Trinity College

Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest

2019 Rules V1.01

Copyright 2018 Trinity College

March 1, 2019
Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Modified March 1, 2019 Copyright 2018 by Trinity College 1 of 66

Contents

1 Introduction 7

2 Registration and Eligibility 8

2.1 Mission Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 Eligibility and Teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 Unique and Customized Robots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.4 Multiple Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.5 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.5.1 Deadline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.6 Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.7 Construction Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.8 Inspection, Qualification, and Elimination Rounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.9 Contest Location, Dates, and Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3 General Rules and Procedures 11

3.1 Judge’s Rulings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2 Language Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3 Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.4 Dimensions and Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.5 Arena Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.5.1 Arena Environment Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.6 Practice Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.6.1 Damage During Practice Runs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.7 Power and Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.8 Robot Inspection Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.9 Trial Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.10 Starting the Trial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.10.1 Failure to Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.10.2 Premature Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.11 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

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3.12 Divisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.12.1 Division Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.13 Firefighting Contest Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.13.1 Competition Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.13.2 Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.13.3 General Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.14 Level 1 Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.15 Level 2 Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.16 Level 3 Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.16.1 Level 3 Runs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4 Specifications 18
4.1 Arenas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.1.1 Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.1.2 Materials and Finishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1.3 Level 1 Arena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1.4 Level 2 Arenas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1.4.1 Room Decoration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.1.5 Level 3 Arenas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.2 Definition of Arbitrary Start Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.3 Dog Obstacle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.4 Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.4.1 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.4.2 Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.5 Robot Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.5.1 Start Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.5.2 Sound Activation and Sound Activation LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.5.2.1 Sound Detection System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.5.2.2 Sound Detect LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.5.2.3 Sound Activation Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.5.3 Main Power Switch and Kill Motor Plug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.5.3.1 Main Power Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.5.3.2 Kill Motor Plug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.5.3.3 Kill Motor Plug–Design Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.5.4 Flame Detect LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.5.5 Video Detect LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.6 Robot Handle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.6.1 Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

4.6.1.1 Sensor Interference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4.6.2 Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.7 Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.7.1 Extinguishing the Candle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.7.1.1 Methods of extinguishing the flame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.8 Trial Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5 Scoring 30
5.1 Operating Score (OS) Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.1.1 Level 1 and Level 2 OS Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.1.2 Level 3 OS Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.2 Total Final Score (TFS) Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.3 Level 1 Scoring–Junior and Walking Divisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.4 Score Components (Levels 1 and 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.4.1 Operating Modes (OM.x) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.4.1.1 Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.4.1.2 Tethered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.4.1.3 Sound Activated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.4.1.4 Arbitrary Start Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.4.1.5 Return Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.4.1.6 Non-air Extinguisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.4.1.7 Furniture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.4.1.8 Candle Location (Level 1 Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.4.2 Summary of Operating Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.4.3 Actual Time (AT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.4.3.1 Time Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.4.3.2 Loops and Stalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.4.4 Room Factor (RF) (Level 1 and Level 2 only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.4.5 Penalty Points (PP.x) (Levels 1, 2, 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.4.6 Level 3 Mode Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.4.6.1 Secondary Safe Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.4.6.2 Hallway Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.4.6.3 All Candles Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.4.6.4 Computer Vision Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.5 Scoring Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

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6 Awards and Prizes 37

6.1 Robot Performance Prizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.1.1 Best Robot in Division Performance Prizes (BRD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.1.2 Grand Performance Mastery Prize (GPMP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.1.3 Lowest Individual Score Prizes (LISP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.1.4 Summary of Robot Performance Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.2 Special Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.2.1 North American Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.2.2 Spirit of an Inventor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.2.3 Cost-Effective Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.2.4 Tiny Robot Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.2.5 Versa Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.3 Robot Olympiad Prizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.4 Poster Competition Prizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.5 Gallichotte Award for Best Connecticut Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

7 Robot Olympiad Exam 40

8 Technical Presentation Competition 41

9 Regional Contest Events 43

A Scoring Examples 44
A.1 Robot Jazz (Junior Division) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
A.2 Robot Hanley (High School Division) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
A.3 Robot Spazz (Senior Division) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
A.4 Robot Susan (Senior Division) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

B Robot Carrying Handle 49

C Standard Sound Start Device 50

C.1 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
C.2 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
C.3 Parts List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
C.4 Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

D Level 3 Arena 53
D.1 Level 3 Arena Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
D.2 Optional Ramped Hallway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
D.3 Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
D.4 Cradle and Baby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
D.4.1 Cradle Positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
D.4.2 Baby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
D.4.3 Cradle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

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E Robot Inspection Table Checklist 63

F Trial Options Sheet 65

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Chapter 1

Introduction

These rules and procedures apply to all Trinity Col- Please contact us with your questions and consult the
lege Fire-Fighting Home Robot (TCFFHRC) compe- FAQ link on the contest website.
titions.
This document should be regarded as definitive. Do
not use rules from previous contest years; several
rules have changed for 2019. We will continue to
make minor updates during the fall of 2018..
If you find an error or inconsistency in these rules,
please send an email to Dave Ahlgren (david.
[email protected]) with a copy to the Contest
Director John Mertens (john.mertens@trincoll.
edu).
SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO CONTEST
RULES FOR 2019

1. Practice times: Arenas will be open for practice

on Saturday April 13, 2019 and Sunday April 14,
2019. There will be no practice on Friday April
12, 2019.
2. Robots will no longer be disqualified after three
unsuccessful runs at any contest level. (Sec-
tion 3.13.3 on page 16)
3. In the Walking Division only, there will not
be separate prizes for Unique and Customized
robots (Section 6.1 on page 37 )
4. Eligibility for cash prizes: Junior and Walking
Division robots must have one successful run;
High School Division robots must have two suc-
cessful runs; Senior Division robots must have
three successful runs (Section 6.1 on page 37)
5. Junior Division robots, Customized category:
There are changes regarding sensors, indica-
tors, and handle design (Section 4.6 on page 26).
Sound start is not required for any Junior Divi-
sion robots.
6. There are changes to the Level 3 competition.
These include changes to scoring and to the cra-
dle patterns (Sections 4.8 on page 29, 5.1.2 on
page 30, 5.4.6 on page 35, and D.4 on page 57).

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Chapter 2

Registration and Eligibility

2.1 Mission Statement Therefore the contest has two categories of robots,
Unique and Customized , described below. Unique
The contest rules, spirit, setting, and tone derive from robots will be eligible for larger cash prizes than Cus-
this statement of our mission: tomized robots.
Contest officials will examine each robot at the con-
The Trinity College Firefighting Home test Robot Inspection Table (RIT) to verify that the
Robot Contest (TCFFHRC) is an open, non- robot has been registered in the correct category. The
profit event that requires invention of au- inspectors make the final decision as to the robot
tonomous, socially relevant robots. The con- classification, whether unique or customized.
tests promote creativity, teamwork, the un-
derstanding and application of STEM sub- Unique robots
jects, and the sharing of ideas.
• Are constructed from a unique assortment of
parts chosen by the design team

2.2 Eligibility and Teams • May use some components from a kit, but the
overall design is unique.
Anyone may enter a robot. • Use mechanical, sensing, electrical, and software
subsystems designed or chosen by the team.
There is no limit on team size.
• May use any commercial computer as its brain.
In the rest of this document, the term “team” means
either the group or the individual associated with a • Are clearly different from any other robot entered
robot entered in the contest. in the contest, including those entered by other
teams.
No more than 15 teams may register from any single
country outside the United States. This restriction
Customized robots
applies to the contest as a whole, not at each level of
the contest.
• May be built primarily from a single retail parts
collection or a kit.

2.3 Unique and Customized • May be a modified version of a commercial robot

Robots Teams will designate their robots as Unique or Cus-

tomized when they register for the contest.
In accordance with our mission, the Trinity College Our inspectors will examine each robot when the
Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest and the associated team checks in. The inspectors will verify the cate-
regional contests, encourage contestants to prepare gory of each robot and, at their discretion, change the
original, unique robots of their own design. However, category if appropriate.
we recognize that some teams may wish to enter a
kit-based robot, a commercial robot, or a robot that Note: Any robot that the inspectors determine to
shares some design features with another robot en- be an unmodified commercial robot will not be
tered in the contest. allowed in the contest.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

2.4 Multiple Entries 2.6 Fees

A team may enter more than one robot by paying a A non-refundable registration fee is required for each
separate registration fee for each robot. robot entered into the contest. The fee must accom-
In order to qualify for a Unique robot prize, each pany each entry.
robot must differ visibly and significantly from all If you want to enter two robots, then you must build
other robots in at least some aspects of electronics or two robots: the same physical robot cannot be en-
mechanics. tered twice, even if two entry fees are paid.
An individual, team or school must not register mul- We repeat: registration fees are non-refundable.
tiple identical robots as separate entries in the same
Division: the Customized category does not allow The fees for the 2019 contest are:
identical robots.
• Junior - $75
Note: Non-functional items, such as paint, stickers,
and other decorations, do not affect the robot’s – Walking - $85
category. – High School - $85
– Senior - $85
2.5 Registration
Registration for the TCFFHRC is available only
2.7 Construction Schedule
on-line through the contest website http://www.
trinityrobotcontest.org. Teams should build their robots and bring them to
the contest ready to compete: this is not a construc-
We will accept registration applications from 12:01
tion contest where you build robots at the event!
a.m. Eastern Standard Time on December 1,
2018 to 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Trinity will provide limited time and space for last
March 15, 2019. News updates about registration minute changes, adjustments, and improvements.
and other contest matters will be posted on the web- However, the robots should be completed (or very
site regularly. nearly so) by the time they arrive at the Contest.
The steps in the registration process are as follows:

1. Go to the contest website http://www. 2.8 Inspection, Qualification,

trinityrobotcontest.org and click on the Reg-
istration tab.
and Elimination Rounds
2. Create a user ID and password and set up the Every team must demonstrate that its robot conforms
rest of the account information. to the contest specifications. Thus, before the team
3. Fill in all of the required information. begins to practice in the contest arenas its robot/s
must pass inspection at the Robot Inspection Table
4. The contact person provided on the form will (Section 3.8 on page 13).
receive email confirmation of your successful reg-
Every team registered for the contest will have the
istration within three days.
opportunity to run their robot in the Contest, assum-
5. Payment is by credit card only, at the time you ing it conforms to the specifications given in these
register. We do not accept checks or cash. Rules.

2.5.1 Deadline
2.9 Contest Location, Dates,
You must register for the contest during the registra- and Schedule
tion period above. Otherwise, your robot will not be
in the contest. There are no exceptions.
TCFFHRC events will be held at Trinity College in
You have spent hundreds of hours and perhaps as Hartford, Connecticut, USA, Friday April 12, 2019
much money on your robot. Register early! through Sunday April 14, 2019.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

The full schedule of events for the contest will be

posted on the Contest Website at http://www.
trinityrobotcontest.org.
The main events are the the Firefighting contest (Sec-
tion 1 on page 7), the Robotics Olympiad (Section 7
on page 40), and the Poster Competition (Section 8
on page 41).

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Chapter 3

General Rules and Procedures

NOTE These rules change every year . Each team is 3.3 Safety
responsible for reading these rules and building a
robot that complies with them. Robots designed
Any Contest official may stop, by pulling the robot’s
for previous contests may not be acceptable un-
kill power plug, any robot at any time if, in their
der the current rules.
opinion, it is performing or is about to perform any
action that could be dangerous or hazardous to peo-
ple, facilities, or other equipment.
3.1 Judge’s Rulings
Robots must not use flammable or explosive materials
The Chief Judge is the final and absolute authority to extinguish the flame.
on the interpretation of all rules and decisions.
A team may challenge any ruling or scoring of the
Arena Judges by stating that they wish to appeal the 3.4 Dimensions and Accuracy
problem to the Chief Judge. The Chief Judge will
then be called in to decide the matter. The goal of the contest is to make a robot that can
The challenge must be made before the team leaves operate successfully in the real world, not just in the
the arena after the completion of a trial. laboratory. Such a robot must be able to operate suc-
cessfully where there is uncertainty and imprecision,
All results, scores, and decisions become irrevocable not just under ideal conditions. Therefore, the arena
after the team leaves the arena. dimensions and other specifications listed below will
not be precisely what the robots will encounter at the
contest: they are provided as general aids.
3.2 Language Translation
NOTE We recommend designing your robot to cope
Teams from around the world participate in the Trin- with with sizes 5 to 15 mm beyond any stated di-
ity Contest. In order to facilitate communication be- mensions. Our experience has shown that robots
tween team members (who may not speak fluent En- designed with no margin for error generally suffer
glish) and the Judges and Contest officials, the Con- from the “But it worked in our classroom / lab /
test will provide all translation services at the arenas arena!” syndrome.
and Judging areas.
Judges and Contest officials will communicate di- The size limits on robots are, however, absolute and
rectly with the team members, not with team leaders will be enforced by the Judges.
or other translators affiliated with the teams. Team
leaders and team translators may not accompany Object dimensions are generally given as length x
their team at the arena during the team’s trial runs. width x height, as the robot encounters the object.

If any members of your team require translation ser-

vices, you must specify the language on the registra- • Length is front-to-back
tion form.
• Width is side-to-side
The English-language version of this Rules document
contains the definitive text. • Height is top-to-bottom.

