Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
2014 Rules
1.5 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.5.1 Deadline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.6 Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.3 Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.1.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5 Specications 29
5.1 Arenas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.1.1 Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.2 Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.2.1 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.2.2 Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.2.6 Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.2.7 Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.3 Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6 Scoring 37
6.1 Operating Score (OS) Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.2.3 Senior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.2.4 Walking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.5.1.1 Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.5.1.2 Tethered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.5.1.7 Furniture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
6.5.2.3 Functionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
7.2 Divisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
7.4 Prizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
8 Specications 53
8.1 Arenas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
8.2 Occupants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
8.2.1 Grandpa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
8.2.2 Grandma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
8.3.1 Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
8.3.3 Shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
8.3.4 Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
8.3.5 Sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
8.3.6 Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
8.3.7 Refrigerator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
8.4 Robots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
8.4.1 Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
9 Rules 61
9.1 Trial Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
9.2.3 Grandma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
9.2.5 Clean Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
9.3 Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
10 Scoring 65
10.1 Scoring Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
VII Appendix 79
A Start Button Locations 81
A.1 Mechanical Linkage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
B.2 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
B.3 Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
B.5 Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
C.1.1 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
C.1.2 Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
C.2.1 Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
C.2.2 Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
The contest rules, spirit, setting, and tone derive Are constructed from a unique assortment of
from this statement of our mission: parts chosen by the design team
The Trinity College robot contests are May use some components from a kit, but the
1.2 Eligibility and Teams tered in the contest, including those entered by
other teams.
In the rest of this document, the term team means May be built primarily from a single retail
either the group or the individual associated with a parts collection or a kit.
robot entered in the contest.
May be a modied version of a commercial
No more than 15 teams may register from any sin-
robot
gle country outside the United States. This restric-
tion applies to the contest as a whole, not to the
Divisions within it.
Teams will designate their robots as Unique or Cus-
tomized when they register for the contest.
Senior - $85
Advanced: $125
1.5 Registration
Registration for the TCFFHRC is available only
1.7 Construction Schedule
on-line through the contest website. We will accept
registration applications from 12:01 a.m. on Jan- Teams should build their robots and bring them
uary 15, 2014 until 11:59 p.m. on March 20, 2014. to the contest ready to compete: this is not a con-
For further details check the Contest Website at struction contest where you build robots at the
http://www.trincoll.edu/events/robot/. event!
The steps in the registration process are as follows: Trinity will provide limited time and space for last
minute changes, adjustments, and improvements.
http://www.
1. Go to the registration web site at However, the robots should be completed (or very
default.asp.
2. Create a user ID and password and set up the
1.8 Qualication Trials and
Elimination Rounds
rest of the account information.
A team may challenge any ruling or scoring of the operate successfully in the real world, not just in
Arena Judges by stating that they wish to appeal the laboratory. Such a robot must be able to op-
the problem to the Chief Judge. The Chief Judge erate successfully where there is uncertainty and
will then be called in to decide the matter. imprecision, not just under ideal conditions. There-
fore, the arena dimensions and other specications
The challenge must be made before the team leaves
listed below will not be precisely what the robots
the arena after the completion of a trial.
will encounter at the contest: they are provided as
All results, scores, and decisions become irrevocable general aids.
after the team leaves the arena.
NOTE We recommend designing your robot to
Judges and Contest ocials will communicate di- Object dimensions are generally given as length x
rectly with the team members, not with team lead- width x height, as the robot encounters the object.
ers or other translators aliated with the teams.
Team leaders and team translators may not accom-
Length is front-to-back
pany their team at the arena during the team's trial
runs.
Width is side-to-side
If any members of your team require translation
services, you must specify the language on the regis- Height is top-to-bottom.
tration form.
The English-language version of this Rules docu- In the RoboWaiter Contest, deep refers to the
ment contains the denitive text. front-to-back dimension of shelves.
Precisely vertical walls You should use the practice time to calibrate sen-
sors for the conditions in the gym and to trou-
Perfectly ush joints bleshoot any last minute problems. No team has
ever accomplished extensive code development and
Uniformly colored surfaces NOTE A robot's practice run must not last more
than 3 minutes. You and your robot must not
And so forth and so on... occupy an arena while you are changing the
program or adjusting the hardware: when you
discover a problem, remove your robot from the
Every robot must successfully handle small mis- arena.
alignments, inaccuracies, discolorations, and other
arena imperfections. You must test your robot Robots should be built, programmed, and ready
under less-than-ideal conditions and verify that it to compete on arrival at the contest site. Get busy
works properly. now !
There will be limited practice time on Sunday
NOTE Flash photography will occur during the morning, with only a few arenas available.
entire contest. Your robot must withstand fre-
Some teams bring entire practice arenas along to
quent sensor glitches from IR and UV impulses.
the competition. You may be able to wheedle your
If your robot operates incorrectly due to ex-
way into those arenas, but that depends entirely on
ternal interference, it will not be given another
your negotiating skills.
trial.
NOTE After leaving the arena to adjust your
robot, you must return to the end of the line
2.5.1 Arena Environment Checklist for the arena: you must not jump into the line
ahead of anyone else. Other team members or
The contest takes place in a gymnasium that will adult advisors must not hold a place in line
be quite dierent than your classroom, laboratory, for anyone else. Team members observed jump-
basement, or living room. Some possible problems ing into the line will be reminded of proper
Extremely bright uorescent illumination: 120 2.6.1 Damage During Practice Runs
Hz IR interference
Overall size
and all similar questions
Extinguisher capacity
are nal and cannot be appealed. Start Button position, label, and color
Because we do not monitor practice sessions, you For robots using Sound Start Mode:
2.7 Power and Facilities Operation with standard SPL (Sound
Pressure Level)
You must bring along sucient extension cords and those problems and present the robot again to ver-
outlet strips; you will have access to a single outlet ify that it meets the requirements.
2.9 Trial Sequence The Judges will use the robot's Division and the se-
lected Modes to determine the arena conguration,
then place the robot and any objects in the arena.
