RoboFest 2002 Rules

Lawrence Tech's RoboFest (Robotics Festival) is an open contest in which the participants can show off their robots while learning problem solving techniques, mathematics, logic, creativity, team work, physics, electronics, mechanics, mechatronics, and computer programming & technology. The LTU RoboFest 2002 has the following four contests in two categories:

Lego Robot Competition
Lego Robot Exhibition
Advanced Robot Competition
Advanced Robot Exhibition

The competition: A team of students competes to accomplish robotics missions emulating real world environments. RoboFest competition has some unique features. Robots must be fully autonomous, with no radio controls. The game rules are simple, as is the construction of the playing fields. However, the dimension of the playing field is unknown. Any sensors, motors, and software environments / programming languages may be used. RoboFest 2002 competition, RoboRescuers, will require cooperation between two robots. Only 60 teams are invited to Lawrence Tech and the selection is based on the order of registration compeletion.

The exhibition: Robotics exhibition is a great way for students to show off their creativity. Each team has complete freedom to create autonomous robotics projects such as robot pets, robot artists, dancing robots, storytelling with robots, and robots for scientific experiments. Robots may be of any size and can use any material. Exhibition teams are required to submit the following items to the RoboFest committee via email to [email protected]. These items must be submitted after registration before April 6.

An approximately one page description of the robot in a MS word file, text file, or HTML file. This description must include the number and types of sensors and motors used.
2 to 4 jpeg files of the robot along with a file describing the photos, if necessary. (If this is not possible, you must bring your robot to LTU before April 6 for a pre-demo. This pre-demo can be arranged by appointment. To make an appointment, send an email to [email protected].
mpeg files of the robot in action, if possible.
Program source file(s)
Other information requested by the committee, if necessary.
All the files should be sent in one zip file.
Submitted information may be posted on the web.
RoboFest 2002 committee will select ten teams for the exhibition. On the RoboFest day, each exhibition team will be given a table on which to demonstrate the robot at any time. They will also have an official chance (up to 3 minutes) to demonstrate their robot(s) to the public. Teams must bring all the necessary materials for the demo. For example, if the robot performs dance, the team must bring a CD or audio cassette tape. LTU is preparing the sound system.

Please note that a team can enter only one contest. There is no registration fee and admission is free.

Details about the registration rules are as follows:

Lego Robot Divisions

Lego Mindstroms ^TM or Lego Dacta Team Challenge Sets^TM are to be used. This means either RIS RCX code or RoboLab programming language can be used.
5th through 12th grade students from an organization such as a school, home school, civic organization, etc. can form teams.
Exhibition Division Teams: Minimum number of team members is 3. The formula to calculate the Maximum number of students is: 3 + 2 x Number of RCX computers used. For example, if three RCX programmable bricks are used, then minimum is 3 and maximum is 9.
Competition Division Teams: Two Lego RCX programmable bricks are required for the 2002 game. The minimum number of students is 3 and the maximum is 7.

Advanced Robot Divisions

Computer boards for autonomous robots such as Handy Board robot kits can be used. Also Lego robots with High Level Languages such as C (NQC), IC, C++, VB or Java are considered as Advanced Robots.
Exhibition Division Teams: 9th - 12th grade and college students are eligible to enter. Minimum number of student is 1. The formula to calculate the maximum number of students is 1 + 2 x Number of computer boards used.
Competition Division Teams: 9th - 12th grade. Two robots are required. The minimum number of students is 2 and the maximum is 7.

Team Coaches

The team coaches are responsible for facilitating and overseeing team members.
A teacher, parent, college student, professor, or scientist/engineer can be the coach.
Only the coach with a valid email address can register teams and the e-mail is the primary and official communication method between the team and the RoboFest organizer.
A coach can register more than one team from one organization. (However, a coach can represent only one organization, which means a coach cannot enter teams from different organizations.)
It is recommended to have/invite technology mentor(s), if necessary.
The coach is responsible for entering and updating the team data on the web. Please note that certificates will be printed based on the data on the website. There will be no exceptions.
Must collect media release forms from team members. These must be submitted to LTU during check-in.

Team Members

Must be students in April 2002.
Must solve problems by themselves.
In principle, a student can participate in only one team.

Team Volunteers

The team cannot run without help of various volunteers for the following jobs such as mentoring, financial sponsoring, transportation, or constructing playing fields, taking pictures, video taping, etc.

Common Sense Rules for Education

Construction of the robot body is to be done by the students. All programming is to be done by the students. Parents, teachers, mentors, or coaches may not assemble the robot bodies or write the program code for the team at any time during the preparation period or during the contest. Any direct participation (writing code, assembling robots) is a violation of the rules. The offending team will become ineligible for any awards.

Team's Responsibility

All the teams must check-in by 9:30am. The check-in begins at 8:30am in the gym on Sat. April 27.
You may need to make minor adjustments to your programs to allow for the variation in light in the new environment.
You need to check the light values for the black line, white area on the shelves, and light bulb in the gym. Again, only team members are allowed to modify/update the programs.
Remember, robots are working in the real physical world! Even if flash lights are forbidden, cameras and camcorders using auto focus function are emitting infra red lights. Students will learn the difficulty of creating robust systems.
It is the team's responsibility before the game, to ensure the track is in satisfactory condition. Remember, we are using pieces of all-purpose shelves. There may be big cracks even if referees have checked the track before each game. Therefore the team members should also check the playing field before the game.
Whenever new programs are downloaded, both your robot and the IR tower MUST be covered by a box. If not, you damage other robots and/or your program will be corrupted. Do not forget to bring a cardboard garage to house RCX to prevent interference from other RCX while downloading programs. It will be a nice idea to cover RCX's infrared sensor with electric tape after downloading a program in order to prevent it from receiving somebody else's program.

Judging and Prizes

Winners are decided by several categories including, but not limited to: originality, creativity, functionality, performance, programming, construction, teamwork, team spirit, presentation, and new technology used. Coaches, technology mentors, and parents should not provide direct solutions to the teams. Some teams may be asked to develop simple programs to make sure they learned essential concepts from this RoboFest program.

Tentative Schedule

Feb. 9, 2002: Two Informational Meetings
Feb. 16, 2002: Official announcement of the Robofest 2002 competition and exhibition rules
Feb. 18, 2002: On-line registration begins. (Using the web is the only way to register teams. Only first sixty competition teams can participate in RoboFest. They will be selected by the order of registration completion.)
March 16, 2002: Team registration ends
April 6, 2002: Exhibition team submission due
April 13, 2002: Selected ten exhibition teams are announced on the web.
April 27, RoboFest 2002 at Lawrence Tech University, 8:30am - 5:00pm (Opening Ceremony at 10:30am)