Final Frontier

Table of Contents

1. Backstory
2. Game Rules
3. Regulations
4. Specifications
5. Competition Structure
6. Challenges
7. Awards
8. Revisions

Backstory

You’re working on behalf of one of four powerful civilizations, each itching to conquer the cosmos. The stars are within your grasp, and the asteroid field? That’s your gold mine, teeming with precious resources. But it’s never that simple: nestled deep within those asteroids is The Egg — a ticking time bomb of cosmic proportions. Disturb it, and you might just unleash chaos like you’ve never seen. Your mission? Haul those asteroids back to your home planet or, even better, direct to the intergalactic spaceship under construction. But be cautious, one wrong move and your civilization could pay the price, or perhaps another civilization could take the fall...

Game Rules

1. The objective of the game, called Final Frontier, is to retrieve asteroids and return them to your home planet or intergalactic spaceship.
2. Before a match begins, participating teams must:
   • Present their robot in the staging area, adjacent to the arena, before the scheduled close of staging time. The staging area will be clearly marked on the day.
   • Attach a robot flag. Robot flags will be provided by Student Robotics officials in the staging area.
   • Follow the directions of the match officials.
   Teams that fail to comply with these rules – such as by arriving late – may forfeit the match, at the discretion of the judge.
3. The game is played between four robots.
4. Each match lasts for 150 seconds.
5. Robots will be placed into the arena and started by match officials.
6. Robots shall indicate the part of their robot which should face the centre of the arena by marking it with a direction sticker, which will be provided. Direction stickers are circular and 60 mm in diameter.
7. In the central area, the asteroid field, there are sixteen asteroids.
8. Asteroids on a home planet are worth 12 points. The asteroid must be in contact with the floor.
9. Starting on each home planet alongside the robot is a spaceship (a box with four attached casters).
10. Asteroids are worth 40 points if they are “in” a spaceship and the spaceship is on a home planet. An Asteroid or the Egg is “in” a spaceship if it is both:
    • in contact with the spaceship or another Asteroid or the Egg that is already itself “in” the spaceship, and
    • lifted when the spaceship is lifted.
11. A spaceship’s points are awarded to the team that owns the home planet it ends the match within. It is possible to drag another spaceship into your home planet and thus gain the points for the asteroids inside it.
12. Whether a spaceship is on a home planet is determined by where its flag is — measured as the vertical projection of the centroid of the flagpole onto the floor. If the projection isn’t on any home planet, the ship is not on any home planet. If the projection is on the tape between two home planets, it is on both.
13. Asteroids “in” a robot award are worth 8 points. An Asteroid (or the Egg) is “in” a robot if it is both:
    • in contact with the robot or another Asteroid or the Egg that is already itself “in” the robot, and
    • lifted when the robot is lifted.
14. Neither spaceships, nor their contents, are ever considered “in” a robot.
15. If at the end of the game The Egg is on a planet, the corresponding team will have three-quarters of their points deducted. This is based on touching the floor; if it is touching the floor on two home planets, both corresponding teams have their points so reduced.
16. If at the end of the game The Egg is “in” a spaceship, and the spaceship is on a planet, the corresponding team to that planet will have their points reduced to zero. If the spaceship is on two planets, both corresponding teams have their points reduced to zero.
17. Asteroids in robots are not on any home planets.
18. There is a bonus point available for a robot fully leaving its home planet for the first time in a game. This bonus point is applied after any penalties due to The Egg.
19. Robots start on the launchpad on their home planet.
20. At the end of the match the robot with the most points wins.
21. The arena is a square of the design specified in the specifications section.

Regulations

To ensure an accessible, fair and safe competition, all teams must adhere to the following regulations. Violations of these regulations may result in penalties, including deductions of points or outright disqualification.

Regulations marked with an asterisk (*) are open to exemptions; if you need to deviate, apply for an exemption on Discord. Explain why you need the deviation and how you are going to mitigate any additional risks this may cause. Reasonable exemptions will normally be granted.

1. All robots must be safe.
2. The judge’s decision is final.
3. Robots must pass a safety inspection before they can enter a physical arena.
4. Teams must conduct themselves within the principles of good sporting conduct.
5. While accidental bumps and scrapes are inevitable, the sport is non-contact.
6. Robots must not deliberately or negligently damage the arena or anything in it. At the discretion of the judge, teams who deliberately engage in collisions or take insufficient precautions against collisions may be penalised.
7. Robots must fit within a 500mm ✖️ 500mm ✖️ 500mm cube at the start of each match.
8. Robots must fit within a 600mm ✖️ 600mm ✖️ 600mm cube, at all times during each match.
9. Robots must have a spare USB slot accessible to match officials. (*)
10. Robots must have a flag mounting. (*)
11. Robots must not deliberately drop any part of themselves onto the arena. (*)
12. No remote control systems, radio transmitters or receivers are permitted. (*)
13. Robots must not have any devices designed to produce noise except where included in the Student Robotics kit. (*)
14. Robots must not have any fiducial markers visible to other robots. (*)
15. Any assistance from Student Robotics volunteers is provided without guarantees.
16. All Student Robotics kit remains the property of Student Robotics.

