Last updated: Monday 5th January 2009
by RCJ-2009 Rescue Technical Committee: Ashley Green (chair), Damien Kee, Tiago Docilio Caldeira,
Kate Sim and Katsunori Mizuno.
Changes from 2008 rules are highlighted in red.
1. Arena.
1.1. Description:
1.1.1. The arena is modular. Each module can be thought of as a
"room" in a building. Modules may be placed adjacent to each other
(on the same level horizontally) or may be stacked vertically. Modules on the
same level are connected by level hallways. Modules on different levels are
connected by a sloping hallway or ramp. A ramp will not exceed an incline of 25
degrees from the horizontal, and must have walls at least 10 cm high.
Building plans are linked on this site (see sidebar).
1.2. Dimensions:
1.2.1. Each module is approximately 122 cm by 91 cm (48 inches by 36 inches),
with walls that are approximately 28 cm (11 inches) high.
1.2.2. Each room will have two doorways in standard locations (see building plans).
Robots will enter through one doorway and exit through the other.
1.3. Floor:
1.3.1. The floor of each room will be a light colour (white, or close to white).
The floor may be either smooth or textured (like linoleum or carpet), and may
have steps of up to 3 mm in height at joins between modules.
1.3.2. The arena should be placed so that the floors are level.
1.4. Line:
1.4.1. On the floor, there will be a black line for the robots to follow. The
black line will be made with standard electrical (insulating) tape, 1-2 cm
wide. The black line traces a maze on the floor. It may have 90 degree turns in
it, turns of greater than 90 degrees, or curves.
The line will never cross itself.
The line will never come closer than 10 cm to a wall or another line.
1.4.2. Where the black line is used, it will enter and exit each room through
the standard doorways. Any straight section of the black line running alongside
a wall (in a room or on a ramp) may have gaps of up to 30 cm in it. A gap in
the line may contain a victim.
1.5. Debris:
1.5.1. Debris may be located anywhere in the
Orange and Red Zones (but NOT in hallways or on the ramp).
Debris may take the form of obstacles to be avoided,
speed bumps that should be driven over, or smaller objects that could
be driven over or pushed aside.
1.5.2. Debris may consist of bricks, blocks,
weights, speed bumps (made from 10 mm plastic pipe or wooden dowel
painted white, cut in half lengthways), or wooden sticks less than 3
mm in diameter (e.g., cocktail sticks or kebab skewers).
1.6. Graded difficulty:
1.6.1. It is recommended that the first room (the "Yellow Zone") in
the course should NOT contain any gaps or sharp turns in the black line and
should be free of debris.
1.6.2. It is recommended that subsequent rooms (the "Orange Zone" and
"Red Zone") in the course should be progressively more difficult.
(Note that the rooms themselves are NOT coloured.
"Yellow", "Orange" and "Red" signify
easy, intermediate and hard.)
1.6.3. The black line may end at the entrance to the last room (the "Red
Zone") or the bottom of the ramp, so
that robots are required to utilize some form of search strategy to
locate victims and the exit and finishing line in the last room. Victims may be located anywhere
on the floor of that room, but must each be at least 10 cm from the nearest
wall.
1.7. Victims:
1.7.1. "Victims" will be located in random positions throughout the
course.
1.7.2. Two types of victim may be present:
1.7.2.1. Victims constructed out of green tape;
1.7.2.2. Victims constructed out of aluminized tape or aluminium foil
or other reflective material.
1.7.3. The victims will be adhered flat across the black line, or flat on the
floor when located in a gap or in the "Red Zone".
1.7.4. The reflectances (for green light at normal incidence) of the
silver bodies, white (or close to white) floor, green bodies and black
line will be well separated, with the following gradation:
silver bodies (lightest) > floor > green bodies > black line (darkest).
1.8. Lighting and magnetic conditions:
1.8.1. Teams must come prepared to calibrate their robots based on the lighting
conditions at the venue.
1.8.2. Lighting conditions may vary along the course in the rescue arena.
1.8.3. Every effort will be made by the organizers to locate the rescue arena
away from magnetic fields such as underfloor wiring and metallic
objects. However, sometimes this cannot be avoided.
Hint: It is recommended that teams design their robots to cope with
variations in lighting and magnetic conditions, as these vary from venue to
venue. Teams should come prepared to calibrate their robots based on the
conditions at the venue.
2. Robots.
2.1. Size:
2.1.1. The upright robot must fit inside an upright 22 cm diameter cylinder.
2.1.2. The robot height must not exceed 22 cm.
2.1.3. Robots will be measured with all parts fully extended.
2.2. Control:
2.2.1. Robots must be controlled autonomously.
2.2.2. Robots must be started manually by humans.
2.2.3. The use of a remote control
to control the robot manually is not allowed.
2.2.4. BlueTooth Class 2 communication between
robots is permitted. No other form of radio communication is allowed.
Communication between robots and computers is not allowed.
2.3. Construction:
2.3.1. Any robot kit or building blocks, either available on the
market or built from raw hardware, may be used, as long as the robot
fits the above specifications and as long as the design and
construction are primarily and substantially the original work of the
students (see section 2.5. below).
