot, including the antenna, has its position changed by the box If no box is used, no portion would ‘stick out of’ that box Robot may change dimensions during the run May get larger May not separate into two or more active components May drop passive parts

Motions Must be powered only by electrical, elastic, or gravitational energy These forms must not be converted to other forms such as hydraulics or pneumatics

Powered by Commercial batteries may be used to energize each of the Robot’s and its controller’s electrical circuits Not exceeding 14.4 v as labeled May be connected in series or parallel But must not exceed 14.4 v Must be contained in either the Robot or as part of the controllers

Frequencies Permitted frequencies will be listed on the Science Olympiad national website at www.soinc.org 2014 events Robo-Cross

Technical documentation Teams must develop and submit at Check-in or inspection or as announced by tournament director the following: Illustration Operating Description Written practice log

Illustration Any form, photo, drawings, 3-view Basic structure of the Device, with labels All motors in the device (numbered) All energy sources Controls being used to interact with the Robot

Illustration 1 – controls claw 2 – controls outer arm rotation 1 – 9v power to robot 1 – signal router 3 – controls inner arm rotation

Illustration 5 – controls left wheels 4 – controls right wheels

Illustration/Operating Description 1- Ch. 5 – claw 2 – Ch. 6 – outer arm 4 – Ch. 2 – right wheels 3 – Ch. 4 – inner arm 5 – Ch. 1 – left wheels

Illustration 2 – 9v controller power supply

Operating description Robot reaction to each control input Tentative/Proposed plan of movement Which items in the Competition Area will be moved How the robot plans to move each item This is a tentative plan – no deductions if plan must be changed during operation

Tentative Plan of Movement Move Robot into Zone C, stand the Bonus Box upright and push it into Zone B, towards middle of the Zone. Back out to Zone A/B boundary and begin to pick up ping-pong ball, AA cells, and Lego blocks and drop into Bonus Box Pick up tennis ball and drop it into Bonus Box Move further into Zone B to pick up remaining Lego blocks, AA cells, and ping-pong balls and drop into Bonus Box Maneuver Bonus Box into Zone D Drive Robot into Zone D Turn off Robot and shout “Stop”

Written practice log Record at least 5 runs Record at least three parameters Must include score Must include time Any additional parameter

Difficulties encountered Written Practice Log Date Time in Points Difficulties encountered   min:sec 9-Oct 3:00 83 difficulty in placing items in Bonus Box 13-Oct 2:50 97 difficulty in righting Bonus Box 17-Oct 2:40 100 difficulty in moving Bonus Box into Zone D 25-Oct 2:30 98 Bonus Box in Zone D, Robot dropped part in Zone A 8-Nov 71 Bonus Box in Zone D but tipped over spilling items 15-Nov 181 Left Lego in Zone B x

Playing Field 4 ft x 4 ft smooth, rigid surface Tempered hardwood, Masonite, sanded plywood, etc. Robot must be able to operate on all such surfaces Perimeter of 1” x 2” wood (nominal) attached with the 2” dimension placed vertical

Playing field Divided equally into square zones, labeled A, B, C, D counterclockwise. Zone D will have a border of 5/8 in. quarter round molding separating it from other zones. Rounded sides will face Zone A and Zone C.

Playing field Interior boundaries drawn with fine tipped marker Zone A will have a box 30.0cm x 30.0cm drawn for the starting position of the Robot. Zone B will contain all of the items listed in 4.i at the start of the competition.

Playing Field May be designed to fold or separate No more than a 3mm gap or step Tape may be used to secure the seams All materials for the event, playing field, Bonus Box, and items, will be supplied by the Event Supervisor

Playing Field Bonus Box must be the bottom of a plastic gallon milk jug cut off to a height of 14.5 to 15.5 cm Must be placed in the inside corner of Zone C with the open top facing away from Zone D

Items 4 Ping-Pong Balls 4AA batteries (on their sides) 1 tennis ball 4 Lego® bricks (standard 2 x 4 size) All placed as shown on the playing field diagram

Standard 2x4 Lego Blocks (4) Starting position of Robot Playing Field Zone B Ping-Pong Balls (4) Standard 2x4 Lego Blocks (4) AA Batteries Tennis Ball Zone A Zone C Zone D Bonus Box Starting position of Robot

Competition At check in (or inspection), ES inspects and weighs the device Checks size Selects 4 items from the technical documentation and has the competitors point them out on the device Students place their Robot in the designated Starting Position, in ready to run configuration

Competition Event Supervisor will count aloud “1. 2,.3, Go” Time starts (recommended 3 timers be used) Teams will have 3 minutes

Competition Robot may move the Bonus Box but the Box must remain inside the playing field in any zone If any item moved by control wires, it is out of play – no points for it Miscellaneous parts may end up in or on the Bonus Box without penalty

Competition The run must stop (and time recorded) if any of the following occurs 3 minutes have elapsed from the word “Go” The team says “Stop” Any part of the Robot or Bonus Box is ‘Out of Bounds’ Out of Bounds is defined as touching the floor outside of the Playing Field The Robot is physically moved by the wires connecting it to the control box A team member steps on the Playing Field after the team has received a warning

Competition The robot must stop within 2 seconds of the run completion Any items moved or moving after time has stopped must be scored where they were prior to the time stopping

Scoring At the end of competition, points will be awarded based on the number and types of items that are in the specified scoring areas

Scoring - Robot If the Robot (parts touching the ground) is completely in: Zone B – 3 points Zone C – 5 points Zone D – 15 points If Robot parts (including dropped parts) touch the ground in multiple zones, the lesser zone score will be awarded

Scoring - Items Item Quantity Zone C Zone D Lego Blocks 4 1 2 Ping-Pong Balls 4 2 4 AA Batteries 4 3 6 Tennis Ball 1 4 8 Each item may earn points for only 1 single zone 2x score multiplier to any items completely under the Bonus Box 3x score multiplier to any items in or fully supported by the Bonus Box if the opening is pointing up Any item which touches the floor outside of the Playing Field at any time, even if under control by Robot, is out of play and has no point value

Scoring If any part of the Bonus Box is Out of Bounds, the items within will have no score value Score will be reduced one point for each incorrect answer in 5.a (book may say 5.b) Teams with no or incomplete Technical Documentation will have 5% deducted from their score Maximum score is 183 High score wins

Scoring Tie breakers Shortest run time Lowest mass of the Device Robot and Controllers

Scoring Tiers: Tier 1: Devices that meet all requirements are ranked by highest score Tier 2: Devices with competition violations Tier 3: Devices which fail to meet a spec under “Construction Parameters” Participation Points only: Devices which violate the frequency rules or are unable to compete No show points only: Devices that have no capability by design to score points by moving objects

Kickstarters The following YouTube videos probably will not run when you try this powerpoint at home. All you need to do is go to YouTube and type Science Olympiad Robo-Cross in the search box. I found about 15 videos. Remember – these designs were operating under different rules than you will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8O1tWiC7KE