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3.5 Arena Environment 3.6 Practice Time

Although the robot contest arenas present an ideal- The contest arenas will be assembled and available for
ized version of the real world, you must not assume: unscheduled test trials at the stated practice times.
The practice schedule is below:
• Exactly square corners Saturday, April 13: 8 a.m. – 12 noon.
Sunday, April 14: 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
• Precisely vertical walls
There is no practice on Friday, April 12.
• Perfectly flush joints Due to the limited number of arenas and the large
number of robots, waiting lines might become long
• Recessed fasteners and brackets
during practice times.
• Uniformly colored surfaces Robots should be built, programmed, and ready to
compete on arrival at the contest site. You should use
• And so forth and so on... the practice time to calibrate sensors for the condi-
tions in the gym and to troubleshoot any last minute
Every robot must successfully handle small misalign- problems.
ments, inaccuracies, discolorations, and other arena
imperfections. You must test your robot under less- NOTES:
than-ideal conditions and verify that it works prop-
erly. 1. A robot’s practice run must not last more than
3 minutes. You and your robot must not occupy
an arena while you are changing the program
NOTE Flash photography will occur during the en-
or adjusting the hardware: when you discover a
tire contest. Your robot must withstand frequent
problem, remove your robot from the arena.
sensor glitches from IR and UV impulses. If your
robot operates incorrectly due to external inter- 2. After leaving the arena to adjust your robot, you
ference, it will not be given another trial . must return to the end of the line for the arena:
you must not jump into the line ahead of anyone
else. Other team members or adult advisors must
3.5.1 Arena Environment Checklist not “hold a place in line” for anyone else. Team
members observed jumping into the line will be
The contest takes place in a gymnasium that will be reminded of proper Contest etiquette.
quite different than your classroom, laboratory, base-
ment, or living room. Some possible problems you
3.6.1 Damage During Practice Runs
should consider:
Only one robot is allowed in a practice arena at any
• Extremely bright fluorescent illumination: 120 Hz one time.
IR interference
If two robots collide during practice in an arena and
• High sound levels: the Trinity Contest has an one is damaged, then either:
enthusiastic crowd
• Both robots will compete in the contest if the
• Reinforced concrete subfloor: random magnetic damage can be repaired or
field anomalies • Neither robot will compete if the damage cannot
be repaired
• Flash photography: frequent IR and UV sensor
glitches
NOTE If you put your robot in an arena where an-
• Imperfections and dirt in the arena: sensor and other robot is operating and your robot causes
navigation confusion irreparable damage, your team and robot will be
disqualified from the contest.
• The practice arena may not be the contest arena:
slight changes in all conditions The decisions of contest officials concerning:

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

• damage to a robot 3.8 Robot Inspection Table

• which team is responsible for any damage Each robot must meet the specifications described in
these rules, so that it will compete fairly with other
• which teams (if any) may compete robots. Each team will present its robot at the Robot
Inspection Table (RIT) prior to the start of the Con-
• which teams (if any) will be disqualified test trials to verify that it meets these specifications:

• and all similar questions • Overall size

• Extinguisher capacity
are final and cannot be appealed .
• Start Button position, label, and color (Junior
Because we do not monitor practice sessions, you are Division only).
responsible for the safety of your robot at all times.
• Robot handle
• Check for arrow showing which direction the
robot will move when started
3.7 Power and Facilities
• Except for Junior Division robots:
Power will be distributed as 120 VAC 60 Hz. Your – Microphone position, label, and color
equipment must draw less than 10 A from a single
US-standard 15 amp outlet. – Response to the Standard Sound Start De-
vice
You must bring along any voltage or frequency con- – Operation with standard SPL (Sound Pres-
verters required to adapt that power to your needs. sure Level)
You must bring along sufficient extension cords and – Detection of 3.8 kHz tone using standard
outlet strips; you will have access to a single outlet contest start device
that may be 10 meters from your assigned table in
the pit area. • For robots intending to compete in Level 3,
judges will check the robot’s vision system if
Because the power distribution involves cables laid on present
the floor, you must assume that power to your devices
can be interrupted at any time: people occasionally • General conformance to the rules
stumble over the cables and circuit breakers may trip
without warning. NOTES:

1. The robot’s drive motors MUST be disabled be-

NOTE Utility AC power will not be available in the fore the robot is screened at the RIT (Robot In-
arena area. spection Table), either by disconnecting the mo-
tor power supply or by disabling the appropriate
Teams must not bring extension cords or external control signal. Note that the robot must stop im-
power supplies, such as laptop power bricks, into the mediately when the kill power plug is removed
arena area. This applies during the Saturday practice (Section 4.5.3.2 on page 25).
sessions as well as the Sunday contests. 2. If there are moving parts other than the drive
Contestants must bring any and all materials, parts, motors, the fullest extension must be articulated
and test equipment that they may need. The Hart- and presented at RIT to verify that it is conform-
ford area has very few retail suppliers of electronic ing to the rules. To prevent potential mishan-
and mechanical parts; those suppliers are generally dling a team representative may perform this op-
closed during weekends. eration.

The gymnasium is well-lighted, but it is not air- A Judge will record the results on the RIT Checklist
conditioned. Spring weather in Hartford tends to be and explain any problems. You must correct those
warm and humid with occasional chilly rain, so plan problems and present the robot again to verify that it
your wardrobe accordingly. meets the requirements.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

NOTE You may present your robot to the Robot 3.10 Starting the Trial
Inspection Table twice. A robot that does not
pass its second inspection will not compete. The team will receive the Trial Options Sheet when
A sample of the most current RIT Checklist appears they check in at the registration table. When they ar-
in Appendix E on page 63. To avoid bringing a non- rive for each of their robot’s trials the team will place
conforming robot to the Contest, we recommend that the robot on the Judge’s table and give the Judge the
you have another person evaluate your robot using Trial Options Sheet (Appendix F on page 65).
the RIT Checklist. The Trial Options Sheet describes all of the Operat-
ing Modes applicable to the robot’s current trial run.
NOTE Robots that do not pass the RIT inspection
Teams need not select Operating Modes for future
will not compete in the Contest.
trials; they may choose different modes for each trial
The RIT will be officially open only on Friday from 3 based on how their robot performs.
- 6 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., and Sunday Teams may not make any changes to the information
from 8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. If your robot does not on the Checklist after presenting it to the Judge. If a
pass inspection when the RIT is officially open, the team discovers a mistake on the Trial Run Checklist
robot will not be able to compete. The competition after presenting it to the Judge, they must choose to
starts on Saturday. Check the bulletin board at the either:
Registration Table for any schedule changes.

NOTE If your robot has not passed inspection before • Run the trial using the Modes as entered on the
the RIT closes on Sunday, your robot will not Trial Run Checklist or
compete in the Contest. • Fail the trial as if the robot had not started
Finally, once a robot has passed inspection, it must
not be substantially altered during the contest. Many Team members must not touch the robot after plac-
teams will find it necessary to upgrade their software ing it on the Judge’s arena table.
programs and to make minor mechanical adjustments, The team must not transfer any information to the
but all major components of the robot, including robot regarding the layout of the arena, the starting
robot base, sensors, and controls, must remain the position, or the position of any objects after placing
same through all levels of the competition. the robot on the arena table. The team must down-
load any required programs or firmware to the robot
before arriving at the arena.
3.9 Trial Sequence
The Judges will use the robot’s Division and the se-
Several different arena configurations will operate si- lected Modes to determine the arena configuration,
multaneously during the competition. Robots will then place the robot and any objects in the arena.
form a queue. At the time the next arena becomes The team must not request special placement of
available, the robot at the head of the queue will be objects or changes to the robot’s placement in the
assigned to that arena by the dispatcher judge. In arena.
this way, the assignment of robots to arenas is nearly The Judge will determine when the trial begins and
a random process. The team will immediately pro- will activate the robot using either the Start Button
ceed to the assigned arena and place the robot on the or the Standard Sound Start Device, as required by
Judge’s table there. Any robot that is not ready to the rules of the robot’s Division.
compete will forfeit its chance at that trial and no ap-
peals will be accepted. The robot may still compete
in any remaining trials and as the best 3 of the five 3.10.1 Failure to Start
trials determines the score. A missed trial does not
prevent an overall win. If the robot fails to start when activated, then the
If you are content after the 3rd or 4th trial, it is not robot has failed the trial.
necessary to complete 5 trials. The Judges will wait for the time described in Sec-
Remember: No robot may take more than three runs tion 5.4.3.2 on page 34, then record a failed trial.
on Saturday. No robot may take more than three Teams may decide that the robot will not move and
runs on Sunday. Exceptions will be made only for terminate the trial before that time by informing the
religious reasons. Judge.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

This applies regardless of the reason the robot does • High School - Grades 9 through 12
not start. All that matters is that the robot does not
begin moving after the Judge presses the Start But- • Senior - College/University, professionals, adult
ton or activates the Sound Start Device. hobbyists

Teams must not request a re-run following a failure to • Walking - Any age
start.
Teams or individuals may also demonstrate their
robotics knowledge by taking the Robot Olympiad
3.10.2 Premature Start exam (Part 7 on page 40).

If a robot begins moving before the Judge has placed

it in the arena, it has failed the trial. 3.12.1 Division Criteria
If a robot begins moving after being placed in the
arena, but before the Judge presses the Start Button Each team must register in one of the Divisions listed
or activates the Sound Start Device, it has failed the in Section 3.12.
trial. The following rules apply to registration.
Teams must not request a re-run following a prema-
ture start. • Teams that meet the criteria for a particular Di-
vision must register in that Division. Teams with
mixed membership must register in the division
3.11 Introduction appropriate to the most senior member of the
team; e.g., a team with one high school student
and three junior students must register in the
The Trinity College Firefighting Home Robot Contest
High School Division.
(TCFFHRC) advances robot technology and knowl-
edge by using robotics as an educational tool. A win- • If a Division is full, the robot will be placed on a
ning robot must respond to a fire alarm, discover the waiting list.
blaze, and extinguish it in the shortest possible time.
To accomplish that overall task, the robot must start • No single robot may be entered in more than one
on a signal (a simulated fire alarm), explore a typical contest Division.
family home (the arena), locate a fire (a burning can-
dle), extinguish it, and optionally return to its start- • Robots will compete only in the Division in
ing point. In Level 3, the most challenging level in the which they are registered.
contest, the robot must also rescue a baby endangered • In order to change Divisions, the team must re-
by fire. register the robot and pay an additional registra-
The robot must operate autonomously during all tion fee. Teams may not change Divisions after
parts of the challenge, without human interven- the registration deadline.
tion, using its own sensors, control logic, and actu-
• The Contest Judges may reclassify robots entered
ators. Each Team has the responsibility to build a
in an incorrect Division.
robot that conforms to the rules applicable to the
2019 Contest. Additional events held during the • Entry fees will not be refunded.
TCFFHRC weekend provide different challenges, as
described in these rules. Direct questions and com-
ments about the contest to the Contest Director:
John Mertens john.mertens@ trincoll.edu.
3.13 Firefighting Contest De-
scription
3.12 Divisions 3.13.1 Competition Levels

In order to make the contest accessible to persons of The 2019 FireFighting Competition will take place at
all ages and skill levels the TCFFHRC offers prizes in three levels of challenge: Level 1, Level 2, and Level
several Divisions at each competition level: 3. Each level presents a greater challenge than the
level below. Robots in any Division may advance to
• Junior - Grades 8 and below any Level.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Level 1 will take place in the former Junior/Walking 3.14 Level 1 Competition
arena. The Level 1 competition rules are based on the
Junior Division rules used in past contests. The Level 1 competition is the entry level for the
Level 2 will take place in the former High School/Se- 2019 TCFFHRC. All robots must start at Level 1.
nior arena. The Level 2 rules are based on the 2015 Robots may choose to compete only at Level 1 or
High School/Senior rules. . may use a successful Level 1 run as a springboard to
Level 2. Level 1 trials take place in the basic firefight-
The greatest challenge will be posed by Level 3,
ing arena shown in Figure 4.1.3 on page 19. Level 1
which will take place in two connected Level 2 mazes.
procedures are presented in Section 3.9 on page 14,
Level 3 combines firefighting and search and rescue
and scoring for Level 1 is presented in Section 5.1.1.
tasks.
The overarching goal for teams is to complete as The run time limit for Level 1 is 3 minutes.
many levels as possible, starting at Level 1 and pro-
ceeding to Level 2 and Level 3, with the lowest total
final score. 3.15 Level 2 Competition
The Level 2 competition is the intermediate level in
3.13.2 Schedule
the 2019 TCFFHRC. Robots are eligible to com-
All robot performance events will take place in the pete at Level 2 if they have at least one successful
Oosting Gymnasium on the Trinity College campus. run at Level 1. Level 2 trials take place in the arena
described in Section 4.1.4 on page 19. Level 2 pro-
The Level 1 and Level 2 events will start on Saturday, cedures are presented in Section 3.9 on page 14, and
and the competition will proceed at all three levels on scoring for Level 2 is presented in Section 5.1.1 on
Sunday. page 30.
Practice time is provided on Saturday and Sunday The run time limit for Level 1 is 4 minutes.
(see Section 3.6).

3.13.3 General Requirements 3.16 Level 3 Competition

Before competing at any level each robot must pass The Level 3 competition presents a challenging fire-
inspection at the Robot Inspection Table. For details, fighting and search and rescue task. The robot’s Level
see Section 3.8 on page 13). 3 mission is to find and rescue a baby doll in her
A robot must have at least one successful run at Level cradle and to put out all active flames within the 5-
1 to qualify for competition at Level 2. A successful minute Level 3 time limit. The search and rescue task
run at Level 1 is a run during which the robot extin- has highest priority and must be accomplished before
guishes the flame within the 3-minute time limit. putting out any candles.
A robot must have at least one successful run at Level The Level 3 arena consists of two Level 2 arenas (de-
2 to qualify for competition at Level 3. A successful noted as sub-arenas A and B) separated by a distance
run at Level 2 is a run during which the robot extin- of 1 m and connected by a hallway having the same
guishes the flame within the 4-minute time limit. width as the arena hallways. At Level 3 robots can
Each robot has a maximum of five runs total over all expect the presence of dog obstacles (Section 4.3 on
levels. page 21), furniture (Section 5.4.1.7 on page 33), rugs
(Section 4.1.4.1 on page 20), and mirrors (Section D.3
No robot may take more than three runs on Satur- on page 57).
day, and no robot may take more than three runs on
Sunday. We allow exceptions to this only for religious There are two possible configurations of the hallway:
reasons. (1) the standard configuration, which is a flat surface,
1 m in length, painted flat black, or (2) an optional
Once a robot competes at Level 2 it may not return up-and-down inclined hallway. This inclined hall-
to Level 1, and once a robot has competed at Level 3 way is divided into three segments of approximately
it may not return to Level 2 or Level 1. equal length. The maximum pitch angle of the up
New for 2019: Robots will not be disqualified for and down ramp sections of the hallway is 15 degrees.
failure to complete three successive runs at any com- See Appendix D.2 on page 55 for more information
petition Level. about the inclined hallway. Robots that succeed in

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

traversing the inclined hallway on a run will receive a

10% decrease for that run.
See Section 5.4.6 on page 35 for detailed descriptions
of the Level 3 options.
The baby is represented by a small doll lying in a cra-
dle (Appendix D.4 on page 57).

