2 Robotic Contests at the 2012 Parallax Expo
Hello all,
2 contests have just been announced that will be running at the 2012 Parallax Robotics & Microcontrollers Expo in Rocklin, CA on April 13-14. Details and rules can be found at the following links.
Rolling Robot Line Follow Open (LFO)
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/969/Default.aspx
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Flight Competition
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/970/Default.aspx
If you plan on attending the Parallax Expo, please consider entering one (or both!) of these competitions. If you have not yet signed up for the Parallax Expo (which includes the Unofficial Propeller Expo West), you can get your free tickets here: http://parallaxexpo.eventbrite.com/
Cheers, Jen J.
2 contests have just been announced that will be running at the 2012 Parallax Robotics & Microcontrollers Expo in Rocklin, CA on April 13-14. Details and rules can be found at the following links.
Rolling Robot Line Follow Open (LFO)
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/969/Default.aspx
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Flight Competition
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/970/Default.aspx
If you plan on attending the Parallax Expo, please consider entering one (or both!) of these competitions. If you have not yet signed up for the Parallax Expo (which includes the Unofficial Propeller Expo West), you can get your free tickets here: http://parallaxexpo.eventbrite.com/
Cheers, Jen J.
Comments
I'm a little worried about an outdoor environment though... And I thought everybody used white or black tape and this one is shiny...
I don't like the "remote computer for processing" allowance though... That makes it more of a PC programming competition than a robot competition...
I think I could just put a cheap camera on a BOE BOT and with a WiFi link and use a supercomputer to follow any line...
(actually I wonder if a baby monitor to a video capture card would be allowed...)
John Abshier
My two-year old Amy is so ready to enter. She's a total button-pushing control freak. No idea where she gets that from.
-Tommy
Too bad the weight limit rules out a couple of my robots, including the QuadRover.
Will the line-following lines go right over the scattered ELEV-8 pieces?
1. Is any part of the competition required to have the vehicle controlled autonomously?
2. Are there provisions for high wind situations?
3. Can you provide some diagrams to help clarify?
4. What is the weight and size of the baseballs?
5. How many spotters are required, and must they be provided by the competing teams?
6. Will the competition area have any vertical obstructions?
7. Must a vehicle remain in the "area"? (see also 15)
8. Does the remaining time after all three balls are placed count towards points?
9. What is the surface of the landing area, for both the vertical lift and airplane?
10. Can you provide a video of a "sample" contest run?
11. What environment will be around the barrels (brush, dirt, etc.)
12. What is the ground structure like of the competition area (level, constant slope, hilly, etc.)
13. Is their a weight limit for craft?
14. Where will the baseballs be at the start of the competition, and are team members allowed to attach them to the craft?
15. Can you provide definitions of the various terms (holding area, landing strip, flight area, target zone, field, landing zone (L.Z.), runway, course have all been used in the rules...)
16. Specifically, when can a team member be in a particular area and when can they not, during the competition (for each area in 15).
17. Can a ball be placed multiple times in a barrel for multiples of that point value?
I'd like to propose the following addition to the rules:
-All vehicles must have a remote kill switch that will immediately cut power to all motors, and which is given to the judges to use in the event that a craft is deemed dangerous during the competition. All teams must be able to demonstrate this functionality before the competition. If a kill switch is used the team may attempt to recover the craft and continue the competition, in which case the clock will continue to count.
This rule helps to minimize the danger a wayward craft has to spectators.
All in all, it seems like fun but I think the rules are under specified. I think one of the most important missing pieces is a diagram of the flight area with consistent labeling, but all the questions I've posed are important.
Every pilot will already have to demonstrate that they can control the vehicle in order to compete.
And if a quadrotor flies towards a group of people, hits them, and keeps spinning despite the frantic commands of the pilots? Most vehicles will probably be controlled by amateurs, with amateur code (myself included). I'd rather crash a $1000 quadcopter than deal with a $10,000 lawsuit.
As a side note, the rules don't specify a mandatory safety check (or vehicle control check)...
Also, the errant contestant will have to endure the shame of severe heckling from the non injured of said crowd.
This will serve to teach others that might think lightly of "flight control"...
Besides, you don't wanna live forever do ya?
Helmets, Chest protectors, and Welding gloves will be mandatory on the flight line, oh, eye protection too..
and warm jackets, and fuzzy ear muffs... but, NO bare feet, or any footwear with bunny rabbit parts allowed...
Yes erco, I think they should have a four wheel drive division too.
It does seem to be a "run what ya brung" kind of contest, so be ready for anything, I guess.
-Tommy
You're right, I don't see it.
I would recommend that the vehicles be required to pass a safety check.
I also think they need to rethink using a baseball for the drop device. It's too heavy and hard, so it's probably not allowed by the regs -- most similar contests for R/C planes use lightweight plastic "bombs," or at most, things like plastic Easter eggs filled with talc, baby powder, or even flour.
Another idea: take a cue from Mr. Carlson from the late-70s TV show WKRP, and drop live turkeys from the quadcopters. "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."
-- Gordon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw-xXclsEL8
By definition, a baseball is "9 to 9.25 inches or 22.86 to 23.495 centimeters in circumference." That means that the diameter is between 2.864788975 and 2.944366447 inches or 7.276564 and 7.478691 centimeters (an average of 2.904577711 inches or 7.377627 centimeters).The weight is defined as, "between 5 and 5.25 ounces or 141.747615625 and 148.8349964063 grams."
http://forums.parallax.com/content.php?6-contests-and-events
I second that. I don't see a plywood chassis, relay-controlled BS2-based odometry robot division.
-- Gordon
Lemme answer some questions about the LFO: the course will be located in the shipping/receiving area in the back of the building. Relatively flat, minor asphalt bumps - certainly no bumps bigger than a mound of Elev-8 parts
Eh, I don't see how moving the source of the computational horsepower makes a difference. The remote computer still has to tell the robot how to move. The system also has to deal with latencies associated with wireless communications and processing overhead. More work, IMHO.
What are your fears, Rayman? If they are well founded, perhaps that allowance should be removed...
A kill switch is not going to be used as spectators and other participating teams will all be inone location, and wondering spectators will be kept to a minimum. A kill switch would also leave the door open to a higher amount and possibly worse crashes, as being a third party watching a craft, a judge would not have the same feeling for a craft and may kill the craft, thereby creating a collision or crash, when the pilot was simply banking into a turn or getting a better position.
I will answer all of SRLM's questions in the morning, but I just wanted to hit on a few of the points that I saw early on. If you guys have anything else, any other ideas or the competition or along those lines, please let me know!
Thanks guys,
Nick
I'm just afraid of losing...
I suppose both approaches should be allowed...
Nick,
Will there be goats involved? Seems like a good chance to check out an avoidance system.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?122725-Goats-at-Parallax&highlight=goats
How 'bout two helium balloons at, say 20' to resemble dinner plates. Quad copters have to do the course. But...there must be two at the same time...one going clockwise and the other anti-clockwise. (I love using that term)
Sell more crash kits!
Jim
John Abshier
Why is the spectator area and flight area on the street on the opposite side from Parallax? I estimate that it's a half mile walk to go all the way around, which is a bit much. Most people will just stand on the side of Atherton Rd instead of walking, and then you have an uncontrolled crowd.
Also, if this is the final layout will W. Oaks Blvd be closed to vehicular traffic? I assume city approval would be needed.
Finally, what are the dimensions of the runway for fixed wings, and is it paved?
Will this area be open for flying during non competition times?
A portapotty at the flight line would also be nice instead of walking back all the way around the block.
Sorry for so many questions and comments...
Greatest WKRP ever!