April Meeting on 26th - Competition Details!!!

We're doing a QuickTrip Competition on April 26th. Yes, we have prizes. :)

The meeting will be on 4th Saturday as they're closed on 3rd...I believe they're having a special event that day for the new planetarium and the competition may be out where the crowds can watch. Should be fun!!!

A .pdf of the competition details in the image below can be downloaded in the Files section. Post any questions about the competition in this discussion.

What are the size specs/limits for the robot?

Patrick

I took this from the dallas personal robotics group rules. Sounds reasonable to me but need others to agree on this specification.

Robots must be:

* Autonomous (self-controlled) and may use remote computer for control.
* Built from scratch, assembled from a kit, or be a modified factory assembled robot or toy.
* Less than 24 inches in width, 24 inches in length and 48 inches in height (dimensions include extended arms, feelers and the like). Builders should consider reducing width and length to make sure the robot can navigate contest course and endzone areas subject to allowances in course size.
* Free of a drive system or expulsion of materials which will damage the contest course surface.
* Non-hazardous to spectators, pets, or property.
* Free of any form of combustion device(s) e.g. gas engines, rocket engines, flame throwers, candles.

Will the "floor" be a dark color? this will make a difference on being able to sense the white tape.

I would be willing to cut a 4x8 sheet of thin plywood and paint it and tape lines.

Thanks for the replies. Hopefully we can get some more insight in the coming weeks or the next (my first) meeting. I did notice that back in January the meetup notes said something about setting down the rules for April's competition. ? Anyone attend?

Patrick

Yes, we discussed rules and what we came up with is posted. Any extras add to this forum.

The floor we will be using is tan, yes, we can use a painted mat if that would be better. Remember the cross lines are white and the side lines are black, so floor would need to not be either of those colors. Thoughts???

Once we nail that down... YES Steve! Feel free to make our floor. :)

And personally I think as long as the robot can fit within the starting area, it should be good to go.

Hey Steve how Tan are you thinking? I was thinking about using a sensor like one on a line following robot to detect the border. So I wonder how "Tan" something would have to be before the sensor would recognize it as being dark compared to light. My thought is to program my bot to go forward until it sees a black line (Point B border), and reverse/180 and go forward until it sees another black line (Point A border) and stop.

Patrick

Hi Patrick,

Good question on "how" tan. I have seen this board at a competition. As I remember it, the floor was all black. I think the walls were white. The lines defining the A and B borders within the travel area were white, so there was good contrast when sensing the entry to each area and good reflection of light when sensing the walls. I am assuming that we need an "in between" color because we are using black tape to mark our perimeter boundaries. I have some thin plywood in the garage that is a "tan" color. We may be able to get by without painting it at all. I will bring a board to the next meeting to try it out.

I was also thinking of using the line sensor to detect the white line. If your line sensor produces an analog signal, then you can "tweak" the response the day of the competition.

Steve, What type of line sensor were you planning on using? I was thinking of using a Fairchild QRB1143. Seems like the most common.Heres a good place for some info on it if your interested. http://www.superdroid...

Patrick

I am using those sensors on one bot and haven't put sensors on another one that I hope to use. My sons are using mindstorm nxt and a scribbler, which have their own type of sensors.