Tapia Robotics Competition Frequently Asked Questions

• Is there a fee to register?

There is no fee to register for the qualification stage, but you do need to register for the Tapia Conference in order to compete. Scholarships are available.

• Should the client for qualification be for the Roomba (two bump sensors) or should we use the Pioneers (laser range finders)?

For qualification, you should use the Pioneers in Gazebo simulation using the Player interface.

The interfaces intended for use in the competition are position (movement/odometry), camera, fiducial extraction, and some sort of proximity sensing.

The bumper is the most coarse proximity sensor but we allow for more sophisticated laser range proximity sensing. Because this competition is geared for computer scientists, the general rule we have is that components must be commercial-off-the-shelf components that anyone could purchase.

For qualification, we chose the Player/Gazebo platform as the one to support. If you wanted to use MS Robotics Studio or another simulation platform, I think we can be convinced to let you use these alternatives, but the burden for a faithful and convincing implementation would be on you.

If you choose to use the Player/Gazebo system, we guarantee that the proper interfaces will be supported both in simulation and for Pioneer and iRobot Roomba/Create-based robot platforms. Chad’s group is currently working on documentation for assembly of a competition-quality robot using COTS components and the iRobot Create, which costs around $750 in parts SMURV.

• How are qualifiers judged?

Your score on the qualification task is based on the number of markers correctly identified. There are penalties for announcing a marker that does not exist.

• What do I submit with my qualification materials?

1. Player client code: Any code that you wrote or libraries that you used that is not in the standard Player/Gazebo distribution should be included.
2. Compilation instructions in file named instructions.txt: You must provide instructions for us on how to compile your code. Please be as specific as possible.
3. Documentation in file named readme.txt: Your readme should give an overview of your approach, describe the status of your solution (i.e. how well does it work and where does it fail), and discuss any problems you had working on the problem. Please use this opportunity to give the competition organizers feedback on the qualification task, environment, and anything else. Player client code

• Where do I submit my qualification materials?

You should submit through the submission page. Please send mail to robotics@richardtapia.org if you have not received the URL.

• Should the team prepare to present slides and/or a poster at the conference (perhaps in a robotics session, akin to the AAAI robot workshop, for all of the teams)?

The conference will hold a poster session for robot competition participants to exhibit their work. Teams should prepare a poster illustrating their approach.

• Will there be an opportunity for the team to run their own Roomba robot (with camera and other sensors)?

You can definitely use your own robot. We’ll provide Creates for those who want it.

* What are the consequences for not getting back to the starting position (no points; most of the points, etc.)?

Returning to the starting position is a bonus. The main task is to find as many markers as possible.

• Will it be better to capture a few markers quickly or more markers slowly?

Each team is awarded points based on the number of markers located. In the case of a tie, time elapsed is used to determine a winner, so it is better to find more markers slowly than fewer markers fast.

• Will the obstacles’ positions in the room be known (as in the simulation) or unknown?

The borders of the robot area will be published in advance but there may be other unknown obstacles.

• Will the colors of the “home location” markers and the “I’m a robot” markers/papers be different than the three colors of the cylindrical “rescuee” markers? Will they be different than the carpet/walls? (to help decide on camera placement...)

Yes, the markers for robots will be distinct from the markers for the rescuees.

• Will the robot always start on a wall (with a “home location” marker nearby)? Will the initial orientation w.r.t. that wall be known?

The robot will always start next to a wall facing away from a wall.

• Will each robot in the arena have a distinct “home location” marker?

In the initial rounds, robots will run one at a time, so there will not be multiple home positions. If there are multiple robots, then each home location will have distinct coloring. I