Rule Clarifications

Elementary School Competition 2013 (Updated 04242013)

General Questions (Updated 03312013)

Question (12112012): How many teams can compete from each school?

Answer (Tentative 02202013): Because we have so many schools involved, I would like to limit each school to 3 robots per challenge, meaning 9 NXT robots. The VEX robots can be used only for the bean bag challenge, and will be counted separately. Please email me if you have concerns about this.

Question (02202013): Is there a limit to the number of motors that a robot can use? Any limits on sensors?

Answer: The NXT brain is limited to 3 motors and 4 sensors. If a team decides to combine 2 brains together, that would be a challenge in programming, but an acceptable challenge. This would then expand your robot to have 6 motors and 8 sensors.

Question (03312013): One of our robotics teams wants to build a fork lift type robot. They found the design on the NXT programs site. The design requires the use of a string, which the kit does not provide. Is it okay for the students to use a string for their design?

Answer: We'll adapt the rules from FIRST LEGO competitions. "You may use as many non-electric LEGO elements as you like, including pneumatics, rubber bands, and string, and they may be from any source or set." Paper is not allowed.

Challenge #1: Maze (Updated 04242013)

Question (12112012): Will there be blue tape for the maze?

Answer (tentative): Do you want tape in there? It won't be precise each time. If there is tape, we'll use blue painter's tape, and the students will need to know how to calibrate their light sensors.

Answer (Updated 02202013): Upon further review, I have decided not to use the tape. The reason is, the cafeteria floor is all sorts of colors, and I doubt the robot sensors will be able to pick up the contrast. Also, any program using the "follow the line" will be really slow, and I'd much rather have students learn how to program step by step.

Question (03312013): Can students use a flashlight to guide the robot through the maze?

Answer: Students can not use a flashlight, or any other interactive sensor, for the maze. Sounds like a cool setup, and we'd love to see it perform for fun.

Question (04242013): The team doing the maze asked if they could build a "gauge" out of NXT parts to help them guide where to place the bot outside of the maze. This would help them line up where the bot should start.

Answer: This is a great tool to start using. We can it a "jig" up at the middle school, and I've seen "jigs" made of all sorts of items, including rulers, LEGO pieces, wood, metallic pieces, etc. Consistency is a useful quality to work towards.

Challenge #2: Bean Bag Challenge (Updated 04242013)

Question (12112012): Can the LEGO Robots physically pick up the bean bags?

Answer: With proper gear ratio, you can create robots with enough torque to pick up heavier objects. Check out http://myweb.cwpost.liu.edu/magot/classes/csc/RobotFundamentals/downloads/gears_drivetrain.htm or google "LEGO torque" for more information.

Question (12112012): Can teams use remote controlled robots?

Answer: Yes. Teams can integrate sensors to remotely control their robots for this challenge only. This means, they can use touch sensors to manually interact with their brains, but students can not touch the robot or the bean bags themselves. They may also create a fully-autonomous robot.

Answer: We will also allow teams to use their VEX robots to compete. It will be considered a separate competition, with a first place for the best VEX robot and a first place for the best LEGO robot.

Question (03052013): In the picture, the bean bags are placed around the red cylinder. Are we able to place the bags in a more strategic way or must it be exactly like the picture?

Answer: The first bean bag may start on your robot (if desired), but the remaining four bean bags must start on the ground before the robot can touch it. Students may place the four bean bags in any position, and at any time, for the robot to pick up and place on the barrel.

Question (04242013): The group doing the bean bag challenge asked if the bean bags must lay flat or can they fold them in half so the arm can better grab them.

Answer: As previously stated, "students may place the four remaining bean bags in any position, and at any time, for the robot to pick up and place on the barrel." The only limitation is that each bag must start on the ground. Therefore, I can imagine a robot that lifts up a bean bag and scores it, students place the next bean bag down where the first one was, the robot drops down to pick up the second bean bag, lifts it to score, and so on. . . .

Challenge #3: Ping-Pong Ball Challenge (Updated 04232013)

Question (03052013): Must the ping pong balls be white?

Answer: The ping pong balls might be white or orange depending on what we have in stock. (Maybe next year we'll try and integrate a color challenge!)

Question (03312013): Are students allowed to touch the robot during the 90 seconds or can they only run a program once and let it go?

Answer: Students can not touch the robot once the program has started.

Question (03312013): Once a ping pong ball is knocked out of the box, are students allowed to put it back in the box (in hopes of getting it into the cage for more points)?

Answer: Once a ping ping ball leaves the box, it can not be put back into the box. The competition time allows for multiple attempts, and the highest score will be taken.

Question (04232013): I know you mentioned we could use touch sensors to control our robots for the bean bag challenge, but can we also use touch sensors for the ping pong ball challenge?

Answer: You may use touch sensors for the ping pong challenge (and any other sensor you wish), but not as a remote control. For example, the touch sensor can be built and programmed to detect a collision with the PVC pipe, but at no time during the program can a student touch any part of the robot.