Each robot has an assigned number that determines
The team must not request special placement of
the order in which it will compete in the contest.
objects or changes to the robot's placement in the
Robots make trial runs in the arena in ascending
arena.
numeric order, so that the robots compete consec-
utively. When all robots have completed the rst The Judge will determine when the trial begins and
trial, the sequence repeats for the second and third will activate the robot using either the Start Button
attempts. Once assigned, the order of running will or the Standard Sound Start Device, as required by
not be changed. the Division and Operating Modes.
NOTE If you are not ready, you will miss your not start. All that matters is that the robot does
turn. not begin moving after the Judge presses the Start
Button or activates the Sound Start Device.
cessful trials. Within any contest Division only one best overall performance by an individual or team
prize will be given to any winning robot. However, in the Junior, High School, Senior, or Walking Divi-
a robot may win a prize in a contest Division and sions. We will compute each team's or individual's
win one or more special prizes (Cost Eective, etc). BURP score by weighing
4.1.1
4.2.1 BURP Score Weighting
Each Division has two prize categories, as described
in Section 1.3 on page 13: Unique and Customized. The ranking of the robots and teams within their
First, second, and third place prizes will be awarded respective Divisions determines their total BURP
in each category. To earn a cash performance award score. The actual contest scores are not used, only
a robot must have at least two successful trials. the rankings within the respective Divisions.
The Fireghting Performance Awards for 2014 will This weighting applies to the rankings:
be:
8 teams present posters; this team wins 2nd 4.3.2 Cost-Eective Robot
place. Score is (2/8) * 0.25 = 0.0625
High School Division: Team 2 If you put in $50,000 in labor and destroyed $5,000
in parts nally getting it to work, but your nal
45 robots compete in the High School Division. robot has less than $200 in actual parts in it, then
This robot wins 8th place. Score is (8/45) * it is a good contender for this prize.
0.50 = 0.089
It does not matter what you paid for the parts, but
22 teams present posters; this team wins 6th only what they are worth. A motor that originally
place. Score is (6/22) * 0.25 = 0.068 cost $50, but is now for sale in a surplus catalog
for $5 is now a $5 motor. However, if you got a $50
12 teams take part in Olympiad; this team motor for free from a friend, then it's still a $50 mo-
wins 7th place. Score is (7/12) * 0.25 = 0.146 tor even though you got it for free. On the other
hand, if you destroyed three $50 motors in build-
Total BURP score = 0.089 + 0.068 + 0.146 = ing the robot, you only have to account for the one
Evaluation Method:
BURP Ranking
1. As part of the on-line registration process
Team 1 has a lower score than Team 2, so its BURP
teams will indicate in a check box on the reg-
ranking is better.
istration form whether they wish to be consid-
ered for the Cost-Eective Prize (CEP).
show unique concept and design features and method described below.
Specications
5.1 Arenas
The arena dimensions and specications listed be-
low are not exactly what will be encountered at the
contest: they are provided as general aids. See Sec-
tion 2.4 on page 15.
5.1.1 Dimensions
All arenas use a common layout, with dimensions
as shown in Figure 5.1. In addition to those dimen-
sions,
Hallway width: 46 cm
Door opening: 46 cm
5.1.2 Materials and Finishes NOTE Remove your shoes before stepping into the
arena! Shoes produce hard-edged dust marks
The arena oor consists of plywood, painted at on the oor that may be mistaken for white
black at the start of the contest. Our best eorts tape. Stockings produce soft-edged marks that
reduce the overall oor contrast. In either case, the orientation for each trial.
for the Junior and Walking Divisions. the actual angle with respect to the hallway axis.
The robot must start and operate correctly when
oriented at any angle within each 20 range.
5.1.4 Standard Arena The robot must determine which hallway it faces in
order to navigate correctly; a single wall sensor may
The Standard Arena Layout represents a decorated suce. The robot may touch the wall to activate
home that presents a more realistic re-ghting en- the sensor, but see Section 6.5.4 on page 43 for the
vironment for the High School & Senior Divisions. penalty applied for continuous wall contact.
The Standard Arena has the same dimensions as
the Basic arena, with these dierences: NOTE Magnetic compasses do not produce reli-
able heading information. See Section 2.5.1 on
page 16.
1. Rugs will be placed in some or all of the rooms
and hallways. There will be no shag rugs, but
NOTE A robot in Orientation B may be directly
robots must navigate across 1 cm thick rug
adjacent to and facing the Dog Obstacle. See
edges. The shaded areas in Figure 5.2 mark
Section 5.1.6.
the allowed rug locations: not all rugs will be
present and the locations and colors will be dif- NOTE Teams must not request a dierent orienta-
ferent in each arena. tion after the Judge places the robot.
Figure 5.3: Starting alignments in Home Circle (FF Figure 5.5: Possible Dog locations (FF Dog Obsta-
Home Circle and Start Orientations.png) cle Locations.png)
5.2 Robot
The robot dimensions, hardware requirements, and
performance specications are absolute and will be
enforced by the Judges.
5.2.1 Operation
Figure 5.4: Sample Dog Obstruction (Dog Obstacle
Once turned on, the robot must be autonomous:
- Doggie261.jpeg)
self-controlled without any human intervention.
Fire-ghting robots must not be manually con-
robot that moves the Dog more than 1 cm will in- trolled.
The Dog's long axis will always be perpendicular to arena walls, it will fail that trial.
5.2.2 Dimensions
The robot must t in a Bounding Box with a base
31 x 31 cm square and 27 cm high. If the robot has
feelers to sense an object or wall, the feelers will be
counted as part of the robot's total dimensions.
NOTE A walking robot must support its weight Above the highest fan blade tip (the highest
on non-wheeled legs that are also used for loco- point the fan can reach)
motion.
Less than 2 cm below any other mechanical
dle. This rule prohibits swinging snuers, extend- on or adjacent to the button.
Contestants may add a ag, hat, or other purely shown in Figure A.1 on page 81, leading to an elec-
decorative, non-functional items to the robot as trical switch inside the robot body. The actuator
long as the item has absolutely no eect on the op- must meet all of the specications described above
eration of the robot. The item may exceed only the and will be considered the Start Button.
maximum height limit, not the width or length. See Appendix A on page 81 for examples of accept-
able and unacceptable Start Button locations.
