Robotwarez Rules

[teklord]

http://robotwarez.org

[A]

There will be 25 standard ping pong balls randomly laid on the floor in the last section after the maze (see drawing). You may use your own balls, provided they are regulation size/weight. These are the only balls allowed in the arena.

Would you please further define "standard ping pong balls" and "regulation size/weight"?

I know the spirit of all things defcon contest are "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and "the letter of the law," but I think this one serves all if it is defined more clearly.

Com4 and I hit up the ol baby jesus eating supercenter yesterday in search of pingpong balls to use in designing the dc801 robut. They had two different size ping pong balls, a 40mm "Tournament" style and a "free play" style. The free play balls seemed smaller but the only tool I used to measure was my eye. I then remembered something about last year the defcon branded balls being the wrong size or something like that.

So in short, would you please provide us all with an exact size and weight or point us to the "regulation" you are quoting.

[kallahar]

Hmm, good question. We may reuse last year's balls, but to make sure that you don't get screwed by unclear rules, if you bring 50 of your own that are some sort of official size (within reason) then you can use your own. This applies to colored balls too, so you can use orange ones if you want.

[Tacitus]

The only official size now is 40mm, the 38mm defcon brand balls were deprecated around 2000 or so and are no longer used in competitions.

[kallahar]

Rule clarification:

The bots have to be powered on-board (basically that means battery powered) - no connections to any power sources outside the arena.

No part of the bot can leave the arena (arms hanging outside are fine, but no touching the floor).

Also on the ping pong balls question:
- We "think" they are tournament size.... We KNOW they can't be shot from the ping pong ball guns... so they're larger, but we're verifying that now.

[A]

About the rule "clarification(s)" posted above, what should be considered the difinitive location and set of rules? Anything posted to this forum by (enter judge name here), http://www.robotwarez.org/rules.html, or perhaps someplace else?

And also, at what point will there be a rule freeze? I'm not sure what rule you are clarifying as I can't find any mention of anything relating to bots staying in the arena or power source in the rules. Oh no! Its Rule Creep! <g>

The last thing I want to do is criticize how yawl are running this contest, I can appreciate how hard it is; and also I realize that defcon is still X months away, but I ask that you set a reasonable date to finalize and codify all rules pertaining to the contest and stick to it.

[Tacitus]

Also on the ping pong balls question:
- We "think" they are tournament size.... We KNOW they can't be shot from the ping pong ball guns... so they're larger, but we're verifying that now.

Are they the same balls used at DC12? Or have new ones been ordered?

I'm not sure what rule you are clarifying as I can't find any mention of anything relating to bots staying in the arena or power source in the rules.

Yeah, I don't remember reading that either or see where these new "clarifications" are coming from. They seem to be very limiting and detailed rules compared to the scope of what has been listed in the rules before, a "design this way" rule vs. the "design to complete this goal" rules I have seen before. It seems feasable that one could create a bot that will compete the task, but have a external battery source just outside the arena. It just seems to me that less rules lead to more creativity and thus cooler bots. It's easy to fall into the trap of deciding on rules that seem logical but are biased by a mental fixedness of what someone thinks a bot should look like. Just something to consider as defcon nears. Having said that I like the rules so far and think the rules are setting up a good competition- im sure things will work out just fine and look forward to seeing all the bots at con :)

[KeLviN]

you all know how i feel about the rules seeming like they cater to specific design types and are allready limiting and rigid.
so i will mearly say: i agree with tacitus.

[shanker]

sign up ?

i was wondering when you all are having the sign up for the contest? if i can do it now i would like too

[kallahar]

Sign up is pretty open, just show up at con ;)

I built the arena this weekend, so I'll have pictures and exact layout posted in the next few days. It came out really good :)

I'm still looking for the best flooring material though. It has to be light colored (IR reflective), and it has to break down small enough to fit in a trunk. (the walls break down to 4'x1' segments)

Any ideas? I looked at industrial carpet, but it didn't come in a flat white. I looked at linolium too but it also always had patterns. I could do a bunch of 5'x2' segments, but there would be seams between the joints.

What does everyone think?

[kallahar]

I just updated the rules at robotwarez.org (that's now the official place where rules will be)

Changes:
1) The arena is now 10 feet long instead of 12
2) The walls are at 2.5', 5', and 7.5' instead of 2, 4, and 6
3) Added "Robots must be self powered, no power can come from outside the arena." (this does not prevent external control via wire though)

[astcell]

Kallahar,

Cut a few small holes in the outside walls, about 3" across. They can be great places to take pictures of the robotos from, or video, or your own X10 type cam. It can be a nice low level view without getting in the way of the robots.

[Tacitus]

Kallahar,

Cut a few small holes in the outside walls, about 3" across. They can be great places to take pictures of the robotos from, or video, or your own X10 type cam. It can be a nice low level view without getting in the way of the robots.

Sounds to me like like ast wants to take some robot upskirt shots...

[astcell]

How about the ping pong balls get numbers put on them for additional points. That way you can be rewarded for being accurate enough to select a higher point ball.

[LosT]

How about the ping pong balls get numbers put on them for additional points. That way you can be rewarded for being accurate enough to select a higher point ball.

Or just draw different Pokemon on them...gotta collect em all!

LosT