VWCC Spring 2015 Rules Page 1 of 14

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March 12th

, 2015

Dear Colleague, Parent, and Team-Member:

Virginia Western Community College, School of STEM, is pleased to invite you to our Spring “Night of

Robots”, Thursday, April 23rd

, 6 to 8:30 p.m. The event is an opportunity for our Middle and High

School robot teams to show off their robots based on the Fall 2014 competition, “Fishing Derby”.

The Spring Night of Robots will be held in the Weber building of VWCC, third floor, room 307. We will

have pizza for everyone starting at 5:30 p.m. in the hallway outside 307. Registration is from 5:30 to

6:00 p.m. Every team, members of 1 to 10 are encouraged to compete and to come watch some cool

robots. This will be a fun night of robotic exhibitions and learning. We are also planning a Boe-Bot

Wars event. There will be prizes for 1st

, 2nd

and 3rd

place, and a prize for winning the Boe-Bot Wars.

Our tentative schedule for the evening is as follows:

1. Registration and pizza. 5:30 to 6:00 p.m.

2. Welcome. 6:00 to 6:10 p.m.

3. Competition, Round 1. 6:15 to 6:45 p.m.

4. Roanoke Robotics Club Demo. 6:45 to 7:15 p.m.

5. Competition, Round 2. 7:15 to 8:00 p.m.

6. Boe-Bot Wars 8:00 to 8:25* p.m. *or until the robots cease to work

7. Awards 8:30** p.m. ** as soon as possible

The trials for the competition are similar to the Fall 2014 competition, but slightly changed and

improved. There are 5 trials all together. Trials 1 to 4 are preliminary and designed to lead the teams

up to the final trial, #5 which is the final and most difficult trial. We may not have any Trial 4 or 5

attempts which is fine. The trial names are Aquarium Basics, Find the Blue, Fish Whacking (new),

Fishing for Minnows, and Fishing Derby. Please see the trial descriptions for the complete details. Also,

the details for Boe-Bot wars is presented.

There is no Technical Report for this competition, but we are encouraging teams to put together a

poster story board to be displayed in the hallway during the competition. We will have several judges

who will ask questions at the poster board about your robot design during the competition rounds.

The story board is part of the team’s overall competition score.

If you would like participate, please email me your team name and team members sometime before

the week of the competition. Email to gstudtmann@virginiawestern.edu.

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Please find enclosed the updated trial guidelines and please email if you have any questions.

Hope to see you in April.

Sincerely,

George Studtmann

Phone: 540-857-6735

gstudtmann@virginiawestern.edu

Boe-Bot Wars 2 to 4 robots per round. Robots are given 90 seconds to knock a colored block off other robots

(worth 5 points per block) and to knock down opponents flags (10 points per flag). Robots will be given a colored block to set somewhere on their robot. Size TBD. The block can not be wedged into the robot. No sticky substances allowed either. Also, a colored flag will be placed behind the robot. This is the robot’s home flag. Robots are autonomously operated to bump into the other robots or to find the other flags and knock them down. There is a -10 score if you knock down your home flag. Robots will compete in 3 preliminary trials. After the prelims, the top four robots by cumulative score, will compete in the heavy weight round. Same rules apply. May the strongest, or quickest, or slowest robot win. Starting Positions shown below for the 4 starting robots. The colored flags will be located as shown by the crosses on the black line, 3 inches from the colored bumpers.

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2014 VWCC AUTONOMOUS ROBOTICS COMPETITION

Event Name: Fishing Derby

Objective: To design and build an autonomous robot that can collect as many colored fish cutouts and then deposit them in corresponding colored fish tanks. Robots will have a maximum time of 120 seconds in each of their four allotted trials. The robot must begin within an 8” X 12” X 10” high size limit but may expand to any size during a trial. An Exhibit Session will precede the robot trials.

