Trinity College Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest 2018 Rules V1.01

Trinity College
Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest

2018 Rules V1.01
Copyright 2017 Trinity College
January 23, 2018

Trinity College Home Robot Contests 2018 Rules
Modified January 23, 2018 Copyright 2017 by Trinity College 1 of 64

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

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
3.16.1 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

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
5.3.1 Operating Modes (OM.x) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.3.1.1 Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.3.1.2 Tethered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.3.1.3 Sound Activated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.3.1.4 Arbitrary Start Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.3.1.5 Return Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.3.1.6 Non-air Extinguisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.3.1.7 Furniture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.3.1.8 Candle Location (Level 1 Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.3.2 Summary of Operating Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.3.3 Actual Time (AT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.3.3.1 Time Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.3.3.2 Loops and Stalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.3.4 Room Factor (RF) (Level 1 and Level 2 only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.3.5 Penalty Points (PP.x) (Levels 1, 2, 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.3.6 Level 3 Mode Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.3.6.1 Secondary Safe Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.3.6.2 Hallway Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.3.6.3 All Candles Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.4 Scoring Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

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
6.3 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

E Robot Inspection Table Checklist 61
F Trial Options Sheet 63

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 2018. You can expect addi-
tional minor updates during the fall of 2017.
If you find an error or inconsistency, please send an
email to Dave Ahlgren (david.ahlgren@trincoll.
edu) with a copy to the Contest Director John
Mertens ([email protected]). We will
defer problems reported after noon on the Monday
preceding the Contest weekend until the next year’s
Contest.
SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO CONTEST
RULES
1. Practice times: Arenas will be open for practice

on Saturday April 7, 2018 and Sunday April 8,
2018. There will be no practice on Friday, April
6, 2018.
2. In the Level 3 challenge robots must use com-
puter vision and pattern recognition to detect
black patterns on the cradle base (Section D.4 on
page 57). These patterns replace the RGB pat-
terns used in 2017.
3. There is a new method for scoring partially suc-
cessful Level 3 trials (Section 5.1.2 on page 30).
4. A mirror will be placed near each Level 3 candle
(Section D.3 on page 57).
5. There is a new no-touch rule related to Level 3
arm and gripper devices (Section4.4.2).
6. The robot’s control panel must be located on
the robot’s handle in a horizontal position (Sec-
tion 4.6 on page 26).
7. There is updated information about the robot’s
main power switch and Kill Motor Plug (Sec-
tion 4.5.3.1 on page 25).

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.
profit event that requires invention of au-
tonomous, socially relevant robots. The con- Unique robots
tests promote creativity, teamwork, the un-
derstanding and application of STEM sub- • Are constructed from a unique assortment of
jects, and the sharing of ideas. parts chosen by the design team
• May use some components from a kit, but the
overall design is unique.
2.2 Eligibility and Teams
• Use mechanical, sensing, electrical, and software
Anyone may enter a robot. 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 • Are clearly different from any other robot entered
either the group or the individual associated with a in the contest, including those entered by other
robot entered in the contest. teams.
No more than 15 teams may register from any single

Customized robots
country outside the United States. This restriction
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.
• May be a modified version of a commercial robot
2.3 Unique and Customized
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.

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 2018 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,
2017 to 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Trinity will provide limited time and space for last
March 15, 2018. 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, from Friday April 6,
much money on your robot. Register early! 2018 through Sunday April 8, 2018.

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).

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.

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 1: 8 a.m. – 12 noon.
Sunday, April 2: 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
• Precisely vertical walls
There is no practice on Friday, March 31.
• 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:

• 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 on the team representative may perform
closed during weekends. this operation.
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.

