Roboticon 2008

From RoboticonWiki

“Little Red Riding Hood”, the story so far...

Little Red Riding Hood needs to drop by Grandma's cabin in the woods to drop off a basket of cookies. Unfortunately, Grandma is not feeling well, so she can't meet Red Riding Hood at the bus stop, so Red will have to walk along the dangerous forest path alone. She is under strict instructions not to leave the path.

Wile E. Firefox has heard about Red's arrival, and is salivating over the potential meal. Hearing what the lumberjack did to his cousin the evil wolf, Wile E. Firefox has come prepared. He has contacted Acme for 6 landmines, and they're in the mail. By the time Little Red Riding Hood comes by, Wile E. Firefox will have placed from zero to six of these landmines and be waiting for her.

No one knows how many landmines that dastardly Firefox will have laid along the path before Red arrives. Help Little Red Riding Hood find each mine along the way and get her basket to Grandma's, without leaving the path!

Your Task

Your robot will have to stay between two black lines, denoting the “path”. These black lines will each be one inch thick and they will always be two inches apart. The lines will curve at times, creating a winding path, but they will never cross. If at any time your entire robot crosses completely outside the lines its run will be ended.

Along the way, your robot will have to detect one inch thick blue lines (the landmines) running across the path (from one black line to another, running perpendicular to the direction of the path). Upon discovery of each of these blue lines, your robot will be required to make one beep to indicate it has found a land mine. Your bot should never count a mine more than once.

The robot will need to deliver a payload to a box at the end of the path. The payload will be a piece of wooden doweling, 1/2 inches in diameter by 2 inches long. The box's dimensons are 4 inches wide by 2 inches deep by 1 inch high. The path will end at the box, which will block the robot from moving further and be secured to the ground immovably. Upon delivery of the payload your team will be awarded points, and your run will be complete. Human interaction is not allowed at any time after the run has begun. Any human interaction will be cause for your run to be terminated. The run will begin as soon as the robot is laid down and the program is activated. The maximum time that a run may continue is two minutes.

The only parts allowed to be used in the construction of your bot are the ones included in your NXT or Robotic Invention System kit. Regardless of what kit you have we are limiting you to one each of sound, touch, and light sensors. These may not all be required.

Scoring

* 10 Points for making it to the box as decided by the judges (within 2 inches).
* 1 Point for each mine it correctly detects (and beeps).
* 2 Points for proper delivery of payload.
* -1 Point for each time a mine is incorrectly counted. This includes double counting.

Accumulated points will always be zero or greater.

At the end of each run the point system will be reduced to ranks. These ranks will be added up for your overall challenge rank. 'Total points' will NOT be used to calculate overall rank at the end of the this challenge. If a tie occurs at any point it will not be resolved until challenge two.

At no time may the robot exceed 1 foot in length or width. If these dimensions are exceeded, the team will be given zero points for the run.

[Picture of the Dowel]

The above is a sample image of one of the pieces of dowel that will be included with the kits, and will be used as the payload for your robot to deliver. All the pieces of dowel are roughly identical.

If you have any questions, you should visit the FAQ. If there is still anything you're unclear on, you can email your questions to roboticon@socis.ca.

The judges' rulings will be the final word on any matter involving any of these specifications.

Good luck!