Unlike the arena specications, the robot size limits
are not approximate: robots must not exceed the You must verify that your robot's Start Button
given dimensions. meets these requirements at the Checkout Table be-
fore the contest begins. See Section 2.8 on page 17.
There are no restrictions on robot weight or materi-
als.
Momentary push-to-operate action: not a tog- Located on the top surface of the robot and
gle switch. accessible from above.
Located on the top surface of the robot and Above the highest fan blade tip (the highest
accessible from above. point the fan can reach)
Figure 5.7: Sample Microphone with blue back- NOTE The Power Switch cannot be the Start
ground (img_2247 - Sample Microphone.jpg) Button, because activating the Start Button
causes the robot to begin operation.
The abbreviation MIC printed in a contrasting may be used as long as they do not violate any of
color adjacent to the microphone the other rules or regulations. The robot must not
extend any sensors beyond the dimensions specied
in Section 5.2.2 on the facing page.
The Judge will position the Sound Start Device
(Appendix B on page 83) approximately 25 mm Robots using laser-based devices must take mea-
away from the microphone and will attempt to align sures to prevent eye damage to team members and
it perpendicular to the microphone's entrance port. to observers. The Judges may require the team to
Teams may not request any particular orientation remove the laser device from the robot if, in the
or distance. opinion of the qualication Judges, eective safety
measures have not been taken. The robot will be
Figure 5.7 shows a sample Microphone with op-
permanently disqualied from competing if the laser
tional labeling. You must provide a blue back-
cannot be either removed or made safe.
ground even if the microphone is located on a blue
circuit board. Contestants are not allowed to place any markers,
beacons or reectors on the walls or oors, whether
The pictures in Appendix A on page 81 showing
inside or outside of the arena, to aid in the robot's
acceptable Start Button locations also indicate ac-
navigation.
ceptable Microphone locations.
NOTE Experience has shown that robots detect- 5.2.6.1 Sensor Interference
ing only the peak amplitude of the sound will
start prematurely due to crowd noise or me- Ambient lighting in the contest room is a mixture
chanical shock. See Section 6.5.1.3 on page 39 of IR, visible, and UV light. During the course of
for the scoring rules that apply to incorrect op- the contest, sunlight may come into the contest
eration in Sound Activated Mode. room through open outside doors. The sunlight
will not shine directly on the arenas, but may be
You must verify that your robot responds to the detectable by very sensitive sensors.
Standard Sound Start Device at the Checkout Ta-
During the course of the contest, Judges at other
ble before the contest begins. See Section 2.8 on
arenas will be lighting candles or lighters. These in-
page 17.
cidental ames will be above the arena and further
Fireghting robots using Sound Activation Mode away than the candle, but still may be detectable
must also have a Start Button as described in Sec- by an undiscriminating sensor. In setting up the
tion 5.2.3 on the preceding page. arena, contest ocials may put their arms into the
arena and some very sensitive sensors may mistake the moving paper may knock the candle over
that IR emission as the ame. and there is a penalty for that.
units produce bursts of UV that may trigger the before it is used. Violation will result in immediate
popular Hamamatsu UVTron ame sensor. The disqualication of the team and the robot from the
If a robot uses light sensors to nd the candle or candle from tipping over easily, but a robot can
detect walls or furniture, the robot designer must knock the candle over by bumping into it. Judges
prevent unintended UV, visible and IR sources from will give penalty points if that occurs (Section 6.5.4
The candle will not be placed in a hallway, but it Robots that touch a lit candle with either the robot
might be placed just inside a doorway of a room. chassis or a sensor will incur a penalty as specied
The Candle Circle will not touch the doorway line in Section 6.5.4 on page 42.
and this means that the front of the robot will be
able to move at least 33 cm into the room before it
encounters the candle. 5.3.1.1 Methods of extinguishing the ame
NOTE The Candle Circle is not anchored to the Robots may extinguish the ame using air, inert
arena oor and may be dislodged by a deceler- gas, water mist/spray, or mechanical means. The
ating robot. There is no penalty for this, but use of powders of any type is not allowed.
NOTE A robot must have only one type of extin- its score for the trial. The robot may use dier-
guisher. ent Modes in dierent trials, but the team cannot
change Modes after a trial begins.
guisher.
1. The robot must start when commanded by the
Any robot with a fan or blower cannot use
Judge
Non-air Extinguisher Mode.
Robots may use a single metallic CO2 capsule 3. It must extinguish the candle
containing up to 16 grams to extinguish the
4. Optionally, it may return to its starting loca-
candle on each trial; larger CO2 containers are
tion if using Return Trip Mode (Section 6.5.1.5
prohibited. The Judges will verify that CO2 is
on page 39)
the extinguishing material.
4. Mechanical means
Scoring
Although the scoring system appears complex, it 1. Multiply all of the active Operating Mode val-
measures diering robot capabilities in dierent Di- ues together to nd the Mode Factor. If no
visions. The overall scoring ow follows this pat- OM.x factors apply, then MF = 1.0.
tern, with some variations in each Division:
2. Add all of the Penalty Point (PP) values to
the Actual Time (AT) to determine the Time
1. The team presents their Trial Options Sheet to
Score: TS = AT + PP.
the Judge to select the optional tasks the robot
will attempt; this determines the Operating
3. Compute the Operating Score: OS =
Mode factors in eect for that trial.
TS x RF x MF.
TASK.detect = -30 Division will extend to the robots with the smallest
TFS in the second group, and similarly to the third
The robot must correctly signal that it detected the
group.
candle by lighting an LED or making an obvious
motion. In all cases, a robot must extinguish the candle in
at least two trials to be eligible for a cash award.
Candle Positioning
TASK.position = -30
6.5 Score Components
The robot must stop within 30 cm of the candle
without touching it.
These sections explain how the Judges assign values
that determine the Operating Score.
6.2.4 Walking Time required for the robot to nd and extinguish
the candle. If no Operating Modes are in eect for
a trial, the Actual Time is multiplied by the Stan-
The Walking Division uses the same scoring rules as
dard Mode, which is exactly 1.0.
the Junior Division. See Section 6.2.1 on the previ-
ous page.
