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Copyright 2009 Trinity College
Edited by
Ed Nisley (ed.nisley@ieee.org)
These rules and procedures apply to all Trinity College Fire-Fighting Home Robot (TCFFHRC) competitions.
Anyone may enter a robot.
There is no limit on team size.
In the rest of this document, the term ``team'' means either the group or the individual associated with a robot entered in the contest.
The challenge presented by the Trinity College Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest (TCFFHRC) and the associated regional contests is for contestants to prepare a unique robot of their own design. However, we recognize that some teams may wish to enter a kit-based robot, a commercial robot, or a robot that shares many design features with another robot entered in the contest. Therefore in 2010 we will award prizes to two categories (kit robots and unique robots) in the Junior, High-School, and Senior Divisions. The Walking, Expert, and Assistive Divisions will not have separate kit/unique categories.
A team may enter more than one robot, but to qualify for a unique-robot prize each robot must differ visibly and significantly from other robots in at least some aspects of electronics or mechanics. Thus an individual, team or school may not register multiple identical robots as separate entries in the same Division except in the kit category.
Multiple, possibly identical, robots that function as a swarm may be entered in the Trinity College House-on-Fire Expert Robot Event. Those robots may not be entered as separate robots in other Divisions.
Each team must indicate whether their robot is a kit robot or a unique robot, with characteristics as listed below, when registering it for the contest. Note that paint, stickers, and other non-functional components will not transform a kit robot into a non-kit robot.
If you do not register between February 1 and March 20 (midnight to midnight), your robot will not be in the contest. There are no exceptions.
You have spent hundreds of hours and perhaps as many dollars on your robot. Register early!
Registration for the TCFFHRC is available only on-line through the contest website. We will accept registration applications from 12:00 a.m. on February 1, 2010 to 11:59 p.m. on March 20, 2010. For further details check the website.
The steps in the registration process are as follows:
A non-refundable registration fee is required for each robot entered into the contest. The fee must accompany each entry.
If you want to enter two robots, then you must build two robots: the same physical robot cannot be entered twice, even if two entry fees are paid.
We repeat: registration fees are non-refundable.
The Division fees for 2010 are as follows:
The division structure makes the event more enjoyable for students, but it opens up an area of possible conflict. The problem occurs when a group consisting of people both in and out of school enters a robot in the Junior or High School Division.
The Judges will decide whether a given robot has been entered in the correct Division based on both the robot's capabilities and the team's abilities.
For example, consider a second-grade student who enters a microprocessor controlled, stepper motor driven robot that uses modulated IR sensing and a video navigation system. The control program seems to be written in C++ and the student's parents just happen to work for NASA.
This robot would be reclassified in the Senior division.
Normally a robot created by a group of 6th and 7th grade students with an adult advisor would enter the Junior Division. Such students may also have the ability and skill to build and program the robots that may be entered into the Junior and High School Divisions.
This does not mean that the students have to do everything, i.e., mechanics, hardware, electronics, software completely on their own. On the other hand, we do not want to see an advisor spending hours upon hours writing and debugging a student's software. We are less concerned about the role of an adult who helps a team of college students since the team would enter the Senior Division, which is open to everyone.
Adults helping students is perfectly OK; that's how students learn.
Adults taking over the project is not; that's how student learn to cheat.
As far as the students are concerned, the goal of the contest should be education, not winning. We know that the students (sometimes desperately) want to win, but their adult mentors must allow them to compete, win or lose, on their own merits.
This contest runs on the honor system, but we expect that the student contestants bear primary responsibility for their robots. Should we find any case to the contrary, we will reassign the robot to a more appropriate Division. In these cases the decision of the Chief Judge is final.
Teams should build their robots and bring them to the contest ready to compete: this is not a construction contest where you build robots at the event!
Trinity will provide limited time and space for last minute changes, adjustments, and improvements. However, the robots should be completed (or very nearly so) by the time they get here.
We have eliminated qualification trials. Every team registered for the contest will have the chance to run their robot on Sunday.
However, we have adopted the following rule for the 2010 High School and Senior Divisions: To qualify for a third trial in the competition, a robot must put out the candle at least once during the first two trials. Thus the first two rounds of the regular competition serve as elimination rounds.
TCFFHRC events will be held at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, on Saturday & Sunday, 10-11 April 2010.
The full schedule of events for the contest weekend will be posted on the website at http://www.trincoll.edu/events/robot/.
The Chief Judge is the final and absolute authority on the interpretation of all rules and decisions.
A team may challenge any ruling or scoring of the Arena Judges by stating that they wish to appeal the problem to the Chief Judge. The Chief Judge will then be called in to decide the matter.
The challenge must be made before the team leaves the arena after the completion of a trial.
All results, scores, and decisions become irrevocable after the team leaves the arena.
The Judges may stop any robot at any time if, in their opinion, it is performing (or is about to perform), any action that could be dangerous or hazardous to people, facilities, or other equipment.
Robots must not use flammable or explosive materials to extinguish the flame.
The goal of the contest is to make a robot that can operate successfully in the real world, not just in the laboratory. Such a robot must be able to operate successfully where there is uncertainty and imprecision. Therefore, the arena dimensions and other specifications listed below will not be precisely what the robots will encounter at the contest: they are provided as general aids.
The size limits on robots are, however, absolute and will be enforced by the Judges.
Object dimensions are generally given as length x width x height, as the robot encounters the object.
In the RoboWaiter Contest, ``deep'' refers to the front-to-back dimension of shelves.
Although the robot contest arenas present an idealized version of the real world, you must not assume that all corners are exactly square, all walls precisely vertical, all joints flush, all fasteners recessed, and so forth and so on.
Every robot must successfully handle small misalignments and inaccuracies. You must test your robot under less-than-ideal conditions and verify that it works properly.
