robotic arm challenge manual - nrc – singapore€¦ · participants will need to design, build...

NRC 2019 Robotic Arm Tournament of 27 Ver22082019

Robotic Arm Challenge Manual

Beginner and Intermediate Category

Version: 22 August 2019


Table of Contents Robot Arm Challenge ........................................................................................................................................4

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................4

1. BEGINNER CATEGORY ...........................................................................................................................5

Challenge Description .........................................................................................................................................5

Game Description ...............................................................................................................................................5

Game Task ..........................................................................................................................................................5

Game Layout .......................................................................................................................................................8

Game Rules .........................................................................................................................................................8

Material ........................................................................................................................................................... 10

Scoring ............................................................................................................................................................. 11

Building Materials ............................................................................................................................................ 12

Building Instructions ........................................................................................................................................ 12

2. INTERMEDIATE CATEGORY .............................................................................................................. 13

Challenge Description ...................................................................................................................................... 13

Game Description ............................................................................................................................................ 13

Game Task ....................................................................................................................................................... 13

Game Layout .................................................................................................................................................... 16

Game Rules ...................................................................................................................................................... 16

Material ........................................................................................................................................................... 18

Scoring ............................................................................................................................................................. 19

Building Materials ............................................................................................................................................ 20

Building Instructions ........................................................................................................................................ 21


Version Change Log Remarks

1.2 - Updated playfield, Beginner Category

- Updated rules 1-6, Beginner Category

- Updated rules 12-15, Beginner Category

- Updated Game Layout, Intermediate Category

- Updated rules 1-5, Intermediate Category

- significant changes to

Game Layout of

Beginner and

Intermediate Category

1.3 - Update to image of an example wall plan. Positions are

numbered 1-7. Refer to page 6.

- Changed how a wall plan will be presented. Refer to

page 7

- Textual changes to the first and second paragraph of

page 7

- Update to page 12, Building Materials.

-Updated to paragraph 2, page 15: word ‘placement’ has

been replaced with reference to ‘position and colour’

1.4 - Change of Scoring for Beginner and Intermediate

categories:

1. Beginner category: Textual changes to item 1 of

Scoring sheet, page 11

2. Intermediate category: Textual changes to item 1

& 2 of Scoring sheet, page 19

1.5 - Changes to number 10 of Game Rules for Beginner

Category

1. Increased Teams calibration time to be 40

minutes before run 1.

2. Teams to be given 40 minutes calibration

before run 2

3. Back to back run for Round 2 and 3.


Robot Arm Challenge

Introduction

Man has always been in its most innovating streak in the construction industry. With creation

of new materials to the adaptation of new construction techniques, we have been ever pushing

the boundaries of how tall buildings can be erected and how complex their architecture can

be. Despite these innovations in machining and technology, there is still one task that is done

mostly by hand in this day and that is brick laying.

In the industry today, bricklayers are employed to arrange a row of bricks in line or in a pattern

in order to achieve the fundamental requirements of most buildings, making a wall. Although

there has been some advancement in automating this process, humans are still in the fore

front because of this chore. Robots have not yet been fully adopted in the practice of

bricklaying and we need your help to promote the advantages of employing robots for this

repetitive and manual job.

In this challenge, you will be tasked with designing, building and programming your own robot

arm that is able to lay bricks to form a wall.


1. BEGINNER CATEGORY

Challenge Description

Robots have not been widely adopted in the essential process of brick laying in the

construction industry. Let us improve on this scenario!

We need your help in creating a robot arm that can lay bricks in the shape of a wall, so that

humans can do less laborious work and can focus on other creative tasks.

Participants will need to design, build and program a robotic arm which simulates the task of

an industrial robot arm. The robot arm will be required to lift and place objects with

outstanding precision and speed.

Age Group: 8 – 12 years old

Game Description

It is all about speed and precision. Participants will need to build and program an autonomous

arm that moves and transfers objects from point A to point B. The objects are Construction-

Bricks (a description of a Construction-Brick can be found below). The robot arm will need to

be able to lift these Construction-Bricks and place them in a specific order. This order is called

a ‘Wall-Plan’ and will be given only on the competition day. Participants will need to use their

robotics knowledge, skill and creativity to ensure that their robot arm can lift and place the

Construction-Bricks according to the Wall-Plan.

Teams will be given a total of 3 runs. Each run has a different Wall-Plan from the others. The

team with the best score and best time of one of the three runs will win.

Game Task

Participants will need to program a robot to pick up Construction-Bricks and place them in the

Wall Construction area according to the Wall-Plan. Below is an example of a Construction-

Brick and a wall created out of them.


