FSOSS 2013 Robotics Competition

Autonomous Robot Competition

Version 2 - 2013-08-14

Overview

At FSOSS 2013 we will be holding a friendly autonomous robot competition. The goal is to race through a maze as quickly as possible. The general layout of the maze and its overall size will be published in advance, but the relative spacing and the scale will not be shown; therefore, participants will know what combination of left/right/forward/reverse motions are required to complete the maze. Maximum and minimum sizes for the spacing between the maze features will be provided, but exact distances will be unknown until the start of the competition.

Date and Location

The competition will be held in the Stephen E. Quinlan (SEQ) building at Seneca@York, 70 The Pond Mill Road, Toronto (map) on Thursday, October 24, 2013 during FSOSS 2013.

Registration

To register your team for the robotics competition please contact: robotics2013@senecacollege.ca with the following information:

• Team name
• Number of team members
• Name of each team member
• Competition level
  • Secondary school
  • Post secondary
  • Open
• Affiliation
  • Name/Address of school/company if any

Divisions

There are three divisions in this competition, with slightly different rules:

Division A - High School

• Teams will consist of 1-5 team members. Each team member must be of Ontario High School age or younger.
• Scoring will be maze completion time in seconds (lower is better).
• The maze will be constructed of white-painted or unfinished wood panels.

Division B - Post-Secondary

• Teams will consist of 1-5 team members. The oldest member of the team must be enrolled in a College or University program.
• Scoring will be maze completion time in seconds multiplied by the weight of the robot in kilograms recorded to three decimal places (1 gram resolution) (lower is better). Teams aim to achieve the lowest score.
• The maze will be constructed of white-painted or unfinished wood panels.

Division C - Open

• Teams will consist of 1-3 team members.
• Scoring will be maze completion time in seconds multiplied by the weight of the robot in kilograms recorded to three decimal places (1 gram resolution) (lower is better).
• The maze will be constructed of various materials, possibly including: glass or plexiglass; wood/metal/plastic/composite with various finishes; metal or fibreglass mesh, either rigid or on a frame; and surfaces covered with soft fabric such as felt or velour).

Division D - Exhibition Only

• This division is for teams whose robot does not meet competition specifications (see robot requirements below) but nevertheless would like to run their robot through the maze.
• No prizes will be awarded to entrants in this division.

Robot Requirements

1. One robot per team.
2. Each robot must be not more than 25 cm wide, 25 cm long, and 15 cm high.
3. Each robot must be completely self-contained: all power, sensors, logic, and mechanisms must be (and remain during operation) within the dimensions stated above.
4. Each robot must weigh not more than 5 kg.
5. Each robot must not communicate with any external devices by radio, infrared, or any other communication technique excluding the following:
   1. A robot with a video camera may stream what it sees to an external server.
   2. A robot may receive satellite GPS data to know its position.
6. Each robot must contain suitable sensors for navigating the maze. Any non-destructive, safe sensing technology may be used (such as ultrasonic, radar, infrared, or touch). The sensing technology must not require any special license, environmental conditions, or protective gear (e.g., if radar is used, it must not require a radio license; if laser is used, it must not require that observers wear goggles).
7. No robot may produce any material emissions (such as a gaseous exhaust).
8. No robot may touch any wall of the maze with a force greater than 20 newtons.
9. The robot navigation software must run on a Raspberry Pi computer.
10. Robots must be available for inspection at least one hour before the start of the competition.

Maze Dimensions

1. The maze passageways will be a minimum of 30 cm wide and a maximum of 100 cm wide.
2. The shortest path through the maze from start to finish will be not more than 30 m, measured in the middle of the maze passageways.
3. The maze walls will be a minimum of 15 cm tall.

Competition Procedures

1. One robot will navigate the maze circuit at a time.
2. The robot will be prepared by the entering team and placed against a pressure-sensitive switch-panel at the start of the maze.
3. When a competition official signals the team, the team will activate the robot by activating a switch on the robot.
4. Timing will commence when the robot leaves the switch-panel at the start of the maze and will terminate when the switch-panel at the end of the maze is depressed.
5. Each robot must complete the maze within 10 minutes. Robots not completing the circuit within the given time frame will not be judged for any of the other competition criteria.
6. For divisions C and D, each robot will be recorded in kilograms with a 1-gram resolution for the purposes of scoring.
7. Each robot must be available for viewing by the public when not racing. Each team will be provided with one square metre of table space for display and charging/system adjustment. For “Most Innovative Technology”, “Most Attractive Design”, and “Wildest Auxilliary Features” categories, the winner will be selected by votes cast by FSOSS attendees.
8. Robots may have appropriate text or decals attached but such decoration should be in keeping with the spirit of the event. Teams will be provided an opportunity to remove or cover any decals or text that the judges deem offensive.

Prizes

The following prizes will be awarded:

Division A

• Best Score (time in seconds, lowest is best)

Division B

• Best Score (time in seconds times weight in kilograms, lowest is best)

Division C

• Best Score (time in seconds times weight in kilograms, lowest is best)

All Divisions - Excluding Division D

• Most innovative technology
• Most attractive design
• Wildest auxilliary features

Prize values

(To be announced)

Other

Entrants are responsible for all costs of entry, including constructing their robot and travelling to and from FSOSS. They are also responsible for paying for their FSOSS registration(s). However, there are no additional entrance fees for this competition.

For More Information

More information on this competition will be posted on this page as it becomes available.

If you have any questions about this competition, please contact: robotics2013@senecacollege.ca

About FSOSS 2013

For information about the Free Software and Open Source Symposium (FSOSS) 2013, please see the FSOSS website: http://fsoss.ca