The team can select dierent Operating Modes for
each of the three trials. The candle and any furni-
ture will be placed in dierent locations for each
6.3 Total Final Score (TFS) trial.
After all robots within a Division have completed fails for any other reason. The score for an un-
their trials, the Judges compute the Total Final successful trial is 600, regardless of any operating
Score (TFS) for each robot by adding all three of modes applied to that trial.
6.5.1.1 Standard
6.4 Ranking Within Divisions OM.standard = 1.0
The Trinity Home Fireghting Robot Contest re- The team must inform the Judge of any operating
wards reliable operation by grouping the robots modes for the current trial before the trial begins.
according to the number of successful runs, then In the absence of that notication, the robot will
according to their Total Final Scores within each compete in Standard Mode and the Actual Time
group. As a result, a more reliable robot with a will be multiplied by 1.0.
6.5.1.2 Tethered The Judge will place the robot in an arbitrary loca-
tion and orientation within any room that does not
Robots tethered by wires to computers, power sup- have the candle, as determined by the toss of a die.
plies, or other devices are not permitted, so there is
The robot may be facing a wall or pointed into a
no Tethered Mode.
corner, but will not be trapped by furniture.
The Judges will begin timing the trial when the OM.return = 0.80
sound signal begins, not when the robot begins The robot must return to its starting location after
moving. The sound will last 5 seconds and will not extinguishing the ame.
be repeated.
In Standard Mode, the robot must return to the
The robot must not start until the Judge activates Home Circle. It must stop with any part of its chas-
the sound signal. If the robot mistakenly detects sis within the 30 cm white Home Circle, but need
ambient noise (even an activation sound from a dif- not be in the same position or orientation as when
ferent arena) and begins to move, then the trial will it started the trial.
have begun, but the Sound Activated Mode factor
In Arbitrary Start Location Mode, the robot must
will not apply to the robot's score.
return to the room it started from. It must stop
If the robot does not start in response to the sound with all parts of its chassis within the starting
signal it will not be given a second chance to use room, but need not be in the same position or
Sound Activated Mode for that trial. The Judge orientation as when it started the trial. See Sec-
will attempt to activate the robot by pressing its tion 6.5.1.4.
Start Button, but the delay will be included in the
The robot's Actual Time (AT) recorded for the trial
robot's Actual Time for the trial.
will include only the time required to nd and ex-
See Section 2.10 on page 18 for a discussion of the tinguish the candle, not the time for the return trip.
starting procedure and penalties for incorrect starts.
The robot must return its starting location within 2
Judges will use only Standard Sound Start Devices minutes; if not, then the Return Mode factor is not
Contest. Teams should build their own Sound Start The robot need not retrace its path in returning
Devices and use them during practice, but may not to the starting location or take the most ecient
present them to the Judge during the contest. route, but it must not enter any other rooms along
the way. It must not move or pass by the Dog ob-
NOTE The robot's circuitry should detect the stacle during the return trip.
correct frequency and should not rely only
on sound amplitude. We strongly recommend
using an analog bandpass lter tuned to the
6.5.1.6 Non-air Extinguisher
starting frequency: the arenas are very noisy
OM.extinguisher = 0.75
and a robot that detects only amplitude (trig-
gered by whistling or clapping) will start pre- The robot must extinguish the candle using inert
maturely during its trial. gas, water, or mechanical means. See Section 5.3.1.1
on page 34
6.5.1.4 Arbitrary Start Location In order to use the Non-air Extinguisher Mode, the
robot must not have a fan or blower.
6.5.1.7 Furniture
OM.furniture = 0.75
OM.coattree = 0.80. At the start of a trial the arena Judge will deter-
mine the door locations by tossing a die or using
A small coat tree, shown with dimensions in Fig-
a computer-assisted method. Therefore, the robot
ure 6.1, may be placed in any room or hallway.
may encounter a dierent door location on each
Clothing items with various cloth textures and col-
trial.
ors will hang on the coat tree.
Figures 6.2 on the facing page, 6.3 on the next
The robot must not move the Coat Tree. Robots page, 6.4 on the facing page, and 6.5 on the next
that move the Coat Tree lose the Coat Tree Mode page show all possible door locations.
deduction for that trial.
OM.candle = 0.75
6.5.1.9 Uneven Floor This option challenges robots to nd candles with-
out a candle circle. The Judge will place the candle
at a randomly chosen location within a room for
The 2014 Contest does not include the Uneven
each trial.
Floor Mode in any Division.
The candle may be in any location within the room
that does not block the doorway. A maximum-size
6.5.1.10 Variable Door Locations robot can enter the room at least halfway before
encountering the candle and there will be at least a
OM.variabledoor = 0.45 31-cm wide path around the candle.
Figure 6.2: Variable Door - Conguration 1 (FF Figure 6.4: Variable Door - Conguration 3 (FF
Variable Door - Cong 1.png) Variable Door - Cong 3.png)
Figure 6.3: Variable Door - Conguration 2 (FF Figure 6.5: Variable Door - Conguration 4 (FF
Variable Door - Cong 2.png) Variable Door - Cong 4.png)
The candle won't be directly adjacent to a wall, to 6.5.2.2 Loops and Stalls
reduce the chance of damaging the wall by over-
heating. There is no specication for the exact dis- If a robot gets stuck in a loop and performs the
tance from the wall. same (or a similar) movement 5 times in a row
without progress, the Judge will stop the trial and
dle location in this Mode. Any time the robot does not move at all for 30 sec-
onds, the Judge will stop the trial and assign AT =
The Fire rules in Section 5.3 on page 34 will be fol- 600.
lowed except that:
6.5.2.3 Functionality
The method of choosing the candle location is
dierent A robot that fails at both of its rst two trials will
not receive a third trial.
There will be no candle circle, just a candle in
a standard holder
The Furniture Mode rules in Section 6.5.1.7 on First room searched RF = 1.0
Although the candle will not block the door- It does not matter in which order the robot searches
way, the robot may have to maneuver within the rooms. The only thing that matters is how
the room to detect and extinguish the ame. many rooms the robot has searched before it nds
the candle.
