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Projects :: Roboticon
This project is a different project, as it isn't really part of our Robotics class. Roboticon is a robotics competition held at the University of Guelph by the Computer Science Club.
Results:
The results of the competition are as follows:
The winners of the first challenge were Team B with first, and Team A with second.
The winners of the second challenge were Team A with first and Team B with third.
The overall winners were Team A, with Team B in third.
More detailed info to come as soon as its available.
About the Team:
There are two teams going from our school, Kingsville Cavaliers Team A and Kingsville Cavaliers Team B. There are 4 people on Team A and 3 on Team B. You can find some more information at a friend's website here (please note that I do not have responsibility over what is on that link nor can I verify that the information is correct).
About the Competition:
Challenge 1:
Basically, according to the web-site and our understanding, a small toy parachute guy is going to be dropped into a plastic beaker with a lip on it and you are to get the parachute guy back behind the starting line. The distance between the starting line and the beaker is about 61 CM. The group to do it in the shortest time wins.
Challenge 2:
The second challenge was way more harder. We had to design and program a robot that would follow a black line and if it reached a red LED "node", turn right and continue on. However, you had to check to see if the light remains on or turns off, in the case that it goes off, it means that you have to turn right. But if it stays on, then you have finished the course. Official Rules can be found in the Media section.
How We Did:
Overall we did good considering we took home first and third place out of the 9 teams that were there.
The worse part about the whole trip was having to get up at 5:30 AM on Saturday so that we could arrive at our school around 6:10 AM (we need time to shower and a break for Tim Hortons).
Challenge 1:
The first challenge was undoubtedly easier than the second. We had most of the building done on the first meeting. The programming came latter as we had to wait for a computer to program the robot. Once we had that we did some testing and programming. On the last meeting, we decided it would be easier to bring the kit home and just program there. Once we got it home, Ferbinator did the groundwork programming and fine tuning of the robot itself, then we brought the kit to The Neuf's house so that it would be all ready to go the next day. During the night, The Neuf figured it would be nice to add a fail safe in the programming. That allowed our robot to automatically activate the arm as if the push sensor had been activated, in case it failed. The Neuf tried out a design idea, but it didn't work. The next day was the competition.
After we arrived at Roboticon 2005, we tested out our robot a few times and figured we would wait the hour and a half listening to some music until the competition started. Once it did, our robot went up and achieved the second best time of 2.88 seconds (out of 3 trials). Team B went and got first with an incredible time of only 2.53 seconds.
Challenge 2:
After we finished the first challenge, we received the details for the next challenge. The Neuf, Ferbinator, and some other teams members from the other team, went and thought out the basic programming required while the other members pretty much finished building the robot. The Neuf went through one program, but it didn't work so we scrapped it and then headed off to the LAN party that was held. The game was Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. It was all right, but we left as there was too many technical problems with the game itself. The was a tournament, and the winner received a game pad but we didn't stay to see who it was. Once we got back to the hotel, we made some coffee and turned on the TV to relax for an hour or so. After that hour, and when we were out of coffee we attempted to go and get some more from the front desk but we were not given any more coffee. So we went back upstairs to our room and watched some more TV until The Neuf and Ferbinator ordered everybody out of the room so that we could work on the programming and the others could build. The Neuf got another version of the programming almost done, but was too tired to continue on and turned in for the night.
The next day we got there and attempted to see if what was done with the code would actually work. It didn't and after a little fooling around with the code it was decided that we should start fresh. So The Neuf and others gathered around to brainstorm some ideas and later The Neuf went back to programming. Literally within a few minutes of the first trial, The Neuf was done all that he could do for the robot at the time. When we did the trial, we were one of two teams to actually et at least 1 red node. After the first trial, and some lunch, The Neuf went back to programming adding some new things and tweaking the robot a little. We tested the robot and it finally responded to the red nodes and with a little tweaking was able to turn a little bit. Time was almost out and with a few small program changes, we tested the robot. During the test we were able to get 2 red nodes. We decided to leave the program alone and wait for the second trial. When we did the trial, sadly, our robot didn't detect the first red none and ran of the playing area. The same team as before was able to get 1 red node.
Overall:
Because of the scoring system set up, there was a 3 way tie for first place - our team (Team A), Team B, and another school. We did a tiebraker by doing the course again after about 15 minutes of extra building time. We modified our robots design just a little bit by tilting the light sensor on an angle. Time came to test and we were up first. Team A managed to get 3 red nodes. Team B and the other team got no red nodes so there was another tiebraker. That consisted of five minutes building time to do a drag race. Team B flew down the run way but went off the course, while the other team when much slower but managing to stay on the track therefore winning second.
The first place winners received a Lego Mindstorms kit (valued around $300) and got their names on a giant trophy to be kept at the University. All three winners got a t-shirt, pencil, and another Lego trophy to back to the school.
Media:
Results - results of the competition
FAQ Game 1 - FAQ for Game 1
 Challenge 2 Rules - Official Rules for Challenge 2
Challenge 1 Code (NQC) - program we used for Challenge 1, in NQC
Challenge 2 Code (NQC) - program we used for Challenge 2, in NQC
Pictures - pictures of the competition and our robot (note that due to a technical error there is no pictures for the second challenge at the moment).
Movies - movies of the robot and others for and in the competition
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