ANNUAL ROBOTICS COMPETITION

April 19th, 20209:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

RIT University in DubaiDubai Silicon Oasis

Registration DeadlineMarch 26th, 2020

For more info, email us: jmbcad@rit.edu

Introduction: what is RIT-Dubai Robotic Competition?

Rochester Institute of Technology – Dubai Robotic Competition is intended for high school students (grade 10, 11 and 12) who are interested in Computer or Electrical Engineering Studies. Students will participate and compete in a friendly, informative and professional atmosphere where they will be able to test their ideas and explore other ideas that will broaden not only their knowledge but also their conception.

Interested students cannot participate as individuals. They have to get schools permission and supervision. Any team of at most three students has to be formed under the supervision of at least one school official (teacher or administrator).

When: April 19, 2020

Time: From 9-1 pm.

Where: Rochester Institute of Technology – Dubai campus.

Techno Point, Dubai Silicon Oasis

More info on: https://www.rit.edu/dubai/about/directions-to-campus

The Colored Ball Sorting Robot Competition General Description

The Theme

The contest consists of arranging colored balls into different scoring zones. Each ball should be placed in its matching color zone.

The Participants

There will be only eight schools participating in this contest, where each school can participate with only one team. A maximum of three students are allowed in the competition. All teams must be under the supervision of a teacher or school official.

The Playground

The playground is subdivided into 3 main types of zones: Start Zone, Scoring Zones and Bonus Zones. In the image, the Start zone is dark blue.

The dimensions of the playground are shown below along with the dimension of every ball and its initial location in the playground. All dimensions are in millimeters.

For more information on the playground structure and dimensions, download the Field Dimensional Drawings (PDF), which is available on the competition's website.

The Hardware Rules

1. The robot dimensions should meet the requirements of the playground. You can refer tothe Field Dimensional Drawings file for more details. The robot must be completely self-contained and must receive no outside assistance.

2. The ball manipulator of the robot should not be bigger than 10x10x10 cm3. The judgeswill inspect the manipulator and it must fit into a cube of those dimensions. The manipulator can be made out of any material, as long as it does not damage the field.

a. Once the game has started, the manipulator can extend its size. However, itmust be inside an invisible cube of 10x10x10 cm3. A counterweight outside of this invisible cube that does not go past the shape of the robot is permitted.

b. In the case that the judges decide that the manipulator represents a possibledamage risk to the field, the manipulator must be modified to meet the judges requirements.

3. The robot may be powered by a 4-cell or 5-cell AA battery pack. ALL ROBOTS MUSTCONNECT SERVOS TO REGULATED 5 V DC. Contestants must show the judge that the servos are using a 5 VDC input. If the servos are not connected to 5 V DC, the contestant must modify the circuits and have them verified by a judge before participating.

4. The robot can only have two continuous rotation servos. No other types of motors oradditional motors are allowed.

5. Only these sensors are allowed:a. 3 QTI Sensors for line followingb. 3 Ultrasonic Distance Sensorsc. 3 Phototransistorsd. 2 Color Sensorse. 2 Limit switchesf. 2 Infrared sensorsg. 2 Pushbuttonsh. No limit of electrical components such as LED’s (not infrared), piezospeakers,

resistors, capacitors,...

6. Any microcontroller or robotics kit can be used to operate the robot, including Arduino,LEGO kit, etc.

The Game Rules

1. The game has a length of 5 minutes.

2. During this time, the robot must sort as many balls as possible into their matching-colorzones. a. If a ball is delivered into a different color zone, it will not be considered for the final

score.

3. In the field, there are several indicators that will help the robot to navigate and to knowwhen the ball is delivered into a zone. a. These indicators are black lines on white. These lines have a thickness of about an

inch. These lines can present discontinuities.

4. The balls and their matching zones will always be in the same positions relative to eachother as shown in the images at the end of this section. However, the actual colors may be different during the competition. For example, in the images, the Starting Zone is dark blue, and the dark blue balls are in the doorways to the Bonus Zones. During the

competition, if the Starting Zone is orange, then orange balls would be in the doorways to the Bonus Zones.