3.16.1 Level 3 Runs

The robot’s goal is to rescue the baby in the short-

est time and, following that task, to put out all lit
candles. The robot will begin operation at a posi-
tion determined by the judges at the start of the run.
The start position will be marked by a white circle, or
Start Circle of the kind shown in Figure 4.7 on page
20.
The Level 3 arena consists of two sub-arenas. Each
sub-arena is essentially equal to a Level 2 arena. The
sub-arena in which the robot starts will be called
“Arena A” and the other “Arena B”. The baby will
be placed somewhere in Arena B. In standard mode
the robot must find and retrieve the baby and trans-
port the baby back to the start position in Arena A.
This start position is the primary rescue safe zone.
The robot can improve its score if it uses computer
vision to locate an optional secondary safe zone where
it can place the baby (Section 5.3.6.1 on page 33).
Initially there will also be one lit candle in Arena B.
Two additional candles, initially not lit, will be placed
in Arena A; these candles may be in the same room
or in different rooms. One of the Arena A candles
will be lit 90 seconds after the robot begins oper-
ation. The second will be lit 120 seconds after the
robot begins operation. The robot must pick up the
baby and bring it back to the chosen safe zone. The
time needed to complete the rescue task (the Actual
Time for the run) is recorded. The additional time it
takes to put out all of the lit candles is added to the
Actual Time. This sum must not exceed the limit of
5 minutes. Note that robots that fail to rescue the
baby may receive credit for completed tasks. See Sec-
tion 5.1.2 on page 30 for details.

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Chapter 4

Specifications

4.1 Arenas

The arena dimensions and specifications listed be-

low are not exactly what will be encountered at the
contest: they are provided as general aids. See Sec-
tion 3.4 on page 11.

4.1.1 Dimensions

The arenas are based on a common layout, with di-

mensions as shown in Figure 4.1. The Level 3 arenas
are composed of two such arenas with those dimen-
sions. In addition to those dimensions,

• Hallway width: 46 cm

• Door opening: 46 cm

• Walls: 1.9 cm thick, 27 to 34 cm tall, as mea-

sured from the arena floor.

The location of any given point may vary by as much

as 2.5 cm from its nominal position. This is a non-
cumulative tolerance: the distance between any two
points will be within 2.5 cm of the nominal value.
Door openings do not have doors: white tape on the
floor marks each door opening. The tape is 2.5 cm
wide, extends across the entire door opening, and is
aligned with the walls on each side. The tape may Figure 4.1: Level 1 Arena Showing Dimensions
have gaps up to 2.5 cm on each side and may not be (Figure4.1-2019.png)
precisely aligned with the walls.

NOTE: We emphasize that your robot should not

depend on precise dimensions. Our experience
shows that the intensity of a protest based on
arena dimensions corresponds directly with the
robot’s failure to operate at all. See Section 3.4
on page 11.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

4.1.2 Materials and Finishes

The arena floors consist of plywood, painted flat

black at the start of the contest. Our best efforts
will be made to clean up after each robot, but there
is no guarantee that the floor will stay uniformly
black throughout the entire contest (Section s 3.4 on
page 11 and 3.5 on page 12). The floor may also have
small (3 mm diameter) colored dots on it to indicate
potential locations for candles and other objects.
Arena walls consist of medium-density particleboard
or wood, painted flat white at the start of the contest.
Angle brackets supporting a wall may extend about
4 cm into the hall or room, with screws into the wall
and floor.
The white tape marking the doorways has a semi-
gloss finish. It will become scuffed and discolored dur-
ing the contest: your robot must detect the difference
between a black floor and a white tape line regardless
of their cleanliness.

PLEASE: Remove your shoes before stepping into

the arena! Shoes produce hard-edged dust marks Figure 4.2: Level 2 Arena Configuration A
on the floor that may be mistaken for white tape.
Stockings produce soft-edged marks that reduce
the overall floor contrast. In either case, the
arena will be as clean as you leave it.

4.1.3 Level 1 Arena

The Level 1 arena presents a simplified model of a

typical house, with high-contrast walls and floors
(Figure 4.1 on the preceding page). The Basic Arena
is not decorated with such items as rugs and wall
hangings.

4.1.4 Level 2 Arenas

There are four possible configurations of the Level 2

arena, shown by Figures 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, and 4.5. Each
configuration represents the floor plan of a different
decorated model home. The Level 2 Arenas have the
same dimensions as the Level 1 arena. On each run
robots will be assigned to the four layouts in a ran-
dom fashion.

Figure 4.3: Level 2 Arena Configuration B

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Figure 4.6: Allowed Rug Locations (FF Rug Loca-

tions.png)

Figure 4.4: Level 2 Arena Configuration C

4.1.4.1 Room Decoration

In order to make the Level 2 arenas realistic depic-

tions of a real home, they are decorated as follows:

• Rugs will be placed in some or all of the rooms

and hallways. There will be no shag rugs, but
robots must navigate across 1 cm thick rug
edges. The shaded areas in Figure 4.6 mark the
allowed rug locations: not all rugs will be present
and the locations and colors will be different in
each arena.

• Wall decorations, including pictures, tapestries,

and mirrors, will be hung from the walls of rooms
and hallways. These will not protrude more than
1 cm from the wall. The walls may also have
wallpaper in various patterns and colors, as well
as painted surfaces in any color. Mirrors will not
appear in the room where the candle is located.

4.1.5 Level 3 Arenas

Arena: The Level 3 arena consists of two Level 2 are-

Figure 4.5: Level 2 Arena Configuration D nas (A and B) separated by a distance of 1 m and
connected by a hallway having the same width as the
arena hallways. Appendix E on page 53 describes the
arena layout.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

On each run, the robot team will choose one of two

configurations of the hallway: (1) the standard config-
uration, which is a flat surface, 1m in length, painted
flat black; or (2) an optional up-and-down-ramp. The
ramp is divided into three segments of approximately
equal length. The maximum pitch angle of the up
and down ramp sections of the hallway is 15 degrees.
Robots that elect the up-and-down ramp on any run
will receive a 10% decrease for that run.
The arena layout may be switched by the judges at
any time during the competition.
Normally the robot can expect the presence of dogs,
furniture, and rugs in both arenas.

4.2 Definition of Arbitrary Start

Orientation
Arbitrary Start is an option for Level 1 and Level 2.
Arbitrary Start is mandatory in Level 3.
Figure 4.7: Starting alignments in Start Circle In-
Except in Arbitrary Start Location Mode (Section cluding Arbitrary Start Locations (larger-start-circle-
5.4.1.4), the robot will start at the Start Circle lo- figure5.7.png)
cation marked by “START” in Figure 4.7. The start
circle is a 30 cm diameter solid white circle (colored
green in Figure 4.7) centered in the halls intersecting NOTE Magnetic compasses do not produce reli-
at the corner. able heading information. See Section 3.5.1 on
page 12.
NOTE The Start Circle is not anchored to the arena
NOTE A robot in Orientation B may be directly
floor and may be dislodged by an accelerat-
adjacent to and facing the Dog Obstacle. See
ing robot. There is no penalty for this (and the
Section 4.3.
crowd likes it), but the loss of traction may mis-
align the robot in the hallway. NOTE Teams must not request a different orienta-
tion after the Judge places the robot.
The Judge will place the robot on the Start Circle
so that the central axis of the robot body is aligned
within ±10 degrees of either hallway axis and the
robot’s front is directed toward the hallway. The A
and B arrows in Figure 4.7 show the possible orienta- 4.3 Dog Obstacle
tions. The Judge will randomly choose the orientation
for each trial. The figure also shows approximate lo-
cations and directions that will be used by judges in The Dog Obstacle is mandatory for Level 1, Level 2,
assigning arbitrary start positions. and Level 3 (all levels).
A large Dog will block one corridor of each arena.
Other than the ±10 degree limit, there is no specifi-
The robot must not move the Dog or continue along
cation for the actual angle with respect to the hall-
the blocked corridor.
way axis. The robot must start and operate correctly
when oriented at any angle within each 20 degree The robot may contact the Dog to sense its presence,
range. but must not move it more than 1 cm. A robot that
moves the Dog more than 1 cm will incur 50 Penalty
The robot must determine which hallway it faces in
Points (Section 5.4.5 on page 35).
order to navigate correctly; a single wall sensor may
suffice. The robot may touch the wall to activate A robot that goes past the Dog, even without mov-
the sensor, but see Section 5.4.5 on page 35 for the ing the Dog, and continues along the hall will fail the
penalty applied for continuous wall contact. trial.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Figure 4.8: Sample Dog Obstruction (Dog Obstacle -

Doggie261.jpeg)

NOTE A robot operating in Return Trip mode must

not move or pass by the Dog.
Figure 4.9: Possible Dog locations (FF Dog Obstacle
Locations.png)
Figure 4.8 shows a typical Dog. The Dog weighs ap-
proximately 500 g. It blocks between 50% and 75% of
the hallway width. leave anything behind as it travels through the arena.
It must not make any marks on the floor of the arena
that aid in navigation as it travels. Any robot that, in
The location of the Dog will change from trial to the Judge’s opinion, deliberately damages the contest
trial. Figure 4.9 shows the possible locations for the arena (including the walls) will fail that trial. This
Dog in the Level 1 arena (also one of the configura- does not include any accidental marks or scratches
tions used in Level 2). In all arenas the Dog will not made in moving around.
block the doorways in Room 1 or 4, but it may be
directly adjacent to the edge of the doorway. NOTE Although a robot may bump the arena walls
The Dog’s long axis will always be perpendicular to as it moves, it should not repeatedly crash into
the hall; the picture and figures indicate only the lo- the walls at high speed. “Navigation by crash-
cations. ing” would not be acceptable in an actual house
and is discouraged in this contest. If the robot
crashes hard enough to move the arena walls, it
will fail that trial.

4.4 Robot 4.4.2 Dimensions

The robot dimensions, hardware requirements, and All robots, including Walking Division robots, must
performance specifications are absolute and will be fit in a Bounding Box with a base 31 x 31 cm square
enforced by the Judges. and 27 cm high. If the robot has feelers to sense an
object or wall, the feelers will be counted as part of
the robot’s total dimensions.
4.4.1 Operation
Notes:
Once turned on, the robot must be autonomous: self-
controlled without any human intervention. Fire- 1. A “walking” robot must support its weight on
fighting robots must not be manually controlled. non-wheeled legs that are also used for locomo-
tion.
A robot may bump into or touch the walls of the
arena as it travels, but it cannot mark, dislodge, or 2. Although a one-legged hopping robot is permit-
damage the walls in doing so. The robot must not ted, no part of the robot may exceed the maxi-

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

mum height limit during any part of its trajec- 4.5.1 Start Button
tory. The robot may not separate into multiple
parts. IMPORTANT NOTE:
3. Contestants may add a flag, hat, or other purely Junior Division robots must have exactly one Start
decorative, non-functional items to the robot as Button. The judge will use the Start Button to start
long as the item has absolutely no effect on the the robot.
operation of the robot. The item may exceed
Walking, High School, and Senior Division robots
only the maximum height limit, not the width
may have a Start Button for testing, but (a) the
or length.
button must not be located on the control panel or
4. Unlike the arena specifications, the robot size handle assembly, and (b) judges may not be asked to
limits are not approximate: robots must not ex- start the robot if the robots sound activation system
ceed the given dimensions. fails.

5. There are no restrictions on robot weight or The Start Button must have the following character-
materials. Robots must not exceed the maxi- istics:
mum dimensions at any time. This rule prohibits
swinging snuffers, extending arms, and other de- • Momentary push-to-operate action: not a toggle
vices that protrude beyond the allowable base switch.
or height dimensions while in operation. In ad-
dition, the robot’s actuators must be unable to • Junior Division robots only: The Start Button,
move legs and other devices beyond the Bound- with green background, must be on the handle.
ing Box. (Section 4.6 on page 26).

• Above the highest fan blade tip (the highest

The exception to Note 7 above is that robots compet- point the fan can reach)
ing in Level 3 may need to extend a device to pick up
the baby. However, the following apply: • Less than 2 cm below any other mechanical part.

1. The extension must never exceed 41 cm. • A green actuator or background. You may color
the button with a marker, surround the button
2. Any such device must be retracted fully to within with a colored area, or use a colored label.
the bounding box prior to any robot motion.
• The word START printed in a contrasting color
3. Team members must demonstrate the maximum on or adjacent to the button.
extent of any extending devices at the Robot In-
spection Table as part of the inspection proce-
NOTE: If a Junior Division robot does not have a
dure.
Start Button meeting these requirements, it will
be disqualified .
Important:
At Level 3: When the arm and gripper, or any other Figure 4.10 on the next page shows a sample Start
device–whether extended or not–contacts any object Button. You must provide a green background even if
in the maze other than the baby or the cradle (e.g., the switch is located on a green circuit board or if the
walls, floor, furniture, candle, etc.) the trial will im- pushbutton itself is green. NOTE: All Start Buttons–
mediately terminate. Any partial scores earned for on robots from any Division–must be labeled in this
that trial (Section 5.1.2 on page 30) will not be for- manner.
feited in such instances.

You may use a mechanical linkage from an actuating

4.5 Robot Control Panel button, located above all the other parts, which leads
to to an electrical switch inside the robot body. The
Every robot must have a control panel. The elements actuator must meet all of the specifications described
on the control panel are described in sub-sections be- above and will be considered the Start Button.
low.
You must verify that your robot’s Start Button meets
The control panel must be located on the robot’s han- these requirements at the Robot Inspection Table be-
dle in a horizontal position. See Section 4.6 below. fore the contest begins. See Section 3.8 on page 13.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Figure 4.10: Sample Start Buttons. (Sample Start

Buttons.jpg)

4.5.2 Sound Activation and Sound Ac-

tivation LED

4.5.2.1 Sound Detection System

As described above, Junior Division robots must use a

Start Button.
Robots in the Walking, High School, and Senior Di-
visions must be sound activated. A sound activated Figure 4.11: Sample Microphone with blue back-
robot will start when it detects a sound of a specific ground (img_2247 - Sample Microphone.jpg)
frequency and amplitude, as described in this Section,
Section 5.4.1.3, and Appendix C.
The Judge will position the Sound Start Device (Ap-
To accomplish sound activation, the robot will be
pendix C on page 50) approximately 25 mm away
equipped with an appropriate microphone, which
from the microphone and will attempt to align it per-
must have the following characteristics:
pendicular to the microphone’s entrance port. Teams
may not request any particular orientation or dis-
• Located on the top surface of the robot and ac- tance.
cessible from above.
Figure 4.11 shows a sample Microphone with optional
• Above the highest fan blade tip (the highest labeling. You must provide a blue background even if
point the fan can reach) the microphone is located on a blue circuit board.
• Less than 2 cm below any other mechanical part.

