Robotex 2010 competition task and rules

Football

1. The competition

Two robots compete against each other on a field with 9 balls on it. The mission is to get as many balls into the opponent’s goal as possible. The winning robot will be the one with more balls in its opponent’s goal. The competition between two robots will be held in at least two rounds. The robot with more round victories will advance to the next level. The maximum number of rounds between two robots in case of a draw is three, after which the winner will be decided by a penalty round – the robot that gets the ball to the opponent’s goal first is declared the winner. Only a single ball, placed in the middle of the field, exists in the penalty round.

The tournament system used is double-elimination. It means that the winner will continue in winners’ bracket and the loser will compete again in the losers’ bracket at the according level. If the winner has not emerged after three rounds and a penalty round, both robots will continue in the losers’ bracket. A loss in the losers’ bracket eliminates the robot from the competition. The winner of the losers’ bracket will compete with the winner of the winners’ bracket.

The duration of one round is 90 seconds during which the teams cannot interfere in the actions of the robots without the permission of the referee. The robots will come to a stop using a turn-off switch or a timer. After each round the sides are changed. The team members have 60 seconds to change sides. All teams are notified at least 3 minutes before their turn. A real-time tournament table and all other significant information will be visible at all times.

The teams are divided into two groups: “open” and “pro”. The “pro” group is for the robots with a higher technical level. The “open” group is for all the robots that do not qualify for the “pro” group because of their lower technical level. The decision whether the robot will compete in the “open” or “pro” group will be made based on the technical level of the robot. The technical level will be evaluated by the organizers and/or referees of the competition. The best competitors from the “open” group can also compete in the “pro” group tournament.

The “open” group tournament will be held on Friday, 03.12.2010. The “pro” group tournament will be held on Saturday, 04.12.2010.

2. The Balls

The balls are white golf balls that are located on the field at predetermined places. The referees who randomly throw a coin on the field mark the initial location of the balls. The balls are situated at least 30 cm away from each other and the goals. Before each round the balls are put back at their initial places. The initial location of the balls is not known until the beginning of the competition. New ball locations are determined before the finals. The locations also differ between the „open“ and „pro“ group tournaments.

The balls are in regular size: ~43 mm in diameter and ~46 g in weight. Both measures can vary within 10%.

3. The Robot

The robot is a fully autonomous machine that carries its own power source, motion mechanisms, and its own control-systems. Remote controlling of any kind is prohibited. The measurements of the robot must fit in a cylinder with the diameter of 35 cm and the height of 35 cm during the whole competition. In case of the parts being detached from the robot accidentally, the referee may allow the robot to continue.

The robot can physically deal with only one ball at a time. It is forbidden to gather the balls. It means that if the robot has found a ball, it must get rid of it (shoot the ball) before it starts moving the next ball. Accidental hit of several balls is permitted.
The ball must not totally fit into the robot, under the robot or top of the robot. It must be visible by at least the radius of the ball (22.5 mm) when looking at the robot from front, top, left and right side. See figure 3 for examples.
The robot may not attach the ball to itself with greater force than the ball’s gravitation. It means that the ball should drop free when lifting the robot.
It is forbidden for the robot to take the balls out of the goal.
The robot is not allowed to contain parts that may cause damage or otherwise endanger the field, the balls, other robots or spectators.
The robot is not allowed to contain an algorithm that may damage the field, the balls or the other robot.
The robot may defend its goal against the balls of the opponent, the robot may take the ball from its opponent and it can do other tactical movements, but it is forbidden to do it by attacking the other robot physically, by blinding its sensors or by disrupting it any other unsporting way.
The robot is not allowed to visually cheat the opponent. For example it is forbidden to paint the robot in the same colour of the field and cover it with images of the balls or use highly reflective body surfaces. Emitting infrared light that interferes with signal of the emitters on the goals is also prohibited.
At the request of the referee, the team must show and explain the original source code of the robot’s program.
If light sources are used, the intensity of them should not be dangerous to the human eye or they must be shielded from direct observation. If lasers are used, their output power (average over 1 second) must be less than 1mW/mm².
The robot must not extend over the walls or the goals of the field.
The robot will start from the right corner of the field where its goal is located. It has to touch both walls that form the corner.
The robot must have a start and stop switch(es) that are easily accessible.
The team members activate and deactivate the robot themselves.
The robot that does not meet the requirements will not be able compete at the competition.
Since there are two robots at a time on the field, it is recommended that the robots have a bumper with a cushioning material. The bumper should be at least 2 cm wide and fastened to robot at the height of 5 cm.

4. The Field

The measurements of the field are 2x3 m with thickness of 1.6 cm. The floor is covered with a green anti-static carpet. The field is surrounded by wall, 10 cm high. The lower 7 cm of the wall is covered with the same material that covers the floor and the top 3 cm is painted white. The goals are located in the middle of shorter walls and they are 70 cm wide, 20 cm high and 20 cm deep from the inside. The back walls and sides of the goals are covered with fabric to a height of 10 cm (one goal is blue, the other red), the rest is covered with a net. The goalposts are made of grey 20x20 mm aluminium profile and the vertical posts reach the surface of the field. To stop the balls from rolling out of the goal, the floors of the goals are 5 cm lower than the rest of the field.

To make it easier to find the goals, there is an infrared emitter attached to a pole in the middle of the goals at the height of 50 cm. The protocol of the TV remote control RC5 (the protocol of Phillips) is in use. One goal sends a message “channel 1” and the other “channel 2”. If there are two fields, the channels 3 and 4 are in use on the other field.

All measurements of the field are given with the accuracy of 5 %.

Samples of the carpet covering the field, the fabric covering the goals and the beacons can be obtained from the organizers starting from June 1. 2010.

Figure 1. The field and the measurement cylinder for the robot.

5. Keeping score

Points will be counted after the end of a round. Each ball that is in the opponent’s goal touching the ground under the goal will give one point. The robot that gathers the most points is determined as a winner.