Track Specifications:

Figure 1: Isometric View of the Track showing Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue Fish Cutouts

This Fish will not be here

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Figure 2: Top View of the Track

(Sheet scale may not be accurate due to document magnification)

Figure 3: Fish Cut Outs (red shown, other colors are green, blue, and yellow)

(Sheet scale may not be accurate due to document magnification)

No Fish Located Here

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Figure 4: Fish Cut Out Mounted to a Penny (red shown, other colors are green, blue, and

yellow)

(Sheet scale may not be accurate due to document magnification)

Figure 5: Corner Boards (board colors are red, green, blue, and yellow)

(Sheet scale may not be accurate due to document magnification)

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Required Materials:

1. Two 4’ X 8’ X 3/4” sheet BC grade or better grade plywood. 2. Four 2” x 4” x 96” Boards (2 for track perimeter, 2 for substructure) 3. Nine 2” x 4” x 93” Boards (2 for track perimeter, 7 for substructure) 4. One 2” x 4” x 120” Board to be cut into four 30” corner boards with 45° mitered ends 5. One Roll of 3/4” Wide Black Vinyl Tape 6. Twelve 4 inch Wood Fish Cutouts, part number 9133-08 from ConsumerCrafts.com Cut and Paste link: http://www.consumercrafts.com/store/search?s=9133-08&p=1&ps=20 7. Twelve United States Pennies for mounting the Wood Cutouts to 8. Hot Glue for affixing the Wood Cutouts to the Pennies 9. Four Cans of Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch 2X Gloss Spray Paint in the following colors: Apple Red, Deep Blue, Sun Yellow, and Meadow Green. 10. One Box of 2.5” or 3.0” Wood Screws for substructure framing 11. One Box of FastenMaster HeadLok 4-1/2 in. Heavy Duty Flathead Fastener 12. One Box of 1.5” Finishing Nails for attaching the plywood to the substructure and perimeter

boards to the plywood. 13. One container of light pine colored Sandable Wood Filler. 14. One package of 150 grit sandpaper 15. One package of tack cloths

Construction Procedures:

1. Construct an 8’ x 8’ substructure using 2” x 4” boards spaced 16” on-center.

2. After the substructure is square, fasten the 3/4” thick plywood using 1.5” finishing nails. Set the nails and fill the holes with putty. Once the putty has dried, sand it flat.

3. Draw light construction lines on the plywood as shown in figure 2 to locate the centerlines and the

32” and 64” diameter circles. 4. Apply the 3/4” wide black vinyl tape to the plywood. Be sure not to stretch the tape during

application or else the tape will lose adherence to the track over time. 5. Attach the perimeter boards to the track using the HeadLok 4-1/2 in. screws.

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6. Paint one corner boards and 3 fish cutouts with each of the four colors of Rust-Oleum. Apply a minimum of two coats to each surface of the boards and cutouts.

7. Attached the corner boards to the track to form isosceles triangles in each corner of the track. 8. Sand off any stray marks on the plywood and then dust the plywood with tack cloths. 8. Use a dot of hot glue to affix each fish cutout to a US penny. 10. Place the Cutout-Penny assemblies in locations shown in figure 2. The fish will be placed to

randomize the color pattern of fish.

Robot Specifications:

Allowable Energy Sources: Any energy source is allowed as long as it is completely contained within the robot and does not create or emit any gaseous, liquid, or solid emissions. Energy sources must not present any safety hazards to participants or spectators.

Maximum Robot Size:

The robot must fit inside a box with vertical sides having inside dimensions of 8.0” X 12.0” and have a maximum height of 10.0”. The robot may expand to any size after the start of a trial. Components, Fabrication, and Cost: Each team will be given a Parallax BOE-bot, Activity-bot, or Arduino kit to begin, and an additional budget of $180 to supplement this kit with other materials, sensors, etc. However, only $100 of the allowance is reimbursable. In order for an item to be reimbursed, it must be purchased by Mrs.

Brenda Morrison (bmorrison@virginiawestern.edu; 540-857-7272) at VWCC. You CANNOT be

reimbursed for items purchased personally. VWCC will purchase parts two times during the

semester from approved vendors. Orders need to be placed with Brenda or George Studtmann,

gstudtmann@virginiawestern.edu by Friday October 10th, or Friday November 7th

. Each team will be also required to fabricate at least one component (structural or non-structural) using rapid prototyping technology. Teams are restricted to using 8 in3 of prototyping material and each in3 of material used is valued at $4.00 (to be included on the Bill of Materials).