• A blue background Please note the following:

• The abbreviation MIC printed in a contrasting
color adjacent to the microphone 1. Experience has shown that robots detecting only
the peak amplitude of the sound will start pre-
maturely due to crowd noise or mechanical shock.
4.5.2.2 Sound Detect LED See Section 5.4.1.3 on page 32 for the scoring
rules that apply to incorrect operation in Sound
Every Walking, High School, and Senior Division Activated Mode.
robot must include a sound-detect BLUE LED indi-
cator as part of the control panel. See Figure 4.13 on 2. A robot that can be started with a hand clap,
page 28. When the robot detects sound activation, it or a knock on the arena wall, or out-of-band fre-
must turn on this LED. The blue LED must not be quency will be disqualified.
turned on under any other condition.
3. We require that the microphone be part of the
handle assembly (Section 4.6).
4.5.2.3 Sound Activation Operation
4. Remember: Only Junior Division robots must
Sound activation operates as follows during the con- have a start button. Walking, High School, and
test. Senior Division robots may have a start button

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

for testing, but (a) such a button must not be lo- 4.5.3.3 Kill Motor Plug–Design Example
cated on the control console, and (b) judges can-
not be asked to use such a button when sound A possible design for the Kill Motor Plug would have
activation fails. four pins. Two of the pins would power the robot’s
logic, sensing, and control circuitry, and the other two
5. As part of the Robot Inspection process, you
would power the drive system. When the plug is re-
must verify that your robot responds to the Stan-
moved, all robot systems are turned off.
dard Sound Start Device. Remember that in-
spection takes place at the Robot Inspection Ta- For example, a suitable Kill Motor Plug may be
ble before the contest begins. See Section 3.8 on constructed from any standard 4-pin square post
page 13. (Figure 4.12 on the next page) with pins 1-2 short-
circuited and 3-4 short-circuited. Current for the
robot’s control and sensor circuits may be routed
4.5.3 Main Power Switch and Kill Mo- through the Pins 1-2 circuit. The Pins 3-4 circuit
tor Plug would disable the robot’s motors; for example these
pins may be used to remove power from the motors
4.5.3.1 Main Power Switch only or to disable the motor control system.
The robot must have a main power switch that con- NOTES:
trols all power to the robot. This switch serves as a
primary disconnect device for the entire robot in case 1. The power to the drive motors MUST be re-
of an electrical failure. moved before the robot is screened at the
Important: RIT (Robot Inspection Table) (Section 3.8 on
page 13).
1. The main power switch must not serve as the
robot’s start button or substitute for the Kill 2. The Kill Motor Plug must be part of the handle
Motor Plug described in Section 4.5.3.2. assembly (Section 4.6 on the next page).

2. We recommend that the main power switch be 3. The Kill Motor Plug must be mounted with a
placed in a prominent position on the robot, but bright yellow background.
it must not be part of the the handle assembly
4. If you want to leave the logic on at all times
(Section 4.6).
there is no need for a plug or jumper.

4.5.3.2 Kill Motor Plug 5. The Kill Motor Plug must have a extension that
is about 10 cm long (it can be the jumper itself)
Robots must be equipped with a Kill Motor Plug that so that a judge can easily grab it if an emergency
removes power from the robot’s sensor, control, and shutdown is necessary.
drive systems.
6. The Kill Motor Plug must be easy to remove so
The Kill Motor Plug will be used in two ways: that damage to the robot or arena can be quickly
averted.
1. At the Robot Inspection Table, the Kill Mo-
tor Plug will be removed by the RIT judges as 7. The Kill Motor Plug extension is disregarded
part of the sound activation test for High School, when measuring robot size.
Walking, or Senior Division robots and the start
button test for Junior Division robots. Removing
the plug must inhibit any motion by the robot.
4.5.4 Flame Detect LED
2. During contest runs, the Kill Motor Plug will be
pulled by arena judges in case of emergency. Every robot must have a bright RED flame detect
LED on a white background. This LED must be lo-
When the team comes to the arena to run their robot,
cated on the control panel in such a way that it can
the team will place the robot on the Judge’s table.
be seen from all directions. The Flame Detect LED
Normally, the team will then turn on the robot with
must be part of the handle assembly (Section 4.6).
the Kill Motor Plug in place. The robot must not
move or cause any other unsafe condition when power The robot will turn on the red Flame Detect LED as
is turned on. Please discuss your robot’s operation soon as the flame is detected and turn off the LED
with the arena judges if you anticipate a problem. when the flame is extinguished.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

your robots and we want to assure that unintentional

mechanical or electrical adjustments are avoided.
The handle can be constructed from any materials in-
cluding metal, wood, or plastic. The handle presents
a design challenge; the goal is to design a sturdy han-
dle, easily accessible to judges, that is integrated with
the control panel described in Section 4.5.
In all designs, the handle must be:

1. Strong enough to allow the robot to be picked up

by staff
2. Designed to provide the arena judges easy access
to devices mounted on the handle’s control panel
(e.g., switches, microßphone, and kill-power plug-
in). See Section 4.13 on page 28.

Important: The handle must be mounted in a hori-

zontal position so the LED indicators can be seen and
the (Junior Division) start button can be properly
Figure 4.12: Kill Motor Plug Example accessed by the judges.
Junior Division robots must mount their start button,
4.5.5 Video Detect LED with green background, on the handle.
For 2019, For Junior Division Customized
Robots that will compete at Level 3 must also have robots only: 1) There are two items on the handle–
a GREEN video detect LED on the control panel. the start button, and the forward direction arrow;
Robots that intend to compete at Levels 1 and 2 may 2) a flame detection LED is required but can be
incorporate this LED in their design if they will use mounted at any location where it is clearly visible;
computer vision. and 3) no kill switch is required.
The Video Detect LED will be normally OFF. It will Robots entered in the Walking, High School, and Se-
be activated under the following conditions: nior Divisions must have a blue background behind
the microphone so that the judge will know where
to direct the output of the sound activation device.
1. The LED will be steady ON when the robot
Walking, High School, and Senior Division robots
recognizes the target shown in Figure 5.1 on
must include a blue LED sound start indicator.
page 35.
Every robot, except for the Junior Division Cus-
2. The LED will blink when the robot recognizes tomized as noted above, must have a bright RED
any of the targets on the cradle base (Section D.4 flame detect LED on a white background. The LED
. must be positioned so it can be seen in all directions.
All robots must have an arrow somewhere on the han-
dle that points to the front of the robot so that the
4.6 Robot Handle judge will know in which direction to start the robot.
The arrow must be conspicuous and no special in-
To help the contest to run efficiently and to protect structions are to be given to the judge placing the
robots from damage, all robots must be equipped robot in the arena.
with a carrying handle. There have been several times Appendix B shows one possible arrangement of a
in past contests when a robot did not perform as ex- robot handle.
pected and were saved from damage by picking up
the robot via the handle. Please note that the handle
(and in exceptional situations, the kill power plug) is 4.6.1 Sensors
the only part of the robot that will be touched by the
TCFFHRC staff during the competition. We know There is no restriction on the type of sensors that
that many hours were spent on designing and testing may be used as long as they do not violate any of the

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

other rules or regulations. The robot must not extend 4.7 Fires
any sensors beyond the dimensions specified in Sec-
tion 4.4.2 on page 22. For obvious reasons of safety and economy, fires will
Robots using laser-based devices must take measures be simulated by small candle flames.
to prevent eye damage to team members and to ob- The candle flame will be from 15 cm to 20 cm above
servers. The Judges may require the team to remove the nominal floor level. The candle thickness normally
the laser device from the robot if, in the opinion of will be between 2 cm and 3 cm. The exact height and
the qualification Judges, effective safety measures size of the flame will change throughout the contest
have not been taken. The robot will be permanently depending upon the condition of candle and its sur-
disqualified from competing if the laser cannot be ei- roundings. The robot is required to find the candle no
ther removed or made safe. matter what the size of the flame is at that particular
Contestants are not allowed to place any markers, moment.
beacons or reflectors on the walls or floors, whether The candle will be placed at random in one of the
inside or outside of the arena, to aid in the robot’s rooms in the arena. The candle has an equal chance
navigation. of being in any of the 4 rooms in each of the robot’s
trials. It is possible for the candle to be in the same
room on two of the robot’s trials.
4.6.1.1 Sensor Interference
The Candle Location Mode is required in the Level 2
Ambient lighting in the contest room is a mixture of and Level 3 competitions, and it is an option in Level
IR, visible, and UV light. During the course of the 1. See Section 5.4.1.8 below.
contest, sunlight may come into the contest room Additional information about candles and candle cir-
through open outside doors. The sunlight will not cles follows.
shine directly on the arenas, but may be detectable
by very sensitive sensors.
• The candle will be mounted on a small wooden
During the course of the contest, Judges at other are- base painted semi-gloss yellow. This base pre-
nas will be lighting candles or lighters. These inciden- vents the candle from tipping over easily, but a
tal flames will be above the arena and further away robot can knock the candle over by bumping into
than the candle, but still may be detectable by an it. Judges will give penalty points if that occurs
undiscriminating sensor. In setting up the arena, con- (Section 5.4.5 on page 34)
test officials may put their arms into the arena and
• The contestants may not measure or touch the
some very sensitive sensors may mistake that IR emis-
candle before it is used. Violation will result in
sion as the flame.
immediate disqualification of the team and the
Many video and still cameras transmit infrared light robot from the competition.
as part of their automatic focusing systems. Flash
units produce bursts of UV that may trigger the pop- • The candle will not be placed in a hallway, but
ular Hamamatsu UVTron flame sensor. The gym- it might be placed just inside a doorway of a
nasium will have many, many cameras at all times: room. When a candle circle is present it is not
verify that your robot will operate correctly when it’s anchored to the arena floor. Consequently it can
being photographed. be dislodged by a decelerating robot. There is
no penalty for this, but the moving circle might
If a robot uses light sensors to find the candle or de- knock the candle over, and there is a penalty for
tect walls or furniture, the robot designer must pre- that.
vent unintended UV, visible and IR sources from
interfering with its operation. Part of the challenge • A candle circle will not touch the doorway line.
of this contest is to design a robot that can find the Thus, the front of the robot will be able to move
flame and ignore everything else. at least 33 cm into the room before encountering
the candle.

4.6.2 Power
4.7.1 Extinguishing the Candle
AC power is not available in the arena area.
The robot must, in the opinion of the Judges, have
See Section 3.7 on page 13. found a candle before it attempts to put it out. For

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

example, the robot cannot just flood the arena with

CO2 thereby putting the flame out by accident.
The robot must not use any destructive or dangerous
methods to put out the candle.
The robot may extinguish the candle by blowing air
or other oxygen-bearing gas. However, this is not a
practical method of extinguishing a fire in the real
world, so robots that do not use air streams to blow
out the candle can operate in Non-Air Extinguisher
Mode for an improved score. See Section 5.4.1.6 on
page 33 for details.
In the Level 1 competition Standard operating mode,
the robot must come within 30 cm of the candle be-
fore it extinguishes the flame. There will be a white
30 cm radius solid circle (or circle segment, if the can- Figure 4.13: Panel with LED and Other Components
dle is near a wall) on the floor around the candle, and (fig-5.13-2017A.png)
the candle will be placed in the center of the circle.
The robot must have some part of its body over the
4.7.1.1 Methods of extinguishing the flame
circle before it extinguishes the candle flame. In Level
1 robots may choose Candle Location Mode, which
Robots may extinguish the flame using air, inert gas,
omits the candle circle and minimum distance require-
water mist/spray, or mechanical means. The use of
ment. See Section 5.4.1.8 on page 33.
powders of any type is not allowed.
In the the Level 2 competition, the robot may not
extinguish the candle until the robot is fully in the NOTE A robot must have only one type of extin-
room where the candle is located. guisher.
In all Levels, the robot must turn on a bright red
LED, indicating that it has detected the candle. Can- 1. Air
dle detection is the only event that will cause this
A fan is an example of an air-based extinguisher.
LED to be turned on. The LED must stay on at least
until the candle is extinguished. The LED must be Any robot with a fan or blower cannot use Non-
mounted on the control panel in plain view so that air Extinguisher Mode.
the judge can see it clearly at all times during each
2. Carbon dioxide (CO2 )
trial.
Robots may use a single metallic CO2 capsule
NOTES:
(of the type used to charge carbonated bever-
ages and refill bicycle tubes) containing up to
1. It is good design to place this LED on to the 16 grams to extinguish the candle on each trial;
control panel, which includes the start switch, larger CO2 containers are prohibited. The Judges
sound activation microphone, and power kill de- will verify that CO2 is the extinguishing mate-
vice. One possible arrangement of the control rial.
panel is shown in Figure 4.13).
NOTE The robot must release the CO2 gas
2. Your robot must use individual LEDs for sound from the capsule when it detects the fire.
activation detect, candle detect, and video de- It must not pre-charge a low-pressure gas
tect. You must use the standard LED colors: system from the capsule before detection.
BLUE for sound activation; RED for candle de-
tection; GREEN for Video LED. Do not use a 3. Water mist or spray
multi-colored LED. Water is the only liquid allowed in this contest;
foaming or gelling agents are prohibited.
The water tank volume must be no larger than
Robots that touch a lit candle with either the robot 50 ml. Judges will verify the tank volume. A
chassis or a sensor will incur a penalty as specified in robot using a container pressurized with air (i.e.,
Section 5.4.5 on page 34. a soda bottle), rather than a pump, must have

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

a separate water tank of no more than 50 ml ca- 1. The robot must start when commanded by the
pacity. Judge;
Any robot that floods the floor will fail that trial. 2. It must find the baby and transport the baby to
Water must be applied only as a mist or spray, a safe zone;
not a jet.
3. It must extinguish all lit candles;
Exception: A robot may aim a narrow water jet
4. It must return to its starting location.
directly at the flame, with up to three water
pulses containing up to 2 ml each. Contact
us before you register to verify that your New for 2019: There are two options to find the
design will be accepted. Your design will be baby:
examined at the Robot Inspection Table. Method 1: The front of the cradle base has a bright
red LED at its center (see Figure D.13 on page 60).
4. Mechanical means
Robots may sense this LED, by any means, to find
A wet sponge or snuffer. the baby.
The size limits described in Section 4.4.2 on Method 2: Instead of sensing the LED, robots may
page 22 apply to mechanical extinguishers: the use computer vision to sense the vertical central pat-
robot’s moving parts must not exceed the maxi- tern shown in Figures D.11 on page 59 and D.12 on
mum size at any time. page 59. The LED will not be present. Robots that
find the baby using Method 2 will earn a 50 point re-
Carbon dioxide, water mist, and mechanical means duction in final score for incomplete runs. There is a
qualify for the non-air extinguisher deduction. See 0.7 Mode Factor for complete runs using this option;
Section 5.4.1.6 on page 33. see Section 5.4.6 on page 35 for more details

4.8 Trial Procedures

The robot must perform certain operations during
each trial in the arena. This section describes the
overall requirements for each Division. Other sections
of this document provide further details.
The robot may use any of the available Operating
Modes (Section 5.4.1 on page 31) to improve its score
for the trial. The robot may use different Modes in
different trials, but the team cannot change Modes
after a trial begins.
In Level 1 and Level 2 each successful trial consists of
the following sequence of steps.

