Subject:
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Trinity College robot contest
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics.handyboard
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Date:
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Wed, 11 Sep 1996 13:12:51 GMT
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Original-From:
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Fred G. Martin <fredm@(spamless)media.mit.edu>
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Viewed:
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2839 times
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Hi everyone,
Jake Mendelssohn has posted the rules for the 4th annual spring 1997
Fire-Fighting Robot Contest. I went to the 1996 contest and it was
great fun. The contest draws people from all over the world,
including hobbyists, university folk, engineers, and kids. There are
separate entry divisions for grown-ups and kids so it really
encourages participation by everyone.
I'm going to be there again this time, along with the kids that I work
with during the school year. Oh, I forgot to mention, there is a
$1000 prize awarded in each of the two divisions. Yup, that's real
money you get to keep if you win!
The contest itself consists of a simplified maze that your robot must
navigate to find a candle and put it out. The maze itself is known
beforehand but the location of the candle is not.
Last year the dead-reckoners were out in full force and one of them
eventually won. Since you do know the maze, with good mechanical
design it's possible to build a robot that charts the same path
through every time, and just by counting encoder clicks doesn't get
lost.
I personally find creature-like robots that react to their
surroundings and deal with uncertainty more interesting.
Dead-reckoners are "just machines" to me.
But basically anything goes! Last year, there were a range of
attitudes on display from the robot builders---some people clearly
wanted to win, while others wanted to try out their ideas and make a
decent showing. My team's robot, built with LEGO genious Steve Ocko
and hacker extraordinare Brian Silverman, was hoping simply have a
single successful run (you get three chances). We were denied! It
was somewhat amusing as ours was the only robot built from LEGO in the
grown-up category (there were quite a few in the junior division).
This year they made at least one change in the rules to make the
contest a bit more "realistic," as Jake puts it. The problem was that
last year, a number of robots put out the candle by piercing a
canister of CO2 (soda chargers) shooting the compressed carbon dioxide
at the candle. Fine; but the force of the gas was so strong that a
robot simply needed to point its CO2 gun at the candle from the
"doorway" to a room, and it could put out the candle anywhere in the
room, even from several feet away. It kind of meant that if you had a
big gun, you didn't have to get very close or aim well.
This year your robot must be within 12" of the candle when it puts it
out. CO2 cartridges, which really are like shooting a fly with an
elephant gun in terms of effectiveness, are still allowed. One
related note: the rules suggest that robots can use water, foam, or
other such materials and make a mess. Last year my partners and I
took this seriously and built a shaving cream-shooting robot! I was
disappointed when only one other robot made a mess---everyone else
used CO2 cartridges (expensive---one per run!) or powerful fans (yeah,
like that would work in a real fire!). Anyway, it's all attitude, do
you want to win or do you want to have fun. I guess both are allowed
too :-).
Enough from me! Enclosed in Jake's message; at the bottom is a URL
with the full rules.
I'd like to encourage all Handy Board users to enter a design or just
come and schmooze. It would be a great way to meet each other, share
robot designs, and show off the Handy Board.
Yours,
Fred
------- Forwarded Message
From: JMendel141@aol.com
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 07:41:35 -0400
Message-ID: <960911074134_282423548@emout18.mail.aol.com>
Subject: Robot Contest
The 1997 Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest
$1,000 First Place Prize
The Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest is being sponsored again by Trinity
College and will be held on their campus in Hartford, Ct. on Sunday, April
20, 1997. This is the largest, public, true Robotics competition held in the
U.S. that is open to entrants of any age, ability or experience from anywhere
in the world.
Last April we had a great contest. People came from all over the U.S., Canada
and Europe to compete, participate, watch, learn and enjoy. This April, the
contest will be even better.
The goal of the 1997 contest is the same - to build a Robot that can find and
extinguish a fire in a house. The challenge for the entrants is to build a
computerized (not radio-controlled) Robotic device that can move through a
model of a single floor of a house, detect fire (a lit candle) and then
extinguish it. Robots that accomplish this task in the shortest time win.
Dimensions of the model house, which is 8 ft. by 8 ft. with walls, hallways
and rooms, are available in the official contest rules.
This weekend-long international event will culminate months of work and
effort by Robotists of all ages. Last year's contest drew interest from
people in all 50 states and 19 countries, and participants ranged from
college professors and engineers to elementary school students. Past winners
included a college professor from Connecticut, a class of high school
students from Ontario, Canada, engineers from Alabama, Florida and New
Hampshire, a toy designer from Los Angeles and an 8th grade student from
Pennsylvania.
The 1997 rules are very much like last year's rules, but we did make some
slight changes to make the contest more realistic, more fun and more like the
real world. There will be two divisions again this year. A Junior division
for those in High School and younger and a Senior division for everyone else.
There will be a cash prize of $1,000 awarded to the top winner with
additional prizes to other winners in those divisions.
Other events scheduled on the contest weekend include Robotics seminars, a
Robotics exposition and a showing of a movie with a Robotics theme.
In order to make this contest an even greater success, we need to get as many
people involved as possible, so I am asking all of you to post notices about
this event on any BBS or Internet sites you access and please tell everyone
you know about it. We will do what we can, but a lot depends on you.
We have video tapes of the 1996 and 1997 contest available for $25 each. This
price includes shipping. Send check payable to Trinity College to Jake
Mendelssohn at below address.
To receive a copy of the updated rules to the 1997 contest,
please send $3 (cash, check, money order - payable to Trinity College) to
Jake Mendelssohn, 190 Mohegan Drive, West Hartford, CT 06117
or download the information from the contest home page at
http://shakti.trincoll.edu/~jhough/fire_robot/comp.html
Good luck with your Robot and we'll see you in April!
- -Jake Mendelssohn
JMENDEL141@AOL.COM
------- End of Forwarded Message
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