1.0 CONTEST OBJECTIVE
The specific goal of this contest is to build a computer
controlled Robot that can move through a model floor plan structure of a
house, find a red Light Emitting Diode (LED) "Candle", that represents a
small house fire, and extinguish it by covering the LED "candle". This
must be done in the shortest time possible, subject to a few operating
factors.
NB: Throughout this proposal where the term extinguishing the fire
is used, it refers to covering the red LED.
1.1 THE HOUSE FLOOR PLAN STRUCTURES AND FEATURES
1.1.a. The official floor plan structure is shown in
Attachment A. This is what the contest platform will look
like. However, just as in the real world where there is always a measure of
uncertainty in any information, the dimensions in the
Attachment A floor plan are approximations. The actual dimensions may
vary up to as much as 4% from the given values.
1.1.b. The walls of the structure will be made of
wood and will be 23 cm high and 2 cm thick. The walls will be painted with flat
black paint. The floor of the arena will be a smooth, wooden surface painted with flat
black latex paint. Any seams in the floor
will be taped over and painted with the same flat black latex paint.
1.1.c. As noted in Attachment A, all hallways and
doorways to rooms will be 23 cm wide with a tolerance of 4%. There will not
be a door in each of the doorways, just a 23 cm opening. There will be a
1.9 cm wide line, made of Tartan General Purpose white tape, across each doorway.
1.1.d. There will a 1.9 cm line made with same white tape
running down the center of each corridor, represented in
Attachment A by black broken lines.
1.1.e. The Home area is a 21 cm x 21 cm square box enclosed
by a 1.9 cm wide white tape, as shown in Attachment A by red broken
lines.
1.2 ROBOT CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
There are no restrictions on the types of materials used in
the construction of the robot. However, as in years past all hazardous,
explosive, toxic, etc., materials will be banned. Note that the final design
must be able to reach Jamaica. Possible solutions could involve shipping in
advance so please include transportation in your planning.
1.4 THE LED "CANDLE"
1.4.a. The CANDLE will be represented by a cylindrical
object (see
Attachment C) with six (6) red LED illuminated. The LED used will be a
Red Ultra Bright, water clear case Part # 156970. The distributor of this part is LEDTECH but you
can obtain information from www.jameco.com. The exact model and power source
for the LED can be obtained from www.jameco.com online catalog.
1.4.b. The LED "CANDLE" will be portable and could
be in any of the four rooms. The location will be such that there will be sufficient
clearance to place the cup over the LED "CANDLE" as specified in section 1.3.
However, the LED "CANDLE" will be in only three possible locations to be
announced at the Captain's meeting at the start of the contest. Teams
should design accordingly. Each team will be guaranteed that they will see
the LED "CANDLE" in all of the three locations at the completion of their
three turns. However, the exact order the team faces will be unknown. The
LED "CANDLE" has an equal chance of being on, in any of the four rooms, in
each of the 3 trials. For each trial the LED "CANDLE" will be on, in the
same room for each participant, thus every Robot will have the LED "CANDLE"
on in 3 different rooms for the duration of the competition.
Robot builders should be aware that many modern film and
video cameras transmit infrared (IR) light as part of their automatic
focusing systems. Ambient lighting in the contest room may also be a source
of IR, visible and UV light. If a robot uses light sensors to find the LED
or detect walls, the builders should take steps to prevent these lighting
conditions from interfering with its operation.
1.6 THE RETURN TRIP
1.6.a. After extinguishing the candle, the Robot should
return to the Home Area. It does not have to retrace its path in
returning to the Home Area or even take the most efficient route, it must
just get back, but without entering any other room along the way. In other
words, once it has extinguished the candle, it must leave the room and
return to the Home Area without entering any other room, otherwise a penalty
of -15 points will be incurred for each room entry.
1.6.b. The Robot will be considered to have
returned to the Home Area if any part of it is within the 21 cm x 21 cm
Home Area. The Robot does not have to be in the same position that it was in
when it started the contest, it must however, have some part of its body
within the Home Area (across the tape).
1.7 ROBOT OPERATION
1.7.a. The Robot must be autonomous, that
is, once the Robot is turned on it must perform the task of locating and
extinguishing the candle by itself. No human intervention is allowed after
starting.
1.7.b. The Robot is considered to have entered the
room when all its parts have crossed the white line at the doorway.
1.7.c. The Robot must enter via the doorway of the
room in which the candle exists, in order to extinguish the candle.
1.7.d. Once the candle extinguisher has been placed
over a suspect candle, it must be released. That is, a design cannot visit
all three locations and deploy the fire extinguisher. The penalty for trying
this approach will be -20 points for each deployment.
1.7.e. Any Robot that damages the playing surface
intentionally or unintentionally will be disqualified.
1.7.f. Touching or following the walls of the house will be
permitted but discouraged by a possible penalty of -5 points.
1.7.g. The Robot must be able to fit within the
21 cm x 21 cm x 20 cm (W x L ) Home Area (a 21 x 21 x 20 box will be used to
determine if the robot qualifies to enter the contest). The robot does not
have to hold the cup in this test but additional marks will be given for
qualifying when the robot is holding the cup.
1.7.h. The Robot can extend to any size or shape it
desires, as long as it is within the room with the expected candle.
2.1 TIME LIMIT
2.1.b.The maximum time given for the Robot to locate and
extinguish the fire is three (3) minutes.
2.1.c.If the Robot locates, extinguishes the candle,
and returns to the Home Area before the three (3) minutes elapse
(without committing an offense), then an additional point will be awarded,
i.e., one point for returning to the Home Area.
2.1.d.If a Robot does not move or perform any function for a
period exceeding one (1) minute, it will lose that trial.
2.1.e. At the end of the three (3) minute period the Robot should
stop moving.
2.2 SCORING
A maximum of 100 points can be obtained for each
trial once no offense is committed. Points are allocated as follows:
2.2.a. Ten (10) points will be awarded if the Robot moves
completely out of the Home Area i.e., all parts of the robot
should cross the borderlines of the Home Area.
2.2.b. Seventy (70) points will be awarded for extinguishing the
candle.
2.2.c. Twenty (20) point will be awarded for returning to
the Home Area after the candle is extinguished. If however the robot enters
a room on its return these points will be lost.
2.2.d. A bonus of the time remaining in seconds divided by 10 will be
given to teams successfully extinguishing the fire and returning to the Home
Area.
2.2.e. If a Robot allows 60 seconds to pass
without moving or performing a function, the trial will be stopped but, all
points obtained for that try will be awarded.
2.2.f. A Robot being measured for the competition
gains 10 points for qualifying while holding the cup.
2.2.g. A robot loses 20 points for each deployment
of the cup when it is wrong.
2.2.h. A Robot touching the wall in their run will
lose 5 points.