Robot Time Trial Rules: 1) It is the responsibility of the team to inspect the condition of the track before starting their robot to

be certain that everything is in order. Once a team presses or pulls the start mechanism, the run counts as an official trial and may not be done over.

2) The order of testing will be determined by random draw.

3) While the preceding team is on the track for a trial, the on-deck team must have their robot on the on-deck table ready to run immediately after the previous team completes their trial. Each team will

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have one minute to begin a trial after being called.

4) All teams will be called for a trial in a current round before any teams begin the next round of testing.

5) Robot sizes will be tested with the measuring box prior to each team’s first run and in subsequent runs if requested by the judges. Team members will be responsible for placing the measuring box over their robots. If a robot fails to meet the size constraint the judges will assess a penalty proportional to the severity of the violation.

6) The robot may start in any location as long as the robot is neither touching a fish cutout nor has any part above any portion of a fish cutout.

7) The time for a trial will begin when the judge gives the team the command to start. Once this start

command is given, a team may only activate a single switch or mechanism to start the robot. This switch or mechanism may not have multiple ways in which it can be activated for the purpose of communicating the configuration of the fish cutouts to the robot. Once the robot begins to move in any way, team members may not touch the robot or communicate with it with any remote control device.

8) If a robot fails to move once the judge’s start command is given, the team members may work on their robot to get it moving but the time will continue to run from the time when the start command was given. If the robot has not moved within 120 seconds of the start command, a score of zero will be assigned for that trial.

9) A trial will end when any of the following actions occur: a. The robot becomes disabled or shows no evidence of being able to deposit additional fish cutouts

into the corner fish tanks. b. The robot deposits all 11 fish into corner fish tanks. c. 120 seconds elapses from the start command.

10) Teams may make changes or repairs to their robots between trials but they must be ready within one

minute of being called to the track. 14) Teams may not make practice runs during the Exhibit Session or after the start of the Robot

Time Trials.

Robot Time Trial Scoring:

Robots will earn points as described below. 1. 5 Points will be awarded for each fish cutouts that is deposited into a fish tank with a different color

corner board as the fish cutout. All portions of the fish cutout must be inside the three vertical inside surfaces of a fish tank to score.

2. 10 Points will be awarded for each fish cutouts that is deposited into a fish tank with the same color corner board as the fish cutout. All portions of the fish cutout must be inside the three vertical inside surfaces of a fish tank to score.

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3. If a robot deposits all 11fish cutouts in matching colored corner fish tanks and thus earns 110 points (a perfect run) a time bonus will be added using the formula below. Time Bonus for Perfect Run = (110 – Time in seconds to complete the perfect run)

Poster Board or Technical Presentation Session (Total = 100 pts)

Middle School and High School Flight:

Prior to the Robot Time Trials, each team must participate in an exhibit session where they will create a project poster board to promote their project to judges, other students, and conference attendees. Each team will be supplied with half of a table (two teams per table). The entire session is scheduled to last approximately 60 minutes during the morning flight, December 6th. Teams should use a 36” by 48” board similar to the following. http://www.officemax.com/office-supplies/boards/poster-boards/product-prod4050194 All participants must be present during the entire exhibit session. Teams should use posters that explain the design of their robot The judges will visit each booth for approximately 10 minutes depending on the number of teams competing. During this visit, team members will guide the judges through their display for the first five minutes. In the second 5 minute period, the judges will ask the team questions. All team members should take turn answering questions. Each judge will score teams on a scale of 0 to 20 (20 being best) on the first five items below. The score in each category will be computed by computing the average of the judges scores. 1. Design Evolution: Guide the judges through the design process that your team followed from the initial ideas to the

final solution. Describe your rationale for making design decisions. 2. Robot Operation: Discuss how your robot works. 3. Fabrication Methods: Explain how you fabricated your robot. 4. Design Analysis: Convince the judges that your design is optimal based upon its performance, cost, and environmental

impact. 5. Exhibit Quality: Your exhibit quality will be judged on the following items: team and exhibit appearance, technical

expertise displayed, communication skills, and effectiveness of visual aids.