1. The robot must start when commanded by the

Judge;

2. It must find the candle in one of the rooms;

3. It must extinguish the candle;

4. If the Return Trip Mode has been selected, the

robot must return to the starting position to earn
the Return Trip score reduction (Section 5.4.1.5
on page 32).

In Level 3 a successful trial consists of the following

sequence of steps.

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Chapter 5

Scoring

The scoring system measures robot capabilities at the 4. Record any Penalty Points (PP) incurred (Sec-
three contest Levels. The overall scoring flow follows tion 5.4.5 on page 34).
the pattern below with some variations specific to the
Divisions. After the trial has completed, the Judges calculate
the Operating Score (OS) from those values using this
1. The team presents their Trial Options Sheet to procedure:
the Judge to select the optional tasks the robot
will attempt; this determines the Operating 1. Multiply all of the active Operating Mode values
Mode factors in effect for that trial. together to find the Mode Factor. If no OM.x
factors apply, then MF = 1.0.
2. The Judge measures the Actual Time required
2. Add all of the Penalty Point (PP) values to the
for the robot to complete its trial.
Actual Time (AT) to determine the Time Score:
3. The Judge records any penalties. TS = AT + PP.

4. The Judge computes the Operating Score for the 3. Compute the Operating Score: OS =
trial. TS x RF x MF.

5. After all five trials, the Judge computes the Total Although the “units” of the Operating Score appear
Final Score from the Operating Score of all five to be seconds, they bear little relation to actual wall-
trials. clock time.

See Appendix F on page 65 for a sample Trial Op-

tions Sheet.
5.1.2 Level 3 OS Computation
Determining the OS in Level 3 follows the same gen-
eral outline as with Levels 1 and 2. Note that the fol-
5.1 Operating Score (OS) Com- lowing apply:
putation
1. There is no room factor.

5.1.1 Level 1 and Level 2 OS Compu- 2. There are only three elective operating modes
for which deductions will apply: Hallway Ramp
tation
(Section 5.4.6.2 on page 35), Optional Safe Zone
(Section 5.4.6.1 on page 35), and All_Candles
During the trial, the Judges will:
(Section 5.4.6.3 on page 36).

1. Record the robot’s Operating Modes (OM.x) op- 3. There is a 300 second time limit to rescue the
tions (Section 5.4.1 on the next page) baby and put out all candles.

2. Measure the Actual Time (AT) for the trial (Sec- 4. There is no requirement to return to start.
tion 5.4.3 on page 34)
As in Levels 1 and 2, an incomplete run will receive
3. Determine the Room Factor (RF) for the path OS = 600. However, robots will receive lower scores
used (Section 5.4.4 on page 34) by completing tasks below:

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

1. For traversing the hallway between arenas A and 5.3 Level 1 Scoring–Junior and
B across the flat ramp: OS = 550
Walking Divisions
2. For crossing the flat ramp and finding the baby
by sensing the LED: OS = 450 Special rules apply to determining the Operating
Scores of Junior and Walking Division robots at Level
3. For crossing the flat ramp, finding the baby by 1 only. If the robot does not extinguish the candle,
sensing the LED, and putting out at least one the robot receives a score of 600 for the trial. How-
candle: OS = 400 ever, this score may be reduced if the robot completes
certain tasks, as described below. These deductions
4. For crossing the flat ramp, finding the baby by apply only to Junior and Walking Division robots at
sensing the LED, and putting out all candles: OS Level 1.
= 350
Room Searching
5. For crossing the flat ramp, finding the baby by
sensing the LED, rescuing the baby, putting out TASK.search = -30 × number of rooms searched
no candles: OS = 350 Deduct 30 points for each room searched before find-
ing the candle. The maximum reduction is 120 points
6. For crossing the flat ramp, finding the baby by because the candle must be in the fourth room.
sensing the LED, rescuing the baby, putting out
at least one, but not all, candles: OS = 325 Candle Detection

TASK.detect = -30
Notes:
The robot must correctly signal that it detected the
candle by lighting an LED or making an obvious mo-
1. If the robot uses the sloping ramp, subtract 25
tion.
points from scores 1) - 6) above.
Candle Positioning
2. Robots that use computer vision to recognize
the cradle base (Method 2 in 4.8 on page 29),
TASK.position = -30
subtract 50 points from 1) - 6) above.
The robot must stop within 30 cm of the candle with-
out touching it.

5.2 Total Final Score (TFS)

Computation 5.4 Score Components (Levels 1
and 2)
Each trial will receive an Operating Score based on
the scoring rules of Level at which the trial takes 5.4.1 Operating Modes (OM.x)
place (see Section 5.3). For each contest Level the
robot will receive a Lowest Operating Score. To rep- A robot’s overall performance depends on its ability
resent these lowest scores the contest scoring system to handle real-world situations. The Basic contest
uses the notation, Lowest Operating Score (Level 1) arena includes a level floor, high-contrast walls, and
= LS1, Lowest Operating Score (Level 2) = LS2, and no obstructions, but additional operating modes allow
Lowest Operating Score (Level 3) = LS3. you to improve your robot’s score by completing more
difficult tasks. A fractional multiplier is associated
The Total Final Score is the sum of the robot’s three with each Operating Mode. The measured time (Ac-
Lowest Operating Scores: tual Time) for each successful trial is multiplied by
TFS = LS1 + LS2 + LS3. TFS is a measure of the these fractions when computing the Operating Score
robot’s overall performance in the contest. (OS) for the trial. Robots able to operate with these
optional modes may get scores much lower than indi-
Scoring examples in Appendix A on page 44 illustrate cated by the Actual Time. If no Operating Modes are
how robot performance is scored for each Division in effect for a trial, the Actual Time is multiplied by
and Level using the method described. the Standard Mode, which is exactly 1.0.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

The team can select different Operating Modes for trial. The Judge will not attempt to activate the
each of the trials. The candle and any furniture will robot by any other means.
be placed in different locations for each trial.
See Section 3.10 on page 14 for a discussion of the
The modes do not apply to an unsuccessful trial, starting procedure and penalties for incorrect starts.
where the robot does not extinguish the flame or fails
for any other reason. The score for an unsuccessful Judges will use only Standard Sound Start Devices
trial is 600, regardless of any operating modes applied as described in Appendix C on page 50 during the
to that trial. Contest. Teams should build their own Sound Start
Devices and use them during practice, but may not
present them to the Judge during the contest.
5.4.1.1 Standard
NOTE The robot’s circuitry should detect the cor-
OM.standard = 1.0 rect frequency and should not rely only on sound
The team must inform the Judge of any operating amplitude. We strongly recommend using an
modes for the current trial before the trial begins. In analog bandpass filter or digital FIR filter tuned
the absence of that notification, the robot will com- to the starting frequency. The arenas are very
pete in Standard Mode and the Actual Time will be noisy and a robot that detects only amplitude
multiplied by 1.0. (triggered by whistling or clapping) will start
prematurely during its trial and be disqualified.
5.4.1.2 Tethered
5.4.1.4 Arbitrary Start Location
Robots tethered by wires to computers, power sup-
plies, or other devices are not permitted, so there is OM.start = 0.80
no Tethered Mode.
Only contest judges will place the robot in arbitrary
Robots may communicate through a wireless link,
start positions. The robot will be placed at a location
but must operate autonomously. Remote control by a
and orientation within any room that does not have
human operator is not permitted!
the candle, as determined by the toss of a die.
The robot may be facing a wall or pointed into a cor-
5.4.1.3 Sound Activated
ner, but will not be trapped by furniture.
The Sound_Activated deduction has been eliminated.
NOTE Teams must not request any particular orien-
tation or position.
Walking, High School, and Senior Division robots
must use sound activation.
There is no Start Circle in Arbitrary Start Location
Junior Division robots must not use sound activation Mode.
(pushbutton switch starting only).
The starting room does not count as a searched room
The sound-activated robot begins operation when it for the Room Factor calculation (Section 5.4.4 on
detects a sound signal of 3.8 kHz ± 13%. Each start- page 34). When the robot leaves the starting room,
ing device used by the judges during the contest will the next room it encounters is its first searched room.
meet the specification.
The Judges will begin timing the trial when the
sound signal begins, not when the robot begins mov- 5.4.1.5 Return Trip
ing. The sound will last 5 seconds and will not be re-
peated . OM.return = 0.80

The robot must not start until the Judge in the The robot must return to its starting location after
robot’s own arena activates the sound signal. If the extinguishing the flame.
robot mistakenly detects ambient noise (even an ac-
In Standard Mode, the robot must return to the Start
tivation sound from a different arena) and begins to
Circle. It must stop with any part of its chassis is
move, then the trial will be terminated.
within the 30 cm white Start Circle. It need not be
If the robot does not start in response to the sound in the same position or orientation as when it started
signal it will not be given a second chance for that the trial.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

In Arbitrary Start Location Mode, the robot must 5.4.1.8 Candle Location (Level 1 Only)
return to the room it started from. It must stop with
all parts of its chassis within the starting room, but The Candle Location Mode is required in Level 2.
need not be in the same position or orientation as
The Candle Location Mode is an option in the Level
when it started the trial. See Section 5.4.1.4 on the
1 contest. The multiplier is OM.candle = 0.75.
previous page.
The robot’s Actual Time (AT) recorded for the trial The Candle Location Mode challenge is to find can-
will include only the time required to find and extin- dles without a candle circle. The Judge will place the
guish the candle, not the time for the return trip. candle at a randomly chosen location within a room
for each trial.
The robot must return to its starting location within
2 minutes; if not, then the Return Mode factor is not The candle may be in any location within the room
in effect. that does not block the doorway. A maximum-size
robot can enter the room at least halfway before en-
The robot need not retrace its path in returning to countering the candle and there will be at least a 31-
the starting location or take the most efficient route, cm wide path around the candle.
but it must not enter any other rooms along the way.
It must not move or pass by the Dog obstacle (Sec- The candle won’t be directly adjacent to a wall, to re-
tion 4.3 on page 21) during the return trip. duce the chance of damaging the wall by overheating.
There is no specification for the exact distance from
the wall.
5.4.1.6 Non-air Extinguisher
There are no other restrictions on the candle location
OM.extinguisher = 0.75 in this Mode.

The robot must extinguish the candle using inert gas, The Fire rules in Section 4.7 on page 27 will be fol-
water, or mechanical means. See Section 4.7.1.1 on lowed except that:
page 28
• There will be no candle circle, just a candle in a
In order to use the Non-air Extinguisher Mode, the
standard holder.
robot must not have a fan or blower.
See Section 4.7.1.1 on page 28 for details. • Before extinguishing the flame the robot must
turn on a bright red LED, that it has detected
the candle. The LED must stay on at least until
5.4.1.7 Furniture the candle is extinguished. The LED must be
mounted in plain view so that the judge can see
OM.furniture = 0.75 it clearly at all times during each trial.
Every room will have one or more pieces of furniture. • The robot need not be within 30 cm of the can-
This includes the room where the robot starts in Ar- dle, but the robot must be entirely within the
bitrary Start Location Mode. room where the candle is located before it lights
Furniture consists of semi-gloss yellow cylinders 11 cm the LED.
in diameter, 30 cm high, and weighing more than 1
kg. The Furniture Mode rules in Section 5.4.1.7 also ap-
Furniture will always be placed to allow at least one ply in Candle Location Operating Mode. In particu-
path to the candle that is at least 31 cm wide. The lar:
furniture will not block the doorway and a maximum-
size robot will be able to come into a room at least • Furniture may block the view of the candle from
halfway before it encounters furniture. Furniture may the door
block the robot’s view of the candle, so it must move
• Although the candle will not block the doorway,
to different locations to see the candle and plan a
the robot may have to maneuver within the room
path to reach it.
to detect and extinguish the flame.
The robot may have to go around the furniture to
extinguish the candle or exit from the room. It may
touch the furniture, but it cannot push it out of the 5.4.2 Summary of Operating Modes
way. Robots that push the furniture away lose the
Furniture Mode deduction for that trial. See Table 5.1 on the next page

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Options (Below)/Divisions Jr Walk/HS/Sr Jr Walk/HS/Sr Jr Walk/HS/Sr
Sound Activation N/A Required N/A Required N/A Required
Furniture Optional Optional Optional Optional Required Required
Return Trip Optional Optional Optional Optional Required Required
Arbitrary Start Optional Optional Optional Optional Required Required
Non-Air Optional Optional Optional Optional Required Required
Candle Location Optional Optional Required Required Required Required