Each robot has an assigned number that determines the order in which they will compete in the contest. Each robot will make a trial in the arena in ascending numeric order, so that the robots compete consecutively. When all robots have completed the first trial, the sequence repeats for the second and third attempts. Once assigned, the order of running will not be changed.
Contestants will have limited time between their trials for adjustments, modifications, and repairs to their robot. However, after the preceding robot has completed its trial, then their robot must be in the arena and ready to start within 1 minute. The Judges will start a timer when they call for the next robot: that robot must begin its trial before that clock reaches 1 minute. Any robot that is not ready to compete after 1 minute will forfeit its chance at that trial. It may still compete in any remaining trials.
Translation: If you are not ready, you miss your turn. The End!
The team may place the robot in the arena at the designated starting location, but must not transfer any information to the robot regarding the layout of the arena, the starting position, or the position of any objects.
The team must not touch the robot after placing it in the arena.
The team will show a Judge how to start the robot by either pressing a Start button or triggering the Sound Start device.
After the robot is ready and the Judge knows how to start it, the Judges will determine the location of any objects within the arena, as determined by the robot's Operating Modes. The Judges will then place these objects in the arena.
The Judge will determine when the trial begins and will start the robot.
If for any reason the robot does not start, then that trial is over.
Robots must have exactly one push button switch that start the robot. This button must be positioned at a location which is both easy to see and reach, ideally on the top surface of the robot.
The button must be labeled START, RUN, or GO.
The team must download any required program or firmware to the robot before it is put into the arena. Once that is done, then only the Start Button will be pressed to start the robot.
The contest arenas will be assembled and available for unscheduled test trials on Saturday morning. Due to the limited number of arenas and the large number of robots, waiting lines can become very long.
Do not expect any practice time on Sunday morning, although a few arenas may be available.
You should use the practice time to calibrate sensors for the conditions in the gym and to troubleshoot any last minute problems. No team has ever accomplished extensive code development and hardware design on Saturday.
Robots should be built, programmed, and ready to compete on arrival at the contest site. Get busy now!
Some teams bring entire practice arenas along to the competition. You may be able to wheedle your way into those arenas, but that depends entirely on your negotiating skills.
Power will be distributed as 120 VAC 60 Hz. Your equipment must draw less than 10 A from a single US-standard 15 amp outlet.
You must bring along any voltage or frequency converters required to adapt that power to your needs.
You must bring along sufficient extension cords and outlet strips; you will have access to a single outlet that may be 10 meters from your assigned table.
Because the power distribution involves cables laid on the floor, you must assume that power to your devices can be interrupted at any time: people do trip over the cables and circuit breakers sometimes trip without warning.
Contestants should bring any and all materials, parts, and test equipment that they might need.
The gymnasium is well-lighted, but it is not air-conditioned. Spring weather in Hartford tends to be warm and humid with occasional chilly rain, so plan your wardrobe accordingly.
The Trinity College Firefighting Home Robot Contest (TCFFHRC) advances robot technology and knowledge by using robotics as an educational tool. A winning robot must respond to a fire alarm, discover the blaze, and extinguish it in the shortest possible time.
To accomplish that overall task, the robot must start on a signal, explore a typical family home (the arena), locate a fire (a burning candle), extinguish it, and optionally return to its starting point.
Additional contests held during the TCFFHRC weekend provide different challenges, as described in these rules.
Direct questions and comments about the contest to the Contest Director: Dave Ahlgren david.ahlgren@trincoll.edu.
In order to make the contest accessible to persons of all ages and skill levels the TCFFHRC offers prizes in several divisions:
Teams or individuals may also demonstrate their robotics knowledge by taking the Robot Olympiad exam (see Part par:Robot-Olympiad-Exam) and/or by entering the Poster Contest (see Part par:Poster-Contest).
Participants who meet the criteria for a particular Division may, at their option, decide to enter their robot in a higher Division, however, they may not enter in a lower Division.
When registering for the contest, each team must specify the robot's Division. If that division is full, the robot will be placed on a waiting list.
In order to change Divisions, the team must re-register the robot and pay the appropriate registration fee.
Division entry fees will not be refunded after registration.
No single robot may be entered in two Divisions. If a team wants to enter two different robots in two divisions, each robot must be registered in the appropriate Division.
Each division will offer prizes in both kit and unique robot categories. The scoring system emphasizes reliability by grouping robots according to the number of successful trials.
Within each reliability group robots are ranked according to score. To earn a cash award a robot must complete at least two successful trials. Within any contest division only one prize will be given to any winning robot. However, a robot may win a prize in a contest division and win one or more special prizes (Cost Effective, etc.). The exception is the Spirit of the Inventor award, which is granted to an inventive, unique robot that does not win any divisional cash prize.
The TCFFHRC awards cash prizes provided by our contest sponsors and non-cash prizes provided by contest supporters. All prizes are described on the contest website.
Each team participating in the contest will receive a Certificate of Achievement and one official contest T-shirt.
The World Champion BURP Prize recognizes the best overall performance by an individual or team in the Junior, High School, Senior, or Walking Divisions. We will compute each team's or individual's BURP score by weighing
The ranking of the robots and teams within their respective Divisions determines their total BURP score. The actual contest scores are not used, only the rankings within the respective Divisions.
This weighting applies to the rankings:
8 teams present posters; this team wins 2nd place. Score is (2/8) * 0.25 = 0.0625
4 teams take part in Olympiad; this team wins 1st place. Score is (1/4) * 0.25 = 0.0625
Total BURP score = 0.133 + 0.0625 + 0.0625 = 0.258.
22 teams present posters; this team wins 6th place. Score is (6/22) * 0.25 = 0.068
12 teams take part in Olympiad; this team wins 7th place. Score is (7/12) * 0.25 = 0.146
Total BURP score = 0.889 + 0.068 + 0.146 = 0.303.
