Introduction (2017 Course)

Welcome to Moonbase Epsilon! Once a tranquil crater, the land is now the site of a fierce duel for mining rights. Moonbase Epsilon sits atop the universe's largest reserves of unobtanius-epsilonium, a rare compound useful in making very small things such as microcontrollers, nanomachines, and hats for gnomes. You have been hired by either Green Industries or White Incorporated to stake their claim on this valuable land.

The contest revolves around having the most u-epsilonium mining stations claimed at the end of the game. There are 9 stations on the moonscape, some of which are claimed by physically touching them, the rest by flashing gold codes. The game begins with all flashable stations unclaimed, and the other stations already claimed by a team.

Please watch the VIDEO for a summary of all rules!

Stations

Every station broadcasts a gold code seeded with their station number. Unclaimed stationsÕ seeds are their station number + 10 (decimal). Stations claimed by the White team flash normal gold codes, while stations claimed by the Green team flash inverted version of the gold codes. Ownership is also indicated by the LEDs on top of the station.

Each standard station (1-4) have a bump panel on the front. When this panel is bumped, the station switches owner and starts broadcasting the appropriate code. Once it switches, it cannot be claimed again for two seconds. Flashable stations (5-9) begin unclaimed and must be claimed by flashing a gold code at it with an LED. The gold code flashed must be seeded with the station's number: inverted to change it to the green team, and noninverted to change it to the white team.

2017 Schedule

• Sunday, November 11th - 09:00 pm - Last day to demo working gold code Transmission and Detection
• Monday, November 13th - In lab Scrimmages begin
• Monday, November 20rd - 05:30 pm - Shan Main Lecture Hall: Final Competition
• Monday, December 04th - 11:00 am - Shan: Final presentations begin
• Wednesday, December 06th - 11:00 am - Shan: Final reports due

Map

The two squares with robots at the east and west end of the board indicate the starting locations of the robots. Robots working for Green Industries begin at the west end, White Incorporated robots begin in the east end. The numbers correspond to the numbering of that particular beacon. The number of the beacon is also the seed of the gold code sequence emitted by that beacon. Beacons with stars are flashable beacons!

Game Rules

• Each match will last one minute and ten seconds (1:00)
• Each team will position their robot in the starting box before the game begins. The robot may not touch the ground outside of this square (on the tape is OK), although parts may hang over.
• Each team may not intentionally leave any parts behind.
• Teams may ask the referee to remove or restart their robot from the match at the cost of one point per reset. Teams may only do this if their robot is clearly stuck. If an opponent robot is about to pass through the resetting robot's start position, the referee will wait until the start position is clear before resetting.
• If any of these rules are broken, the team may be disqualified by referee decision.

Scoring

• 1 point: each beacon claimed by the team at the end of the match
• 1 point: robot ends with any part of their robot touching the ground inside either starting square (only if the robot moved out of the square during the match)
• Ties are broken by the more active team by referee decision

Robot Requirements

Stock hardware is defined as the hardware that you built in the labs prior to the final project. Your vehicle must contain at least one modification to stock hardware such as a new sensor, a modified chassis, etc., and you must be able to provide a credible rationale of why the modification could improve the performance.

You may add a maximum of $40 of new hardware (not reimbursed). See the E11 bill of materials for the cost of components obtained from the class supply bins. You may also redesign the chassis and print it again with the 3D printer. Remember that your bot's footprint must fit within the 7" starting square, as mentioned earlier. You are responsible for paying for 3D printing costs ($10 per cubic inch of material) for additional printings. Note that the stock price of any equipment that students already own or want to borrow will count towards the $40 total.

You are encouraged to experiment with wacky ideas - the most memorable robots aren't always the winners. When in doubt about the rules, contact your instructor or the referees.

Deliverables

• You and your partner are responsible for the following deliverables
• A prototype robot with a physical modification that can capture at least one flag during an in-class scrimmage
• A final robot to compete in The Epsolonium Duel
• A presentation about your robot design
• A final report

Presentation

Your team will make a 5-minute presentation to your classmates in your lab section in the last week of the semester. Your presentation should describe the novel features in your vehicle including the algorithm you used, any interesting issues in the software implementation, and any modifications to the stock chassis, sensors, and actuators. Your presentation should be clear, lively, and interesting! Bring your presentation to class on a memory stick in PowerPoint or PDF or email it to the section instructor in advance.

Final Report

Your team will write a final report describing your robot. The report should not exceed 5 pages, excluding appendices containing source code. A classmate should be able to understand and replicate your robot based on the information in your report. Specifically, it should contain:

• An overview of your autonomous vehicle and your strategy
• A description of your modification(s)
• A dimensioned drawing of your chassis if you designed a new one
• A description and bill of materials for any hardware you added
• Schematics of any electronics beyond the stock hardware
• An explanation of your game-playing algorithms
• A summary of the robot performance, including how it did during your tests, the scrimmage, and the final game, discrepancies with the intended algorithm, limitations you have observed, and concrete recommendations for improvements.
• A summary of the main lessons you have learned from the project.
• An appendix listing your Arduino code

A template of the report can be found here

Bring a clean draft of your report to your lab section in the next to last week (week of 11/27) for peer editing. Turn in a final copy in class at 11:00am on Wednesday, December 6th

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Grading

Your project score is based on the following:

• Successfully captures at least one flag in the scrimmage 5%
• Useful physical modification operational at the scrimmage 5%
• Successfully captures at least one flag in the final game 20%
• Operates reliably and repeatedly during Robot Design IV lab 20%
• Modification to stock hardware 10%
• Creativity 10%
• Presentation 10%
• Report rough draft ready for peer editing 5%
• Final report 15%

In addition, you will receive 5% extra credit for each win accumulated in the final tournament.

If you feel that the work was divided unequally between you and your partner, please discuss the discrepancies with your lab instructor.

Tools

Here are some .ino files that might be helpful. First, some sample code that broadcasts gold code can be found here. Helper gold code correlation code can be found here