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National Engineering Robotics Contest 2009 Final Draft

1. Introduction National Engineering Robotics Contest (NERC) is a joint project to promote research in robotics and its related fields in Pakistan. This contest provides a common environment for the integration and evaluation of various mechanical designs, algorithms and agent architectures. The aim of this years contest is to build an autonomous robot which is capable of moving in a specified arena and is able to place objects at predefined points in the arena. Over the years NERC has grown increasingly popular among students and university engineering departments across the country. We value the interest that our participants have shown and pledge to bring exciting new challenges every year for the advancement of robotics community at an increasingly wider scale. We welcome your participation in 5th National Engineering Robotics Competition (NERC 2009). Robotics is a buzz word at todays technology forefronts. Due to exponential advancements in fields like high performance computing, computer vision, computer networks, material sciences and power electronics, the growth experienced by robotics in past few years is unprecedented. Robotics is the only field which can add precision while replacing the slow manual labor in contemporary industrial world. Thus this field faces enormous pressure from industry to produce all purpose mobile manipulator robots which can perform simple tasks like grab, navigate and place objects at desired locations autonomously. This years contest like the last year aims at the same application of robotics but raises the bar by a little. The contestants are expected to come up with autonomous robots that can place objects with increased amount of precision and feedback control. There are two leagues under which contestants will be evaluated; Indigenous robots league and Lego-robot league. The purpose of this contest is to develop a sense of problem-solving, technical design and ingenuity among the contestants. 2. Contest Categories The contest consists of two categories, each based on the focus of design and the level of technology used. We expect from the contestants of both categories to build an Autonomous Robot which should be able To move in a specified arena and insert wooden pegs into the peg-stands placed at predefined points in the arena. Both categories have separate prizes. There are some differences in the theme and rules for both the categories which are mentioned at the end of this document. Contestants are free to compete in any category. The two categories are:

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a. Category 1- Indigenous robots Indigenous robots are the ones that are constructed from scratch. Their mechanical structure, controls etc. are designed and fabricated by the teams themselves. However electronic control modules and sensors may be acquired non-indigenously. b. Category 2 - Modular/Lego robots Modular/Lego robots are ones in which ready-made kits are used.

Indigenous Robots
3. The Contest Arena Please review the Floor-plan before continuing

a.

The

Contest Arena is made by joining two Blue Waterproof Floor Mat sheets of size 600 X 183 cm each. So that the total size of the arena becomes 600 X 366 cm. There could be slight variation in the exact shade of the aforementioned mat. Please see contest website for photograph of actual mat to be used. This kind of floor mat is commonly used in Toyota Hiace Vans b. Fixed Lines are marked on the arena. These Lines can assist the robot to find its path. The Lines are made from 3 cm wide White Reflector Tape c. Four peg-stands are placed on the arena marked n, e, r & c. There are 9 pigeon holes in all the stands which are arranged in the form of 3 X 3 grids. The height of all the stands from ground to bottom-most row of pigeon holes is 21 cm. The peg stand will be made up of acrylic sheet of 3mm thickness. Please see the Floor-plan for detailed dimensions and

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preview. The position of all stands is fixed and these will be placed on the ground. d. Wooden peg would be cylindrical in shape with a diameter of 4 cm and length equal to 6 cm. The dimensions of the wooden pegs can be seen from the Floor-plan as well e. The white line from point A to B on the Floor-plan is the Start Zone. The contestants will be asked to start from any point on this line. This means that the initial position of the robot will be variable. It is also MUST for the robot to enter the arena from point B 4. Robot Operation Once turned on, the robot must be self-controlled without any human intervention. Remote-control of any sort (wired or wireless) CANNOT be used. Contestants are NOT allowed to touch their robots or enter the Contest Arena after startup. The robot must find the peg-stand (by virtue of its position or any other sensing technique) and place the pegs into the pigeon holes. 5. Loading Pegs a. Total 8 wooden pegs are to be inserted in all the stands b. All the pegs can be loaded in the robot before Start 6. Peg Placement Technique The Robot must not use any destructive or dangerous methods to place the pegs. The pigeon holes in the stands are made up of 3mm thick acrylic sheet (transparent sheet) and the stand will be made up of a harder material like aluminum. It will have adequate weight, however, attempting to climb the pegstand can be dangerous and the peg-stand may be dropped or break causing damage to the arena. In this case team will be disqualified. The Robot may touch the peg-stand for sensing purposes. However if an attempt to touch drops the peg-stand, points will be deducted. The robot must not use any harmful substances such as oil, petrol etc. in its operation that can damage the arena. The Robot CANNOT split after the start of the game, only one Robot is allowed to compete at a time. Any kind of support to the outlet / extension with the ground is NOT allowed. 7. Rules for Peg Placement The pigeon holes in all the peg-stands will be considered to be numbered from 1 to 9, as illustrated in the grid shown below. The numbers would not be

