Stalker

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EVENT HEAD
Muddit Poonia
muddit@robotix.in
+91-9735550122

" To be a star, you must shine your own light, walk your own path, and do not worry about the darkness, for that is when stars shine brightest. "

- Anonymous

Replicating data to spread its usage brings about a change in geometric progressions and proportions. Robotix brings you the opportunity to build two robots that can navigate a map and retrace the path mapped, in the way of an autonomous event, Stalker .

 

 

Build two separate autonomous robots such that the first robot is capable of line following and the second robot can trace the path followed by the first robot on another surface.

The arena is a framework with two surfaces. One of the autonomous robots (guide) needs to follow a preset line on the lower surface whereas the other autonomous robot (follower) needs to retrace the path followed by the guide robot on another surface above it. The upper surface is transparent. The transparent material is a Perspex sheet (also known as Plexiglas) of thickness 6mm.

The width of all lines is 2cm.

The path of the robot will not be disclosed prior to the event. The path may comprise of sharp turns of upto 135 degrees.

Check Points: Checkpoints are white strips 8cm in length perpendicular to the direction of motion and 2cm wide . They will pe placed over the line that the guide needs to follow on the lower surface. They will serve as a measure to judge the accuracy with which the guide follows the white line.

Markers: Markers are 32cm long and 2cm wide strips on the upper surface placed perpendicular to the virtual path that the follower bot needs to follow . The follower robot needs to cross the marker, with the robot body lying completely within the bounds of the marker. The position of each marker on the upper surface will be in synchronization with each checkpoint on the lower surface i.e. each marker on the upper surface will be placed directly above the checkpoint present on the lower surface. They will serve as a measure to judge the accuracy with which the follower bot stalks the guide bot.





Arena Dimensions
1. Each surface is a rectangle of dimension 1.8m*1.5m.
2. The vertical separation between the two surfaces is 60cm.

NOTE: Arena shown in picture below is only for better understanding. Actual path will be different from that shown here.

Stalker

  1. Each team can consist of a maximum of 4 members.

  2. Each team should have unique participants i.e. no two teams can have even a single participant common.

  3. The team members can be from different institutes or colleges.

  4. The right spirit of participation is expected from the participants.

  5. The decision of the ROBOTIX team will be final and binding.

Robots


  1. Both the robots must be completely autonomous.
  2. The guide robot needs to follow a preset white line against a black background on the lower surface.
  3. The follower robot needs to imitate the path on the transparent upper surface as traced by the guide robot on the lower surface.
  4. Both wired and wireless communication can be used for communicating between the robots.



Markers and Checkpoints


  1. Markers will be present on the upper surface to indicate the virtual path that should be followed by the follower. These markers will be used to judge the accuracy with which the follower is able to follow the guide.
  2. Checkpoints will be present on the lower surface to judge the accuracy with which the guide bot follows the white line.
  3. The postion of both the checkpoints and markers will be synchronised i.e. for each checkpoint placed on the lower surface , there will be a marker directly above it on the upper surface.
  4. Separate points will be given for detecting the checkpoints and markers.
  5. Robots should light visible LEDs (for at least 0.5 seconds) on detecting a marker or a checkpoint. In case of the follower robot, separate LEDs have to be lighted for detection of marker on the right edge and the left edge of the robot's body. The ROBOTIX team must be informed of the position of the LEDs on your robots (both follower and guide) which will give aforementioned indication before the commencement of the event.
  6. Points for detecting a marker will be awarded when the marker is detected beneath both the right and the left edges of the follower robot which will be indicated by the robot by lighting the corresponding LEDs. However, partial marks will also be awarded incase the bot detects only one portion of the marker i.e. only the left edge of the bot is underneath the marker or only the right edge of the bot is underneath the marker.
  7. An important point to note is that the points for detecting a marker will only be awarded when the follower bot detects the markers placed on the upper surface in order. i.e. say there are 6 markers on the upper surface. The marker closest to the point in the forward direction from where the bot starts will be defined as the starting marker and is numbered 1. Quite logically, the marker closest to the same starting point in the backward direction will be defined as the ending marker and will be numbered 6 (in our case).
    So as the follower bot starts stalking the guide, if it detects marker 1 first , misses marker 2 and 3, detects 4, and suddenly returns back and detects 3 and moves on and to detect 4(again), 5 and 6 , then it will be awarded points for detecting 1, 4,5,and 6 and not 3 since it had already detected 4 before detecting 3 thereby breaking the order.
  8. The color of the marker to be used is black.



Stalking


  1. The follower can trace its path in the following ways:
    • Move a certain distance behind the guide say starts when the guide has reached the first checkpoint of the run.
    • Follower starts after the guide has completed its run.
    • The follower may move exactly above the guide

  2. The guide is allowed only one run on the lower surface.
  3. There will be no external source of light present above the arena.



Restart and Timeout


  1. Maximum time allotted will vary from round to round.
  2. 2 Timeouts of 2 minutes each maybe taken. Penalty will be awarded for each timeout and bots will start from the last checkpoint passed.
  3. 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.
  4. In case of a restart the participant's robots will be set to their initial positions. Timer will be set to zero and the event will start afresh
    5. .



  1. The robot can be powered on-board as well as off-board.

  2. No kind of external control will be allowed.

  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 software. No programmers will be supplied.

  5. Hard coding is NOT allowed. Hard coding is defined here. Absolute and instant disqualification will take place if hard coding is confirmed.

  6. All the dimensions are to be considered with a tolerance of 10 % .

1. Each robot must fit inside a cube of side 25 cm before the commencement of the event.

2. The Follower robot is required to detect the markers and light visible LEDs to conform the detection. Separate LEDs have to be lighted for detection of marker on the right edge of the robot's body and the left edge of the robot's body. The duration for which the LEDs should be switched on is at least 0.5 seconds.

3. Similarly, the Guide robot is also required to detect checkpoints and light visible LEDs for at least 0.5 seconds each time a checkpoint is detected.

4. The autonomous robots should be On board processing robots, i.e., the robots cannot be controlled by a remotely kept computer.

5. LEGO kits or its spare parts or ready-made mechanical parts are not allowed.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms)

6. 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.

7. The robots should not damage the arena in any way. If it does so, the team may be disqualified.

  1. Detecting a checkpoint (D) = 30 points


  2. For completely (left and right edges of the robot's body) passing through the markers i.e. detecting both right and left portions of the marker independently by two visble leds. (M) = 90pts


  3. For passing through exactly one portion of the marker i.e. detecting exactly one portion of the marker by a visble led(OM) = 15pts


  4. Time Bonus (TB) = (Alloted time - Run time)/4


  5. Penalty for restart (R) = 50 points


  6. Penalty for timeout (T) = 20 points




Scoring formula = [30*D + 90*M + 15*OM + TB (if any)] - [ 50*R + 20*T]

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