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Overall Scoring: The overall score for a team will be equal to the sum of the scores for the Technical Report, the Poster/Technical Presentations, and the four Robot Time Trials. A team will be disqualified from the competition if they fail to participate in the Poster Board or technical Presentation Session. Overall Score = Poster Board Point Total (100 pts)

Trial 1. “Aquarium Basics” (20 pts)

Trial 2. “Find the Blue” (20 pts)

Trial 3. “Fish Whacking” (30 pts)

Trial 4. “Fishing for Minnows” (30 pts)

Trial 5, “Fishing Derby” (110 pts)

Total (310 pts)* *A team can earn more than 110 points per Fishing Derby if it completes the task in less than 120 seconds.

Rule Interpretation Questions: Prior to the date of the competition direct your inquiries to:

George Studtmann

Phone: 540-857-6262

FAX: 540-857-7086

gstudtmann@virginiawestern.edu

On the date of the competition:

The judges will interpret the intent of the rules and make all decisions. If the judges determine that a

team is in violation of the intent of any rule or specification, they will deduct points in proportion to

the severity of the violation. All decisions by the judges are final and may not be appealed. Teams

have shown respect for the judges, participants, and spectators in the past, and this positive attitude is

expected from each participant this year.

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Appendix A

Additional Competition Trials

Teams can change programs for all four trials. Once they load and start a trial, they can’t change the program.

Trial 1. “Aquarium Basics” In this trial, the robot will be placed within 3” of the yellow aquarium, and has 90 seconds to visit all four aquariums in any order. The robot must leave the yellow aquarium and at some point during the trial and return to it to receive credit for the yellow aquarium. Any part of the robot must get within 3inches of any part of the aquarium to receive credit (5 points each). If the robot stops or is confused, the team can place the robot at the yellow aquarium and restart the robot as many times during the time period. At the end of 90 seconds or upon completing the task, the judges will total the number of good aquarium visits. NEW – The team that completes the trial the quickest, earns 10 bonus points.

Total Possible: 20 points

Trial 2. “Find the Blue” In this trial, the robot will be placed within 3” of the yellow aquarium, and has 90 seconds to identify and stop at a blue fish. The judges will place 2 red fish and one blue fish arbitrarily at the locations marked below. Any part of the robot must get within 3inches of any part of the blue fish to receive credit (20 points each). The robot should come to a stop once it finds the blue fish, and it may not knock the fish over. If the robot stops or is confused or knocks the fish over, the team must stop and place the robot at the yellow aquarium and restart the robot. This may be repeated until the time period expires.

NEW – The team that completes the trial the quickest, earns 10 bonus points.

Total Possible: 20 points

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Trial 3. “Fish Whacking”

In this trial, the robot will be placed anywhere in the aquarium, and has 90 seconds to knock down up to 11 fish. The 11 fish will be of various colors and placed as shown below. It does not matter how the fish are whacked but them must be on their side. Whacked fish** are worth 3 points each. If the robot stops or is confuse, the team must stop and place the robot at original starting point and restart the robot. This may be repeated until the time period expires. If someway, a group can actually break a fish

during the trial (the wood has to be split), an extra 10 points can be earned.**

Total Possible: 30 points

** No real fish will be hurt during this trial.

No Fish

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Trial 4. “Fishing for Minnows”

In this trial, the robot will be placed within 3” of the yellow aquarium, and has 90 seconds to pick up 3 fish and place them in any aquarium. The three fish will be of various colors and placed as shown below. It does not matter what fish are placed in what aquarium. Fish are worth 10 points each. If the robot stops or is confused or knocks the fish over, the team must stop and place the robot at the yellow aquarium and restart the robot. This may be repeated until the time period expires.

Total Possible: 30 points

Trial 5: Fishing Derby Total Possible: 110 points (120 seconds each. 11 fish x 10 per trial.)

It is possible to receive greater than 220 points if you complete each trial in less than 120 seconds.

See Fish Placement, Next Page

G R

B

VWCC Spring 2015 Rules Page 14 of 14

R

G

R, G, Y not B

Trial 5 1. Do not place a Fish in front of the Yellow Aquarium. 2. Place a Green Fish in front of the Green Aquarium. 3. A Red Fish in Front of the Red Aquarium 4. Any Color in front of the Blue Aquarium except Blue 5. The rest of the fist in the spots on the board. The Fish should be swimming

clockwise as shown below. 6. There should be 11 fish on the board.

No Fish