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marked physically on the pigeon holes but we would take them to be in that sequence for our understanding and for all practical purposes. The numbering sequence for different stands will be in correspondence with each other, that is, all the top right holes will be taken as number 1, top centered one as number 2 and so on. See Floor-plan for picture. The robot can place a maximum of three pegs in a single stand. The robot can not place more than two pegs in the similar numbered pigeon-hole even on a different stand. For example if a peg is placed in pigeon-hole No. 1 on stand n, then the robot may place one and only one more peg in the same numbered hole on any of the stands e, r or c. It means more than two pegs placed into the same numbered hole even on a different stand will not be counted. A maximum of 3 placement outlets are allowed on the robot. By one placement outlet we mean, the outlet from which one peg is placed so with three placement outlets a maximum of three pegs can be placed at a time in a stand. 1 4 7 2 5 8 3 6 9

8. Robot Size and Weight The robot must fit within 1200 cm2 i.e. the area of the shadow of the robot if light is projected from top must not increase 1200 cm 2. The robot must also fit within a box of 60 X 60 cm i.e. with the area of 1200 cm 2 the linear dimension of any side must not increase 60 cm. If the area of the robot base is more than 1200 cm2 or the dimension of any side increases 60 cm points will be deducted. All robots will be carefully measured. All sensors mounted on the robot will be counted as part of the robots total dimensions. If contestants want to add a flag, hat or other purely decorative, non-functional items to the robot, they may do so. The decorations must also be within the size limit i.e. 1200 cm 2 and 60 X 60 cm. The weight of robot including decorations must not exceed 14 kg. Points will be deducted if the robot does not fulfill the size and weight criteria. 9. Sensors There is no restriction on the type of sensors that can be used. However, contestants are not allowed to place any markers, beacons or reflectors in the contest area to aid in the robots navigation.

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10. Power Supply The robot must be battery-powered. The robot must not have any wired connections with its surroundings. Voltage of the machines electrical power source must not exceed 48 Volt DC. Power sources that are considered dangerous or unsuitable by the Contest Officials shall not be permitted. 11. Teams a. The Robots can be built by teams of currently registered students from Engineering Institutions, Polytechnic Institutions, schools etc. Each team can comprise of Maximum 6 members. b. If the students from two different Institutes/Universities join hands and form a team in collaboration then the name of the Institute/University with maximum number of students in such a team would be registered. 12. Duration of Match a. Each team will be given maximum 4 minutes to complete their task. However, team may be asked to stop the machine earlier if the referees decide that the task cannot be acquired due to mechanical problems or for safety reason b. Each team will be given 1 minute for setting up the machine at the start point c. Machine can start at the instant when the start signal is given. Machine must be constructed so that it can be started in minimum possible operation(s) d. Once the machine moves, team members will not be allowed to touch the machine or enter in the Contest Arena e. The time starts when the robot enters the arena through point B of the start zone 13. Retry If the robot is strayed due to some reason, retries are allowed. Maximum THREE retries can be awarded by the match referee. Points will be deducted for each retry. After a Retry is called out by a team, they are allowed to pick the machine from the contest arena, reset and restart from the Start Zone. This can be done by any of the members of the team. If the team wants to reload pegs, they will be provided by the field staff. For retry there would be no "time out" and the global clock would be running. For each retry, robots must be started again from the Start Zone. After calling a retry the score will become zero. However

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each team will be judged on the basis of maximum scores in any individual try (not necessarily the last one). 14. Points a. Placing 1st peg into any stand b. Placing 2nd peg into any stand c. Placing 3rd peg into any stand d. Placing 4th (or more) peg into a single stand e. Placing more than two pegs into a pigeon hole* 25 points 20 points 10 points 0 points 0 points