6.5.2.1 Time Limits to a dierent room, that room will not be counted
twice.
to the Home Circle within 2 minutes after extin- Time (AT) of any robot that exhibits the behaviors
guishing the candle, after which the Judge will stop described in this section.
AT = 64.437 Sec
Modes used : TFS = [ FS ( trial .1) + FS ( trial .2) + FS ( trial .3) ]
(1) OM . sound = 0.80.............. Sound TFS = [ 5.985 + 52.125 + 10.787] =
Activated 68.896
(2) OM . start = 0.80.............. Arbitrary
Start
(3) OM . extinguisher = 0.75....... No Air
Extinguisher
(4) OM . furniture = 0.75.......... Furniture Mode
(5) OM . coattree = 0.80........... Coat Tree
6.6.3 Senior Division
(6) OM . candle = 0.75............. No candle
Circle First example
(7) OM . variabledoor = 0.45....... Variable door
location
Room Factor : --- Example 1 Trial 1 Senior -- ---- ---- ---- ---- --
RF = 0.85 2 rooms were searched Actual Time
Penalty Points : AT = 35.213 Sec
PP . slide = 8 robot contacted wall for 16 cm . Modes used :
Total PP = 8 points (1) OM . sound = 0.80.............. Sound
Reason for Termination : Activated
AT =600 because robot repeated same pattern 5 (2) OM . start = 0.80.............. Arbitrary
times . Time Score Start
TS = ( AT + PP ) (3) OM . return = 0.80............. Return Trip
Operating Score (4) OM . extinguisher = 0.75....... No Air
OS = TS x OM . sound x OM . start x OM . extinguisher Extinguisher
x OM . furniture x OM . coattree x OM . candle x (5) OM . furniture = 0.75.......... Furniture Mode
OM . variabledoor x RF (6) OM . coattree = 0.80........... Coat Tree
TS = 64.437 + 8.00 (7) OM . candle = 0.75............. No candle
OS = 72.437 x 0.80 x 0.80 x 0.75 x 0.75 x Circle
0.80 x 0.75 x 0.45 x 0.85 Room Factor :
Final Score RF = 0.85 2 rooms were searched
FS = 5.985 <=== Time Score
--- Example 9 Trial 2 HS -------------------- TS = ( AT + PP )
Actual Time Operating Score
AT = 146.881 Sec OS = TS x OM . sound x OM . start x OM . return x OM .
Modes used : extinguisher x OM . furniture x OM . coattree x
(1) OM . sound = 0.80.............. Sound OM . candle x RF
Activated TS = 35.213 + 0.00
(2) OM . return = 0.80............. Return Trip OS = 35.213 x 0.80 x 0.80 x 0.80 x 0.75 x
(3) OM . furniture = 0.75.......... Furniture Mode 0.75 x 0.80 x 0.75 x 0.85
(4) OM . coattree = 0.80........... Coat Tree Final Score
(5) OM . variabledoor = 0.45....... Variable door FS = 5.172 <===
location --- Example 1 Trial 2 Senior -- ---- ---- ---- ---- --
Room Factor : Room Factor :
RF = 0.85 2 rooms were searched RF = 0.50 3 rooms were searched
Penalty Points : Reason for Termination :
PP . candle = 200 robot touched a candle 4 AT =600 because robot search exceeded 5 minutes .
times . FS = OS = 600 <<<<<
PP . slide = 8 robot contacted wall for 17 cm . Final Score
Total PP = 208 points FS = 600.000 <===
Reason for Termination : Time Score --- Example 1 Trial 3 Senior -- ---- ---- ---- ---- --
TS = ( AT + PP ) Actual Time
Operating Score AT = 264.012 Sec
OS = TS x OM . sound x OM . return x OM . furniture x Modes used :
OM . coattree x OM . variabledoor x RF (1) OM . return = 0.80............. Return Trip
TS = 146.881 + 208.00 (2) OM . extinguisher = 0.75....... No Air
OS = 354.881 x 0.80 x 0.80 x 0.75 x 0.80 x Extinguisher
0.45 x 0.85 (3) OM . coattree = 0.80........... Coat Tree
Final Score (4) OM . candle = 0.75............. No candle
FS = 52.125 <=== Circle
--- Example 9 Trial 3 HS -------------------- Room Factor :
Actual Time RF = 1.00 1 room was searched
AT = 97.919 Sec Penalty Points :
Modes used : PP . dog = 50 robot kicked a dog .
(1) OM . sound = 0.80.............. Sound Total PP = 50 points
Activated Time Score
(2) OM . start = 0.80.............. Arbitrary TS = ( AT + PP )
Start Operating Score
(3) OM . return = 0.80............. Return Trip OS = TS x OM . return x OM . extinguisher x OM .
(4) OM . extinguisher = 0.75....... No Air coattree x OM . candle
Extinguisher TS = 264.012 + 50.00
(5) OM . candle = 0.75............. No candle OS = 314.012 x 0.80 x 0.75 x 0.80 x 0.75
Circle Final Score
(6) OM . variabledoor = 0.45....... Variable door FS = 113.044 <===
location
Room Factor :
RF = 0.85 2 rooms were searched TFS = [ FS ( trial .1) + FS ( trial .2) + FS ( trial .3) ]
Reason for Termination : Time Score TFS = [ 5.172 + 600.000 + 113.044] =
TS = ( AT + PP ) 718.216
Operating Score
OS = TS x OM . sound x OM . start x OM . return x OM .
extinguisher x OM . candle x OM . variabledoor x
RF Second example
TS = 97.919 + 0.00
OS = 97.919 x 0.80 x 0.80 x 0.80 x 0.75 x
0.75 x 0.45 x 0.85 --- Example 9 Trial 1 Senior -- ---- ---- ---- ---- --
Final Score Actual Time
FS = 10.787 <=== AT = 171.161 Sec
Modes used :
(1) OM . sound = 0.80.............. Sound We will revise the rules to oer an improved chal-
Activated
lenge in subsequent years.
