A.C.R.O.S.S. (Automated Constructions Robot Operations Systems)

Category of Event: Autonomous Robotics

If indeed the world does face a calamity at the end of 2012, we will need to start re-building in 2013. And bridges are what we will need greatly; to connect people, to cross gaps, and to break down barriers and restrictions. Chances are we will need the help of our robots for that very purpose should such a day ever come!
In the aptly named event A.C.R.O.S.S (Automated Constructions Robot Operations Systems), teams will have to design a pair of autonomous robots which can collaborate with each other. With one robot above and the other below, a series of chasms in between raised buildings will have to be crossed so as to reach the other end. No mountain too high; no valley too low for these robots!
 

Build two autonomous robots that communicate and collaborate with each other to cross a series of chasms (Gaps that the robot will encounter in its path).

Download the PDF here.

Factors

1. Number of times the lower robot positions itself below the gap and thereby lights an LED = L.
2. Number of times upper robot senses a gap and lights an LED = U.
3. Time bonus = TB (Total allotted run time – Run time of robot in the event).
5. Number of times lower robot collides with the buildings or path blockers= C.
6. Number of grid lengths passed while grazing the wall = K.
7. Number of restarts = R.
8. Number of timeouts = T.

The teams will start their run with an initial score of 500 from which the remaining points will be deducted or added to.

Where TB is the time rounded off to the nearest higher multiple of 4.

Total Score = 500 + (L*150) + (U*75) + (TB/4) - (C*15) - (R*60) - (T*40) - (K*40).

Robot

1. Both the robots should be completely autonomous.
2. The upper robot needs to follow a preset white line against a black background on the upper surface.
3. The lower robot needs to traverse a 8x8 grid made of white strips on a black background on the lower surface.
4. Both wired and wireless communication may be used for communication between the robots.

Node Indicators 

1. Node indicators will be present on the upper surface to indicate the presence of a node or grid junction, i.e. an intersection of perpendicular lines, of the grid underneath.
2. A node indicator will be a white strip 3 cm long and 9 cm wide that will be attached perpendicular to the 3 cm white line being followed by the upper robot.
3. The arena for the event with exact positions of the gaps would not be revealed before the commencement of the event.
4. The arena images shown here are just pictorial representations of what the arena might look like at the time of the event.

Path Blockers

1. In the second round of the event there will be certain nodes, which would not be accessible.
2. Path Blocker would be a plank which would exactly fit between two buildings thereby restricting the robot’s freedom of movement in a given direction.
3. A robot cannot remove a Path Blocker from its path. It has to change its course to reach on the other side of the Path Blocker.
4. The arena for the event with exact positions of the Path Blockers would not be revealed before the commencement of the event.
5. The arena images shown here are just pictorial representations of what the arena might look like at the time of the event.

Traversal

1. For both the rounds, the starting position of the lower robot is at (0,0) position of the grid. (0, 0) corresponds to a corner on the grid. The starting position for the upper robot will be at (1,2) position of the grid.
2. The participants are free to choose the orientation of their robots.
3. The upper robot has to traverse the arena on the top of the buildings by following a preset line, moving from one building top to the other across the gaps with the assistance of the lower robot.
4. On sensing the gap the upper robot has to light a visible LED indicating that it has detected the gap and keep it lit until it crosses the gap.
5. No points would be awarded for crossing the gap unless the robot lights the LED for the entire process.
6. The lower robot should light a visible LED as soon as it reached the gap and keep it lit for as long as it takes the upper robot to cross the gap.
7. Separate points will be awarded for lighting both the LEDs.
8. The ROBOTIX Team must be informed of the position of the LEDs on your robots which will give aforementioned indication before the commencement of the event.

Restarts & Timeouts

1. A maximum of two timeouts of 2 minutes each may be taken. Penalty will be imposed for each timeout and robots will start from the last node crossed.
2. The participant's robots can have a maximum of three restarts. Restarts, if any, will apply to both the robots. A penalty will be imposed on the team for every restart that they take.
3. In case of a restart the participant's robots will be set to their initial positions. Timer will be set to zero and the run will start afresh with the addition of the penalty for restart.

1. Each robot can have maximum dimension of sides (30*20*25) cm, (L*B*H) respectively. No part/mechanism of/on the robot should exceed the given dimensions before the commencement of the event run. The robots can exceed their respective dimensions once the event commences.
2. The robots need to follow lines and traverse only along the grid.
3. The autonomous robots should be On board processing robots, i.e., the robots cannot be controlled by a remotely kept computer.
4. LEGO kits or its spare parts or pre-made mechanical parts are not allowed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms)
5. Ready-made gearboxes, sensors, development boards can be used but no other part of the robot should contain any ready-made components. Simple car bases with no extra features may be used.
6. The bots should not harm the A.C.R.O.S.S. arena in any way. If it does so, a penalty will be imposed on the team. The magnitude of the penalty will be decided by Team ROBOTIX.

1. All arena dimensions have a tolerance of 10%.
2. Each team can consist of a maximum of 4 members.
3. No abstract submission required for this event.
4. Each team should have unique participants i.e. no two teams can have even a single participant common.
5. The team members can be from different institutes or colleges.
6. The right spirit of participation is expected from the participants.
7. The decision of the ROBOTIX Team will be final and binding.