Here is an example of a Construction-Brick:

Here is an example of a wall:

The fourth layer is made of 6 Green

Construction-Bricks

The third layer is made of 6 Yellow

Construction-Bricks

The second layer is made of 6 Blue

Construction-Bricks

The first layer is made of 7 Red

Construction-Bricks

The Construction-Bricks are all the same size and come in 4 different colours. Yellow, green,

blue and red (LEGO colours, bricks can be found in the WRO Brick set). Furthermore, the area

from where the Construction-Bricks may be picked up from is going to remain the same

throughout the challenge. This area is called the Construction-Brick collection area. Teams may

delegate one member to feed individual bricks to the robot by hand.

For each run, participants will be given a ‘Wall-Plan’. This plan shows the colour sequence

which the participants must follow to build the wall.

4


Here is an example of a Wall-Plan:

Layer Position 1 Position 2 Position 3 Position 4 Position 5 Position 6 Position 7

First Red Red Blue Blue Green Green Yellow

Second Yellow Yellow Red Red Blue Blue

Third Green Yellow Red Blue Red Yellow

Fourth Yellow Yellow Red Red Blue Blue

As you can see, the Wall-Plan above requires the various layers to be built from a mix of

colours.

Other than the colours, the positioning of the Construction-Bricks is also important. The first

layer of the wall must be constructed completely in the Wall Construction area and must be

touching the corresponding black squares. For e.g., The Wall-Plan above requires the first 2

bricks to be red, therefore there should be at least 2 separate red Construction-Bricks touching

the black squares numbered 1 and 2.

However, for remaining layers of the wall, the Construction-Bricks must be placed (on top of

the previous layer) such that each Construction-Brick rests only on two separate Construction-

Bricks of the previous layer. (Refer to the example of a wall in page 6). The only exception to

this rule is given to corner Construction-Bricks (left most or right most Construction-Brick of

each layer).

*All Construction-Bricks, and the playfield, will be provided during the tournament day.


Game Layout

All dimensions may vary by +/- 8mm on Tournament Day.

Game Rules

1. The robot is allowed to travel anywhere in the Robot base area. The robot must never

leave the Robot base area (The Robot base area is the white space + black border. The

robot cannot touch the red border of the Robot Base Area)

2. Robots are not allowed to touch the red lines. Any such action will be considered for

penalty/disqualification by the Chief Judge.

3. The controller, motors and sensors used to assemble robots must be from LEGO®

MINDSTORMS™ sets (NXT or EV3). The HiTechnic Colour Sensor is the only third-party

element that can be added to this configuration.

4. The robot may be constructed with the use of only 1 controller.

5. Only LEGO branded elements may be used to construct the remaining parts of the

robot. NRC recommends use of Education versions of LEGO MINDSTORMS.

6. The EV3/NXT Intelligent Brick, motors and sensors must be AUTHENTIC LEGO parts.

Modification of any original parts e.g. EV3/NXT Intelligent Brick, motor, sensors etc are

not allowed. Violation of this rule may result in disqualification.

7. Up to a maximum of 4 motors and 4 sensors are allowed.


8. There will be a total of 3 runs in this challenge. Overall champion will be based on the

best scoring run. In the event of a tie in scores, the robot that took the least time to

achieve the highest score will win.

9. Each run will be 3 minutes long.

10. Participants can pre-assemble the robotic arm and enter the quarantine area with their

robot and laptops. Teams will be given 40 minutes to calibrate their robot on the

competition playfield before the first run. Before run 2, another 40 minutes of

calibration time will be given. There will be no calibration time given before run 3.

11. Teams will be given the Wall-Plan 10 mins before each official run.

12. Laptops are allowed in the quarantine area for programming purposes only. Laptops

are not allowed to connect to the internet for the duration of the competition at the

competition venue.

13. Robot arm is not allowed to pick or hold more than 1 Construction-Brick at any point

of time

14. The Construction-Bricks must be picked up by the robot, only from the Construction-

Brick collection area and while the Construction-Brick is completely within and in

contact of the collection area. Team members must ensure that the robot is picking up

the Construction-Brick when it is in rest and without any human interference.

15. Any Construction-Brick picked up by the robot while it is not completely in the

collection area and not in contact of collection area, will be disqualified. Any associating

bricks placed on top of that Construction-Brick (in the Wall Building Area) will be

disqualified.

16. 1 Team member may choose to feed Construction-Bricks to the robot by placing the

Construction-Brick in the collection area by hand and only one Construction-Brick at a

time. No official help will be provided to the team in feeding the Construction-Bricks

during the run.

17. The robot can only perform grab and place actions. No throwing or sliding of mission

objects are allowed. A throw or slide is considered when the Construction-Brick

continues to remain in motion after losing contact with any part of the robot.

18. The Construction-Brick must be completely intact for scoring. Any Construction-Bricks

with missing parts will not be considered for any scores.

19. When looked at from the top view, the Construction-Bricks must be within the Wall

Building Area to be scored (black lines of the Wall Building Bricks are not part of the

scoring area).