An incredible and unique two-legged walking robot, once entered in the contest, found and extinguished the candle. The inventor entered this robot even though it was not the fastest and had no chance to win first prize. The inventor entered it anyway because it was such a good idea. We were so impressed by this attitude that we established special prize for the most unique robot that does not win the contest, but shows the greatest creativity, ingenuity and a true Spirit of an Inventor. A robot does not have to conform to all the rules in order to be eligible for this prize.
Robotics does not have to be expensive: spending more money does not guarantee success. In fact, some of the very best robots have been some of the least expensive. To award financial efficiency there will be a special prize for the best performing robot built with the lowest amount of money in material cost.
If you put in $50,000 in labor and destroyed $5,000 in parts finally getting it to work, but your final robot has less than $200 in actual parts in it, then it is a good contender for this prize.
It does not matter what you paid for the parts, but only what they are worth. A motor that originally cost $50, but is now for sale in a surplus catalog for $5 is now a $5 motor. However, if you got a $50 motor for free from a friend, then it's still a $50 motor even though you got it for free. On the other hand, if you destroyed three $50 motors in building the robot, you only have to account for the one motor that is actually on the robot.
Evaluation Method:
One goal of the contest is to promote the art of engineering design. Starting in 2010 we will award a special prize to the team that creates the smallest successful robot. The robot may participate in any contest division and it must succeed on all three trials.
Size will be determined by measuring the area of the robot's projection on the arena floor - the smallest rectangle enclosing its chassis and all of the projecting sensors, wires, and appendages.
The judges will measure all robots competing for this prize.
The arena dimensions and specifications listed below are not exactly what will be encountered at the contest: they are provided as general aids.
The size limits on robots are, however, absolute and will be enforced by the Judges.
The Basic Arena presents a simplified model of a typical house, with high-contrast walls and floors.
The Standard Arena Layout represents a decorated home, a more realistic fire-fighting environment.
The Standard Arena has the same dimensions as the Basic arena. The differences between the Basic Arena and the Standard Arena are listed below.
Once turned on, the robot must be autonomous: self-controlled without any human intervention. Fire-fighting robots are to be computer controlled and not manually controlled devices.
A robot may bump into or touch the walls of the arena as it travels, but it cannot mark, dislodge or damage the walls in doing so. The robot cannot leave anything behind as it travels through the arena. It cannot make any marks on the floor of the arena that aid in navigation as it travels. Any robot that deliberately, in the Judge's opinion, damages the contest arena (including the walls) will fail that trial. This does not include any accidental marks or scratches made in moving around.
The robot must fit in a box with a base 31 x 31 cm square and 27 cm high. If the robot has feelers to sense an object or wall, the feelers will be counted as part of the robot's total dimensions.
Robots in the Walking Division may be up to 46 cm long.
The robot cannot separate into multiple parts and must not extend itself beyond the specified base area.
Contestants may add a flag, hat or other purely decorative, non-functional items to the robot as long as the item has absolutely no effect on the operation of the robot.
Unlike the arena specifications, the robot size limits are not approximate: robots must not exceed the given dimensions.
There are no restrictions on robot weight or materials.
There is no restriction on the type of sensors that may be used as long as they do not violate any of the other rules or regulations.
Robots that use laser-based devices must take measures to prevent eye damage to team members and to observers. The Judges may require the team to remove the laser device from the robot. If, in the opinion of the qualification Judges, effective safety measures have not been taken, the robot will be permanently disqualified from competing.
Contestants are not allowed to place any markers, beacons or reflectors on the walls or floors, whether inside or outside of the arena, to aid in the robot's navigation.
Ambient lighting in the contest room may be a source of IR, visible and UV light. During the course of the contest, sunlight may come into the contest room through open outside doors. The sunlight will not shine directly on the arenas, but may be detectable by very sensitive sensors.
During the course of the contest, Judges at other arenas may be lighting candles or lighters. These incidental flames will be above the arena and further away than the candle, but still may be detectable by an undiscriminating sensor. In setting up the arena, contest officials may put their arms into the arena and some very sensitive sensors may mistake that IR emission as the flame.
Many video and still cameras transmit infrared light as part of their automatic focusing systems. Flash units produce bursts of UV that may trigger the popular Hamamatsu UVTron flame sensor. The gymnasium will have many, many cameras at all times: verify that your robot will operate correctly when it's being photographed.
If a robot uses light sensors to find the candle or detect walls or furniture, it is the robot builder's responsibility to design their robot to prevent these and other unintended UV, visible and IR sources from interfering with its operation. Part of the challenge of this contest is to design a robot that can find the flame and ignore everything else.
The maximum electrical requirements for any system needing electricity at the arena will be 10 amps at 120 VAC, 60 Hz from a single US-standard outlet.
For obvious reasons of safety and economy, fires will be simulated by small flames: candles for the indoor arenas and oil-fueled lamps for the outdoor arena.
The candle flame will be from 15 cm to 20 cm above the nominal floor level. The candle thickness normally will be between 2 cm and 3 cm. The exact height and size of the flame will change throughout the contest depending upon the condition of candle and its surroundings. The robot is required to find the candle no matter what the size of the flame is at that particular moment.
The candle will be placed at random in one of the rooms in the arena. The candle has an equal chance of being in any of the 4 rooms in each of the robot's 3 trials. It is possible for the candle to be in the same room on two of the robot's three trials. If it happens that the candle is placed in the same room for both the 1st and 2nd trials, then the contest officials will make sure that it is a different room for the third and last trial. Thus every robot will have the candle in at least 2 rooms and possibly 3, during its 3 trials.
The candle will not be placed in a hallway, but it might be placed just inside a doorway of a room. The candle circle will not touch the doorway line and this means that the front of the robot will be able to move at least 33 cm into the room before it encounters the candle.
The contestants cannot measure or touch the candle before it is used. Violation will result in immediate disqualification from the competition of the team and the robot.
The candle will be mounted on a small wooden base painted semi-gloss yellow. This base is used to help keep the candle from tipping over easily, but it will be possible to knock the candle over by bumping into it. Judges will give penalty points in such instances (see Section 4.5.4).