2.4. Team:
2.4.1. In each round, a single robot is deployed which must perform its tasks
autonomously. (At certain international events, this rule can be modified
such that two or more robots are deployed together and have to cooperate in
fulfilling the task. Check the bylaws for the event.)
2.5. Inspection:
2.5.1. The robots will be examined by a panel of referees before the start of
the tournament to ensure that they meet the constraints described above.
2.5.2. It is the responsibility of teams to have their robots re-inspected if
their robots are modified at any time during the tournament.
2.5.3. While being inspected, each robot must be upright and at its maximum
size; i.e., anything that protrudes from the robot must be fully extended.
2.5.4. Students will be asked to explain the operation of their robot in order
to verify that the construction and programming of the robot are their own
work.
2.5.5. Students will be asked questions about their preparation efforts, and
may be requested to answer surveys and participate in video-taped interviews
for research purposes.
2.6. Violations:
2.6.1. Any violations of the inspection rules will prevent that robot competing
until modifications are effected.
2.6.2. However, modifications must be made within the time schedule of the
tournament and teams must not delay tournament play while making modifications.
2.6.3. If a robot fails to meet all specifications (even with modification),
the robot will be disqualified from that round (but not from the tournament).
2.6.4. If there is excessive mentor assistance or the work on the robots is not
substantially original work by the students, then the team will be disqualified
from the tournament.
3. Play.
3.1. Pre-round setup:
3.1.1. Participants will have access to practice
arenas for calibration, testing and tuning throughout
the competition.
3.1.2. Organizers will make every effort to allow 2 minutes of setup time on the
competition arenas for each team before each
of their rounds.
Hint: Participants should be aware, however, that situations may arise where
these conditions cannot be met; and so participants should arrive prepared to
cope with conditions that are less than ideal.
3.2. Length of round:
3.2.1. Robots will be given a maximum time of 8
minutes to complete the course. The time for each round will be kept
by the referee.
3.3. Start of play:
3.3.1. To begin, the robot is placed at its starting location in the doorway at
the beginning of the black line.
3.3.2. Teams that are late for their starting time will forfeit the
round.
Start times will be posted prominently around the venue.
3.4. Humans:
3.4.1. In general, movement of robots by humans is not acceptable.
3.4.2. Humans can move robots only when told to do so by the referee.
3.4.3. Before the start of each round, teams should designate one human who
will act as "captain", and be allowed to
move the robot, based on the stated rules and as
directed by the referee.
3.4.4. Other team members within the vicinity of the rescue arena are to stand
at least 150 cm (approximately 60 inches) away from the arena while their robot
is active, unless otherwise directed by the referee.
3.5.Scoring:
3.5.1. The robots must attempt to follow the
black line where it is present.
3.5.2. Robots are rewarded 10 points for locating
each "victim" on the course. A robot must indicate that it
has found a victim by stopping and flashing a lamp for at least two
(2) seconds.
3.5.3. Robots are rewarded 10 points for successfully
negotiating each gap in the black line.
3.5.4. Robots are rewarded 10 points for successfully
avoiding each large item of debris blocking the black line.
3.5.5. Robots are rewarded 5 points for successfully
driving over each speed bump on the black line.
3.5.6. Robots are rewarded 10 points for successfully entering
a room through one doorway and exiting through the other doorway.
3.5.7. Robots are rewarded 20 points for successfully
negotiating a ramp without any assistance.
3.5.8. Robots are penalized 2 points for making a false
victim identification (i.e. indicating that they have found a victim at a
location where there isn't one).
3.5.9. Robots are penalized 5 points for each lack of
progress (see section 3.6 below).
3.5.10. Points are awarded only once for each item
(e.g. if a robot finds a victim and then has to be returned to the entrance to
that room, extra points are NOT awarded for identifying the same
victim again).
3.5.11. Ties in scoring will be resolved on the basis of the time
taken by each robot (or team of robots) to
complete the course.
3.6. Lack of progress:
3.6.1. Lack of progress occurs if the robot is stuck in the same place or loses
the black line for more than 20 seconds.
3.6.2. If a robot fails to negotiate a particular
part of the course (e.g., gap, victim, item of debris, etc.), then it
must be returned to the entrance to the room in which it is located,
or Starting Point, by the designated team "captain".
3.6.3. If a robot fails to negotiate a particular
part of the course two (2) times in succession, then the designated
team "captain" may move the robot to a point just past that
part of the course. This point is now considered the new Starting
Point after any subsequent problems in that room.
3.6.4. A team may elect to stop the round early if the
lack of progress is caused by a faulty robot. In this case, the team captain
must indicate to the referee the team's desire to terminate. The team will be
awarded all points achieved thus far.
4. Conflict resolution.
4.1. Referee:
4.1.1. During game play, the referee's decisions are final.
4.2. Rule clarification:
4.2.1. Rule clarification may be made by members of the RoboCupJunior
International Rescue Technical Committee.