5. In addition, the track presents walls and obstacles as navigation challenges for the robot.

6. It is allowed to use IR remote controls, such as the TV controller, to initialize the robot. If the team wants to use IR, it is under their own responsibility. Interferences and communication problems will not be taken into consideration by the judges.

a. IR remote control can only be used at the beginning of the robot's routine. Once the robot is out of the start zone, IR remote control cannot be used.

b. Other methods of remotely controlling are not permitted.

7. The start zone is the only zone where the robot can be manipulated by the contestants. Out of this zone the robot cannot be touched.

a. In case that the robot gets stuck in the field, if the remaining time is more than a minute, the robot can be manipulated by the contestants, taking as penalty the game object that was intended to manipulate. This can happen as many times in the game as needed, as long as there is more than a minute remaining. If the time is less than a minute, no penalty will happen, but the game is over for that team.

i. Example: The robot is going for a blue ball, but in the middle of the field the robot seems to get stuck against a wall. If the remaining time is:

1:01 min, the judge will allow the team to pick up the robot and set it again for another goal, but the blue ball will be taken by the judge. If the ball was scored in the previous movement before getting stuck, it will also be taken by the judge.

1:00 min, the same as the previous example. 0:59 min, the game is over for the team, and if the blue ball was

scored, it will be counted, but the game is ended.

8. The time does not stop at any moment. 9. The start zone is a 50x25 cm2 space.

a. The contestants can put into this space any object that they want. This includes rules or guides for the proper accommodation of the robot.

b. The Start Zone is indicated by a 5 cm black line.

i. To be considered inside the Start Zone, objects must be completely inside the black line, and cannot touch the line. If the robot is handled while over the black line, and not

completely in the Start Zone, the penalty will be the same as the rule of robot manipulation explained before.

10. The scoring zones are located all over the field and their size is 18 x 18 cm2, surrounded by a 2 cm black line. The only different scoring zone is the start zone, 50 x 25 cm2.

11. The balls will be considered scored when they are inside of the scoring zone, touching

the colored area and not the black line. If the robot takes any ball out of the zone and does not put it back, the ball will not be taken as scored.

12. If the ball gets out of the scoring zone by a movement of the table or anything that does

not involve a robot, it will be counted as a scored ball. 13. The scores are:

Scoring zone: 5 points per ball that is the same color as the zone. Start Zone: 7 points per ball that is the same color as the zone. Bonus Zone: 10 points per ball that is the same color as the zone.

These are the images of the field.

Note: The zone and ball colors may be different during the competition. However, every ball would still in the same position relative to its matching color zone.

About the Competition

The competition is divided into 2 stages.

1. Qualification: All the teams will play in these rounds. They will play each one game. When the qualification is over, only the best 4 teams will pass to the finals. In case of a tie, the number of scored balls or the time needed to score the first ball (in case of equal number of balls) will determine the position.

2. Finals: Each one of the 4 teams will have another 2 chances. These rounds will be cumulative. At the end of the 8 rounds the best team with the two added scores will be the winner. The qualification ranking will be used for a tie.

The Poster

As part of the competition, each team must present their robot to the jury and explain the design specifications in a poster. The poster session takes on a considerable weight because it is a factor in making sure that the students themselves were highly involved in the design of the robot. The poster session will be examined by the judges. Each poster will be evaluated by the judges and upon their own discretion and depending on the performance of the students, a score of maximum 20 points will be given to the team. So, it is crucial to have a good poster and to make sure that all the students understand all the different aspects of the design to be eligible to participate in the contest. Poster Guidelines:

The poster presents the design of the team’s robot.

Teams will register for the poster session as part of the contest.

The limit on poster size is A1. Poster stands will be provided to each team.

Each team will give a 5-minute, focused oral presentation to the judges. The presentation schedule will be available at check-in time. Teams must make their presentation in front of their poster at the assigned time.

All posters and teams must use English as the official language.

Questions?

Please Contact Dr. Jinane Mounsef jmbcad@rit.edu