The robot must, in the opinion of the Judges, have found the candle before it attempts to put it out. For example, the robot cannot just flood the arena with CO2 thereby putting the flame out by accident.
The robot must not use any destructive or dangerous methods to put out the candle. It may use such substances as water, air, CO2, etc., but any method or material that is dangerous or will damage the arena is prohibited. Halon is not allowed because it is harmful to the environment.
The robot may extinguish the candle by blowing air or other oxygen-bearing gas. However, this is not a practical method of extinguishing a fire in the real world, so robots that do not use air streams to blow out the candle will receive a 15% time reduction.
The robot must come within 30 cm of the candle before it attempts to extinguish the flame. There will be a white 30 cm radius solid circle (or circle segment, if the candle is near a wall) on the floor around the candle, and the candle will be placed in the center of the circle. The robot must have some part of its body over the circle before it extinguishes the candle flame.
A penalty is given to robots that touch a lit candle with either the robot chassis or a sensor.
Robots may extinguish the flame using air, Carbon dioxide, water mist, or mechanical means. The use of powders of any type is not allowed.
A fan is an example of an air-based extinguisher.
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The judges will verify that CO
is the extinguishing
material.
Water is the only liquid allowed in this contest.
Water must be applied only as a mist, not a jet. The water tank volume must be no larger than 100 ml. Judges have the right to measure the tank volume.
Any robot that floods the room will fail that trial.
A wet sponge or snuffer.
Although the scoring system appears complex, it measures differing robot capabilities in different divisions. The overall scoring flow follows this pattern, with some variations in each Division:
During the trial, the Judges will:
Scoring rules convert the Operating Score into the Final Score for each trial. The High School and Senior Divisions share one set of scoring rules; Junior and Walking share the second set of scoring rules. The Final Score becomes a component of the Total Final Score (TFS) used to rank the robots for prizes and awards.
If the robot extinguished the candle, then the Final Score for that trial equals the Operating Score. If it did not extinguish the candle, then the robot receives credit for tasks completed during the unsuccessful trial by deducting points as described below.
Although a robot with only two successful trials can therefore have a lower Total Final Score than a robot with three successful trials, the ranking described in the next section will award higher prizes to the latter.
The robot must start properly with sound activation.
Deduct 30 points for each room searched before finding the candle. The maximum reduction is 120 points because the candle must be in the fourth room.
The robot must correctly signal that it detected the candle by lighting an LED or making an obvious motion.
TASK.position = -30
The robot must stop within 30 cm of the candle without touching it.
The Final Score is equal to the Operating Score: FS = OS.
The Final Score is equal to the Operating Score: FS = OS.
This division uses the same scoring rules as the Junior Division. See Section 4.6.1.
After all robots within a Division have completed their trials, the Judges compute the Total Final Score (TFS) for each robot by adding all three of its Operating Scores together.
The robots in each Division will be divided into four groups based on the number of successful trials: 3, 2, 1, or 0. Within each group the robots will be ranked on the basis of their Total Final Scores. The First, Second, and Third prizes in each Division will be awarded to the three robots with the smallest TFS in the first group. If the first group has fewer than three robots, then the prizes for that Division will extend to the robots with the smallest TFS in the second group, and similarly to the third group.
In all cases, a robot must extinguish the candle in at least two trials to be eligible for a cash award.
These sections explain how the Judges assign values that determine the Operating Score.
A robot's overall performance depends on its ability to handle real-world situations. The Basic contest arena includes a level floor, high-contrast walls, and no obstructions, but additional operating modes allow you to improve your robot's score by completing more difficult tasks.
Operating modes act as multipliers to the Actual Time required for the robot to find and extinguish the candle. If no Operating Modes are in effect for a trial, the Actual Time is multiplied by the Standard Mode, which is exactly 1.0.
The team can select different Operating Modes for each of the three trials. Note that the candle and any furniture will be placed in different locations for each trial.
The modes do not apply to an unsuccessful trial. The score for an unsuccessful trial is 600, regardless of any operating modes applied to that trial.
The team must inform the Judge of any operating modes for the current trial before the trial begins. In the absence of that notification, the robot will compete in Standard mode and the Actual Time will be multiplied by 1.0.
Robots may communicate through a wireless link, but must operate autonomously. Remote control by a human operator is not permitted!
The robot begins operation when it detects a sound signal between 3.0 kHz and 4.0 kHz. The sound replaces the normal start button.
The Judges will begin timing the trial when the sound signal begins, not when the robot actually starts to move.
The robot must not start until the Judge activates the sound signal. If the robot mistakenly detects ambient room noise (even an activation sound from a different arena) and begins to move, then the trial will have begun, but the robot will not be in Sound Activated Mode.
If the robot does not start in response to the sound signal it will not be given a second chance (i.e. another press of the sound button) to use the sound mode for that trial. The Judge will attempt to activate the robot by pressing its Start switch, but the delay will be included in the robot's Actual Time for the trial.
The sound signal device can be held at any distance from the robot that the contestants want and may continue for up to 5 seconds.
There will be an official sound signal device at the contest, but contestants can bring their own sound devices. The devices must operate within the proper frequency range.
The Judge will place the robot in an arbitrary location and orientation within any room that does not have the candle, as determined by the toss of a die.
The robot may be facing a wall or pointed into a corner, but will not be trapped by furniture.
The robot must return to its starting location after extinguishing the flame.
In Standard mode, the robot must return to the Home Circle. It must stop with any part of its chassis within the 30 cm white Home Circle, but need not be in the same position or orientation as when it started the trial.
In Arbitrary Start mode, the robot must return to the room it started from. It must stop with all parts of its chassis within the starting room, but need not be in the same position or orientation as when it started the trial.
The robot's Actual Time (AT) recorded for the trial will include only the time required to find and extinguish the candle, not the time for the return trip.
