Lebgeeks Robo-Cup !

J4D

The time has come !
Ladies and gentlemen, with great joy i announce that now we can have a Robo-cup !
With the joining of our new active member Mesa177 it is now possible to do that !
Two teams will be made, one led by J4D and the other by Mesa177.
The task would require programming as well as hardware work ! any one can join, whether you have not heard anything about both it really does not matter ! :) the issue is that we need to have some collaborative fun.
Of course we should maintain a certain degree of funny rivalry ;) and secrecy ! both teams should be faced by the other team's robot at the moment of battle !

Rules of engagement:
-The bigger the robot the better !
-The robot should have a micro-controller on board.
-The robot should be able to detect a pitch black line on the floor and learn not to surpass it !
-The robot can be fully autonomous, or a mix of both autonomous and remote controlled but not only remote controlled !
-A wireless safety cut off switch is a must ! (if the robot is of BIG scale)(small robots can be crushed by feet with ease)
-Safety first, Both robots will be examined by J4D and Mesa177 before the competition to check for any hazard.
-A maximum number of 5 weapons per robot is allowed
-More rules will be laid down as i think of them ( anyone can contribute)

Competitions:
-robot sumo ! the two robots are placed in a ring, robot push each other out of the ring for points.
-Line following ! a line will be drawn on the floor, robot should follow the line until the end, robot will be judged on timing to finish and the times the robot drifts off the line !
-Obstacle avoidance, the robot should not bump into stuff laid on the floor while it tries to navigate out of the 'Maze' .
-Fight to the death ( can be removed if one of the partied decides to withdraw :P) no points will be deducted !
( Try to think of others that we can add ! )

what we should do now is decide on team members ! for now members can choose to which party they will join if we feel that their is miss balance the team leaders can agree on a solution.
If any other persons sees that he wants to become a team leader as well to bring up the number of contesting robots to three should contact me, i will see if he is liable of this option.
Lets rumble !
No time limit is available ! this project may last months before we are able to initiate battle ! that's not a problem :)

Ayman

Nice nice, count me in, I want to work on the programming and shape design too because I have some ideas :D And I am on Jad's side :P

Georges

I'm in too :)

And regarding the teams, i'd love to be on the opposite team. [Dream] I want to kick your ass [/dream].
and did you just mentioned "Weapons"... Ohhh, that should be lovely. (Except for rotating blades - I don't wanna mess with these)

MrClass

lol picture of robot wars game. Still have it :P
flame throwers, sharp blades, mad chainsaws, kick ass robots. Im in!

arithma

The robot can be fully autonomous, or a mix of both autonomous and remote controlled but not only remote controlled !

What if my autonomous behavior is to do nothing?

chosen2k

lol arithma.

I'm in, ill get the RPG j4d's robot is handling. J

I'll be glad to help, but it would be better to specify the maximum sizes of the robot.
This way robots like a real size RC hummer (with cruise control as autonomous behavior) are not included.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A1uG6Kwv5c

Or just specify the size of the maze? the size of the ring?

Furthermore, Copy designs from robowars winners are not an option.

Georges

The rules should be something like THIS...

But of course, on a larger scale :) and with more devastating results.

Padre

Rules of engagement:
-The bigger the robot the better !

honestly, im totally against that. Robots should have a predefined size / box that they should fit into in order to have a good competition. at least that's what i saw in most of the robo competition :)

rolf

That's cool but I wished there wasnt the autonomous and "not-cross-the-black-line" requirements, as I think it makes things much harder and more complicated - at least for me.

Flakk

Sounds cool, but i think it would be better to put a specific size for the robots.

J4D

About the size issue, well i will see what should be a good size.
George, keep dreaming ;)
Rolf, dont worry, both team leaders know how to deal with these. Even if you know nothing about this you can still contribute :)
More talking about team members now so we can move to the next step !

mesa177

flame throwers, sharp blades, mad chainsaws

Abed, simply put... NO

Robots are not allowed to throw flames or sharp objects (which can and will at some point lead astray and hurt people) or to cause any sort of electric jamming or electromagnetic interferance (surrounding electric equipment, including cellphones and yes credit cards might be damaged).

So we don't get to suck the fun out of the games, the robots can throw nets and PLASTIC hockey pucks which also have to have a pre-determined weight (that way, if it hits someone in the head, he/she remains a capable geek and we don't spend the rest of the competition waiting for an injured person to come out of surgery).

