Path to Robo Rally

A. RoboRally game a future for line following contest1. Start line following2. Make line following rule and board tougher3. Move to mazes real and virtual4. Grid competition (Waypoints & line following)5. Laser tag6. Board with RFID events7. Put it all together and you get RoboRally for robots

RoboRally competition idea

The Premise

• A totally robot run factor on a far of planet, life for them was getting a bit boring.

A day with Sharcbot in RoboRallyIt was a hard day on the planets Widget manufacturing factory computer

RSL973, or “Sharcbot” for short, was a bit behind on his widget quota and the other computers had taunted him for it. He had hoped to get back at them in a RoboRally™ game, but things weren’t going well for him in that either. Just this last turn, Sharcbot’s racing robot had been severely damaged and one of its program registers was stuck. Sharcbot quickly realized there was no way he could program his robot to reach the repair site.

But wait—what was this? From deep in the back of Sharcbot’s “mind,” his strategic subroutines suggested an alternative ploy: Sharcbot had a slim chance of reaching the repair site this turn if he could get one of his opponents to push him.

In a race, robots usually push each other as an offensive maneuver; a robot knocked off course might accidentally fall into a pit. By putting his robot in position to benefit from a push just might keep Sharcbot in the race and earn him the respect of his peer control computers. Sharcbot downloaded the instructions into his racing robot.

He was back in the race!

Starts with Line following

Make line following harder

MAZES and walls & ramps

Go to waypoints on a grid

Laser tag

A Laser Maze?

Laser tag, can your bot outStrategies a Human RC controlledBot or the AI on the Bot how about two at the same time

RoboRally Boards with RFID actionThe conveyor belts can be line following with colors to indicate the speed

Pit can be physicalWalls can be realCliffs can be realLaser walls can be real or RFID

Repair station can be an RFIDOil slicks can be RFIDWater can be a line & RFID

Put it all together you get these guys

Playing RoboRally for real

Rules of Robo Rally

• No cards for movement –> real-time autonomous robots

• Have as many real objects obstacles as possible• For objects that can’t be real simulate via color

code, RFID, other• All robots must qualify by demonstrating proper

response to and virtual objects• Laser need to be low power not harmful to

human observers, IR maybe the best choices