Assignments

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Mock Contests

The purpose of mock competitions is to allow you to test your robot in real situations. During mock competitions, no students will be allowed in lab unless it is for an emergency robot fix. Mock competitions will often be conducted at the same time as assignments so please make sure that you are there for your scheduled slot for your assignment. Mock competitions 1, 2, and 3 will be run like the first round of the final competition and each team is required to run at least once. Winners will get a prize from the staff. In the later mock competitions, winners will be given the option to get an extra chance at the final competition, which is single elimination.

Seeding

You will be played against a stationary robot and your seating position will be determined based on the sum of two runs. The top seated teams will be given an advantage during the final competition and will play weaker teams during the first round. It is definitely possible for a weaker team to beat a higher seating team during the final competition so nothing is set in stone!

Seeding Assignment:

  1. Please have a finalized TEAM NAME and ROBOT NAME for each robot you will be seeding.
  2. Please write a paragraph describing your robot and email it to me by the time we finish seeding (5pm). This is for the pamphlet we hand out, advertising and website. People in the past have submitted cute descriptions including lines of code or short poems, etc. Be descriptive and creative!
  3. We will be taking pictures of your robot for publishing as well.

Impounding

Impounding will begin the day before the final competition starting at 5pm and ending at 10pm. You may volunteer to impound at any time during this period.

  • No additional changes to the robot can be made after this point
  • Return all unused materials and sensors
  • Please be prepared to talk about the design and features of your robot for assessment for the engineering award
  • Your robot must pass all compliance tests again including:
    • Pass all size requirements
    • Adhere to all strategy restrictions
  • We will tally up sensor points and inform you of any additional costs due to broken materials
  • Get your Maslab T-shirts
  • Take a team photo with your robot
  • Leave your robot, batteries, and kit with us. The battery and computer will be left charging in a locked closet overnight. You may not take any kit contents with you.

Final Competition

Teams will be able to pick up their robots from Impounding at 10:00 am. You may go straight to 26-100 as we are setting the field up. You should NOT change your robot's code at that point! Using untested code is a sure way to disappointing results at the final contest. Instead, teams should

  • ensure that all parts of their robot are functional, batteries are charged
  • ensure that the robot will stop after three minutes
  • add decoration

At 3:00pm, all teams will meet in 26-100 to go over the final contest logistics and take a group photo (make sure you're wearing your Maslab t-shirt!). You will also have an opportunity to calibrate your sensors. You may want get food beforehand or keep something to eat with you.

At 4 pm, spectators will begin arriving. The robots will be set up on the front table of 26-100 and one representative of each team will be in front talking about their robots.

At 5 pm, the contest will begin. There will always be two teams on deck. When your team is on deck, you should

  • make sure that your robot running color is ready and can start from a button press
  • have your robot's IP address ready
  • do any last minute calibrations

When your team is called, you will need people to do the following

  • Robot handler: your job is to carry the robot to the start position and start it. In the event that your robot gets stuck, you and the contest judge will decide together when to stop the round.
  • Speaker: your job is to talk about your robot's behaviors. You and the MC will explain what the robot is doing to the audience.
  • Bot Client: when your robot is on deck, you will present your robot's IP address to the tech team that will be running the bot client.

After the contest is over, teams are free to go with their robots. Clean-up teams should stay to help carry materials back to the labs upstairs.

Final Paper

Your final paper should be 1250–1750 words (5–7 pages) long, and should summarize your

  1. overall strategy
  2. mechanical design and sensors
  3. software design
  4. overall performance
  5. conclusions/suggestions for future teams

The paper must be complete by 11:59 pm on February 4th for your team to receive credit for Maslab. (That's the latest we can push the deadline, since grades need to be turned in).

Use clean spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and exhibit clear, concise language. You're welcome write in an informal tone and have fun with the paper, but we do expect to see content and will not accept large quantities of BS or incoherent writing. (See previous year's papers for examples of what we expect).

Your paper should be written as part of the wiki (please do not upload a document). Images should be uploaded to the wiki as well; do not include links (we archive all the papers, and we don't want to lose pictures when links change!).

Note: if you have suggestions for the staff on improvements to Maslab that weren't included in the feedback survey, please include them in your final papers. We're always looking for ways to improve the course.

Resumes

Maslab collects student resumes for Maslab and sponsor use. The resumes are used to assess the interests and background of Maslab students, and to provide information for our sponsors who are looking to recruit interns and employees. Please email Cathy and Sam your document in PDF or Microsoft Word format.

Lab Cleanup

Each team has been assigned a day in which they are to help clean up lab at the end of the day. The assignments are listed on the Calendar. If you can't make your assigned shift, it is your responsibility to trade with another team. If that is not possible or if you cannot make the end-of-Maslab cleaning, contact the staff to discuss how to make up your missed shift.

We also require all teams to show up at noon on the Saturday after IAP ends to help restore lab to the pristine state we got it in. At that time, we require you to return all Maslab-owned equipment that you have, such as the computer from your kit. Cleaning up lab after the end of Maslab is extremely important. If you fail to show up for end-of-lab cleaning (and don't make this up) or fail to return our property, we will fail you.

Team Journals

Each team should make a short entry in their team journal for each day of IAP. Include what you accomplished, outstanding issues, and any planning you did (all of this need not be more than 3–5 sentences). The journal serves several purposes:

  • It allows teams to reflect on their accomplishments and develop short and long-term goals.
  • It helps staff members to track teams' progress. (Note: if you have a specific issue that a staff member should address, send an email as well as including it in your journal.)
  • It preserves what you've learned from your experience, for the benefit of other teams in both this year and future years. (Note: if this knowledge includes fixes to important bugs, you should also email the staff and post your fix to the student tips page.)

Journal entries need not be formal, but they should be informative, clear, and concise. All journal entries will be checked by the staff before noon on the following day.

To create or edit your team journal, click on its link from the Main Page.

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