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Hummerbot
2009:
An
Entrant into the Autonomous Robot Speedway Competition (ARSC)
RULES
ABOUT THE COMPETITION
Robot competitions are entertaining and a means for evaluating the
performance of mobile, autonomous robots for a given fitness evaluation.
Ranging from mobile, autonomous wheeled vehicles such as the Grand DARPA
Challenge to cooperative teams of humanoid robots that compete in
soccer, such as RoboCup, the challenges are typically representative of
the kind of engineering problems that extend the boundary in Artificial
Intelligence, Computer Vision, and Automation. The fitness evaluation
can be duration in time to complete a task, ability to complete a
sequence of tasks to meet a goal, and ability of robots to handle
uncertainty. This is the second annual small autonomous robot speedway
race. For this race, the metrics are measuring endurance and speed for
an autonomous robot around a circuit (track) for a total of 1 mile.
SAFETY FIRST
At the beginning of each racing event, your robot will run a short
sprint to demonstrate its safety features. During this sprint, officials
will determine the safety and ability to compete with other robots while
on the track.
People may not loiter near the track and field during competition,
tryouts, or when robots are being tested. Spectators and miscellaneous
team members must view from the stands. Anyone wearing clothing the
shade of the traffic cones will not be permitted near the competition
site.
LOCATION
The location will be the University of Maryland College Park campus. A
backup indoor location will be available in case of inclement weather.
COMPETITION
DATE
The date for the competition is October 24, 2009 and will be held at the
University of Maryland College Park campus and hosted by the UMD-ECE
Department.
RACEWAY SPECIFICATIONS
1. The raceway will be constructed using a series of traffic cones that
are 23 cm tall and 12 cm wide at the base.
2. The cones will be placed to make an oval-shaped raceway with 2-axis
of symmetry.
3. The width between the inner cone and the outer cones will be 150 cm.
4. The raceway turning radius will be between 5 and 20 meters.
5. The color of the inner and outer cones will be orange.
6. The raceway surface will be pavement if the event is held outdoors
and TBD if it is held at the backup indoor location.
QUALIFICATIONS
1. The robot size must be between of 10x10x10 cm to 100x100x100 cm.
2. The robot must be wheeled. No tracked robots are allowed on the
asphalt or grass surface.
3. Robots must be completely, and truly autonomous. Remote operators
must start/stop their robots in their tracks by a single dedicated
remote operator/driver. The remote operator must be designated at the
start of the competition.
4. Robots cannot be tethered.
5. Robots that run on fuel or any alternative energy are permitted.
6. Each team's RC transmitter’s frequency channel must be registered
before competing. In the event that a team has the same channel as
another team, the teams will have to take turns testing their robots.
7. The FCC does not permit RC aircraft transmitters 72 MHz for use in
surface vehicles. Aircraft RC transmitters will not be allowed during
the competition. Refer to a radio frequency charts for allowable surface
RC frequency channels at: http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq/frequency.html
and http://www.easyrc.com/radiosystems/radiosystems5.html.
As an alternative, spread spectrum RC transmitters may be used which
have no interference.
RACEWAY COMPETITION RULES
1. Each robot will be run separately on the raceway.
2. No work by the crew or driver may be performed on any robot at any
time during an attempt.
3. Competitors must not wear any shade of orange during tryouts or
competition.
4. Team members must wear protective shoes such as sneakers. Open toe
shoes will not be allowed.
5. Each competitor will be allowed three race attempts. The score from
the best of the three attempts will be used.
6. The robot will start with all parts of the robot behind the starting
line. The attempt will begin upon indication of the judges.
7. If any portion of the robot crosses over the finish-line after
traveling the designated number of laps required to travel 1 mile, the
attempt will terminate.
8. If in the opinion of the judges, the robot is not running at
competitive speed, the attempt will be terminated.
9. If in the opinion of the judges, the robot is behaving erratically,
the attempt will be terminated.
10. The robot must stay on the circuit defined by the inner and the
outer cones. If the entire robot leaves the circuit, the attempt will be
terminated.
11. Timing will begin when any portion of the robot crosses the
starting line and will end when the race terminates.
12. The distance traveled will be measured from the starting line to the
point of the robot farthest forward when the race is terminated.
13. A robot that knocks over or displaces a cone will receive a penalty.
For each penalty during an attempt, ten seconds will be added to the
time when computing the score for the attempt.
14. Distance traveled and time taken will be equally weighted in
determining the score for this competition.
DESIGN COMPETITION RULES
1. Competitors will prepare a poster describing the design of their
robot which may include the design philosophy, components and algorithms
used, rationale for selection of key components and algorithms, and
other relevant information.
2. Competitors will give an oral presentation on their robot lasting no
more than 10 minutes to the judges. Presentations will be stopped
precisely at 10 minutes.
3. Competitors will allow the judges to examine their robots and respond
to questions posed by the judges during a 10-minute Q&A session
immediately following the oral presentation.
4. Scores for the poster, oral presentation, and Q&A session will be
weighted equally.
GRAND AWARD COMPETITION RULES
1. The Grand Award competition winner will be determined by combining
the equally-weighted Raceway Competition and Design Competition Scores.
SPECTATOR RULES
1. Spectators must remain in the bleachers and never approach the
track-and-field at any time during a competition or tryout.
2. Spectators must not wear orange on tryout or dates of competitions.
3. Spectators must wear sneakers or other protective shoes.
PRIZES
First, second, and third place winners will be recognized in each of the
following three categories:
1. Raceway Competition
2. Design Competition
3. Grand Award
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About
the Author:
An
astronautics engineer, the author is interested in studying artificial
intelligence and more specifically the intelligent agents created to
accomplish specific tasks. The goal of his projects are to build a
robotics test bed for experimentation and discussion amongst peers. Contact
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