The robot must return its starting location within 2 minutes; if not, then the Return Mode factor is not in effect.
The robot need not retrace its path in returning to the starting location or take the most efficient route, but it must not enter any other rooms along the way.
The robot must extinguish the candle using inert gas or water.
Robots that use an air stream of any kind do not operate in Extinguisher mode.
Each room will have one or more pieces of furniture.
Furniture consists of semi-gloss yellow cylinders 11 cm in diameter, 30 cm high, and weighing more than 1 kg.
Furniture will always be placed to allow at least one path to the candle that is at least 31 cm wide. The furniture will not block the doorway and a robot will be able to come into a room at least halfway before it encounters furniture. Furniture may block the robot's view of the candle, so it must move to different locations to see the candle and plan a path to reach it.
The robot may have to go around the furniture to get to the candle. It may touch the furniture, but it cannot push it out of the way. Robots that push the furniture away lose the Furniture Mode deduction for that trial.
The robot must operate in an arena with ramps placed in hallways to defeat dead-reckoning navigation.
The ramps have a 15 degree maximum slope and a 5 cm maximum height. The ramps are tapered with discontinuities less than 5 mm. The ramps have the same flat-black paint as the floor.
More than one ramp may be present on any trial and the exact placement of ramps will be unknown to the robot before the start of any trial. The ramps will not be placed in the hallway directly outside of a doorway, although one could be placed next to a doorway. The number and location of the ramps will be changed from trial to trial. The ramps will remain in place during the return trip portion of the trial.
This option presents uncertainty about the locations of the Room 1 and Room 4 doors.
The variable door location multiplier OM.variabledoor has decreased from 0.75 (used in 2009) to 0.65.
At the start of a trial the arena Judge will determine the door locations by tossing a die or using a computer-assisted method.
Figures 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4 show all possible door locations.
This option challenges robots to find candles set in randomly determined locations. The judge will place the candle at a randomly chosen location for each trial.
The rules in Section 3.3 will be followed except that:
If the robot extinguishes the flame, the Actual Time is the number of seconds elapsed from robot activation to flame disappearance. The maximum Actual Time for such a successful trial is AT = 300.
If the robot does not extinguish the flame within the limits set below, the Judge will terminate the unsuccessful trial and assign AT = 600.
The maximum time allowed for a robot to find the candle is 5 minutes, after which the Judge will stop the trial and assign AT = 600.
A robot operating in Return Trip mode must return to the Home Circle within 2 minutes after extinguishing the candle, after which the Judge will stop the trial. The AT equals the time required to extinguish the candle.
If a robot gets stuck in a loop and performs the same movement 5 times in a row, the Judge will stop the trial and assign AT = 600.
Any time the robot does not move at all for 30 seconds, the Judge will stop the trial and assign AT = 600.
A robot that fails at both of its first two trials will not receive a third trial.
The Room Factor (RF) adjusts the elapsed time based on the number of rooms searched. The more rooms a robot searches before it finds the candle, the lower the Room Factor for that trial.
When the candle is in:
When the robot searches the room with the candle, whether or not the robot extinguishes it, the Judge records the Room Factor for that trial. The room factor will not change regardless of how many more rooms the robot searches.
Because some robots can detect the candle by looking in the doorway without entering the room to search it, when the robot passes a doorway for the first time the Judge will count that room as searched. If the robot has already searched a room and then goes past the doorway again on its way to a different room, that room will not be counted twice.
Penalty Points (PP) will be added to the Actual Time (AT) of any robot that exhibits the behaviors described in this section. Don't let these penalties scare you too much. These penalties are generally a small price to pay for a robot that manages to accomplish the task.
Any robot that touches the candle or its base, either deliberately or accidentally, while the candle is lit will have 50 penalty points added to its Actual Time score each time the candle is hit.
There is no penalty for a touch that occurs as part of the actual extinguishing process, i.e., smothering the flame with a wet sponge, or after the candle is extinguished.
Touching refers only to any part of the robot's body, including feelers or probes, and does not include the water, air or other material that the robot might use to extinguish the candle.
Any robot that slides along a wall will have 1 point added to its Actual Time score for each 2 cm of wall it touches.
A robot may still touch a wall to orient itself, as long as the contact is not sliding.
There is no penalty for touching or sliding along the wall on the return trip to the Home Circle.
See the Note in Section 3.2.1 regarding "Navigation by Crashing''.
These examples illustrate how to calculate the Total Final Score under specific conditions for each division.
Any disagreement between these examples and the rules given above will be decided by reference to the rules!
The robot uses Sound and Return modes in its first attempt, takes 1 minute and 23 seconds to extinguish the candle in the 2nd room and slides along the wall a total of 42 cm. The robot puts out the flame with a fan.
The robot uses Sound and Return modes in its second attempt, but fails to return to the home position; OM.return is not in effect. The robot takes 1 minute and 41 seconds to blow out the candle in the fourth room searched. It accidentally bumped the candle one time.
The robot navigates to two rooms, indicates that it sees the candle, but does not extinguish the candle or come within 30 cm of the candle. The robot starts with an audio signal. There are no penalties.
Total Final Score: TFS = 67.184 + 50.208 + 510 = 627.392
Ranking: two successful trials = second group.
Same as Junior Division example.
Same as Junior Division example.
The team announced Sound and Return modes. The audio start circuitry failed to operate and the Judge pushed the robot's manual Start button. The robot found the candle in the first room and extinguished it in 1 minute and 10 seconds, but it did not make it back to the Home Circle.
Total Final Score: TFS = 67.184 + 50.208 + 70.0 = 187.392
Ranking: three successful trials = first group.
The robot uses Sound, and Return modes. It extinguishes the candle in 2 minutes and 17 seconds in the second room visited, using a Carbon Dioxide device. It incurs no penalties.