Table 5.1: Summary of Operating Modes

5.4.3 Actual Time (AT) rooms a robot searches before it finds the candle, the
lower the Room Factor for that trial.
If the robot extinguishes the flame the Actual Time is
When the candle is in:
the number of seconds elapsed from robot activation
to flame disappearance. The maximum Actual Time
First room searched RF = 1.0
for such a successful trial is AT = 300. If the robot
does not extinguish the flame within the limits set Second room searched RF = 0.85
below, the Judge will terminate the unsuccessful trial
and assign AT = 600. Third room searched RF = 0.50
Fourth room searched RF = 0.35
5.4.3.1 Time Limits
It does not matter in which order the robot searches
The time limit for a Level 1 trial is 3 minutes. The the rooms. The only thing that matters is how many
time limit for a Level 2 trial is 4 minutes. The time rooms the robot has searched before it finds the can-
limit for a Level 3 trial is 5 minutes. dle.
Whenever a trial reaches the time limit, the arena When the robot searches the room with the candle,
judge will stop the trial and assign AT = 600. See whether or not the robot extinguishes it, the Judge
Section 5.1.2 on page 30 for additional information records the Room Factor for that trial. The room
about terminated Level 3 trials. factor will not change regardless of how many more
A robot operating in Return Trip Mode must return rooms the robot searches.
to the Start Circle within 2 minutes after extinguish- Because some robots can detect the candle by looking
ing the candle, after which the Judge will stop the in the doorway without entering the room to search
trial. The AT equals the time required to extinguish it, when the robot passes a doorway for the first time
the candle. the Judge will count that room as searched. If the
robot has already searched a room and then goes past
5.4.3.2 Loops and Stalls the doorway again on its way to a different room,
that room will not be counted twice.
If a robot gets stuck in a loop and performs the same
(or a similar) movement 5 times in a row without
5.4.5 Penalty Points (PP.x) (Levels 1,
progress, the Judge will stop the trial and assign AT
= 600. 2, 3)
Any time the robot does not move at all for 30 sec- Penalty Points (PP) will be added to the Actual Time
onds, the Judge will stop the trial and assign AT (AT) of any robot that exhibits the behaviors de-
= 600. The kill-power plug will be pulled in case of scribed in this section. These penalty points apply
loops or stalls. at all competition Levels.

5.4.4 Room Factor (RF) (Level 1 and Touching the Candle

Level 2 only) PP.candle = 50
The Room Factor (RF) adjusts the elapsed time Any robot that touches the candle or its base, either
based on the number of rooms searched. The more deliberately or accidentally, while the candle is lit will

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

have 50 penalty points added to its Time Score each

time the candle is hit.
There is no penalty for a touch that occurs as part
of the actual extinguishing process, i.e., smothering
the flame with a wet sponge, or after the candle is
extinguished.
Touching refers only to any part of the robot’s body,
including feelers or probes, and does not include the
water, air or other material that the robot might use
to extinguish the candle.
Although there is no penalty for touching or knock-
ing the candle over after the robot has extinguished
the candle, we strongly recommend that your robot
avoid doing that. The Judges may not agree with
your opinion of whether the candle was extinguished
before it began falling.

Continuous Wall Contact

Figure 5.1: Target–Level 3 Secondary Safe Zone
PP.slide = (contact cm) / 2 Option. 10 x 10 cm blue square, 5 cm diameter red
Any robot that slides along a wall will have 1 point circle
added to its Actual Time score for each 2 cm of wall
it touches.
5.4.6.1 Secondary Safe Zone
A robot may still touch a wall to orient itself, as long
as the contact is not sliding. As an option the robot may bring the baby to a sec-
There is no penalty for touching or sliding along the ondary safe zone. This safe zone is always in Arena
wall on the return trip to the Start Circle. B and it is marked by the target shown in Figure 5.1
below. The target consists of a square blue field mea-
See the Note in Section 4.4.1 on page 22 regarding suring 10 cm x 10 cm enclosing a red circle 5 cm in
“Navigation by Crashing”. diameter. The target will always be found on an out-
side wall of Arena B on the inside of the maze under
Kicking the Dog a window, but the target position will be changed by
the judge from run to run. Robots that execute this
PP.dog = 50 task will recognize the target, lift the baby over the
Any robot that moves the Dog more than 1 cm will edge of the arena at that position, and place the baby
have 50 penalty points added to its Time Score. carefully into a safety net just over the wall. When
this option is chosen, the time for the run will be re-
The robot may touch the Dog with a sensor probe, as duced by multiplying it by the Mode Factor
long as the probe does not move the Dog.
MF = OM.Alt_Target = 0.7.
NOTE A robot that bypasses the Dog and continues New for 2019: The target may be found using any
along the hall will fail the trial. sensing system. The system will be checked at the
Robot Inspection Table.

5.4.6 Level 3 Mode Factors

5.4.6.2 Hallway Option
NOTE: There are no room factors at Level 3.
The hallway connecting parts A and B of the Level
As part of their normal Level 3 operation, robots
3 arena may take two forms: flat or ramp (see Sec-
must handle the challenges of arbitrary start, return
tion D.2 on page 55 for geometries). When the ramp
trip, non-air, and furniture modes. So, there are no
is chosen, the actual time score will be reduced by
score-reducing multipliers for these modes in Level 3.
10%; i. e, the Mode Factor is
However, score reduction multipliers will apply for the
four special mode factors described below. MF = OM.Ramp_Hallway = 0.9.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

EXAMPLE: If both Computer Vision Option

and Hallway Options are successful, the score for
the run will be (raw time) ×(OM.Alt_Target) ×
(OM.Ramp_Hallway) = (raw time) ×0.54.

5.4.6.3 All Candles Option

If the robot is able to put out all lit candles within

the time limit, the Mode Factor OM.All_Candles =
0.6 will be applied.
EXAMPLE: If the robot successfully completed the
Computer Vision Option, Hallway Option, and All
Candles Option, the score for the run will be (raw
time) ×(OM.Alt_Target) × (OM.Ramp_Hallway) ×
(OM.All_Candles) = (raw time) × 0.324.

5.4.6.4 Computer Vision Option

The robot detects the cradle base shown in Figures

D.8 and D.9 using computer vision (Method 2 in Sec-
tion 5.1.2 on page 30).
When this option is chosen, the time for the run will
be reduced by multiplying it by the Mode Factor
MF = OM.Comp_Vision = 0.7.

5.5 Scoring Examples

Scoring examples are provided in Appendix A on
page 44.
Any disagreement between the examples and the rules
given above will be decided by reference to the rules.

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Chapter 6

Awards and Prizes

6.1 Robot Performance Prizes 6.1.2 Grand Performance Mastery

Prize (GPMP)
The TCFFHRC cash prizes are provided by our con-
test sponsors and non-cash prizes provided by contest The Grand Performance Mastery Prize (GPMP) will
supporters. All prizes are described on the Contest be awarded to the robot with the lowest TFS in the
Website at https://trinityrobotcontest.org/ 2019 TCFFHRC. Only Unique robots are eligible to
challenges. win the GPMP, and the team must prepare a poster.
The robot that wins this award will be considered the
Each team participating in the contest will receive overall champion
a Certificate of Achievement and one official contest
T-shirt.
To be eligible for a performance cash prize: 6.1.3 Lowest Individual Score Prizes
(LISP)
1. Junior or Walking Division robots must have one
successful run. High School Division robots must There will be cash awards for the lowest individual
have two successful runs. Senior Division robots LS1 (Level 1), LS2 (Level 2), and LS3 (Level 3) scores
must have three successful runs. in the contest. For each of the three contest Levels,
prizes will be: First Place: Unique, $200; Customized,
2. New for 2019: Separate prizes will not be $100.
awarded to Unique and Customized categories
Only Junior or Walking Division robots are eligible
in the Walking Division. All Walking Division
the Level 1 award.
robots will be grouped into one prize category.
Robots in any Division are eligible for Level 2 and
3. The team must prepare and display a poster. Level 3 award
See Part 8 on page 41 for technical presentation
guidelines.
6.1.4 Summary of Robot Performance
In addition to the robot performance prizes, a robot Awards
may win one or more of the special prizes awarded by
the TCFFHRC. These include Cost Effective, Tiny NOTE: To win a robot performance prize (BRD,
Robot, and North American. See sections below for LISP, GPMP), robots must meet the criteria listed
description of the special prizes. in Section 6.1
BRD and LISP awards are summarized in Tables 6.1
6.1.1 Best Robot in Division Perfor- and 6.2 below.
mance Prizes (BRD)

Robots in each Division with the lowest Total Final 6.2 Special Awards
Scores will be eligible to receive the “Best Robot in
Division” (BRD) prizes. First ($300), Second ($200), 6.2.1 North American Awards
and Third ($100) Place BRD prizes will be awarded
to Unique robots in each Division. The BRD prizes The top North American robot in each Level will re-
for Customized robots will be one-half these amounts. ceive a special cash award of $100.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Best Robots in Division (BRD) Awards* Unique Customized

DIVISION First, Second, Third First, Second, Third
Junior $300, $200, $100 $150, $100, $50
High School $300, $200, $100 $150, $100, $50
Senior $300, $200, $100 $150, $100, $50
* Walking Division: See 6.1 above. The prizes will be $300 first place, $200 second place, $100 third place.

Table 6.1: Summary of Best Robots in Division (BRD) Awards

Lowest Individual Score Prizes (LISP) Unique Customized

Level 1* $200 $100
Level 2 $200 $100
Level 3 $200 $100
* Only Junior and Walking Division robots are eligible for Level 1 prizes

Table 6.2: Summary of Lowest Individual Score (LISP) Awards

“North American” countries lie north of the Panama It does not matter what you paid for the parts, but
Canal. only what they are worth. A motor that originally
cost $50, but is now for sale in a surplus catalog for
$5 is now a $5 motor. However, if you got a $50 mo-
6.2.2 Spirit of an Inventor tor for free from a friend, then it’s still a $50 motor
even though you got it for free. On the other hand, if
Once Upon A Time, a creative engineer developed a you destroyed three $50 motors in building the robot,
unique two-legged firefighting robot. Even though the you only have to account for the one motor that is
robot was not the fastest in the contest and had no actually on the robot.
chance to win first prize, it made its way through the
arena and extinguished a candle. Evaluation Method:

We were so impressed that we created a special award

1. As part of the on-line registration process teams
to recognize this engineer’s achievement: The Spirit
will indicate in a check box on the registration
of the Inventor Award. This award will be given in
form whether they wish to be considered for the
addition to any other prizes that the robot may win.
Cost-Effective Prize (CEP).
To qualify for The Spirit of the Inventor award, the
robot must: 2. Participating teams will prepare an inventory for
their robot that lists all parts and their prices.
• be entered in any Contest Division and You must submit an itemized record of your re-
ceipts and copies of the receipts to the Judges. If
• show unique concept and design features and you do not have that material your robot is not
eligible for the cost effective prize.
• navigate through the arena and
3. Two Judges will inspect the robot and verify the
• extinguish a candle
inventory.
The robot need not successfully complete a trial run 4. Each robot will be put into a cost category (CC)
according to the rules of its Division.
• CC1: under $100 U.S.
6.2.3 Cost-Effective Robot • CC2: $100-$150 U.S

Robotics does not have to be expensive: spending 5. Robots will be ranked as follows:
more money does not guarantee success. In fact, some
of the very best robots have been some of the least (a) Compute Total Final Score (TFS) for the
expensive. To award financial efficiency there will be robot..
a special prize for the best performing robot built at (b) If any robots in CC1 were successful, the
the lowest cost. winner will be the robot with the best TFS.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

(c) If no CC1 robots had successful trials, the 6.3 Robot Olympiad Prizes
winner will be the robot in CC2 with the
best TFS. Cash prizes of $200 will be awarded for the highest
score on the Robot Olympiad Exam (Chapter 7) in
the following categories: Junior Individual, Junior
6.2.4 Tiny Robot Award Team, High School Individual, High School Team,
Senior Individual, and Senior Team. To be eligible
Although the contest rules for each Division require for an award, the score must meet minimum require-
robots to fit into a specified maximum volume, there ments established by the judges.
is no minimum volume. We invite teams to build
the smallest robot in the Contest able to successfully
complete at least one of its five trials. The robot may 6.4 Poster Competition Prizes
compete in any Contest Division.
At the Contest inspection table the judges will deter- Cash prizes of $200 will be awarded for the highest
mine the size of each entry by determining the small- ranking poster in each contest division (Junior, Walk-
est volume into which the robot will fit. This volume ing, High School, Senior).
must contain all robot components as deployed during
a typical contest trial including the chassis, projecting
sensors, wires, appendages, etc. 6.5 Gallichotte Award for Best
Connecticut Robot
6.2.5 Versa Challenge This $100 award is granted annually to the robot
from Connecticut with the lowest total final score.
The longstanding major sponsor of the Trinity robot The award remembers John Gallichotte for his dedi-
contest, Versa Products Company, Inc. is a U.S. cated and longstanding volunteer service to the Trin-
manufacturer of high quality mechanical valves ity College Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest, which
(https://www.versa-valves.com/). Versa created the includes evaluating robots for the IEEE Connecticut
Versa Challenge as a way to encourage robot teams to Section, setting up the competition area each year,
design non-air extinguishers. and offering new ideas for the contest. John embodied
the enthusiasm and professionalism we aim to achieve
The Challenge awards a $250 prize to the top unique as public-spirited engineers.
robot in each division that uses a Versa valve in a
non-air extinguishing system. The guidelines below
apply.

• Versa Products, Inc. will provide a free valve to

every robot team

• To be eligible for a prize, a robot must: (1) pass

robot inspection as a unique robot, and (2) com-
plete at least two successful runs using the Versa
Valve.

• To get your free Versa valve, or to obtain tech-

nical information, contact Jessica Jones, Contest
Coordinator: [email protected].

The contest expresses sincere thanks to Jan Larsson

’77, P’19 (Versa Products, Inc. CEO and a Trin-
ity College alumna), Gerry Gramegna, and Stan
Antonowich for continuing to make the Versa Valve
Challenge accessible to all teams and for assisting in
the creation of this popular event enhancement.

