MAE3 Robot Design Contest
Spring 2004
Contest Date: Wednesday June 9th, 8:00am-11:00am
Location: WLH 2005
Click here for Live Video of the Robot Contest
Public is Invited (see Campus Map for directions)
Kit Part List and Motor CAD Models
Clarifications to Contest Rules
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Contest Description
Inspired by NASA’s recent mission to Mars, MAE3 student design teams will create competing robots to traverse our recreation of the Mars surface, complete with newly acquired information about life on Mars.
In 1997 the NASA Pathfinder arrived at Mars and the Sojourner Rover drove on the Red Planet. However, there has been very little recent press about the Sojourner
On Jan 3, 2004 the Spirit Exploration Rover landed on Mars, then on Jan 25 the Opportunity Rover also landed. Both close to Gusev crater.
To recreate the exploration of Mars an MAE3 contest table was built as shown below
The object of the contest is to gather items from the Mars surface. There are white Martian rocks located on the Valley Rise, and orange ones located on the Ridge. A key goal is to bring these rocks back and place them into the analyzer bin that is at the original landing site. Shortly after landing strong evidence of life was found. It turns out that Martians indeed exist, and they have been riding around on the Sojourner Rover since it was left up there. A recent photo shows that the Martians created a Monorail system to help traverse the hilly landscape, and it stretches from the landing sites of the Sprit and Opportunity. At the beginning of the contest to Sojourner is at the center of the table. The goal is to drag the Sojourner towards the starting side of the table, to allow better observation of the elusive Martians.
Scoring is as follows:
One point for every white rock from the valley rise that is brought back to the analyzer bin.
Two points for every colored rock from the ridge that is brought back to the analyzer bin.
Ten points for dragging the Sojourner rover back onto ones starting side of the table (the rover must be moved from within a 2 inch region to count). The Sojourner points will also serve as a tie breaker.
Each MAE3 design team will build a robot that will compete head-to-head on the contest table. The robots will be arbitrarily assigned to start in either the right or left starting platforms. The platforms have mounting holes on them, and these can be used to fasten portions of the robot to the table. The starting size of each machine is limited to a cube of 12”x12”x12” and must fit unconstrained (i.e. not touching the sides) of the test cube. The robots must start on the platforms, but fastening bolts may extend 1” below the platform, and will not be considered as part of the 12”x12”x12” cube. The Monorail beam enters the starting area, and robots can touch this beam at the beginning and during the contest.
Starting Platform
Each team will receive points for rocks placed into their starting side analyzer bin of the table during a 60 seconds playing period. The scoring does not differentiate which side of the table the rocks started from, so theoretically one could gain points from rocks starting on either side of the table, but read the detailed rules below carefully to ensure compliance! There will be three playing fields built to accommodate all students in the class, and manufacturing tolerances will results in small variations between the contest tables. It is the design teams responsibility to develop a robot that will work on all contest tables.
Each team will build a machine using the kit parts described below to perform the task. The kit will include 5 DC motors (2 will have gearboxes) and one solenoid. Electrical power will be provided from a constant voltage power supply with 5VDC output, and can be controlled with two switch boxes (each switch box can be controlled by a different team member). Each switch box has two Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) switches (these switches can operate a DC motor in either direction). Note the kit contains five DC motors and one solenoid, but only four user controlled switches. In order to operate more than four motors independently one must use contact switches on the machine. Use of motors, solenoids, and switches will be covered in lecture and is described in the Mechanical Device textbook.
Contest Event Description
The contest will be held during the MAE finals period and will be open to the public. The contest will be held in a single elimination fashion (like a tennis tournament). During the lab period of the last week of classes, each section will hold a section-wide contest. The results of this contest will be used to seed the placement of the final contest. Thus teams that perform better during their section contest will have statistically easier contests in the early rounds. Since the number of teams in the class will not be exactly a power of 2, the higher seeded teams may get a "buy" during the first round. If necessary random numbers will be used to ensure a proper contest pyramid.
Performance in the contest depends on numerous factors that do not relate to engineering quality of the robot, including driving skill and luck! The grade for the project will not be adversely affected by poor performance in the contest, but will be based upon:
· Ability to achieve to design objectives selected by the team, and performance of the machine without an opponent.
· Effective communication of the design (orally and in the web report).
· Documentation of the design process and justification of decisions made.
· Analysis of machine performance.
· Following good design practices.
A trophy will be presented to each member of the winning teams, and a number of machines will be selected for display in the Design Studio and MAE Department. Team members must work out among themselves who will keep the final machine (after their display period). All members will make a web page describing their machine (including video), which they can cherish forever.
Each team must return the geared motors, since their price is not included in the course fee. Anyone wishing to keep their complete robot can purchase replacement geared motors, and turn them in to keep their robot.
