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Rules (v1.3)

Changes:

• 1.2

• Corrected a typo from the map file description (wall is in format format: (W|Y|P|B))
• Added points for solenoids, microservo and color sensor
• Clarification about when the map file is handed out

• 1.3

• Change: You will receive both side’s map files at the time of competition, instead of just your own
• Clarification: green box is a line on the floor
• Clarification: yellow wall will be marked by a yellow strip along the top, the entire wall is not yellow
• Emphasis: This is already in the rules, but you’re trying to get balls into the other side’s green box, to be absolutely clear.

Robot Restrictions

• The robot must fit within a 14"x14" square (footprint).
• Balls must remain within 3 feet of the floor. Any ball shot over this height will be returned to the side from which it was shot.
• At most $100 of discretionary budget may be spent on the robot. Purchased batteries, magnets, and launching devices must be approved by staff. If an item is donated rather than purchased, a fair market value is estimated and subtracted from your $100 allowed budget.
• A robot must not consume more than ~30 sensor points.
• Robots must be completely autonomous and started with the push of one button.
• Robots must stop automatically after 3 minutes.
• Robots must not touch the floor on the other side.

Sensor Points Chart

The Contest

There will be two robots run at a time, one on each side of the field. After the first run, the robots switch sides and run again. Each run is 3 minutes.

Points will be scored as follows:

Possession of green balls: 1 point

A ball is defined as "possessed" if it moves when your robot moves. If a ball is in your possession,it does not count as “on your side” and does not count for points for the other team.

Possession of red balls: 2 points

'Near Region' green balls: 3 points

All green balls between the purple line and the yellow wall on a given side count for 3 points for the robot on the other side.The position of all balls,will be determined by the position of a theoretical line drawn from the center of the ball straight down to the playing field. If the ball is in any way physically touching the purple line, it will count as a near region ball.

‘Green Box’ green balls: 6 points

Balls in the green box on a particular side count for 3 points for the robot on the other side. The green box is denoted as tape on the floor.

'Far Region'  green balls: 5 points

All balls between the purple line and the back wall on a given side count for 5 points for the team on the other side.

Red balls: 1 point

       Any red ball on your opponent’s side at the end of the time period will only count for +1 point.

Balls out of bounds: -5 points

All balls put out of bounds will count for a penalty of -5, and the balls will be replaced somewhere between the purple line and the back wall on the offending team's side.

Over time penalty: -5 points/10 seconds

For every 10 seconds beyond the 3 minute time limit that the robot is still moving, a 5 point penalty is applied.

All points other than the "Out of bounds'' penalty will be assessed at the end of the run. This means that if a ball is lobbed over the wall and then returned, it counts for no points for the team that did the initial lobbing.

Also note that we guarantee that the initial number of points the field is worth is equal on both sides. Between runs all balls are placed back in the same spots they were in before. There is also an indicated starting position for each robot, so this is also consistent between runs.

There will be a calibration area set up during the final competition, so robots' cameras can be calibrated appropriately.

Field Description

• All walls are 6in high with a ~1 in blue strip along the top.
• The wall between the sides is yellow.
• The tape comprising the scoring box is green.
• All other walls are white.
• Scoring balls will be green.
• The near side of the scoring box will be between 16in and 20in from the yellow wall (and essentially parallel).
• The scoring box will have an interior size of at least 10in by 10in.
• All corridors will be at least 16in wide.
• Walls will not meet at less than a 45 degree angle.

Map Files

• We will provide map files of the field at the time of the competition, which teams are free to use.

• The map files will be handed out at the start of the round. The teams will have time to move them to the proper location on their robot prior to the round, but no time for preprocessing.

• The format of these files is as follows:

• Available game elements

• Generic Boundary Wall (W)
• Yellow Boundary Wall (Y)
• Green Box (B)
• Red Ball (R)
• Green Ball (G)
• Purple Boundary(P)
• Start Location (L)

• Element attribute data

• Wall, initial X, initial Y, final X, final Y

• format: (W|Y|P|B),x1,y1,x2,y2

• Ball, x, y

• format: G,x,y

• Start Location, x, y, heading

• format: L,x,y,(N|S|E|W)

• The map format only dictates YOUR half of the map.
• You will be given two map files, one for each side
• All inputs are given as a Character type, then a bunch of integer attribute data.
• Any integer coordinates have a conversion factor to reality of 2ft. That is, a line of length 1 in the map-format world is actually a wall of length 2ft in the real world.
• Note: ball locations will only be accurate to within 6 inches, so don't rely on them for localization. The walls / platform, however, will be significantly more reliable. Note: walls in the map format language will never span more than 1 unit on x and y. That is, wall lengths in the map format will only be 1 or sqrt(2).
• Example file:

L,5,5,N

W,5,3,4,4

W,4,4,3,5

Y,3,5,3,6

Y,3,6,3,7

Y,3,7,3,8

Y,3,8,4,9

W,4,9,5,9

W,5,9,6,9

W,6,9,6,8

W,6,8,6,7

W,6,7,6,6

W,6,6,5,6

W,5,6,6,5

W,6,5,7,6

W,7,6,8,6

W,8,6,8,5

W,8,5,8,4

W,8,4,7,3

W,7,3,6,3

W,6,3,5,3

B,4,7,4,8

B,4,8,5,8

B,5,8,5,7

B,5,7,4,7

P,5,8,5,7

P,5,7,5,6

P,5,6,5,5

P,5,5,5,4

P,5,4,5,3

G,7,5

G,6,4

G,4,6

R,4,8

R,5,7