To confirm that your robot is safe, a safety inspection will be carried out by Student Robotics prior to the start of the competition. In order to pass safety inspection, robots must:

1. Have a mass of less than 10kg. (*)
2. Have all electronics securely mounted with removable fastenings. (*)
3. Provide adequate protection to the batteries they use, including protection from mechanical damage.
   1. Only Student Robotics’ provided batteries may be used, and only through the Student Robotics power board or charger. (*)
4. Have a power switch, obvious and on the top side of the robot, which will completely immobilise the robot.
5. Not have any sharp edges or points. (*)
6. Not exceed a potential difference of 36V between any two points of the robot. (*)

Specifications

Markers

The arena is labelled with fiducial markers. Each marker pattern encodes a number. Each marker number is associated with a particular feature within the arena, and also has an associated size, listed below.

The markers can be printed on a black-and-white printer.

Twenty eight arena wall markers are positioned around the perimeter of the arena with the marker codes incrementing in a clockwise fashion. The planets are counted in a clockwise fashion, with arena marker 0 being on planet 0.

Arena

1. The above figure represents, to scale, a birds eye view of the arena. The arena is 5.75m square.
2. The perimeter of the arena floor is delimited by the arena wall, which has a minimum height of 220mm.
3. Each wall of the arena features seven 150mm AprilTag markers.
4. In the centre of the arena is a nest 50mm tall and 250mm wide in each axis.
5. The top and sides of the nest will be solid.
6. Positioned on the centre of the nest is The Egg.
7. Asteroid locations are measured from the centre of the nest, with a tolerance of ± 60mm.
8. Each robot will be assigned a planet at the start of every match to indicate its home planet and spaceship.
9. Each robot starts positioned approximately centrally on its launchpad.
10. The floor of the arena is covered with a closed-loop, short pile carpet.
11. Student Robotics reserves the right to have match officials in the arena during games.
12. Unless otherwise specified, all dimensions are ±10%.

Home Planet

1. Surrounding the nest in the center of the arena is an asteroid belt, which is square and 3.75m ± 0.2m wide in each axis.
2. Each team’s planet is located along an edge of the arena. This area forms a trapezium between the arena wall and the edge of the asteroid belt.
3. The boundary between a planet, the asteroid belt and other planets will be marked by 48mm coloured tape. For scoring purposes the tape is considered "in" the planet(s) that it bounds.

Robot flags

1. A “robot flag” is a removable identifier that will be attached to a robot throughout a match. It features identifying areas to allow spectators to easily associate a robot with its starting area. The markings in the identifying areas are intentionally not specified.
2. Flags are not counted when considering the size of the robot.
3. The identifying part of the robot flag must be visible when attached to the mount.
4. The mounting cylinder must be securely affixed to the main chassis of a robot, and vertical when the robot is in its typical stopped position. A 15mm push-fit pipe fitting is recommended for this.

Asteroids and The Egg

1. Asteroids and The Egg are “single wall” cuboid cardboard boxes.
2. Asteroids and The Egg have side lengths of 130 ±10mm.
3. Asteroids and The Egg have a mass of 80 ±40g.
4. Asteroids and The Egg will be arranged as shown in the arena specification.
5. Asteroids and The Egg will have an 80mm AprilTag marker in the centre of each face. The marker number will be the same for all faces of a given asteroid or The Egg.
6. All Asteroids in the arena will have a unique marker number from the range specified. The specific marker used for each asteroid is not guaranteed to be the same between matches.
7. Asteroids will have brown tape along all edges.
8. The Egg will have red tape along all edges.

Spaceships

1. The spaceship is a box (an 18L RUB, like the one shipped with our kits) that has an external width of 480mm ± 30mm, external length of 390mm ± 30mm, and an external height of 180mm ± 20mm. The box will be on casters with a height of 20mm ± 10mm.
2. On the port bow corner of a spaceship is a flag, matching the robot flag specifications.
3. Spaceship port / starboard markers are determined by their starting planet, as shown in the table below.

Competition Structure

The competition is structured in three phases: the challenges, the virtual league, the main league and the knockout.

Challenges

1. There are three challenges which teams may optionally complete during the competition year in order to earn additional league points. The challenges may be approached in any order.
2. Teams which complete one of the challenges by 6pm GMT on December 9^th 2023 will earn 5 league points.
3. Teams which complete an additional challenge by 6pm GMT on January 20^th 2024 will earn a separate 5 league points.
4. Teams which did not complete a challenge by the first deadline may still complete the challenge by the second deadline to earn the 5 league points.
5. Submissions for each challenge should be made as a video on the web (e.g: on YouTube, Instagram, etc.) and linking this video in the challenge-submissions forum in the Student Robotics Discord.
6. If a team's challenge submission is not deemed successful, the team may attempt the challenge again. Feedback will be provided about why the submission was not successful.
7. The challenges are specified in the challenges section.