Contest Rules
Energy Sources: The energy used by the devices in the competition must come solely from:
Potential energy derived through a change in altitude of the center of gravity of the machine;
Potential energy achieved by the deformation of the springs provided by the Kit
Electrical energy derived through the umbilical during the 60 seconds when the power supply is energized.
Size: At the start of each competition, every part of the machine must fit, unconstrained, inside the 12”x12”x12” starting area, whose base is completely aligned with the marked starting area on the playing field.
Umbilical Cables: The electrical connections will made to a single umbilical cord hung from above the table; one on each side of the table. The umbilical cord cannot be touched during the contest, and there will be some drag from the cable. Each machine must be designed to overcome this drag if necessary for motion of the machine.
Detailed Rules
1. Judges and/or instructors will disqualify any device that appears to be a safety hazard.
2. Any machine that has flying parts must notify opponents, and all contestants must wear safety glasses during the machine operation.
3. If a projectile is used, for reasons of safety, it must have a frontal area greater than 2 inch squared.
4. Contestants will randomly be assigned to start on either side of the playing field.
5. A maximum set-up time of 2 minutes will be allowed at the contest table.
6. A maximum of 1 minute will be allowed for removal of all parts of each machine after each contest.
7. Operators may interact with their machine during a contest only through normal operation of the switch boxes (for example you cannot touch the machine with one's hands during operation).
8. It is allowable to adjust the configuration of the machine between contests; for example adjusting the configuration to the side of the playing field the machine starts on.
9. Each machine can only interact with the surface of the playing field and objects on the playing field.
10. The judges will wait until all the playing pieces have stopped moving before determining the winner.
11. A Martian rock will be considered inside the analyzer bin if it is completely inside the bin.
12. Points will be awarded based upon the final location of the playing pieces, regardless of which machine moved them.
13. A playing piece will be declared out-of-bounds if it is off the playing field.
14. The tie breaker must be on the playing field for it to count.
15. Damaging the playing field or the control boxes may result in disqualification.
16. Purposefully using the electrical cables for any purpose other than transmitting electrical is not allowed.
17. Gaining traction by use of adhesives, or by abrading or breaking the surface of the playing field is not allowed.
18. A machine may not contaminate with lubricant or other substance the playing field, an opponent's machine, or the playing field (internal lubrication of a machine is permissible).
19. Kit materials may not be changed chemically. DC Motors may not be rewound.
20. The paper that is attached to the acrylic in the kit cannot be used as a separate element in the machine. If any piece of paper is detached (even partially) from the acrylic it must be discarded.
21. The insulation must remain on the electrical wire in the kit except where the wire end is attached to another component, and there up to 0.5” of insulating can be removed.
22. The clear acrylic 0.25 thick is for testing. If you include any of this acrylic in your final machine, you must remove an equivalent amount of colored acrylic that was used in making the part.
23. Spare parts are available on a limited basis. Students should go to the tutors of their section to receive replacements for parts broken. Student can purchase replacement acrylic from upper campus machine shop or off campus (see Chris Cassidy for sources)
24. Machines may be designed to interact. However, it is not in the spirit of the competition to intentionally damage another machine and no part of the kit may be used in a manner that is intended to cause harm. Any device which is designed to chop, break, or penetrate another machine will not be allowed to compete. If you think your machine may be at risk for violating this rule, ask early before you build it!
25. Machine advertisements and decorations much be of the nature that it does not offend any other students or audience participants (use common sense!).
26. All rulings of the judges will be final.
Any modifications or clarifications to the rules or kits will be posted on the class web page.
Clarification to Contest Rules
Kit Parts Rules
Each machine must be constructed solely from materials provided in the Kit listed below, i.e. one cannot substitute a 12"x16" piece of acrylic with a 6"x32" piece.
If a part of the kit is damaged it can be replaced from the scrap pile, as long as the design team can show that they could completely rebuild their machine solely from the kit.
In addition to the kit parts listed in the table, the following items may be included in the machine:
· Nuts, bolts, and washers included in the Design Studio bin. These include bolts from size 2 to size 10, and metric screws for mounting the motors.
Only take nuts and bolts from the bin as you need them, and search through the spare bolt bin before taking more (we went through $1,500 in fasteners last year!)
· Fasteners can be used only for fastening purposes, and thus must fasten at least two other parts together.
· Adhesives; including hot melt glue, and acrylic adhesive.
· Tape used ONLY for electrical insulation
· Lubricants used only to reduce friction.
· Nonfunctional decorations.
Replacement Material Policy
We have some extra material that can be used for experimentation. This material will be made available in the lab scrap bins. In addition each section tutor has access to a limited amount of replacement material for their section. If you need replacement parts, contact your tutor. Some replacement of "mistakes" made to kit parts will be available, but supplies are limited, and replacement is not guaranteed.
Kit Part List and Motor CAD Models
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)