20. Neither students nor referees can interfere with the position of Construction-Bricks after

the robot has picked it up and for the remainder of the match thereafter.


21. Once the run has started, no participant can touch the robot or the playing field (except

of Construction-Brick in the collection area). Any such action will be considered for

penalty/disqualification by the Chief Judge.

22. Event Officials will provide the Construction-Bricks (LEGO bricks). Participants are not

allowed to use their own LEGO bricks for the challenge.

23. Participants are not allowed to have any communication with anyone outside of the

quarantine area during the quarantine period.

24. If the robotic arm is found to be controlled by another device or non-autonomously,

the team will be disqualified.

Material

The EV3/NXT Intelligent Brick, motors and sensors must be supplied by LEGO Education

Authorised Distributor or Partner in its respective region i.e. Singapore. Electronic parts from

other suppliers are not allowed. Modification of any original parts e.g. EV3/NXT Intelligent

Brick, motor, sensors etc are not allowed. Violation of this rule may result in disqualification.


Scoring

The champion of this challenge will be based on the best score of all the 3

runs. In the case of a tie in scores, the best time of the best run will be used. All

scores will only be given if position of bricks match the Wall-Plan.

S.No Activity by robot Scores Total

1 Each of the first layer of Construction-Bricks are placed

completely within Wall Construction area.

• Construction-Bricks are laid according to Wall-

Plan

• Construction-Bricks are in contact with black

numbered markers respectively.

1 point per brick 7 points

2 Each of the second layer of Construction-Bricks is

placed completely within scoring area

• Construction-Bricks are resting on top of at

least 2 Construction-Bricks of the first layer

(except for corner bricks)

2 points per

brick

12 points

3 Each of the third layer of Construction-Bricks is placed

completely within Wall Construction area


least 2 Construction-Bricks of the second layer


4 points per

brick

24 points

4 Each of the fourth layer of Construction-Bricks is placed

completely within Wall Construction area


least 2 Construction-Bricks of the third layer


6 points per

brick

36 points

*A corner brick is the first or last brick in the row of that layer.

Total (Max) 79


Building Materials One complete playfield will require these components:

- 7 Construction-Bricks of these colours: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow.

Building Instructions To build 1 Construction-Brick you will need:

Follow these steps to build 1 Construction-Brick:

6 X *You will need this brick

in Red, Blue, Yellow,

Green LEGO colours.

These bricks can be

found in the WRO brick

set.


2. INTERMEDIATE CATEGORY

Challenge Description

A construction company needs for a tower to be constructed with the aid of robots. The

construction of the tower requires the use of Tower-bricks of various sizes and colours. Some

Tower-bricks are large and must be used for the foundation of the tower. Whereas other bricks

are smaller and should be used only for the top of the tower. Furthermore, clients have chosen

their own unique colour scheme for their towers.

Let’s help the construction company make a robot that builds a tower based on each client’s

needs!

Participants will need to design, build and program a robotic arm which simulates the task of

an industrial robot arm. The robot arm will be required to lift and place objects of varying sizes

and colours with outstanding precision and speed.

Age Group: 12 – 17 years old

Game Description

In this category, there are a total of 2 runs. The tower (a simple example shown below) is

required to be built for each run, however the colour sequence for building the tower will be

different for each round.

There are 2 different brick sizes and there are 4 different colours for each size (refer below to

size and colour of bricks). The larger bricks are always the lower levels of the tower, but the

colour scheme may be different for each position of the Tower-bricks.

Game Task

Participants need to build a tower by placing the bricks in the correct sequence. A Tower-Plan

will be given to the students before each round. Students will be given 30 mins to input this

plan into their robot, thereafter the robot is expected to execute the building of this tower

completely autonomously.


This Tower-Plan will list out the colours of the bricks that belong to the 1st Layer, 2nd Layer, 3rd

Layer and 4th layer. The Tower-Bricks come in two sizes. The Large Tower-Bricks will be used

to build the 1st layer and 2nd layer of the tower. The Small Tower-Bricks will be used to build

the 3rd layer and 4th layer.

This is how the Large Tower-Bricks and the Small Tower-Bricks look:

The Tower-Plan will show the students which coloured bricks should go in which order to form

the tower.

A visual representation of this requirement be seen below.

An example of a Tower-Plan:

Large Tower-Brick Small Tower-Brick


A tower made based on the colours of the colour map above:

The Large Tower-Bricks will be placed in the Brick Collection area 1 and the Small Tower-Brick

will be placed in the Brick Collection area 2. Lastly, participants should note that the position

and colour of the Tower-Bricks will be randomized. of the Large Tower-Bricks and Small Tower-

Bricks on the playfield, will be randomized before each round.

All Tower-bricks will be provided to students at the competition.