Make two autonomous robots, the first robot capable of traversing through the arena by following a line and the second robot capable of traversing a grid. The first robot is constrained to move over the top of  blocks (viz. buildings) of varying length, but constant height and width, with gaps in between (refer the Arena). The buildings are present over alternate rows of the grid surface. The second grid following robot  on the lower surface must communicate and assist the first in crossing over the gaps.

The event would be conducted at two levels-

Round One

1. There will be a single run of runtime 8 minutes.
2. The maximum number of gaps will be four.

Round Two

1. There will be a single run of total run time 10 minutes.
2. The maximum number of gaps will be eight.
3. Some of the nodes in the arena would not accessible due to path blockers placed on a few nodes.

1. Team Robotix would not be responsible for any difficulties a participant team faces in the working of it RF receivers due to the transmitters of any other team                 in the vicinity.
2. A standard 220 volt AC supply will be provided by Team Robotix in the arena.
3. All circuitry and sensory equipment should be placed on the robot adhering to the ROBOT SPECIFICATIONS.
4. Participants will have to bring their own programmers, cables and soft-wares. No programmers will be supplied.
5. Hard coding is NOT allowed. Hard coding is defined here.
6. The bot can be powered on-board as well as off-board.
7. No kind of external control will be allowed.

For any queries or doubts regarding the event A.C.R.O.S.S., visit our forum forum.robotix.in or contact:

Facebook Discussion group for the event A..C.R.O.S.S.

Aditya Agarwal
aditya@robotix.in
+91 750 135 1939

Ishan Garg
ishan@robotix.in
+91 980 064 8888

The tutorial for this event is available on the A.C.R.O.S.S. tutorial page.

You can discuss your doubts regarding this event at out A.C.R.O.S.S. Forum

Facebook Discussion group for the event A..C.R.O.S.S.

Click here to register for A.C.R.OS.S.

Accommodation details are now uploaded on the Kshitij website. Fill the forms as soon as possible.

Learn how to navigate grids with ease. Click here

For the updated tutorial of A.C.R.O.S.S. visit this link

Add yourself to the Facebook Group to get notified of the event changes immediately.

For a tutorial on Grid following, visit here.

For a tutorial on Line Following, visit this link.

1.     The arena will consist of parallel blocks (viz. buildings) with a navigable top based on alternate rows of an 8 x 8 grid placed on the floor.

Fig: Buildings are highlighted in red.

Fig: First Round Arena Picture.

2. The buildings will not be continuous throughout the arena, i.e. there will be gaps between the buildings. A gap will always correspond to a node of the grid.

3. The upper navigable surface of the buildings will have a white line centrally aligned on a black surface.

4. There will be node indicators on the top surface to mark a corresponding grid junction on the lower surface. The node indicator has been highlighted with red outline in the picture below.

5. Team Robotix would be providing two bridges for the crossing of the gap. It is not compulsory to use these bridges; Participants are allowed to bring their own bridging mechanisms.

6. The bridges would be two types of planks of length 20 cm. The images for both the planks are given below. One of them would have walls of height 5 cm at the sides and the other would be painted black with a white line of 3 cm and one node indicator as shown in the picture below.

7. Both the types of bridges would be available in different widths i.e. one would be of width of 25 cm and the other of 30 cm.

8. The arena surface would be made of plywood painted with black matte paint.

9. The arena would be having standard classroom illumination.

Fig: Bridge with walls

Fig: Node indicator highlighted in red.

1. The arena of first round will be same as shown in Fig. The orientation of platforms with respect to the grid will also be same as shown in the picture. However the positions of gaps may vary but the number of gaps will remain same.

2. The lower robot will start from a corner on the lower grid that is from (0, 0) position. Participants are free to choose this corner according to their coding. The orientation of the robot can also be chosen freely

3. The upper robot will start from the coordinates as shown in the above picture that is from (1, 2). These will be declared before the start of the run. However, the orientation of that robot has to be fixed along the positive X axis as it can travel only in that direction.

Arena Dimensions

1. The arena is a black plywood surface with dimensions "3m x 3m" divided into an 8 x 8 grid.

2. The size of each grid square is 35 cm. This includes one line of width 3 cm.

3. There will be 8 such grid nodes in each row and column.

4. The height of each building is 20 cm and its top would have a width of 30 cm. The width of the gap between two buildings is 20 cm.

5. The white line on the building top will be 3 cm wide.

6. The node indicator will be a white strip of dimension 3 cm x 9 cm.

7. The path blocker will be plank of dimension 40 x 20 cm (B x H) and of thickness 1 cm.

This round will be similar to round one with the only changes being that there will be more Gaps and the addition of Path Blockers, which are explained below:

Path Blockers

1. In this round of the event, there will be certain nodes which would not be accessible due to the presence of path blockers.
2. The path blocker will be plank of dimension 20 cm x 40 cm and of thickness 1 cm.

Fig: Dimension of building and path blocker.

Fig: Second Round Arena.