(2) OM . start = 0.80.............. Arbitrary
Start
(3) OM . extinguisher = 0.75....... No Air
Extinguisher
(4) OM . furniture = 0.75.......... Furniture Mode
(5) OM . coattree = 0.80........... Coat Tree
(6) OM . candle = 0.75............. No candle
Circle
Room Factor :
RF = 0.85 2 rooms were searched
Time Score
TS = ( AT + PP )
Operating Score
OS = TS x OM . sound x OM . start x OM . extinguisher
x OM . furniture x OM . coattree x OM . candle x
RF
TS = 171.161 + 0.00
OS = 171.161 x 0.80 x 0.80 x 0.75 x 0.75 x
0.80 x 0.75 x 0.85
Final Score
FS = 31.425 <===
--- Example 9 Trial 2 Senior -- ---- ---- ---- ---- --
Actual Time
AT = 227.495 Sec
Modes used :
(1) OM . extinguisher = 0.75....... No Air
Extinguisher
(2) OM . furniture = 0.75.......... Furniture Mode
(3) OM . coattree = 0.80........... Coat Tree
(4) OM . candle = 0.75............. No candle
Circle
Room Factor :
RF = 0.50 3 rooms were searched
Penalty Points :
PP . candle = 50 robot touched a candle 1 times
.
PP . dog = 50 robot kicked a dog .
Total PP = 100 points
Time Score
TS = ( AT + PP )
Operating Score
OS = TS x OM . extinguisher x OM . furniture x OM .
coattree x OM . candle x RF
TS = 227.495 + 100.00
OS = 327.495 x 0.75 x 0.75 x 0.80 x 0.75 x
0.50
Final Score
FS = 55.265 <===
--- Example 9 Trial 3 Senior -- ---- ---- ---- ---- --
Actual Time
AT = 55.857 Sec
Modes used :
(1) OM . sound = 0.80.............. Sound
Activated
(2) OM . start = 0.80.............. Arbitrary
Start
(3) OM . candle = 0.75............. No candle
Circle
Room Factor :
RF = 1.00 1 room was searched
Time Score
TS = ( AT + PP )
Operating Score
OS = TS x OM . sound x OM . start x OM . candle
TS = 55.857 + 0.00
OS = 55.857 x 0.80 x 0.80 x 0.75
Final Score
FS = 26.811 <===
Contest Structure
7.1 General Setting and Task The Advanced Division is open to everyone. Ad-
vanced Division robots must use precision naviga-
tion and accurate timing because the Arena (see
The competition presents a situation where
Section 8.1.3 on page 53) includes these challenges:
Grandpa, a person with a disability, wants a con-
tainer of food from the Refrigerator. He sits at the
kitchen table in his wheelchair. The arena repre-
Obstacles appear in variable positions
The Judge will measure and record the time from box on the registration form. Teams may enter
the start signal until the robot places the plate on Unique or Customized robots, as dened in Sec-
the table. Various Operating Modes reward success- tion 1.3 on page 13
ful completion of more challenging tasks by improv- A team may enter a robot into the RoboWaiter con-
ing the overall score. test without entering a robot in the TCFFHRC.
7.2 Divisions
information.
Specications
8.1 Arenas
The competition takes place in a square arena that
simulates a kitchen. The arena is 2.5 m on each
side, with a black oor and white walls that are 30
cm high.
The starting position will vary for robots compet- 8.1.2 Standard Arena
ing in Arbitrary Start Location Mode (Section 9.2
on page 62). As in Arbitrary Start Location Mode Figure 8.2 on the next page shows the arrangement
in the Fireghting Contest (Section 6.5.1.4 on of the Standard Arena.
page 39), there is no Home Circle.
The Chair is always present. It will be located as
The contest may use several RoboWaiter arenas. shown in Figure 8.2 on the following page, with its
While all of the various parts, furniture, and gures back against the wall, approximately at the mid-
in the arenas will be within the stated tolerances, point of the wall.
teams must assume that all arenas will be dier-
The Grandma doll is always present. It will be lo-
ent. See the Note about tolerances in Section 2.4 on
cated and oriented at the positions shown in Fig-
page 15.
ure 8.2 on the next page.
Junior Division robots will run in the Basic Arena, The Chair is always present. It will be located as
as shown in Figure 8.1. shown in Figure 8.3 on the next page, no more than
8.2 Occupants
Dolls similar to these will be used in the arena. For
historic reasons, we refer to the doll at the table
as Grandpa and the doll standing in the arena as
Grandma, but your robot should expect similar
dolls of either gender at either location.
8.2.1 Grandpa
The Grandpa doll and wheelchair (Figure 8.4) will
be positioned at the table.
Figure 8.3: RoboWaiter Advanced Arena layout
(RWAdvanced12.png)
8.2.2 Grandma
The Grandma doll (Figure 8.5 on the next page) is
optional in the Standard Division and required in
the Advanced Division.
8.3.3 Shelf deep (front-to-back), with one bright red LED (Sec-
tion 8.3.3.1) at the center of each visible side. The
top of the table is 20 to 24 cm above the oor. See
The shelf supporting the food container is 40 cm
Figure 8.11.
deep (front-to-back) and 45 cm wide (left-to-right).
The top of the shelf is 20 cm to 24 cm above the
oor. The shelf height will change from trial to 8.3.5 Sink
trial, so the robot must cope with an unknown shelf
height. See Section 2.4 on page 15 regarding dimen-
The sink serves as an obstacle and has the same
sional limits.
footprint as the table. The sink is 25 cm high. A
There are three bright red light-emitting diodes single blue LED centered on the front edge marks
xed to the edge of the shelf, separated by 2.0 the center of the sink bowl.
0.1 cm center-to-center (Figure B). The mid-point
See Figure 8.12.
of the container's edge is aligned with the middle
LED. Figures 8.9 and 8.10 show the LED and plate
arrangement. 8.3.5.1 LED Data
The Juice Box will be aligned similarly, with the
The blue LED is available from Mouser: 941-
robot facing the widest part of the box.
C503BBCNCV0Z0462 or Cree C503B-BCN-
CV0Z0462.
8.3.3.1 LED data
Everlight Part number 333-2SDRT/S530-A3 8.3.6 Chair
Mouser Part # 638-333-2SDRTS5303
The chair has a footprint of 20 x 20 cm. See Fig-
current = 30 mA ure 8.13 on the next page.