Virtual League

1. There will be a livestreamed virtual league prior to the in-person competition.
2. The virtual league will use the Webots based simulator.
3. The virtual league will be livestreamed on Saturday 9th March 2024.
4. Code submissions will close at 6pm GMT on Thursday 7th March 2024.
5. The matches played during the virtual league constitute the first matches of the league. As such, you will be awarded league points as outlined below.

Matches

1. The main league and the knockout will be played at the in-person competition event.
2. At the end of a game, league points will be awarded as follows. The team with the most game points will be awarded 8 points towards the competition league. The team with the second most will be awarded 6. The team with the third most will be awarded 4 points, and the team with the fewest game points will be awarded 2 points. Teams whose robot was not entered into the round, or who were disqualified from the round, will be awarded no points.
3. Tied robots will be awarded the average of the points that their combined positions would be awarded. Thus, three robots tied for first place would receive 6 points each (since this is (8 + 6 + 4) ÷ 3).
4. At the end of the league, positions in the league table are used to seed a knockout. This will be used to determine the final 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd awards.
5. The knockout will be played as an elimination tournament. The specific format will be determined by the number of competing teams and will be announced at the competition.
6. In the event of a tie in a knockout match, the team that ranked highest in the league will go through.

Challenges

Throughout these challenges a “robot” need not be fully constructed, nor is it limited by the size limits which would apply in the competition arena. Robots may use whatever sensing mechanisms they like, as long as those mechanisms would be permitted in the competition arena.

However robots must be safe (as specified in the regulations) when completing these challenges.

When constructing components of the arena for use in challenges, they must match the specifications defined in the rules for the challenge to count.

Challenges cannot be completed in the simulator.

Movement Challenge

1. Autonomously complete 3 continuous circuits of a path, without deviating from the path more than 300mm.
2. The path must be a rectangle with short side length 1000 ±200mm and long side length 1500 ±200mm. Teams are encouraged to include in their submission video objects which establish the scale of the path traversed by the robot.
3. The direction of travel around the path and orientation of the robot are inconsequential.

Mechanics Challenge

1. Lift an asteroid at least 100mm off the ground, hold it there for 10 seconds, then place it back on the ground.

Vision Challenge

1. Autonomously demonstrate, using the LEDs on the Brain Board, awareness of its position relative to an arena wall marker.
2. Facing the wall at a point between 1 and 3 metres out from the wall and directly in front of the middle of the marker:
   1. turn on the spot illuminating LEDs to indicate the orientation of the robot:
      • LED A in yellow when more than 15° left from square on,
      • LED B in yellow in the middle (30° arc) and
      • LED C in yellow when more than 15 right from square on.
   2. move left and right illuminating LEDs to indicate the position of the robot relative to a line through the marker and orthogonal to the wall:
      • LED A in blue when more than 200mm left of the line
      • LED B in yellow within 200mm of the line
      • LED C in blue when more than 200mm right of the line
3. The robot may move autonomously or may be moved manually to complete this challenge.
   Note: if moving the robot manually then the Arduino, Motor and Servo Boards must be disconnected from the Power Board as well as any mechanical components secured for the duration of the demonstration.

Awards

Main Competition Awards

Trophies awarded to the teams that place highest in the knockout at the end of the competition. The teams in 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place receive awards.

Excellence in Engineering Award

Trophy awarded to the team that displays the most extraordinary ingenuity in the design of their robot. It is not awarded for complexity of design, but rather elegance, simplicity, and good engineering.

Rookie Award

Edible prize awarded to the team, competing in Student Robotics for the first time, which places highest in the league.

Online Presence Award

Edible prize awarded to the team judged to have the best online presence throughout the year. The hashtag for the competition is #srobo2024. Teams are reminded not to post private information about their members or others.

Challenges Award

Edible prize awarded to the first team to complete all three challenges.

Robot and Team Image Award

Trophy awarded to the team judged to present the image of their team, and their robot, in the most outstanding way. We will consider, for instance: theming, aesthetics of the robot, props, or team costumes.

Revisions

From time to time Student Robotics may amend the rulebook. When this happens, this document will be updated.

1. Corrected the orientation of Spaceships in the arena diagram (enacted 2023-10-21)
2. Amended the vision challenge to account for the camera's field of view (enacted 2023-10-25)
3. Added the virtual league, narrowed definitions of objects "in" spaceships and robots, and clarified that the challenges cannot be completed in the simulator (enacted 2023-11-09)
4. Made it clear that the second challenge deadline is still available for teams who missed the first. Clarified that flags are not ever included in the size of a robot. Clarified the "in" rule in certain situations involving stacking (enacted 2024-01-24)
5. Updated the coloured arena diagram so the Planet colours match the simulator to avoid confusion. The colours continue to have no semantic meaning. (enacted 2024-03-03)
6. Amend the bonus point for a robot leaving their home planet to be awarded after any penalties due to The Egg. (enacted 2024-03-06)
7. Clarify that the location of a Spaceship (and its flag) is measured from the centroid of the flagpole. (enacted 2024-03-08, transcribed 2024-03-27)