The robot uses Sound, Return, and Uneven Floor modes. It extinguishes the candle in 1 minute and 41 seconds in the fourth room using a CO2 system, but bumps into the candle. It does not return to the start.
The robot uses Sound, Return, Variable Door Location, and Furniture modes. It extinguished the candle in 1 minute and 10 seconds in the first room with CO2. It did not return to the start.
Total Final Score: TFS = 88.502 + 27.324 + 29.676 = 145.502
Ranking: three successful trials = first group.
Same as above.
Same as above.
Same as above, but robot fails to extinguish the candle.
Total Final Score: TFS = 88.502 + 27.324 + 600 = 715.826
Ranking: two successful trials = second group.
The Walking Division scoring will be the same as the Junior Division. See Section 4.2.1.
This contest encourages development of fire-fighting robots that cam extinguish real fires in the presence of obstacles on an outdoor course.
The scoring system emphasizes reliability by grouping robots according to the number of successful trials. Robots are then ranked by score within each reliability group. To earn a cash award a robot must complete at least two successful trials. Only one cash prize will be given to any winning robot, however, a robot may win both a cash prize and one or more special prizes (Cost Effective, etc.).
This competition will take place on an asphalt parking lot in a 5 x 5 m area.
A white lattice fence 60 cm tall bounds the arena area.
The arena contains the following items, which will be in the locations shown in Figure 2.1.
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A backyard, above-ground pool 70 x 50 cm x 15 cm deep filled with water.
The robot must use only that water to put out the fire. It may apply the water in any manner.
A scale model garage 70 x 55 x 60 cm.
An alarm near the garage emits an audible pulsed 1000 Hz 5% tone whenever it detects a fire. The pulse period will be approximately 1 second.
An image of the garage:
A scale model automobile 56 x 33 cm x 38 cm.
An alarm near the automobile emits an audible pulsed 2000 Hz 5% tone whenever it detects a fire. The pulse period will be approximately 1 second.
An image of the automobile, with scale indicated by the yardstick.
A scale model house 1.50 m x 1.0 m x 90 cm.
An alarm near the house emits an audible pulsed 3000 Hz 5% tone whenever it detects a fire. The pulse period will be approximately 1 second.
An image of the house:
Two or fewer (perhaps none) obstacles, which may vary in location, size, and shape from trial to trial.
The obstacles will represent objects typically found around the exterior of a house; for example, trash cans, bushes, trees, and benches. The size of each object generally will be in proportion to the sizes of the house, garage, and automobile.
Robots of any size may enter this Division. However, at the start of every trial each HOF robot, whether operating individually or as a member of a swarm, must be contained inside a cube 50 cm on a side.
All of the robots in a swarm must fit in the cube at the same time!
There is no scoring deduction or penalty for using a swarm.
There is no restriction on the type of sensors that may be used as long as they do not violate any of the other rules or regulations.
Robots that use laser-based devices must take measures to prevent eye damage to team members and to observers. The Judges may require the team to remove the laser device from the robot. If, in the opinion of the qualification Judges, effective safety measures have not been taken, the robot will be permanently disqualified from competing.
Contestants are not allowed to place any markers, beacons or reflectors on the walls or floors, whether inside or outside of the arena, to aid in the robot's navigation.
During the course of the contest, sunlight might shine directly on the arena.
Many video and still cameras transmit infrared light as part of their automatic focusing systems. Flash units produce bursts of UV that may trigger the popular Hamamatsu UVTron flame sensor. The contest will have many, many cameras at all times: verify that your robot will operate correctly when it's being photographed.
If a robot uses light sensors to find the flame or detect walls or furniture, it is the robot builder's responsibility to design their robot to prevent these and other unintended UV, visible and IR sources from interfering with its operation. Part of the challenge of this contest is to design a robot that can find the flame and ignore everything else.
The maximum electrical requirements for any system needing electricity at the arena will be 10 amps at 120 VAC, 60 Hz from a single US-standard outlet.
Similar power will be available at the Expert Arena.
Robots tethered by wires to computers, power supplies, or other devices are not allowed in the 2010 competitions, so there is no Tethered mode.
Robots may communicate through a wireless link, but must operate autonomously. Remote control by a human operator is not permitted.
Fires will consist of small Tiki torch flames positioned throughout the house, the garage, and the car. Each flame will be produced by a Tiki wick 2 cm long and 1 cm wide. A small reservoir of petroleum-based Tiki lamp oil provides fuel for each flame.
The fires may occur in any of the locations shown in the figure below. Facets of the structures not visible in the figure have symmetric possible fire locations; the fire may not be visible from the robot's location. Fire locations are evenly spaced on the surfaces and are centered on the face of each structure as shown.
A fire may start at any of the possible Tiki locations, as shown in Figure 2.2. When fire spreads, an additional flame will be lit in the same structure but not necessarily adjacent to an existing flame.
Figures 2.3 through 2.5 present detailed pictures of the Tiki Torch components and construction.
To create House on Fire torch similar to the ones that will be used at the contest you will need the following the following materials. They are available at Home Depot in the US, but similar materials may be used.
torch replacement wick
oil
The steps to assembling a torch are:
There are no penalties in this division.
Judges may, however, disqualify a robot that, in their opinion, appears to be deliberately damaging the arena or violating other rules.
The Final Score is equal to the Operating Score: FS = OS.
The Actual Time AT is the number of seconds elapsed from the start of the Execution Phase (see Section 3.2.2) to the time when the robot extinguishes all flames. The limit on each trial is five minutes, so the maximum Actual Time for such a successful trial is AT = 300.
If the robot does not extinguish the flame within the 300 second limit, the Judge will deem the trial unsuccessful and assign AT = 600.
The robot must extinguish all flames to have a successful trial. The judge ignites the first flame two minutes after the start of the trial, so the minimum AT score = 120.
The maximum time allowed for a robot to find the candle is 5 minutes, after which the Judge will stop the trial and assign AT = 600.
