DRC Rules

Droid Racing Challenge 2022 Rules

Team Eligibility

• Eligible competitors:
  • Higher degree students (ie Masters and PhD students, and Researchers) and Education facility staff
  • Undergraduate University Students
  • High School Students, provided they have an accompanying teacher
• Teams may have a maximum of six official members. We recommend at least four (two programmers, one electrical, one mechanical).
• Each university or Representing group has a maximum of three teams allowed to compete
• This challenge is designed for undergraduate students,
• Teams must be able to show their progress through a video diary/showcase/logbook before the competition to ensure they are ready to compete. Email to qutroboticsclub@gmail.com by 08/07/2022
• Teams must have at least one staff contact if currently enrolled at an education facility. High School teams must have that staff member present for the entirety of the event and exercise control over the students.
• Mentors are allowed but must not have significant input in the team. Please refer to the RoboCup and FIRST competition rules for more information on this.

Robot Specifications

• The total budget for the finished robot must not exceed $1500AUD. This is to ensure an even playing field. All components will be at each team’s own expense
• The droid must use computer vision to sense the boundaries, obstacles and other droids
• The droid must be able to wirelessly start, stop and finish the race.
• Any software may be used.
• Any processing method, including off-board may be used (laptops used will not be included in the budget, provided they were not bought specifically for the DRC)
• Only on-board sensors may be used. Main guidance must be computer vision based, however on-board sensors may be used to detect obstacles (i.e. No GPS, RC, LIDAR).
• Each robot must have a red outer shell that covers at least 80 percent of the robot.
• Droids must not be designed to intentionally interfere with other droids.
• Must be a wheeled or legged driven robot that remains on the ground the vast majority of the time
• It is recommended to avoid having open wheel designs. Two robots failing this might get their wheels tangled up. Though judges should still be able to see when a wheel has contacted a track marker.
• Maximum dimensions:

Width:         400mm

Height:     350mm

Length:     800mm

• Each robot will be judged on the day to see if it meets specifications. If it does not it will NOT be allowed to compete.

The Track

• The competition will be held at QUT Gardens Point Campus
• The track will be indoors
• Yellow and blue coloured tape will indicate the boundaries (Official Blue Tape and Yellow Tape)
• Time penalties will apply if the robot crosses the boundaries
• The finish line will be indicated by a solid green line
• The width of the track will range between one and two metres
• There will be obstacles on the track that the droid will need to avoid. They will vary in size (max 400x400x500mm), with up to two obstacles at any part of the track
• The obstacle configuration will increase in difficulty with each round

Turning Challenge:

• A left or right hand turn sign “similar to the actual road signs” will be added to the track, this will indicate a left or right hand turn to be performed by the droid
• Only one sign/section shall be present on the track at any time
• The sign will be approximately 28x20cm with the inverted road sign colours
• The sign will indicate which side of the fork the car shall take when it approaches the sign
• +5 seconds will be given to a car that takes the wrong route
• -5 seconds will be taken from a car that takes the right route
• A car that fails to make a decision (at the judge’s discretion) will be placed onto the correct path if needed and +10 seconds will be given to that car
• The direction of the arrow will be randomised with each lap and race
• Both routes will be the same length and design.
• The arrow will be a white vinyl sticker of the size indicated in the linked pdf
  • DRC 2022 Road Markings

Environment:

• The competition will be held at QUT, Gardens Point campus
• The track will be indoors, in a large lab space. This means that there may be equipment around that we can not move (including objects the same colour as the track lines).
• The competition this year will allow spectators so, be wary of them wearing clothing or shoes similar in colour to items needing to be detected on the track.
• Access to power and a table to set up will be provided.
• Access to a workshop will be provided if needed. It will have power supplies, soldering equipment, hot glue guns, basic hand tools, etc.
• Teams should bring whatever non-workshop equipment they may need (Laptops, spare parts, etc). We may be able to supply some items at request, but cannot guarantee it.

Performance

• When the heat is due to start, a judge will give a countdown for the heat to start. After which, both teams may hit the start button for their droid to start moving.
• The car must stop once it reaches the start line after a lap before being starting again and another lap time recorded
• Teams will have a certain amount of time on the day to do as many laps during the rounds (time to be specified on the day based on the amount of competing teams)
• If a judge determines that a droid has entered an unrecoverable state (such as completely lost the track), the car is reset with time still running.

Prizes

• A prize will be awarded to the overall winner of the competition based on track performance, robot design score and MathWorks Adoption Prize entry (if teams choose to compete for this) ($350)
• Prizes will be awarded to the droids that complete the first ($300), second ($200), and third ($100) fastest laps of the track.
• A prize will be awarded to the best designed droid, which will be judged by an expert panel ($100)
• MathWorks will be awarding a prize to the best performed droids that implement MATLAB and/or Simulink https://qutrobotics.com/droid-racing-challenge/mathworks-resources/

RULES: Document