I'll think about tazers casue frankly if they just dish out a small surge of electricity, no real harm is done to a human, just the robot being attacked by them. I'll also consider pressured-water squirting guns. Any jabbing sticks should either consist of wood or plastic, NO METAL STICKS whatsoever. Also, the sticks SHOULD NOT have pointed heads, like clobbers, UNLESS they are limited to a specific jabbing distance (no firing of clobbers, avoiding those that go astray is too messy).

Padre wroteRobots should have a predefined size / box that they should fit into in order to have a good competition

This is one criteria in ALL robo contests. We can have big robots, don't get me wrong, but they have to be limited to certain weight and size criteria.

J4D wrote-Fight to the death

If you are financing this, no problem (frankly, I don't like seeing people literally burning their money to waste). If you are expecting sponsors, let me assure you they don't even like to see their money burning.

I have an even better alternative. Robots can fight above a certain platform that is slightly raised off the ground. The robot falling off the cliff will be sentenced to serve programming purposes to a bunch of 10-year olds who are currently learning the basics of programming (if one or more of the weapons is considered hazardous for kids like the case of tazers, they can be mounted off and maybe even burned >)). As for where would I find 10 year old kids with programming skills, leave this to me.

Let the showdown begin!!

arithma

Suggestions:
- Weight Adjusted Matches: Score is increased by the weight ratio of the winner to that of the loser.
- Volume Adjusted Matches (Requires Immersible Robots): Score is increased by the volume ratio of the winner to that of the loser. Volumes are measured by immersing robots in water tanks.
- Speed & Maneuverability : Race tracks and Lap timing ratios.
- Battery Saving Mode & Speed: Two buttons, the robot has to go in between them (they're a distance apart) and push them after each other. 1 hour limit. Ratios of clicks to competing robots.
- Power: Two robots collide head on or drag each other off. Winning and losing is a unitary score (couldn't find any ratios).
- Forward Force: Maximum weight a robot can standstill while being pulled in the direction along it's track from behind
- Wireless Communication: Ability for the robot to report a 1KB of data transmitted over wireless in a noisy environment. Correct Bits will determine score ratios.
- All terrain?: On a rocky path, meters traveled will be measured for each robot. Ratios apply.

rolf

I'd like a closed arena where very little rules are set, therefore weapons are allowed - but security is seriously considered. Since we're making this ourselves, why not make up the rules too and go for something radical?

I'd really like mini-warfare in a contained environment :-)

rolf

mesa177 wrote
J4D wrote-Fight to the death
If you are financing this, no problem (frankly, I don't like seeing people literally burning their money to waste). If you are expecting sponsors, let me assure you they don't even like to see their money burning.

Part of the challenge is designing for this during robot construction - that is for cheap and easy to replace parts.

You don't build a "deathmatch" robot in the same way you build, say, a sumo robot.

Padre

Not all of them.
For example, a few years back, there was a robot challenge at defcon: Build an automated gun that would shoot as many targets as possible in a certain time. was quite fun :)
As for this rule:

-The robot should have a micro-controller on board.

i dont really see why it's there :/ it should be all up to the designer :)

Weapons on top of the robots is a cool idea, but why not start with a simple competition ? something not that destructive.
Racing, Maze, Sumo etc ... are all good ideas, but why not smth a bit different ? for example robots that build something.

J4D

I don't know what to say :P mesa177 NO ! this will be a MENS competition :P everything dangerous is allowed ! :D
Padre this one is for you, you can use whatever you want to simulate autonomous behavior, you can use a rat's brains if you want :P

J4D

Samer ! Where is your voice ? we definitely want you on this :)
Rahmu, even though you are abroad you can make a gr8 programmer or consultant on one of the projects !
Yalla Yalla, lets set up the teams, that's what i want to hear about next !

So far my team has me and Ayman .
Mesa's team has evil Georges .

mesa177

Jad, safety is a must. Build a tesla coil if you want but no flame throwers, I mean seriously what arena are we going to use? Is it going to have a bat's cage around? I think not, so no flame throwers.

Besides to generate ISI or EMI is against every single robot competition for a reason. If you want a clobber, fine. Chainsaw, God you MEN are TWISTED, fine. But we have to have some ground rules concerning safety.

J4D

Yeah yeah, whatever :P