A robot operating in Return Trip mode must return to the Home Circle within 2 minutes after extinguishing the candle, after which the Judge will stop the trial. The AT equals the time required to extinguish the candle.
Expert Division robots need not move during the Initialization Phase; the 30-second stall rule applies only after the judge ignites the first flame.
Each trial consists of two phases: the initialization phase, followed immediately by the execution phase.
The initialization phase will be exactly two minutes long. The execution phase may last as long as five minutes.
The total maximum length of a trial is seven minutes.
The initialization phase lasts exactly two minutes.
The robot or robots will be placed in the arena by the judge at a position chosen by the judge. All robots in a swarm will be placed before the trial begins. When the robot or robots are in place, the judge will activate them and begin timing the trial.
Robots may use the initialization phase in any manner they wish. No flames will be lit during this phase.
The execution phase follows the Initialization Phase. The time limit on the execution phase is five minutes. At the start of this phase the judge will light a single fire in the house, the automobile, or the shed. At the same time, the fire alarm corresponding to that structure will begin sounding. During the execution phase robots must extinguish any and all fires in the arena using only water from the reservoir. It may apply the water to the flame in any manner.
If this first fire is not extinguished within 2 minutes, the judge will light another flame in the same structure, simulating the spread of fire within the same structure.
The judge will light one additional fire each minute until all flames have been extinguished or until the 5-minute Execution Phase time limit has been reached. The robot must extinguish up to three flames (lit at 2, 3, and 4 minutes) to have a successful trial.
Before extinguishing any flame the robot must signal that it recognizes the flame. Other behaviors will cause the robot to fail that trial. For example, the judges will disqualify a robot if it simply drenches the arena or part of the arena with water; as that constitutes damage to the arena.
The Final Score is the sum of the Actual Time scores for the three trials.
A swarm with three robots has three trials and performs as follows:
The RoboWaiter Contest challenges teams to create a robot that can retrieve a plate of food and transport it to a table in a reliable and efficient manner. The arena simulates a home kitchen with the usual fixtures and a pair of dolls simulating the humans served by the robot.
The 2010 Assistive Robotics Contest RoboWaiter is sponsored by the http://www.ct.gov/ctcdd/site/default.aspConnecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities.
RoboWaiter is open to any team registered in the TCFFHRC. To register for RoboWaiter, check the box on the registration form. Teams may enter kit or unique robots.
A team may enter a robot into the RoboWaiter contest without entering a robot in the TCFFHRC, in which case the registration fee is $30.
Cash prizes for first, second, and third place will be awarded by the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities, the RoboWaiter Contest sponsor,
A special prize will be awarded to the most successful walking robot in either division of the RoboWaiter competition.
The competition simulates a situation where Grandpa, a person with a disability, wishes to move a plate of food from a refrigerator to the table where he is sitting in a wheelchair. The arena simulates a household kitchen, with Grandma standing in the room, a second chair, a sink, and the refrigerator.
When directed by a signal from the judge, the robot will move to the shelf, pick up the plate, and place it on a table within 4 minutes. This action must be fully autonomous.
The judge will measure and record the time from the start signal until the robot places the plate on the table.
Figure 1.1 the general arrangement of the arena. The rules define the exact placement and configuration of the objects in the arena.
The RoboWaiter Contest consists of two divisions:
The 2010 Standard Division resembles the 2009 RoboWaiter contest, with slightly different dimensions and requirements.
The 2010 Advanced Division takes the first step toward a smart home environment, where the robot must interact with a computer-equipped refrigerator. Robots must open the refrigerator door, extract the correct plate, and close the door before serving the food.
The Advanced Division uses the same arena, rules, and operating modes as the standard division except for the differences noted below
These rules apply to all robots in the RoboWaiter contest.
A steel washer is glued to the base of the plate to add weight. Also fixed to the bottom of the plate are four plastic feet, which help to prevent slippage of the plate on the shelf. The total weight of the plate, including the steel washer and the plastic feet is 50 grams. See Figure 1.8.
The Grandma doll position is fixed in the Standard Division (Figure 1.11) and variable in the Advanced Division (Figure 1.12).
All robots in the RoboWaiter contest may select any or all of these optional Operating Modes to improve their time scores.
When completed successfully the following options, available on each of the three trials, will result in reduced time scores, using the indicated multiplication factor (MF) for each of the listed premiums.
The food will be actual food, such as cerebral or pasta, that does not stick to the plate. The food will not add any significant weight to the plate.
The robot's Actual Time (AT) recorded for the trial will be the time required to transfer the plate to the table not including the return trip. However, the robot must return its starting location within 2 minutes; if not, then the Return Mode factor is not in effect for that trial.
The following rules apply in addition to the General Rules in Section 1.6.
As mentioned in Section 1.6, Item 4: if the robot touches the Grandma doll, the trial immediately terminates in failure.
The RoboWaiter Contest Advanced Division consists of a more realistic simulation of the plate-retrieving task. The robot must successfully perform these operations:
The following rules apply in addition to the General Rules in Section 1.6.
As mentioned in in Section 1.6, Item 4: if the robot touches the Grandma doll, the trial immediately terminates in failure.
The robot must decode the tones to know which plate must be retrieved from the refrigerator.
As described in Section 1.9.3.5, the door will operate only once for any trial. If the robot inadvertently opens the door, the door will close when the robot activates the sensor a second time and, consequently, the robot will fail the trial.
The robot will fail the trial if:
As described in Section 1.9.3.4, the robot will fail the trial if the closing door touches it.
The starting signal will be a fire alarm sounder similar to the one used in the TCFFHRC; see Section 4.5.1. However, two different sound frequencies indicate which plate the robot must retrieve from the refrigerator.
The refrigerator has two shelves in an enclosed box, with a door that opens and closes under the robot's control.
This section describes the refrigerator's physical dimensions and characteristics. The next section describes the sensor that triggers the door operations.
