Contest Name: Three-Wall Race
Submitted By: Gary Reynolds, Physics Instructor at Santa Ana High School, Santa Ana, CA
Materials:
- Boe-Bot, Shield-Bot, ActivityBot or Similar Robot
- 3 (three) 36-inch long 1×6” or 2×6” Boards (or similarly sized hard object. A wall could be used instead of one of the boards.)
- Masking tape
Objective:
- Touch the walls at the high-scoring spots to accumulate as many points as possible within 60 seconds from the start.
Rules:
About the Robots:
- A white mark is made on the front of the robot
- Because this game tests participant’s ability to carefully program a sequence of movements, the robots in this game must be:
- Similarly matched in capability – wheel encoders should either be required for all robots or not allowed for any, and their top speeds should be similar.
- For a more exact approach to robots with varying speeds (to remove the speed advantage):
- Robots are initially timed through a 3 foot straight course.
- Robot with the slowest speed is given a scoring period of 60 seconds in the box.
- Faster robots are given a shorter period of time (percentage of 60 seconds) based on their speed run compared to the slowest robot’s time in the speed trial.
About the course/field:
- The robot must start from a point 12 inches outside and centered on the box.
- Timing begins when the vehicle enters the box, and ends when it exits the box.
About the Game:
- This competition tests the robot’s response to touch sensors, accurate turns, and strategy of the programmer.
Scoring:
- Competitors do not know the pattern of points on the wall until 30 minutes before the competition.
- Points are scored from the section of wall closest to the center-line of the robot when it contacts a wall.
- The two other walls must be contacted before points can be scored again on the first wall.
- No scoring is allowed after the robot’s allotted scoring period.
- A penalty of 5 points per second are deducted for every second the robot remains in the box beyond its allotted scoring period.
Variations:
- A modification of the the competition for more accomplished competitors is to place a 2″x12″ brick on the center-line of the box at a distance from the back wall unknown before the competition.
- Additional requirements for programming can be imposed to increase the difficulty.
- Other sensors, such as the PING))) or infrared sensors could be used, and a line near the boards to indicate that the robot got “close enough” before turning around could be added.