Subject:
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Re: What are good LEGO robotics challenges?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Mon, 1 Sep 2003 00:10:10 GMT
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Viewed:
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918 times
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In lugnet.robotics, Jona Jeffords wrote:
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Thanks for mentioning my web site David, :)
As far as the actual challenges go, if you haven’t already looked at our site,
then you can add stair climbing to the list. I am wondering if your intent is
to have a list of challenges already attempted or potential challenges that
may not have been attempted yet? It seems like the latter is pretty open ended
since, within limitations of course, pretty much anything that can be done in
robotics at large can be done at some scale in LEGO.
Anyway, I am looking forward to whatever you end up putting on the web, good
luck!
Jona
http://www.24tooth.com
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I want it to be a list of both, actually. Things that have been done before
would of course have a lot more pictures to demonstrate the challenge. But I
would like this list to be something people could consult when they need ideas
for challenges. Many of them can be combined into one, including ones that have
never been attempted, so that’s what I want to see in the list.
I’ve realized as I was compiling this list that they can be categorized rather
nicely. The two big types are 1-robot challenges and multi-robot challenges,
which describe how many robots are on the field at a time. Of course, the robot
in a 1-robot challenge is being compared to other robots, but for the extent of
its turn, it’s all alone.
Anyway, the main categories I’ve found so far are these:
- Navigation: line following, mazes, climbing, obstacles, etc.
- Sports: sumo, tug-of-war, soccer, king of the hill, racing, etc.
- Board Games and Challenges Where the Robot Doesn’t Move (Much): Tic-tac-toe, rtlToronto’s Project X, and stuff like brick sorting.
- Gathering: find objects, avoid objects, get rid of objects, manipulate objects once you have them, etc.
The categories can be combined, too, so I’m not going to make the categorization
too strict. There is also the fact that some challenges don’t require any
“thinking” anyway; they test mechanical abilities (climbing, racing, etc.) It’s
always possible to add a condition to these kinds of challenges that makes the
RCX useful, like “turn around once you reach Point A and return.”
Some kinds of challenges lend themselves to becoming actual contests better than
others. Sumo is always a popular one, and so are ones involving at least two
robots and many objects on the field. So, for these kinds of contests I also
want to have example rules for people. They can change them as much as they
want, but there are standard questions to answer:
- What pieces are allowed? Pure LEGO? Allow custom sensors? Modified pieces? Pneumatics? Obscure/hard to find/really old, but still LEGO, pieces like 50x50 baseplates, Znap pieces (I had never heard of these until I found LUGNET), Flex cables, the large sprocket gears, 12V or 4.5V electrical elements, etc. If you use string, must it be Official LEGO String? Official Rubber Bands?
- How many pieces are allowed? Only the pieces in a single RIS kit? Unlimited pieces? How many RCXs/motors/sensors?
- Robot Dimensions? How much weight? How long and how wide? Height restrictions?
- What programming language(s) is(are) allowed?
- RCX AC adapter allowed/required? Specific number of batteries and total voltage allowed? (It’s possible to fit two shorter 1.5V batteries in the space a AA battery takes, giving you much more than 9V.)
- IR port restrictions (no shutdown codes, no random gibberish messages, etc)?
- Direct computer control allowed (meaning, is it really autonomous)? Control Lab allowed? Scout/Microscout allowed?
I want to make sure people are aware of all the kinds of things that can give
you an advantage. There are probably more of these, too.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: What are good LEGO robotics challenges?
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| (...) Thanks for mentioning my web site David, :) As far as the actual challenges go, if you haven't already looked at our site, then you can add stair climbing to the list. I am wondering if your intent is to have a list of challenges already (...) (21 years ago, 31-Aug-03, to lugnet.robotics)
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