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
they check in at the registration table. When they ar-
The most current version of the RIT Checklist will be rive for each of their robot’s trials the team will place
posted at http://www.trincoll.edu/events/robot/. A the robot on the Judge’s table and give the Judge the
sample Checklist appears in Appendix E on page 61. Trial Options Sheet (Appendix F on page 63).
We recommend that you have another person evalu- The Trial Options Sheet describes all of the Operat-
ate your robot using the RIT Checklist. You should ing Modes applicable to the robot’s current trial run.
resolve all discrepancies before the contest: do not Teams need not select Operating Modes for future
bring a non-conforming robot to the Contest. trials; they may choose different modes for each trial
based on how their robot performs.
NOTE Robots that do not pass the RIT inspection Teams may not make any changes to the information
will not compete in the Contest. on the Checklist after presenting it to the Judge. If a
team discovers a mistake on the Trial Run Checklist
after presenting it to the Judge, they must choose to
The RIT will be officially open only on Friday from either:
3 - 6 pm, Saturday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., and Sunday
from 8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. If your robot does not • Run the trial using the Modes as entered on the
pass inspection when the RIT is officially open, the Trial Run Checklist or
robot will not be able to compete. The competition
starts on Saturday. Check the bulletin board at the • Fail the trial as if the robot had not started
Registration Table for any schedule changes.
Team members must not touch the robot after plac-
NOTE If your robot has not passed inspection before ing it on the Judge’s arena table.
the RIT closes on Sunday, your robot will not The team must not transfer any information to the
compete in the Contest. robot regarding the layout of the arena, the starting
position, or the position of any objects after placing
the robot on the arena table. The team must down-
load any required programs or firmware to the robot
3.9 Trial Sequence before arriving at the arena.
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
a random process. The team will immediately pro- The Judge will determine when the trial begins and
ceed to the assigned arena and place the robot on the will activate the robot using either the Start Button
Judge’s table there. Any robot that is not ready to or the Standard Sound Start Device, as required by
compete will forfeit its chance at that trial and no ap- the rules of the robot’s Division.
peals will be accepted. The robot may still compete
in any remaining trials and as the best 3 of the five
trials determines the score. A missed trial does not 3.10.1 Failure to Start
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 5.3.3.2 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.

This applies regardless of the reason the robot does • Junior - Grades 8 and below
not start. All that matters is that the robot does not
begin moving after the Judge presses the Start But- • High School - Grades 9 through 12
ton or activates the Sound Start Device. • Senior - College/University, professionals, adult
Teams must not request a re-run following a failure to hobbyists
start.
• Walking - Any age
3.10.2 Premature Start Teams or individuals may also demonstrate their

robotics knowledge by taking the Robot Olympiad
If a robot begins moving before the Judge has placed exam (Part 7 on page 40).
it in the arena, it has failed the trial.
If a robot begins moving after being placed in the 3.12.1 Division Criteria
arena, but before the Judge presses the Start Button
or activates the Sound Start Device, it has failed the Each team must register in one of the Divisions listed
trial. in Section 3.12.
Teams must not request a re-run following a prema- The following rules apply to registration.
ture start.Fire-Fighting Contest Divisions, Levels, and
Structure • 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
The Trinity College Firefighting Home Robot Contest and three junior students must register in the
(TCFFHRC) advances robot technology and knowl- High School Division.
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-
ators. Each Team has the responsibility to build a • The Contest Judges may reclassify robots entered
robot that conforms to the rules applicable to the in an incorrect Division.
2018 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 2018 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 are invited to Robots that have three successive Level 2 runs with-
compete at any Level. out success are disqualified from further competition.
Level 1 will take place in the former Junior/Walking Once a robot competes at Level 2 it may not return
arena. The Level 1 competition rules are based on the to Level 1, and once a robot has competed at Level 3
Junior Division rules used in past contests. it may not return to Level 2 or Level 1.
Level 2 will take place in the former High School/Se-
nior arena. The Level 2 rules are based on the 2015
High School/Senior rules. . 3.14 Level 1 Competition
The greatest challenge will be posed by Level 3, a The Level 1 competition is the entry level for the
new event, which will take place in two connected 2018 TCFFHRC. All robots must start at Level 1.
Level 2 mazes. Level 3 combines firefighting and Robots may choose to compete only at Level 1 or
search and rescue tasks. may use a successful Level 1 run as a springboard to
The overarching goal for teams is to complete as Level 2. Level 1 trials take place in the basic firefight-
many levels as possible, starting at Level 1 and pro- ing arena shown in Figure 4.1.3 on page 19. Level 1
ceeding to Level 2 and Level 3, with the lowest total procedures are presented in Section 3.9 on page 14,
final score. and scoring for Level 1 is presented in Section5.1.1.
The run time limit for Level 1 is 3 minutes.
3.13.2 Schedule
All robot performance events will take in the Oosting