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Chapter 7

Robot Olympiad Exam

The TCFFHRC Olympiad exam consists of about ten

questions, each presenting a real problem that might
arise during robot design projects. Each question re-
quires a solution based on theoretical background and
practical experience.
The exam takes 50 minutes.
The Olympiad is open to any registered team or indi-
vidual, and prizes will be awarded to teams and indi-
viduals in Junior, High School, and Senior Divisions.
Check http://www.trinityrobotcontest.org/ for
the 2019 Olympiad schedule.
Questions for the 2019 Olympiad exam will be based
on material presented in two introductory robotics
textbooks, listed below. To prepare your team for the
Olympiad exam, be sure to study these books and
relate the theory to your robot project.
1. David G. Alciatore and Michael B. Histand, Intro-
duction to Mechatronics and Measurement Systems,
McGraw Hill, 2011, ISBN-13: 978-0073380230 . (Book
may be viewed online here:
http://robotics.bgu.ac.il/uploads/f/f7/Introduction.to.Mechatronics.and.Measurement.Systems.pdf
2. Maja J. Mataric, The Robotics Primer, MIT Press,
ISBN: 9780262633543 . (Book may be viewed online
here:
http://pages.ucsd.edu/~ehutchins/cogs8/mataric-
primer.pdf
Inquiries about the Olympiad exam may be directed
to:

David Ahlgren [email protected]

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Chapter 8

Technical Presentation Competition

Contributed by: David Pietrocola, Allison Mathis 4. The competition is split into two rounds:
The ability to effectively communicate technical ideas • Judges will assess displayed posters divided
and to describe designs is an increasingly important into two groups: high school and below, and
skill for engineers and scientists. The TCFFHRC university and above
technical presentation competition aims to encour-
age the development of such communication skills. In • The top 5 teams from each group will de-
2018 the poster competition is required for all teams liver a five-minute oral presentation using
and is required to win a cash prize. We encourage all the poster as a visual aid.
teams to summarize and convey their efforts by de-
A maximum of two team members may present
signing and delivering a presentation that explains
the poster to the Judges, who are engineers and
the design and functionality of the robot.
university faculty. Presentation of the physical
Teams will present using a traditional scientific poster robot to the Judges is not permitted. A two-
format, which involves designing a poster following minute question and answer period between the
established scientific poster templates (see below). presenters and the Judges will follow.
Guidelines
5. All posters must use English. However, teams for
1. The poster presents the design of the team’s fire- whom English is a second language may request
fighting or assistive robot. Posters must include to have an official contest-provided interpreter
the following sections and components, using a who can assist during the presentation. If you
traditional scientific poster template: wish to have an interpreter at your poster presen-
tation, please check the appropriate box on the
• Abstract and Introduction registration form and indicate the language. Un-
• Problem description and definition official interpreters affiliated with the team are
not permitted; their presence will be grounds for
• Design process immediate disqualification of the team from the
• System design or schematic robot competition.
• Results
• Conclusions and future improvements Judging Criteria
• Informative diagrams and photos.
Posters are judged based on the following criteria:
Visit http://posterhall.org/igert2012 for
many examples of common scientific posters, 1. Content – 40%
designed by graduate students from across the
United States. • Problem appropriately described with con-
text given
2. Teams will register for the poster competition as
part of our web-based registration process. • System architecture and overview described
• Appropriate level of detail provided
3. Maximum poster size is 1 m wide x 70 cm high.
Minimum poster size is 80 cm wide x 60 cm high. • Appropriate usage of the English language
Poster stands will be provided to those who reg- in a scientific context
ister for the poster session. – grammar

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

– style 7. Include technical details of your project, not just

– tone and cadence a list of robot components. Describe your unique
algorithm that processes sensor data, the special
2. Visuals – 30% wheels you built, or the mechanical innovation
that distinguishes your robot from the others.
• Easy to read and see
8. Do not glue robot parts to the poster. Use a
• Obvious logical sequence of material camera and include only photos.
• Useful and appropriate diagrams, photos,
etc. Oral Presentation Guidelines

3. Presentation – 30% 1. Be prepared to explain your team’s design de-

cisions and how each component or subsystem
• Appropriate overview, focus, preparation, functions. The Judges may ask about sensors,
and delivery navigation algorithms, motor control, propulsion
• Good articulation mechanisms, or any other feature of your robot.
• Appropriate response to judges questions 2. Practice, practice, practice! If two team members
will present the material, practice both the roles
and the transitions between them.
Scoring

Suggestion
Each criterion (content, visuals, presentation) will be
judged, with each specification earning a score of 0, 5,
or 10 points. The points will be summed to produce a A good way to determine whether you have made
total score up to the maximum 100 points. an effective poster is to hand it to someone who has
never seen your work before. Leave the room for five
The poster’s final score will be the average of the in- minutes while they look at your poster. When you
dividual score values determined by each Judge. return, ask them to describe your project to you. If
your poster effectively presents the information about
Common Mistakes your robot project, they will be able to give you a
reasonable overview of your work.
Although a good poster will build on the points men-
tioned above, you can make your poster better by fol-
lowing these guidelines:

1. Create a technical poster, not a personal ad for

your robot.

2. Use plain backgrounds. Avoid busy patterns and

bright colors.

3. Use large, simple fonts. If you cannot read every

word on your poster from a distance of 2 meters,
neither can the Judges.

4. Describe your robot and project, not your school,

your hometown, your friends, or the funny team
mascot you made.

5. Do not include large photos of you, your team, or

your school. Only the robot matters.

6. Do not include inside jokes about your team.

They belong within the team and have no place
in a technical presentation.

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Chapter 9

Regional Contest Events

Starting an Official Regional • Open participation: regional contest organizers

will publicize their contest and invite the public
Event to participate.

Trinity College’s Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest • Non-profit: Regional contests are not-for-profit
rules are published on the Contest Website at http: events.
//www.trinityrobotcontest.org/. • Qualification is not required for the TCFFHRC.
We invite you to use these rules without charge for • Availability of advice: Regional contests may ask
the limited purpose of use as the basis for a non-profit Trinity for advice regarding event organization.
educational project or to organize your own non-profit
firefighting robot contest. You acknowledge and agree • Web links: We will put a link to each regional
by your use of these rules, whether for an official re- contest that meets these requirements on our
gional contest or an unofficial contest, that Trinity website, and vice-versa.
College assumes no responsibility or liability for such
use of the contest rules by you or any third parties.
These rules are provided “as is” without any warranty Procedure
of any kind.
If you plan to use the Trinity rules, we request that In order to become an official regional contest and to
you send a 50-100 word description of your activity to obtain the benefits listed above, please send the con-
the contest Director via email. test director an email message indicating your interest
and confirming your agreement to the requirements
Your use of the Trinity rules does not automati- described above. In turn you will be sent an appli-
cally qualify your robot to participate in the official cation form that asks such information as name and
Trinity College Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest date of event, expected participation, contest Divi-
(“TCFFHRC”) to be held at Trinity College. sions that you wish to offer, and names of sponsors.
When planning your event please note that normally
regional contests are held within eight weeks prior to
Requirements the official Trinity College Fire-Fighting Home Robot
Contest to be held at Trinity College.
Official regional contests are public events based on Requests for new regional contests should be sent to
the Trinity rules found on the Contest Website at the Director at least six months before the next Trin-
http://www.trinityrobotcontest.org/. The char- ity contest
acteristics of official regional contests and Trinity’s
relationship to them are listed below.
In order to hold an official regional contest, the con-
test should meet these requirements:

• Longevity: regional contests will have a life span

greater than one year.

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Appendix A

Scoring Examples

These examples track the progress of three robots: Modes used:

Jazz, Hanley, and Spazz. Jazz is a Junior Division
(1) OM.candle = 0.75.........No candle Circle
robot, Hanley is a High School Division robot, and
Spazz is a Senior Division robot. Room Factor:
In these examples, OS represents the Operating RF = 0.35: 4 rooms were searched
Score, LS1 represents the Lowest Score at Level 1, Penalty Points:
LS2 the Lowest Score at Level 2, and LS3 the Lowest
Score at Level 3. TFS is the Total Final Score: PP.dog = 50 robot kicked a dog.
TFS = LS1 + LS2 + LS3. PP.slide = 8 robot contacted wall for 16 cm.
Total PP = 58 points
Operating Score OS = TS × MF × RF
A.1 Robot Jazz (Junior Divi-
Time Score: TS = (AT + PP)
sion)
TS = 132.614 + 58 = 190.614
Mode Factor:
TRIAL 1 (Level 1) MF = 1 × OM.candle
Actual Time AT = 155.742 Sec, less than the 180 sec MF = 1 × 0.75 = 0.750
(3 min) time limit.
OS = 190.614 × 0.750 × 0.350 = 50.036
Modes used: Standard Mode
Still hoping for a better result at Level 1, Jazz decides
Room Factor: to take a third run. The run is not successful, but
Jazz gets a deductions for searching one room. Such
RF = 0.85: 2 rooms were searched deductions apply only to Junior and Walking robots
Operating Score OS = TS × MF × RF at Level 1.
Time Score: TRIAL 3 (Level 1)
TS = (AT + PP) Terminated Time:
TS = 155.742 + 0 = 155.742 OS = 600.000 <‌<‌<‌<‌<
Mode Factor: Completed Tasks:
MF = 1 = 1.000 Rooms searched: -30 × 1 = -30
OS = 155.742 × 1.000 × 0.850 = 132.381. OS = 600 + (task.search x rooms.searched)
Jazz decides to take another run in order to lower its OS = 600 -30
Level 1 score.
OS = 570.000
TRIAL 2 (Level 1)
After the third trial, Jazz decides to go on to Level 2.
Actual Time AT = 132.614 Sec Its lowest score for Level 1 is LS1 = 50.036.<===

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

TRIAL 4 (Level 2) A.2 Robot Hanley (High School

Actual Time
Division)
AT = 150.304 Sec, less than the 240 sec Level 2 limit.
Modes used: TRIAL 1 (Level 1)
(1) OM.furniture = 0.75......Furniture Mode Actual Time
Room Factor: AT = 285.742 Sec
RF = 0.35: 4 rooms were searched Modes used:
Penalty Points: Standard Mode
PP.slide = 1 robot contacted wall for 3 cm. Room Factor:
Total PP = 1 points RF = 0.85: 2 rooms were searched
Operating Score Operating Score
OS = TS × MF × RF OS = TS × MF × RF
Time Score: Time Score:
TS = (AT + PP) TS = (AT + PP)
TS = 150.304 + 1 = 151.304 TS = 285.742 + 0 = 285.742
Mode Factor: Mode Factor:
MF = 1 × OM.furniture MF = 1
MF = 1 × 0.75 = 0.750 MF = 1 = 1.000
OS = 151.304 × 0.750 × 0.350 = 39.717 OS = 285.742 × 1.000 × 0.850 = 242.881 <===
Having succeeded at Level 1 and Level 2, Jazz decides Hanley decides to go for another run at Level 1.
to “go for it” on Trial 5. Jazz attempts Level 3.
TRIAL 2 (Level 1)
The Lowest Score for Level 2 is LS2 = 39.717 <===
Actual Time AT = 39.234 Sec
TRIAL 5 (Level 3) Modes used:
Terminated Time: (1) OM.candle = 0.75.........No candle Circle
OS = 600.000 <‌<‌<‌<‌< Room Factor:
Completed Tasks: Did not cross hallway, find baby, or RF = 0.5: 3 rooms were searched
pick up baby.
Penalty Points:
OS = 600. The Lowest Score at Level 3 is LS3 = 600
PP.slide = 4 robot contacted wall for 8 cm.
Robot Jazz has the Total Final Score TFS = LS1 +
LS2 + LS3 = 50.036 + 39.717 + 600 = 689.753. Total PP = 4 points
Operating Score OS = TS × MF × RF
Time Score: TS = (AT + PP)
TS = 39.234 + 4 = 43.234
Mode Factor:
MF = 1 × OM.candle
MF = 1 × 0.75 = 0.750
OS = 43.234 × 0.750 × 0.50 = 16.21275.
Hanley moves on to Level 2.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

LS1 = 16.21275<=== Actual time

TRIAL 3 (Level 2) AT = 58.222 Sec
Modes used:
Actual Time
OM.All_Candles = 0.6...All_Candles Mode
AT = 150.304 Sec
OS = AT × (OM.All_Candles) = 58.222 × 0.6 =
Modes used: 34.9332
(1) OM.furniture = 0.75......Furniture Mode LS3 = 34.9332 <===
Room Factor: TFS = LS1 + LS2 + LS3 = 16.21275 + 39.717 +
RF = 0.35: 4 rooms were searched 34.9332 = 90.863.<===

Penalty Points:
PP.slide = 1 robot contacted wall for 3 cm.
Total PP = 1 points
Operating Score
OS = TS × MF × RF
Time Score:
TS = (AT + PP)
TS = 150.304 + 1 = 151.304
Mode Factor:
MF = 1 × OM.furniture
MF = 1 × 0.75 = 0.750
OS = 151.304 × 0.750 × 0.350 = 39.717
Satisfied with this result, Hanley moves on to Level 3
LS2 = 39.717 <===

TRIAL 4 (Level 3)
Terminated trial, but Hanley crosses hallway and
finds the baby using Method 1 (LED beacon on cra-
dle base).
OS = 450.
Hanley has one more run, which the robot must take
at Level 3 since it is not allowed to go back to Level
2.