8.3.7 Refrigerator
The RoboWaiter Advanced Division arena has a
Figure 8.15: Refrigerator Door Beacon in visible
simulated refrigerator in place of the Shelf.
light (BeaconOnDoor 218 - scaled.jpg)
The refrigerator has two shelves in an enclosed box,
with a door that opens and closes under the robot's
control. door. Figure 8.14 gives the dimensions and Fig-
ure 8.15 shows the beacon in visible light.
This section describes the refrigerator's physical
dimensions and characteristics. The next section de- The beacon consists of ve IR emitters and one visi-
scribes the sensor that triggers the door operations. ble emitter on a small circuit board taken from a 6-
LED ashlight. Five of the six LEDs were replaced
by IR emitters; the remaining visible LED indicates
8.3.7.1 Overall Dimensions that the device is working.
The refrigerator exterior is 20 to 25 cm deep (front- The beacon emits approximately 300 mW of 880 nm
oor.
A simple IR phototransistor mounted in a ashlight
The top of the lower shelf is 14 1 cm above the reector readily detects the beacon from a distance
Advanced arena, teams must assume the refrigera- open door while navigating into and out of the re-
tor shelves will be at dierent heights. frigerator, but they must not touch the door while
doing so.
The robot may touch the shelf (but not the door!)
while aligning itself to the plate's position. How-
ever, mechanical lever-action switches may not trip
reliably on contact with the shelf, particularly at
nearly perpendicular approach angles. If your nav-
igation algorithms depend on switch closures, test
your mechanical linkages very carefully under worst-
case conditions, because that's what your robot will
encounter at Trinity!
8.3.7.4 Refrigerator Door Floor Sensor Figure 8.19: Refrigerator Door completely open -
Top View (FridgeTopViewOpenSm.jpg)
Advanced Division robots must open and close the
refrigerator door by triggering a sensor module em-
bedded in the oor directly in front of the refrigera-
tor. The sensor module lies in the center area of the
8.4 Robots
8.4.1 Dimensions
Figure 8.20: Refrigerator Door Sensor Module The functional parts of the robot must t into a
detail view - Top View (SensorModuleSm.jpg) Bounding Box measuring 30 cm on a side and 50
cm tall at all times, except for grippers while ma-
nipulating and transporting the food container.
refrigerators door beacon pattern, 65 cm from the
outside surface of the closed door.
If any other part of the robot can exceed the
Bounding Box, it will not pass the Robot Inspection
The sensor module contains three bright white vis- Table process and will not compete in the Contest.
ible LEDs that shine directly up from the oor and
a Sharp GP2D120 IR proximity sensor. The LEDs NOTE The actuators must be unable to move any
are in a line 3 cm from the proximity sensor, paral- parts of the robot, except the grippers, beyond
lel to the front of the refrigerator. The entire sensor the Bounding Box.
module is embedded in the oor and will not im-
pede robot motion. A ag, hat, or other purely decorative, non-
functional item may exceed the maximum height
NOTE The robot must not use a metal detector to limit. The item must not be a structural part of
locate the Floor Sensor. the robot: the robot must operate correctly without
the item. Judges may disallow any item if, in their
Figure 8.20 shows the LED and GP2D120 arrange- opinion, it forms a functional part of the robot.
ment within the sensor module. The refrigerator is
Although the robot may deploy grippers beyond the
located 65 cm from the upper edge of the rectangle
starting envelope while transporting the plate, the
in the gure.
no contact rules apply to all parts of the robot.
See Appendix C.2 on page 87 for details of the sen-
sor construction NOTE A robot must not deploy any sensors, other
than container contact sensors on the grippers,
The proximity sensor is connected to the refrig-
beyond the initial dimensions.
erators embedded microcontroller. When the mi-
crocontroller rst senses the presence of a robot, it
NOTE The robot must not deploy its grippers un-
will open the refrigerator door. When it senses the
til it faces the food container. If the robot de-
robot again, it will close the door. Therefore the
ploys its grippers before that time, it will fail
sensor acts a toggle switch that controls the doors
the trial.
opening and closing.
A large robot or one that holds the plate in front The robot need not retract its grippers after placing
of its main chassis may trigger the sensor before the container on the table, but that would be a nice
Rules
The general rules described in Chapter 2 on page 15 6. In the optional Cleanup Mode, the Judge will
apply unless otherwise noted below. start the robot, which will move the plate from
the table to the sink.
9.1.1 Junior Division 1. The robot must start in response to the Stan-
dard Sound Start Device (Appendix B on
page 83). The trial timing begins when the
1. The Judge will place the robot in the arena.
sound signal starts, not when the robot begins
2. The Judge will start the robot and begin tim- to move. If the robot does not start, it will fail
ing the trial. the trial.
3. The robot must fetch the plate from the shelf. 2. The robot must decode the tones, as described
in Section 8.4.2.2 on the preceding page, to
4. The robot must deliver the plate to the table, know which shelf holds the food containerin
place it on the table surface, and completely the refrigerator.
release the plate. The plate must be entirely on
the table, without overhanging the table edge, 3. The robot must open the refrigerator door be-
but need not be centered on the surface. fore attempting to retrieve the container. How-
ever, as described in Section 8.3.7.5 on page 59,
5. The Judge will record the elapsed time when the door will operate only once for any trial.
the robot has stopped moving after releasing If the robot inadvertently opens the door, the
the plate. door will close when the robot activates the
sensor a second time and, consequently, the
3. The robot must fetch the plate from the shelf The robot extracts the wrong container
or refrigerator.
The robot may touch either refrigerator shelf,
4. The robot must deliver the plate to the table, perhaps to align itself with the container, with-
place it on the table surface, and completely out penalty. However, it must not touch the
release the plate. The plate must be entirely on door at any time.
the table, without overhanging the table edge,
5. The robot must close the door and indicate
but need not be centered on the surface.
that it has done so by lighting an easily visi-
5. The Judge will record the elapsed time when ble LED. There is no penalty if robot indicates
the robot has stopped moving after releasing that it has sensed a closed door before the door
the plate. is completely closed.