3.15 Level 2 Competition
Gymnasium on theTrinity College campus.
The Level 2 competition is the intermediate level in
The Level 1 and Level 2 events will start on Saturday, the 2016 TCFFHRC. Robots are eligible to com-
and the competition will proceed at all three levels on pete at Level 2 if they have at least one successful
Sunday. run at Level 1. Level 2 trials take place in the arena
Practice time is provided on Saturday and Sunday described in Section 4.1.4 on page 19. Level 2 pro-
(see Section 3.6). cedures are presented in Section 3.9 on page 14, and
scoring for Level 2 is presented in Section 5.1.1 on
page 30.
3.13.3 General Requirements The run time limit for Level 1 is 4 minutes.
Before competing at any level each robot must pass

inspection at Robot Inspection Table. For details, see
Section 3.8 on page 13).
3.16 Level 3 Competition
A robot must have at least one successful run at Level The Level 3 competition presents a challenging fire-
1 to qualify for competition at Level 2 . A successful fighting and search and rescue task. The robot’s Level
run at Level 1 is a run during which the robot extin- 3 mission is to find and rescue a sleeping baby, rep-
guishes the flame within the 3-minute time limit. resented by a doll, and to put out all active flames
A robot must have at least one successful run at Level within the 5-minute Level 3 time limit. The search
2 to qualify for competition at Level 3. A successful and rescue task has highest priority and must be ac-
run at Level 2 is a run during which the robot extin- complished before putting out any candles.
guishes the flame within the 4-minute time limit. The Level 3 arena consists of two Level 2 arenas (de-
Each robot has a maximum of five runs total over all noted as sub-arenas A and B) separated by a distance
levels. of 1 m and connected by a hallway having the same
width as the arena hallways. At Level 3 robots can
No robot may take more than three runs on Satur- expect the presence of dog obstacles (Section 4.3 on
day, and no robot may take more than three runs on page 21), furniture (Section 5.3.1.7 on page 33), rugs
Sunday. We allow exceptions to this only for religious (Section 4.1.4.1 on page 20), and mirrors (Section D.3
reasons. on page 57).
Robots that have three successive Level 1 runs with- There are two possible configurations of the hallway:
out success are disqualified from further competition. (1) the standard configuration, which is a flat surface,

1 m in length, painted flat black, or (2) an optional

up-and-down inclined hallway. This inclined hall-
way 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.
See Appendix D.2 on page 55 for more information
about the inclined hallway. Robots that succeed in
traversing the inclined hallway on a run will receive a
10% decrease for that run.
See Section 5.3.6 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.

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 Figure 4.1: Level 1 Arena Showing Dimensions (fig-
aligned with the walls on each side. The tape may ure5.1C.png)
have gaps up to 2.5 cm on each side and may not be
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.

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 previous page). The Basic Arena is
not decorated with such items as rugs and wall hang-
ings.
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

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.

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.
Except in Arbitrary Start Location Mode (Section Figure 4.7: Starting alignments in Start Circle In-
5.3.1.4), the robot will start at the Start Circle lo- cluding Arbitrary Start Locations (larger-start-circle-
cation marked by “START” in Figure 4.7. The start figure5.7.png)
circle is a 30 cm diameter solid white circle (colored
green in Figure4.7) 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
floor and may be dislodged by an accelerat- NOTE A robot in Orientation B may be directly
ing robot. There is no penalty for this (and the adjacent to and facing the Dog Obstacle. See
crowd likes it), but the loss of traction may mis- Section 4.3.
align the robot in the hallway.
NOTE Teams must not request a different orienta-
The Judge will place the robot on the Start Circle tion after the Judge places the robot.
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-
tions. The Judge will randomly choose the orientation 4.3 Dog Obstacle
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).
Other than the ±10 degree limit, there is no speci- A large Dog will block one corridor of each arena.
fication for the actual angle with respect to the The robot must not move the Dog or continue along
hallway axis. The robot must start and operate the blocked corridor.
correctly when oriented at any angle within each
The robot may contact the Dog to sense its presence,
20 degree 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 5.3.5 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 5.3.5 on page 35 for the ing the Dog, and continues along the hall will fail the
penalty applied for continuous wall contact. trial.