*If a robot places a peg into any pigeon hole number x of one stand then it can place only one more peg into the same pigeon hole number x of any other stand. Targeting same pigeon whole x for the third time will be given 0 marks If two or more teams have same points then decision will be made on the basis of time, i.e. the team scoring maximum in minimum time would be the winner. The time for placing the last peg will be used to take time-based judgments. Extreme minor details will be on the discretion of judges. If the team has committed retries then the best score for any individual try (not necessarily the last one) will be considered for judgment. Deduction of Points a. Robot goes out of the Contest Arena b. Retry c. Oversize Robot (Size between 1200 and 1500 cm 2) d. Oversize Robot (Size exceeding 1500 cm2) e. Oversize Robot (Robot does not fit in 60 X 60 cm) f. Overweight Robot (Weight between 14 and 16 kg) g. Overweight Robot (Weight between 16 and 18 kg) h. Overweight Robot (Weight exceeding 18 kg) 5 points 5 points 5 points Disqualified Disqualified 5 points 10 points Disqualified

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i. Dropping peg-stand points 15. Rules

a. The Contest judges may stop any robot at any time if they feel that it is performing, or is about to perform, any action that is dangerous or hazardous to people or equipment b. In all matters of interpreting the rules before and during the Contest and in any issues not covered by these rules, the decisions of the Contest Judging Committee will be final c. Additional information regarding the contest rules and regulations may be found in the FAQs and will be considered as part of the theme and rules. New FAQs are uploaded frequently so keep watching the FAQ corner for new information 15. Disqualification The following behavior shall be considered for disqualification by the referee and the team could possibly be disqualified: a. Attempting to damage the game field b. Performing any act that fails to comply with the spirit of Fair Play 16. Test Run Contestants will be given time for trial run a day before the contest to calibrate their robot/sensors on the actual arena/game field.

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Modular/Lego Robots
17. Difference in Rules a. Only two peg- stands will be placed on the arena for the Lego robots b. Both the stands would be on the same side of "start zone" demarcation line as illustrated in the figure below c. Total 6 wooden pegs are to be inserted in the two peg stands d. The contestants from schools can use the kits for making up the complete robot. But for the university/institute participants, it is compulsory that at least 50% of the robot is indigenous e. Rest of the rules are same as for indigenous robots

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Registration- Method & Deadline

Fill the registration form available on our website and send it to us with a non-refundable registration fee of Rs. 500 for each Robot entering into the Contest. Any individual or group can enter more than one Robot, but a registration fee must accompany each entry. The same physical Robot CANNOT be entered twice even if two entry fees are paid. Please make your Check/ Draft/ Pay-Order payable to: Dr. Akhtar Nawaz Malik, Head Mechatronics Department Our postal address is: Department of Mechatronics Engineering, College of E&ME, Peshawar Road, Rawalpindi, Pakistan 46000 Ph: +92 51 927 8044 Please register as soon as possible so that you may be informed about all the updates on the competition via e-mail. Awards The prizes are: Winners 1st Runners-up 2nd Runners-up 3rd Runners-up 3 x Best Engineering Design Award* Winner NERC Lego Category 1st Runners-up NERC Lego Category 2nd Runners-up NERC Lego Category 5 x Participation & Performance Awards Youngest NERC Participant Awards** Rs. 80,000.00 Rs. 50,000.00 Rs. 40,000.00 Rs 35,000.00 Rs. 30,000.00 each Rs. 25,000.00 Rs. 15,000.00 Rs. 10,000.00 Rs. 15,000.00 each Rs. 5,000.00

Apart from these prizes, the certificate of participation will be awarded to the participating students representing their respective Institute/University during the competition. * The following will be checked for the Best Engineering Design Award
1- Mechanism for placing pegs 2- Mechanical design features such as stability of platform, ruggedness of mechanism. 3- Complexity vs. simplicity of Mechanical Fabrication as well as cost of material + fabrication 4- Electrical design features, e.g. modular design, use of PCB vs. vero/breadboard, placement of components on boards, placement/fixing of modules on the base, layout of cables and their routing, use of appropriate connectors for cable terminations on boards

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5- Artistic design of the robot

** The following will be taken into account while deciding for youngest NERC participant award:
1- The age of the younger participants 2- Detailed viva of the younger participants regarding the construction and functioning of robot

The Contest The Contest will be held in the College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Rawalpindi. The competition will be held in the first week of July 2009. Contacts College of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering Department of Mechatronics Engineering Peshawar Road Rawalpindi, Pakistan Phone: Fax: E-Mail: Website: ++92- 51- 9278044 ++92- 51- 9278048 nerc@ceme.edu.pk www.ceme.edu.pk/nerc