Game Layout

All dimensions may vary by +/- 8mm on Tournament Day.

Game Rules

1. The participants’ robot arm base needs to be completely within the Robot base area

and must be stationary during every round.

2. The robot arm is not allowed to pick & hold more than 1 Tower-Brick at any point of

time.

3. The controller, motors and sensors used to assemble robots must be from LEGO®

MINDSTORMS™ sets (NXT or EV3). The HiTechnic Colour Sensor is the only third-party

element that can be added to this configuration.

4. The robot may be constructed with the use of only 1 controller.

5. Only LEGO branded elements may be used to construct the remaining parts of the

robot. NRC recommends use of Education versions of LEGO MINDSTORMS.

6. The EV3/NXT Intelligent Brick, motors and sensors must be AUTHENTIC LEGO parts.

Modification of any original parts e.g. EV3/NXT Intelligent Brick, motor, sensors etc are

not allowed. Violation of this rule may result in disqualification.

7. Up to a maximum of 4 motors and 4 sensors are allowed.


8. There will be a total of 2 runs in this challenge. Overall champion will be based on the

best scoring run. In the event of a tie in scores, the robot that took the least time to

achieve the highest score will win.

9. Participants can pre-assemble the robotic arm and enter the quarantine area with their

robot and laptops. Teams will be given 30 minutes to adjust their robot prior to the start

of each individual run.

10. Laptops are allowed in the quarantine area for programming purposes only.

11. Only grab and place actions are allowed. No throwing or sliding of Tower-bricks are

allowed. A throw or slide is when the Tower-Brick continues to remain in motion after

losing contact with any part of the robot.

12. Each run will be 4 minutes long.

13. Event Officials will provide the Tower-Bricks (LEGO bricks). Participants are not allowed

to use their own LEGO bricks for the challenge.

14. Once the run has started, no participant can touch the robot or the playing field. Any

such action will be considered for disqualification by the Chief Judge.

15. Participants are not allowed to have any communication with anyone outside of the

quarantine area during the quarantine period

16. If the robotic arm is found to be controlled by another device or non-autonomously,

the team will be disqualified.

17. All Tower-Bricks must be placed within the Tower-Construction area. From the top view,

all Tower-Bricks must be within the Tower-Construction area (not including the black

lines).

18. The 1st and 2nd layer of the tower must be constructed from Large Tower-Bricks.

19. The 3rd and 4th layer of the tower must be constructed from Small Tower-Bricks.

20. For Tower-bricks of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th layer to score, each Tower-Brick must be resting

on top of at least 2 bricks from the layer below it. The Tower-brick and all Tower-bricks

on top of the previous layer will not score otherwise.


Material

The EV3/NXT Intelligent Brick, motors and sensors must be supplied by LEGO Education

Authorised Distributor or Partner in its respective region i.e. Singapore. Electronic parts from

other suppliers are not allowed. Modification of any original parts e.g. EV3/NXT Intelligent

Brick, motor, sensors etc are not allowed. Violation of this rule may result in disqualification.


Scoring

The champion of this challenge will be based on the Best score of one of the

two runs. In the case of a tie in scores, the team with the lowest time taken will

win.

S.No Task Each Total

1 Each of the 4 Large Tower-bricks of the 1st layer is placed within

the Tower-Construction area

• The order of the bricks is as given in the Tower-map

3 points 12 points

2 Each of the 4 Large Tower-bricks of the 1st layer is placed within

the Tower-Construction area

• The order of the bricks is not as given in the Tower-map.

1 point 4 points

3 Each of the 3 Large Tower-bricks of the 2nd layer is placed

within the Tower-Construction area

• The order of the bricks is as given in the Tower-map.

5 points 15 points

4 Each of the 3 Large Tower-bricks of the 2nd layer is placed



2 points 6 points

5 Each of the 2 Small Tower-bricks of the 3nd layer is placed


• The order of the bricks is e as given in the Tower-map.

7 points 14 points

6 Each of the 2 Small Tower-bricks of the 3rd layer is placed



6 points 12 points

7 The Small Tower-brick of the 4th layer is placed within the

Tower-Construction area

• The order of the brick is as given in the Tower-map.

20 points 20 points

8 The Small Tower-brick of the 4th layer is placed within the

Tower-Construction area

• The order of the brick is not as given in the Tower-map.

10 points 10 points


Building Materials For this challenge, you will require:

2 X Large Tower-Brick (Green), 2 X Large Tower-Brick (Yellow), 2 X Large Tower-Brick (Blue), 2 X Large Tower-

Brick (Red),

2 X Small Tower-Brick (Green), 2 X Small Tower-Brick (Yellow), 2 X Small Tower-Brick (Blue), 2 X Small Tower-

Brick (Red),


Building Instructions

Large Tower Brick


Small Construction Brick:

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