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-

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. The Start Button, with green background,
operation of the robot. The item may exceed must be on the handle.
only the maximum height limit, not the width
Walking, High School, and Senior Division robots
or length.
may have a Start Button for testing, but (a) the but-
4. Unlike the arena specifications, the robot size ton must not be located on the control panel or han-
limits are not approximate: robots must not ex- dle assembly, and (b) judges cannot be asked to start
ceed the given dimensions. the robot if the robots sound activation system 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- will be part of the robot’s handle assembly (Sec-
ing Box. tion 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 following page shows 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.

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 must be sound activated. A sound ac- Figure 4.11: Sample Microphone with blue back-
tivated robot will start when it detects a sound of a ground (img_2247 - Sample Microphone.jpg)
specific frequency and amplitude, as described in this
Section, Section 5.3.1.3, 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 5.3.1.3 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

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 con-
ble before the contest begins. See Section 3.8 on structed from any standard 4-pin square post (Fig-
page 13. ure 4.12 on the following 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 must 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 following 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 located
When the team comes to the arena to run their robot,
on the control panel in such a way that it can be seen
the team will place the robot on the Judge’s table.
from all directions. The Flame Detect LED must be
Normally, the team will then turn on the robot with
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.

your robots and we want to assure that unintentional

mechanical or electrical adjustments are avoided.
The handle be constructed from any materials includ-
ing metal, wood, or plastic. The handle presents a
design challenge: to design a sturdy handle, easily ac-
cessible 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. Durable enough to allow easy operation of de-

vices mounted on it (switches, microphone,
etc.)switch/sound-activation-microphone, and
kill-power plug-in by non-technical volunteers.
Note that the robot’s control panel will include
these devices (Section 4.13 on page 28).
Figure 4.12: Kill Motor Plug Example

Important: The handle must be mounted in a hori-
zontal position so the LED indicators can be seen and
4.5.5 Video Detect LED the (Junior Division) start button can be properly
accessed by the judges.
Robots that will compete at Level 3 must also have Junior Division robots are encouraged to place their
a GREEN video detect LED on the control panel. start button, with green background, on the handle.
Robots that intend to compete at Levels 1 and 2 may Robots entered in the Walking, High School, and Se-
incorporate this LED in their design if they will use nior Divisions must have a blue background behind
computer vision. the microphone so that the judge will know where
The Video Detect LED will be normally OFF. It will to direct the output of the sound activation device.
be activated under the following conditions: Walking, High School, and Senior Division robots
must include a blue LED sound start indicator.
1. The LED will be steady ON when the robot Every robot must have a bright RED flame detect
recognizes the target shown in Figure 5.1 on LED on a white background. This LED must be posi-
page 35. tioned so the it can be seen in all directions.
2. The LED will blink when the robot recognizes All robots must have an arrow somewhere on the han-
any of the targets on the cradle base (Section D.4 dle that points to the front of the robot so that the
. judge will know in which direction to start the robot.
The arrow must be conspicuous and no special in-
structions are to be given to the judge placing the
robot in the arena.
4.6 Robot Handle
Appendix B shows one possible arrangement of a
To help the contest to run efficiently and to protect robot handle.
robots from damage, all robots must be equipped
with a carrying handle. There have been several times
in past contests when a robot did not perform as ex- 4.6.1 Sensors
pected and were saved from damage by picking up
the robot via the handle. Please note that the handle There is no restriction on the type of sensors that
(and in exceptional situations, the kill power plug) is may be used as long as they do not violate any of the
the only part of the robot that will be touched by the other rules or regulations. The robot must not extend
TCFFHRC staff during the competition. We know any sensors beyond the dimensions specified in Sec-
that many hours were spent on designing and testing tion 4.4.2 on page 22.