9.2.3 Grandma
Figure 9.1: RoboWaiter Standard and Arbitrary
OM.grandma = 0.75 (Advanced = 1.0)
Start Locations (RWArbStart12.png)
If this option is selected, the Grandma doll will be
located as shown in Figure 8.2 on page 54. If the
6. The robot must deliver the container to the robot touches the Grandma doll, the Grandma Op-
table as described above. erating Mode factor will not apply to that trial.
The plate may be dumped into the sink in any ori- 9.3.2 Advanced Division
entation, but it must remain either on the top sur-
face of the sink or within the bowl. 1. Opened refrigerator door
onto the surface around the sink, but not onto the
4. Closed refrigerator door
oor.
5. Transported container more than 20 cm
NOTE If the robot spills any food while transfer-
ring the plate from the refrigerator to the sink, 6. Deposited container on table
9.3 Tasks
The judges will tally the number of additional tasks
completed by each robot during the three trials.
The task tally will be used to rank robots that do
not complete one trial successfully (and are, there-
fore, not eligible for prizes and cash awards).
2. Picked up plate
4. Found table
Scoring
Each robot will compete in three trials, with the Robot nds plate and delivers it to the table. Food
Judges recording the time required to complete the Operating Mode not chosen.
trial. Section 9.2 on page 62 describes the Operat-
Measured Actual Time AT = 89 s.
ing Modes in detail. Section 10.1 provides examples
of scoring calculations. Success = 1
Successful robots will be divided into three groups, Robot operates in Food OM, nds plate, delivers it
based on the number of successful runs, to ensure to table, returns to start.
that the most reliable robots receive awards. The
Measured Actual Time AT = 77 s.
ranking within each group will be based on the
robot's nal score for all three runs. The groups Success = 1
are:
Time = AT * OM.food *OM.return = 77 * 0.8 *
0.8 = 49.28 s
1. Most Reliable group: successful on three trials.
Winners will be taken starting with the highest- Measured Actual Time AT = 119 s
ranking robots in the Most Reliable group, then
Success = 1
continuing with the Moderately and Least Reliable
groups, until the three winners have been identied. Time = AT *OM.return= 119 * 0.8 = 95.2 s
Examples:
Result
If the Most Reliable group includes three
robots, they will win the First, Second, and Success = 3
Third prizes based on their ranking within that
Time = 89 + 49.28 + 95.2 s = 233.48 s
group.
The robot is placed in the Most Reliable group with
If the Most Reliable group includes only two
three successful trials. Its ranking will be deter-
robots, then they will receive the First and Sec-
mined by comparing overall time scores within that
ond prizes based on their ranking, while the
group.
highest-ranked robot in the Moderately Reli-
able group will receive the Third prize.
10.1.1 Junior Division Robot starts at home position, nds plate and de-
livers it to the table. No food on plate. No mode
Trial 1 options completed.
Success = 1 Trial 3
Time = AT * OM.food *OM.return = 56 * 0.8 *
Robot starts at arbitrary position, delivers plate
0.8 = 35.84 s
with food to table, returns to start, and completes
Tasks completed: 4 cleanup option.
Time = 78 + 44.8 + 41.507 s = 182.1 s comparing overall time scores within that group and
secondarily by the number of tasks completed.
Tasks completed total = 12
Success = 1
Time = AT = 35 s
Tasks completed = 7
Check http://www.trincoll.edu/events/robot/
for the 2014 Olympiad schedule.
Contributed by David Pietrocola, Lifebotics LLC A maximum of two team members may present
the poster to the Judges, who are engineers and
The ability to eectively communicate technical
university faculty. Presentation of the physical
ideas and designs is an increasingly important skill
robot to the Judges is not permitted. A two-
for engineers and scientists. The 2014 TCFFHRC
minute question & answer period between the
technical presentation competition aims to encour-
presenters and the Judges will follow.
age the development of such communication skills.
The competition is optional for all teams. We en- 5. All posters must use English. However, teams
courage teams to summarize and convey their ef- for whom English is a second language may
forts by designing and delivering a presentation that request to have an ocial contest-provided in-
explains the design and functionality of the robot. terpreter who can assist during the presenta-
tion. If you wish to have an interpreter at your
Teams will present using a traditional scientic
poster presentation, please check the appropri-
poster format, which involves designing a poster
ate box on the registration form and indicate
following established scientic poster templates (see
the language. Unocial interpreters aliated
below).
with the team are not permitted; their presence
Entries will count toward the teams BURP score, will be grounds for immediate disqualication
which allows teams to be rewarded for eective of the team from the robot competition.
Results
2. Visuals 30%
Conclusions and future improvements
Easy to read and see
Informative diagrams and photos.
Obvious logical sequence of material
Common Mistakes
Suggestion
Requirements
Ocial regional contests are public events based on
the Trinity rules found on the Contest Website at
http://www.trincoll.edu/events/robot/. The
characteristics of ocial regional contests and Trin-
ity's relationship to them are listed below.
Appendix
Figure A.1: Mechanical Start Button Linkage Figure A.2: Ideal Start Button Location (dsc00892
(dsc00871 - Mechanical Start Button Linkage.jpg) - Start Button Location 2.jpg)
B.1 Operation
The Sound Start Device emits two selectable tones:
3.8 kHz and 2.5 kHz.
B.2 Hardware
Figure B.1 shows a Standard Sound Start Device.
B.3 Schematic
Figure B.1: A Standard Sound Start Device (Stan-
Figure B.3 on the following page shows the dard Sound Start Device - StartBox-12_030.jpg)
schematic diagram of the circuitry inside the Sound
Start Device.
B.5 Construction
Adjust trimpot R3 for 5 second sound duration af-
Figure B.2: A dual-frequency Standard Sound ter each press of switch SW1.
C.1.2 Schematic
Figure C.3 on the next page gives the beacon driver
schematic and parts list.
Figure C.3: Refrigerator Beacon Schematic and Parts List (Beacon Schematic - scaled.png)
C.2.2 Schematic
Figure C.5 on the preceding page shows the sensor
schematic and parts list.
Figure D.1: Sample RIT Checklist Form (Robot Inspection Table Checklist - Appendix Image.png)
Figure E.1: Sample Trial Options Sheet (FF Contest Trial Options - Appendix Image.png)