The refrigerator exterior is 20-25 cm deep (front-to-back) x 45 cm wide (left-to-right) x 42 cm tall.
The refrigerator shelves are 16-21 cm deep (front-to-back) x 42 cm wide (left-to-right).
A continuous, modulated infra-red LED beacon, aimed perpendicular to the face of the door, is located within 1 cm of the center of the refrigerator door, as shown in Figure 1.13.
The LED emits approximately 40 mW of 880 nm IR with a beam width of approximately 30°. Designers must not assume a Gaussian intensity distribution within the beam and must assume that the beam can be detected well off-axis.
The beacon modulation frequency is 8 kHz10%.
We will post the circuit diagram and parts list for the beacon circuit on the website.
Robots may use wall-following techniques on the open door while navigating into the refrigerator, but they may not touch the door while doing so.
Each shelf has three LEDs as described in Section 1.6, Item 6, Figure 1.14 shows the front view of the refrigerator interior.
Figures 1.15 through 1.17 show top views of the Refrigerator with the Door in various positions.
A plate will be located on each shelf, aligned as described in Section 1.6, Item 6.
The robot must fetch the correct plate as part of a successful trial: if the robot takes the plate from the wrong shelf, the robot has failed that trial.
Advanced Division robots must open and close the refrigerator door by triggering a sensor module embedded in the floor directly in front of the refrigerator. The sensor module lies in the center area of the refrigerator's door beacon pattern, 65 cm. from the outside surface of the closed door
The sensor module contains three bright white visible LEDs that shine directly up from the floor and a Sharp GP2D120 IR proximity sensor. The LEDs are in a line 3 cm from the proximity sensor, parallel to the front of the refrigerator. The entire sensor module is embedded in the floor and will not impede robot motion.
Figure 1.18 shows the LED and GP2D120 arrangement within the sensor module. The refrigerator is located 65 cm from the upper edge of the rectangle in the figure.
The proximity sensor is connected to the refrigerator's embedded microcontroller. When the microcontroller first senses the presence of a robot, it will open the refrigerator door. When the robot is sensed the next time, the door will close. Therefore the sensor acts a toggle switch that controls the door's opening and closing.
A relatively large robot or one that holds the plate in front of its main chassis may trigger the sensor before it has cleared the path of the closing door. The robot must avoid contact with the door, because the robot will fail the trial if the door touches it while closing.
The door will begin opening or closing within one second of the time the sensor detects the robot.
The door will open or close completely within five seconds from the start of motion.
The refrigerator door will operate only one time during a trial. The robot must ensure that it does not trigger the door-opening sequence before it is ready to extract the plate.
Each robot gets three trials, with the judges recording the time required to complete the task. Section 1.7 describes the Operating Modes in detail. Section 1.10 provides examples of scoring calculations.
Robots that have successfully completed at least one trial will be eligible for First, Second, and Third prizes, with accompanying cash awards. Robots that have not successfully completed at least one trial will not be eligible for prizes or cash awards.
Successful robots will be divided into three groups, based on the number of successful runs, to ensure that the most reliable robots receive awards. The ranking within each group will be based on the robot's final score for all three runs. The groups are:
Examples:
Measured Actual Time AT = 78 seconds.
Score: Success = 1; Time = AT = 56 = 78 seconds.
Measured Actual Time AT = 56 seconds.
Score: Success = 1; Time = 56 * 0.8= 44.8 seconds.
Measured Actual Time AT = 109 seconds.
Score: Success = 1; Time = AT * OM.food * OM.return * OM.start = 109 * 0.8 * 0.8 * 0.85 = 59.3 seconds.
The robot is placed in the Most Reliable group with three successful trials. Its ranking will be determined by comparing overall time scores within that group.
The TCFFHRC Olympiad exam consists of about ten questions, each presenting a real problem that might arise during robot design projects. Each question requires a solution based on theoretical background and practical experience.
The exam takes 50 minutes.
The Olympiad is open to any registered team or individual, and prizes will be awarded to teams and individuals in Junior, High School, and Senior Divisions.
Check www.trincoll.edu/events/robot for the 2010 Olympiad schedule.
Questions about the Olympiad may be directed to:
The updated TCFFHRC poster session takes on greater weight than before because it is a factor in the 2010 World Champion--Best Unified Robot Performance (BURP) award (see sec:World-Champion-Prize). This year's poster session will be judged on Saturday, April 10 by a panel of Trinity College professors. Best poster awards will be given in each contest Division.
Trinity College's Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest rules are published on this website: http://www.trincoll.edu/events/robot/.
We invite you to use these rules without charge for the limited purpose of use as the basis for a non-profit educational project or to organize your own non-profit firefighting robot contest. You acknowledge and agree by your use of these rules, whether for an official regional contest or an unofficial contest, that Trinity College assumes no responsibility or liability for such use of the contest rules by you or any third parties. These rules are provided ``as is'' without any warranty of any kind.
If you plan to use the Trinity rules, we request that you send a 50-100 word description of your activity to the contest Director via email.
Note that your use of the Trinity rules does not automatically qualify your robot to participate in the official Trinity College Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest (``TCFFHRC'') to be held at Trinity College.
Official regional contests are public events based on the Trinity rules found on this website. The characteristics of official regional contests and Trinity's relationship to them are listed below.
In order to hold an official regional contest, the contest should meet these requirements:
In order to become an official regional contest and to obtain the benefits listed above, please send the contest director an email message indicating your interest and confirming your agreement to the requirements described above. In turn you will be sent an application form that asks such information as name and date of event, expected participation, contest divisions that you wish to offer, and names of sponsors.
When planning your event please note that normally regional contests are held within eight weeks prior to the official Trinity College Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest to be held at Trinity College.
Requests for new regional contests should be sent to the Director at least six months before the next Trinity contest.
The translation was initiated by Ed Nisley on 2009-09-23
Ed Nisley 2009-09-23
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