4.3. Special circumstances:
4.3.1. Specific modifications to the rules to allow for special circumstances,
such as unforeseen problems and/or capabilities of a team's robot, may be
agreed to at the time of the tournament, provided a majority of the contestants
agree.
5. Documentation.
5.1. Reporting:
5.1.1. Each team must bring an electronic
presentation (e.g., in PowerPoint, PDF or Flash format) and a poster
(approximately A3 size) documenting the design, construction and
programming of their robot.
5.1.2. Presentations and posters should be
suitable for viewing by the judges, other
teams and the visiting members of the public.
5.1.3. The presentation should provide information about the team and how they
prepared for RoboCupJunior. Areas that could be covered include:
5.1.3.1. Team name;
5.1.3.2. Division (primary or secondary);
5.1.3.3. Team members' names and (perhaps) a picture of the team members;
5.1.3.4. Team's country and location within country;
5.1.3.5. Team's school and district;
5.1.3.6. Pictures of the robot under development;
5.1.3.7. Information about the robot and team, including
schematics, mechanical drawings and samples of code;
5.1.3.8. Any interesting or unusual features of the robot;
5.1.3.9. What the team hopes to achieve in robotics.
5.1.4. Judges will review the presentation and discuss the contents with
team members.
5.1.5. Competitors are requested to provide a
digital version of their presentation and poster.
5.1.6. Prizes may be awarded to teams with outstanding presentations.
5.2. Sharing:
5.2.1. Teams are encouraged to view one another's posters
and presentations.
6. Code of Conduct.
6.1. Fair Play:
6.1.1. Robots that cause deliberate or
repeated damage to the arena will be disqualified.
6.1.2. Humans that cause deliberate interference with robots or damage to the
arena will be disqualified.
6.1.3. It is expected that the aim of all teams is to participate fairly.
6.2. Behaviour:
6.2.1. All movement and behaviour are to be of a
subdued nature within the tournament venue.
6.2.2. Participants are not to enter setup
areas of other leagues or other teams, unless expressly invited to do
so by team members.
6.2.3. Participants who misbehave may be asked to leave the building and risk
being disqualified from the tournament.
6.2.4. These rules will be enforced at the discretion of the referees,
officials, tournament organizers and local law enforcement authorities.
6.3. Mentors:
6.3.1. Mentors (teachers, parents, chaperones and other adult team members) are
not allowed in the student work area.
6.3.2. Sufficient seating will be supplied for mentors to remain in a supervisory
capacity around the student work area.
6.3.3. Mentors are not to repair robots or be involved in programming of
students' robots.
6.3.4. Mentor interference with robots or referee decisions will result in a
warning in the first instance. If this recurs, the team will risk being
disqualified.
6.4. Sharing:
6.4.1. An understanding that has been a part of world RoboCup
competitions is that any technological and curricular developments
should be shared with other participants after the competition.
6.4.2. Any developments may be published on the RoboCupJunior website
after the event.
6.4.3. This furthers the mission of RoboCupJunior as an educational
initiative.
6.5. Spirit:
6.5.1. It is expected that all participants (students and mentors alike) will
respect the RoboCupJunior mission.
6.5.2. The referees and officials will act within the spirit of the event.
6.5.3. It is not whether you win or lose, but how much you learn that counts!
Appendix.
Bylaws for RoboCupJunior 2009 in Graz, Austria:
A1. Teams will be paired together to form "superteams"
of two (2) robots, for each round.
These combinations will change every round.
A2. Both robots must start from the same location, at the entrance to the first
room (the "Yellow Zone") in the course.
Superteams will need to decide as a group which robot goes first and
how long to wait before the second robot is started. The second robot must be
started within 60 seconds of the first robot being started. The time
recorded for each superteam starts from when their first robot begins
moving, and finishes when both robots exit the Red Zone.
A3. The score for each robot in the individual
competition will be calculated as follows:
A3.1. Each victim identified by either or both of the robots scores 10
points for both robots.
A3.2. The points scored under rules 3.5.3-3.5.7 by both robots are
totalled and given to each robot.
A3.3. The penalty points accumulated under rules 3.5.8. and 3.5.9. are
applied only to the robot that incurred them.
A3.4. A robot's score for a round is made up by adding the points from
A3.1., A3.2. and A3.3.
A3.5. The robot's tournament score is the total of its round scores,
minus the score of its worst round.
A4. In both the Primary and Secondary
competitions, the twelve individual teams that achieve the highest
tournament scores in the
rounds will proceed to the
superteam competition on the last day.
A5. The score for each superteam in the superteam competition will be
calculated as follows:
A5.1. Each victim identified by either or both of the robots scores 10
points for the team.
A5.2. The points scored under rules 3.5.3-3.5.9 by each robot are
totalled and given to the team.
A5.3. The team's score is obtained by adding the points from A5.1 and
A5.2.
A6. In both the Primary and Secondary competitions, prizes will be awarded
to the three individual teams that achieve the highest cumulative scores in the
rounds, and to the three superteams
that achieve the highest scores in the finals.
A7. In both the Primary and Secondary competitions, a prize will be awarded to
the team with the best presentation.