Live "Roboteer" Event

Wednesday, 20th October
11.00 - 15.30

For the first time in UK electronics events, Embedded Live is proud to present a live “roboteer” event. The live session will take place on Wednesday, 20th October in an open area of the exhibition at Embedded Live with competitions and prizes for the best robots. Prizes will be judged and awarded by the editors of Electronics Weekly and EE Times to teams and individuals.

How do I take part in the live Roboteers Event?
This live session will be free and open to all, the only condition of entry being that you or your team have your own robot. All you need to do is to send us an email that you would like to take part, we will ask you some more questions in response and then you will be confirmed as a participant.

Are places limited?
Yes, there is a limit on the number of teams and individuals that can take part. Places are allocated on a first-come, first served basis, but with priority given to attendees taking the Tuesday classes.

What do I need to take part?
You will need to acquire a robotics kit and know how to use it, either at an intermediate or advanced level. Applicable kits for the competition are any standard microcontroller based Robotics kit, many of which will be demonstrated for practical use in a robotics programming class on Tuesday afternoon. These may include:

Basic

LeTry + Arduino – www.robotiq.co.uk

Intermediate

VEX Robotics Pro - www.vexrobotics.com
Lego Mindstorms - www.robotiq.co.uk and,
Lego Mindstorms with Tetrix - www.robotiq.co.uk
POB Robotics - www.robotiq.co.uk

Advanced/Other

LeTry + Arduino
Aldebaran Robotics - www.aldebaran-robotics.com
Arrick Robotics - www.arrickrobotics.com
PersonalRobots - www.personalrobots.com
iRobot (makers of the Roomba) - www.irobot.com
MobileRobots - www.mobilerobots.com/
K-Team - www.k-team.com

How do I buy a Robotics kit?
Many of the kits listed can be bought from online stores such as Play, Amazon, and a variety of electronics and robotic gadget specialists like Robotiq. The target price of the kits and components to be used is less than £1,500.

How much activity and planning needs to be done in advance?
If you would like to participate as a group then this will be left to your own organisational skills. Individuals are welcome to join the Tuesday training classes and ad-hoc groups will be assembled onsite for practical exercises and to carry on with the competitive event if participants wish to continue.

What if I have a technical question?
Please contact the Events Team and we will respond as quickly as possible. We will let you know first if we have to pass your query onto the course instructors from VEX Robotics or First Technology Transfer.

What are the Challenges?

Basic - Letry Arduino Based Robots:
In the spirit of Arduino development – where low cost, fun and ingenuity count highly. Robots will be constructed using:
- a LeTry robot car with two standard LeTry sized breadboards
- an Arduino processor
- a variety of components
- the total cost of all parts must not exceed £180 [parts will be costed on an “as new” basis]
Design and code are to be open sourced .. so that other “Arduinistas” can learn and be inspired. The Arduino challenges – you can tackle as many as you wish to:
a) sprint to the edge – the robots will sprint to the edge of a “drop” – and stop with the leading wheels on the very edge
- robots must not use any kind of “dead reckoning” strategies
- only the original LeTry motors can be used (no super-charging)
- the robot with the fastest “average speed” will be the winner
b) remember the journey – a line following challenge with a difference
- a robot will follow a path – a winding path – with intersections - printed on a large sheet of paper, all software used must be programmed into the Arduino, no communication with any other computer is allowed when the robot is following the path and then recreating it
- the robot must then recreate the path followed – by drawing it on a blank sheet of paper – using some kind of attached pen or marker
- the winner will be the robot that can best recreate the original path followed
c) dancing robot – this is an exercise in creativity and ingenuity
- you are to create a dancing “LeTry” robot
- your robot can be equipped with LEDs, servos with various attachments to create an “exotic” effect.
- you will need to program your robot so as to “choreograph” its activities so as to be “in synch” with the music you have chosen
- a dance sequence is to last for 5 minutes exactly
- the winning robot will be judged on its “turnout” and its dancing and entertainment abilities
Intermediate - LEGO Mindstorms plus Tetrix (if desired), or POB or VEX based robots – where total cost of components (mixing and matching is allowed) is under £450. All robots must be autonomous – i.e. cannot communicate with other computers when carrying out their tasks
Designs and software are to be open sourced.
a) Hunt the “Easter egg” competition
- the arena will be a large area with a number of randomly placed boxes
- the “Easter eggs” will be coloured ping-pong balls
- some of the ping pong balls will be placed on tops of boxes
- some of the ping pong balls will be inside boxes (which will be open)
- some of the ping pong balls will be “out in the open”
- a competing robot will be given a colour and must collect up only ping pong balls of the correct colour
- a box may have zero or more ping pong balls either on top of it or inside it
- the winner will be the robot that finds the most “Easter eggs” in the allotted time.
b) dancing robot – this is an exercise in creativity and ingenuity
- you are to create a dancing robot
- your robot can be equipped with LEDs, servos with various attachments to create an “exotic” effect.
- you will need to program your robot so as to “choreograph” its activities so as to be “in synch” with the music you have chosen.
- a dance sequence is to last for 5 minutes exactly
- the winning robot will be judged on its “turnout” and its dancing and entertainment abilities
c) Robot Tag – The aim of this game is for one robot to chase another and “touch” it.
- both the robot being chased and the robot doing the chasing will have 4 LEDs flashing at 5 Hz to indicated their presence (one LED at each corner)
- the LEDs must be clearly visible
- a successful “tag” will be judged by the umpires
- each round will last for 3 minutes
- the course will also contain obstacles (not sufficiently high to hide behind) to be avoided
- the competition will be organised into “elimination” rounds followed by quarter finals, semi finals and finals.
Advanced - Open section – the competitions here will be the same as for section 2, the total cost of components can be up to the value of £950. Designs and software are to be open sourced.