TRIAL 5 (Level 3)
Hanley rescues the baby in 58.222 seconds. Hanley
detects the LED beacon (Method 1) so does not re-
ceive a 50 point bonus. Robot returns to Arena B and
extinguishes the candle in an additional 22 seconds.
The total time is 58.222 + 22 seconds, well within
the 300 sec. time limit. Neither candle in Arena A
has been lit yet so all candles have been extinguished.
Score for this run is (58 sec.) x (OM.All_Candles) =
34.8 sec.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

A.3 Robot Spazz (Senior Divi- Room Factor:

sion) RF = 0.35: 4 rooms were searched
Penalty Points:
TRIAL 1 (Level 1) PP.candle = 100 robot touched a candle 2 times.
Terminated Time: PP.dog = 50 robot kicked a dog.
OS = 600.000 <‌<‌<‌<‌< Total PP = 150 points
TRIAL 2 (Level 1) Operating Score
OS = TS × MF × RF
Actual Time
Time Score:
AT = 85.641 Sec TS = (AT + PP)
Modes used: TS = 187.638 + 150 = 337.638
Standard Mode Mode Factor:
Room Factor: MF = 1 × OM.start × OM.returntrip ×
OM.extinguisher × OM.furniture
RF = 0.85: 2 rooms were searched
MF = 1 × 0.8 × 0.8 × 0.75 × 0.75 = 0.360
Operating Score
OS = 337.638 × 0.360 × 0.350 = 42.542
OS = TS × MF × RF
The Spazz team decides to take its last run at Level
Time Score: 3.
TS = (AT + PP) LS2 = 42.542 <===
TS = 85.641 + 0 = 85.641 TRIAL 5 (Level 3)
Mode Factor: Spazz rescues the baby in 117 seconds in an arena
with the hallway ramp. Spazz uses computer vision
MF = 1
to find the cradle base (Method 2). Using its vision
MF = 1 = 1.000 system the robot also finds the secondary safe zone
and it places the baby through the window to the safe
OS = 85.641 × 1.000 × 0.850 = 72.795
zone at that position. Robot finds the candle in arena
Spazz feels that this score is too low and goes for a B and extinguishes it in an additional 56 seconds.
third trial at Level 1. Both candles in Arena A have been lit by this time,
and the robot takes another 123 seconds to extinguish
TRIAL 3 (Level 1) them. The total time is 123 + 117 = 240 sec., which
Terminated Time: is less than the run time limit of 5 minutes (300 sec.).
Actual time AT = 117 Sec
OS = 600.000 <‌<‌<‌<‌<
Modes used:
With three trials taken at Level 1, Spazz moves to
Level 2. (1) OM.Alt_Target = 0.7...Secondary Safe Zone

LS1 = 72.795 <=== (2) OM.Ramp_Hallway = 0.9...Ramped Hallway

Mode
TRIAL 4 (Level 2) (3) OM.All_Candles = 0.6...All_Candles Mode
Actual Time (4) OM.Comp_Vision = 0.7...Computer Vision Mode
AT = 187.638 Sec OS = AT × (OM.Alt_Target) ×
(OM.Ramp_Hallway) × (OM.All_Candles) ×
Modes used: (OM.Comp_Vision) = 117 × .2646 = 30.9582.
(1) OM.start = 0.8..........Arbitrary Start The Lowest Score at Level 3 is LS3 = 30.9582
(2) OM.return = 0.8.........Return Trip <===.
The Total Final Score for Spazz is TFS = LS1 +
(3) OM.extinguisher = 0.75...No Air Extinguisher
LS2 + LS3 =72.795 + 42.542 + 30.9582 = 146.2952
(4) OM.furniture = 0.75......Furniture Mode <===.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

A.4 Robot Susan (Senior Divi- Mode Factor:

sion) MF = 1 × OM.start × OM.returntrip ×
OM.extinguisher × OM.furniture
TRIAL 1 (Level 1) MF = 1 × 0.8 × 0.8 × 0.75 × 0.75 = 0.360
Actual Time OS = 337.638 × 0.360 × 0.350 = 42.542
AT = 85.641 Sec LS2 = 42.542 <===
Modes used:
TRIAL 3 (Level 3)
Standard Mode
Susan traverses the flat ramp,finds the baby using
Room Factor: Method 1 (senses the LED beacon on base) and puts
RF = 0.85: 2 rooms were searched out one candle..

Operating Score OS = 400

OS = TS × MF × RF TRIAL 4 (Level 3)
Time Score: Susan chooses the inclined ramp, rescues the baby
TS = (AT + PP) using Method 2 (computer vision), but is fooled by a
mirror and extinguishes no candles.
TS = 85.641 + 0 = 85.641
OS = 275
Mode Factor:
MF = 1 TRIAL 5 (Level 3)
MF = 1 = 1.000 Suasn fails to start. OS = 600.
OS = 85.641 × 1.000 × 0.850 = 72.795 The Lowest Score at Level 3 is LS3 = 325 <===.
TFS for robot Susan: TFS = LS1 + LS2 + LS3 =
TRIAL 2 (Level 2)
72.795 + 42.542 + 325 = 440.337 <===.
Actual Time
AT = 187.638 Sec
Modes used:
(1) OM.start = 0.8..........Arbitrary Start
(2) OM.return = 0.8.........Return Trip
(3) OM.extinguisher = 0.75...No Air Extinguisher
(4) OM.furniture = 0.75......Furniture Mode
Room Factor:
RF = 0.35: 4 rooms were searched
Penalty Points:
PP.candle = 100 robot touched a candle 2 times.
PP.dog = 50 robot kicked a dog.
Total PP = 150 points
Operating Score
OS = TS × MF × RF
Time Score:
TS = (AT + PP)
TS = 187.638 + 150 = 337.638

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Appendix B

Robot Carrying Handle

Figure B.1: Example of Carrying Handle Design

The figure shows one possible handle design that in-

cludes power switch, kill switch, microphone, and
other components. When developing your handle, be
sure to consider the dimensions shown in the figure.

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Appendix C

Standard Sound Start Device

Judges will use only the Standard Sound Start Device

during the contest for all non-Junior-Division trials.
Teams may not bring their own devices to the arena
during trials.

C.1 Operation
Each official contest Sound Start Devices emits a tone
of approximately 3.8 kHz. Judges will use a different
starting device at each of the contest arenas, so the
start frequency will vary from arena to arena. The
start devices are based on Mallory Sonalert buzzer,
model PK-20N38WQ. Your robot must respond prop-
erly to every start device.
The manufacturer’s spec sheet for the Sonalert
buzzer is found at this URL: http://www.mallory-
sonalert.com/specifications/PK-20N38WQ.pdf. Please
read the spec sheet carefully and be especially aware
of the frequency range specification.
The specified sound modules produce approximately
90 dB SPL at 1 foot. The SPL will be higher at the
microphone, due to the closer distance, but there is
no specification for the actual intensity.
The judge presses the Tone button to start the de-
vice. The sound lasts for approximately five seconds
and will NOT be repeated.
The robot must start with the Sound Start Device
approximately 25 mm from the robot’s microphone.
The Device has a 25 mm rod indicating this distance;
the rod will not touch the robot.
Figure C.1: A Standard Sound Start Device (Stan-
dard Sound Start Device - StartBox-12_030.jpg)
C.2 Hardware
Figure C.1 shows a Standard Sound Start Device.
Schematic
Figure C.2 on the following page shows the schematic
diagram of the circuitry inside the Sound Start De-
vice.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Figure C.3 shows the component layout inside the

case.

C.3 Parts List

Table C.1 on the following page lists the parts re-
quired to construct a Standard Sound Start Device.
The circuit can be hand wired on a prototyping board
or laid out on a custom PCB to suit your enclosure;
we do not provide a PCB layout.

C.4 Construction
Adjust trimpot R3 for 5 second sound duration after
each press of switch SW1.
Add 25 mm nonconductive rod near the buzzer to
maintain the correct standoff distance from the
robot’s microphone.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Figure C.2: Standard Sound Start Device Schematic (StartBoxSchematicBW.png)

Part Manufacturer Manuf. Part Number Mouser P/N

SW1 pushbutton switch E-Switch PS-1040A-RED 612-PS1040A-RED
SW2 on/off switch
Battery holder (6 x AA) Eagle 12BH364-GR 12BH364-GR
Buzzer (2.5 kHz) Mallory PK-20A25WQ 539-PK-20A25WQ
Buzzer (3.8 kHz) Mallory PK-20N38WQ 539-PK-20N38WQ
IC1 NE555N (various) NE555N 511-NE555N
R3 100K 10% pot Bi Tech 68WR100KLF 858-68WR100KLF
R1,R2 100K 1% res Xicon 100K-RC sound271-100K-RC
R4 402K 1% res Xicon 402K-RC 271-402-RC
C1 0.01 uF/50V cap Vishay D103Z25Z5VF63L6R 594-D103Z25Z5VF63L6R
C2 10 uF/15V tantalum Kemet T322C106K015AT 80-T322C106K015AT
AA batteries x 6
Case
Printed circuit board

Table C.1: Standard Sound Start Device Parts List (StartBoxPartsList.ods)

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Figure C.3: Interior view of Standard Sound Start

Device (Standard Sound Start Device - Interior -
StartBox12_031.jpg)

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Appendix D

Level 3 Arena

NOTE: Detailed carpenter’s drawings of the con-

test arenas are available upon request. Please email
[email protected].

D.1 Level 3 Arena Layout

Figure D.1 shows the Level 3 layout consisting of two

sub-arenas, each sub-arena equivalent to a Level 2
arena. The hallway linking the sub-arenas may be the
standard flat version or the optional ramped version.
A starting position will be chosen by the judge. The
judge will place a start circle at that position. See
Section 3.16 on page 16 for further information.

Note that Figure D.1 indicates that the right side

of the arena will face the bleachers where spectators
will sit. That is the southerly direction in the Trinity Figure D.1: Level 3 Arena Layout
gymnasium.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Figure D.2: 3-D Concept Drawing of Level 3 Arena

(D2.png)

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

D.2 Optional Ramped Hallway

The ramp is constructed from three 34 cm ( x 46 cm
wide) pieces hinged together with an 8.7 cm x 33 cm
x 45 cm box under the center 34 cm section to give
two 15 degree ramps in a 1 meter long stretch. The
ramp is painted flat black with the same type of paint
as the arena floors. The transition between the ramps
and the central box will be made as smooth as pos-
sible and the gap at any point will not exceed 5 mm,
a small gap that robots should be ready to traverse.
Hallways will be 46 cm wide and will have walls on
each side of the same nominal height as the standard
arena walls (29 - 34 cm). Figure D.3 on the follow-
ing page shows the geometry of the ramped hallway,
excluding the central box.

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Figure D.3: Ramped Hallway Geometry Central Box (rampAppendix06DEC2015-12-18pngA.png)

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 Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Figure D.5: Possible Dog and Cradle Positions in a

Level 3 Sub-Arena (cradle-pup-candle.png)

Figure D.4: Level 3 Mirror with Hanger

D.4.2 Baby

D.3 Mirrors The official baby doll used in the Level 3 competi-
tion is a Toysmith “My Sweet Baby” Item #65513
At the start of each Level 3 run, the judges will place obtained from amazon.com (Figure D.6). The doll
one mirror within 70 cm of each lit candle. Character- shown in Figure D.6 is approximately 16 cm long and
istics and locations of these mirrors are listed below. weighs 32 g.

1. Only flat mirrors will be used.

D.4.3 Cradle
2. Mirrors may have any shape (round, oval, rectan-
gular, square, etc.) The cradle assembly consists of a cradle that contains
3. The area of every mirror will be in the range 30 - the baby and a base that supports the cradle. An ex-
100 cm2
4. Each mirror will be mounted on a hanger. The
judges will hang mirrors on the walls of the arena
near the candle at any height, but no part of the
mirror will extend above the wall.

A typical mirror with hanger is shown in Figure D.4

.

D.4 Cradle and Baby

D.4.1 Cradle Positions
The diagram shows possible cradle and dog positions
in a Level 3 sub-arena. Robots that pass the contest
inspection process will have room to navigate in the
arena with dog and cradle positions the contest will
present. Figure D.6: Level 3 Baby

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Figure D.7: Level 3 Base Center (B&W2- Figure D.9: Level 3 BaseRight Side (BB&W1-
2019_4.png) 2019_4.png)

were printed on a high quality photo matte paper

on an Epson Photo R2880 printer using a color-
managed workflow appropriate to high-quality
photographic printing.

Figure D.8: Level 3 Base Left Side (B&W3–

2019_4.png)

ample of a cradle is shown in Figure D.10 on the next 2. Original files, with images full size, are posted on
page. This cradle was constructed from from foam Dropbox and may be downloaded via this link:
board and assembled using hot glue. Rough edges https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cdmub3uenwfiwm0/AACBgmR
were sanded and a single coat of white latex interior
paint was applied. Complete directions for construct-
ing the cradle and base are given in Figures D.14 on
page 61 and D.15 on page 62.
To ease the computer vision and navigation tasks
at Level 3, three sides of the base are covered with
black and white patterns. The front has vertical black
stripes and the sides have patterned black squares
(see Figures D.7, D.8, and D.9). These patterns may
be analyzed using computer vision and pattern recog- 3. Teams may uses their own bases in the contest.
nition software. A robot’s eye view from the left front All such bases must pass inspection at the Robot
corner of the base is shown in Figure D.11, and a Inspection Table.
view from the right front corner is shown in Figure
D.12.
Please note the following:

1. The patterns that will be used in the contest

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Figure D.11: View of Base from Left Front Corner

(LeftFrontEx-19.jpg)

Figure D.10: Photo of Cradle and Baby

(Baby&Cradle.jpg)

Figure D.12: View of Base and Cradle from Right

Front Corner (RightFrontEx-19.jpg)

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Figure D.13: View of Base and Cradle, LED option

(LeftFrontLED-19)

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Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2019 Rules

Figure D.14: Cradle Assembly (Dimensions in mm) (Crib-assembly-2019.svg.png)

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Figure D.15: Bench Assembly (Dimensions in mm)

(bench..svg.png)

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Appendix E

Robot Inspection Table Checklist

All robots must pass an inspection at the Robot In-

spection Table before competing. See Section 3.8 on
page 13 for more details.
The sample RIT Checklist in this Appendix item-
izes some physical and performance requirements, but
your robot must comply with all the requirements of
this rules document.

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Figure E.1: Sample RIT Checklist Form (Robot Inspection Table Checklist2016V1_0.png)

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Appendix F

Trial Options Sheet

The Trial Options Sheet specifies all of the Operating

Modes that apply to each of a robot’s Trial Runs in a
Contest arena.
Teams competing in the Junior, High School, and Se-
nior Divisions must present a Trial Options Sheet,
similar to the sample shown in this Appendix, to the
Judge at the arena when they arrive for their robot’s
trial. The sheet must contain the options for the cur-
rent trial; teams do not need to select options for fu-
ture trials.

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Figure F.1: Sample Trial Options Sheet (FF_2016_Contest_Trial_OptionsRulesV1_0.png)

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