Robots using laser-based devices must take measures 4.7 Fires

to prevent eye damage to team members and to ob-
servers. The Judges may require the team to remove For obvious reasons of safety and economy, fires will
the laser device from the robot if, in the opinion of be simulated by small candle flames.
the qualification Judges, effective safety measures
have not been taken. The robot will be permanently The candle flame will be from 15 cm to 20 cm above
disqualified from competing if the laser cannot be ei- the nominal floor level. The candle thickness normally
ther removed or made safe. will be between 2 cm and 3 cm. The exact height and
size of the flame will change throughout the contest
Contestants are not allowed to place any markers, depending upon the condition of candle and its sur-
beacons or reflectors on the walls or floors, whether roundings. The robot is required to find the candle no
inside or outside of the arena, to aid in the robot’s matter what the size of the flame is at that particular
navigation. moment.
The candle will be placed at random in one of the
rooms in the arena. The candle has an equal chance
4.6.1.1 Sensor Interference 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.
Ambient lighting in the contest room is a mixture of
IR, visible, and UV light. During the course of the The Candle Location Mode is required in the Level 2
contest, sunlight may come into the contest room and Level 3 competitions, and it is an option in Level
through open outside doors. The sunlight will not 1. See Section5.3.1.8 below.
shine directly on the arenas, but may be detectable Additional information about candles and candle cir-
by very sensitive sensors. cles follows.
During the course of the contest, Judges at other are-
nas will be lighting candles or lighters. These inciden- • The candle will be mounted on a small wooden
tal flames will be above the arena and further away base painted semi-gloss yellow. This base pre-
than the candle, but still may be detectable by an vents the candle from tipping over easily, but a
undiscriminating sensor. In setting up the arena, con- robot can knock the candle over by bumping into
test officials may put their arms into the arena and it. Judges will give penalty points if that occurs
some very sensitive sensors may mistake that IR emis- (Section 5.3.5 on page 34)
sion as the flame.
• The contestants may not measure or touch the
Many video and still cameras transmit infrared light candle before it is used. Violation will result in
as part of their automatic focusing systems. Flash immediate disqualification of the team and the
units produce bursts of UV that may trigger the pop- robot from the competition.
ular Hamamatsu UVTron flame sensor. The gym- • The candle will not be placed in a hallway, but
nasium will have many, many cameras at all times: it might be placed just inside a doorway of a
verify that your robot will operate correctly when it’s room. When a candle circle is present it is not
being photographed. anchored to the arena floor. Consequently it can
be dislodged by a decelerating robot. There is
If a robot uses light sensors to find the candle or de-
no penalty for this, but the moving circle might
tect walls or furniture, the robot designer must pre-
knock the candle over, and there is a penalty for
vent unintended UV, visible and IR sources from
that.
interfering with its operation. Part of the challenge
of this contest is to design a robot that can find the • A candle circle will not touch the doorway line.
flame and ignore everything else. Thus, the front of the robot will be able to move
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

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 5.3.1.6 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 5.3.1.8 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 5.3.5 on page 34. a soda bottle), rather than a pump, must have

a separate water tank of no more than 50 ml ca- 2. It must find the baby and transport the baby to
pacity. a safe zone;
Any robot that floods the floor will fail that trial. 3. It must extinguish all lit candles;
Water must be applied only as a mist or spray,
not a jet. 4. It must return to its starting location.
Exception: A robot may aim a narrow water jet

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
design will be accepted. Your design will be
examined at the Robot Inspection Table.
4. Mechanical means
A wet sponge or snuffer.
The size limits described in Section 4.4.2 on
page 22 apply to mechanical extinguishers: the
robot’s moving parts must not exceed the maxi-
mum size at any time.
Carbon dioxide, water mist, and mechanical means

qualify for the non-air extinguisher deduction. See
Section 5.3.1.6 on page 33.
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 5.3.1 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. Optionally, it may return to its starting location
if using Return Trip Mode (Section 5.3.1.5 on
page 32).
In Level 3 each successful trial consists of the follow-

ing sequence of steps.
1. The robot must start when commanded by the

Judge;

Chapter 5
Scoring
Although the scoring system appears complex, it 4. Record any Penalty Points (PP) incurred (Sec-
measures differing robot capabilities in different Lev- tion 5.3.5 on page 34).
els. The overall scoring flow follows this pattern, 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 63 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 5.3.6.2 on page 35), Optional Safe Zone
(Section 5.3.6.1 on page 35), and All_Candles
During the trial, the Judges will:
(Section 5.3.6.3 on page 36).
1. Record the robot’s Operating Modes (OM.x) op- 3. There is 300 second time limit to rescue the baby
tions (Section 5.3.1 on the following page) 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 5.3.3 on page 33)
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 5.3.4 on page 34) by completing tasks below:

1. For traversing the hallway between arenas A and Room Searching

B across the flat ramp: OS = 550
2. For crossing the flat ramp and finding the baby: TASK.search = -30 x number of rooms searched
OS = 450
Deduct 30 points for each room searched before find-
3. For crossing the flat ramp, finding the baby, and ing the candle. The maximum reduction is 120 points
putting out at least one candle: OS = 400 because the candle must be in the fourth room.
4. For crossing the flat ramp, finding the baby, and
putting out all candles: OS = 350 Candle Detection
5. For crossing the flat ramp, rescuing the baby,

putting out no candles: OS = 350 TASK.detect = -30
6. For crossing the flat ramp, rescuing the baby, The robot must correctly signal that it detected the
putting out at least one, but not all, candles: OS candle by lighting an LED or making an obvious mo-
= 325 tion.
Note: If the robot uses the sloping ramp, subtract 25 Candle Positioning
points from scores 1) - 6) above.
TASK.position = -30
5.2 Total Final Score (TFS) The robot must stop within 30 cm of the candle with-
Computation out touching it.Score Components (Levels 1 and 2)
(Operating Modes)
Each trial will receive an Operating Score based on These sections explain how the Judges assign values
the scoring rules of Level at which the trial takes that determine the Operating Score.
place (see Section 5.3). For each contest Level the
robot will receive a Lowest Operating Score. To rep-
resent these lowest scores the contest scoring system
uses the notation, Lowest Operating Score (Level 1) 5.3.1 Operating Modes (OM.x)
= LS1, Lowest Operating Score (Level 2) = LS2, and
Lowest Operating Score (Level 3) = LS3. A robot’s overall performance depends on its ability
to handle real-world situations. The Basic contest
The Total Final Score is the sum of the robot’s three
arena includes a level floor, high-contrast walls, and
Lowest Operating Scores:
no obstructions, but additional operating modes al-
TFS = LS1 + LS2 + LS3. TFS is a measure of the low you to improve your robot’s score by completing
robot’s overall performance in the contest. more difficult tasks.A fractional multiplier is associ-
Scoring examples in Appendix A on page 44illustrate ated with each Operating Mode. The measured time
how robot performance is scored for each Division (Actual Time) for each successful trial is multiplied
and Level using the method described. by these fractions when computing the Operating
Score (OS) for the trial. Robots able to operate with
these optional modes may get scores much lower than
indicated by the Actual Time. If no Operating Modes
5.3 Level 1 Scoring–Junior and are in effect for a trial, the Actual Time is multiplied
Walking Divisions by the Standard Mode, which is exactly 1.0.
The team can select different Operating Modes for

Special rules apply to determining the Operating each of the trials. The candle and any furniture will
Scores of Junior and Walking Division robots at Level be placed in different locations for each trial.
1 only. If the robot does not extinguish the candle,
the robot receives a score of 600 for the trial. How- The modes do not apply to an unsuccessful trial,
ever, this score may be reduced if the robot completes where the robot does not extinguish the flame or fails
certain tasks, as described below. These deductions for any other reason. The score for an unsuccessful
apply only to Junior and Walking Division robots at trial is 600, regardless of any operating modes applied
Level 1. to that trial.

5.3.1.1 Standard NOTE The robot’s circuitry should detect the cor-
rect frequency and should not rely only on sound
OM.standard = 1.0 amplitude. We strongly recommend using an
analog bandpass filter or digital FIR filter tuned
The team must inform the Judge of any operating
to the starting frequency. The arenas are very
modes for the current trial before the trial begins. In
noisy and a robot that detects only amplitude
the absence of that notification, the robot will com-
(triggered by whistling or clapping) will start
pete in Standard Mode and the Actual Time will be
prematurely during its trial and be disqualified.
multiplied by 1.0.
5.3.1.2 Tethered 5.3.1.4 Arbitrary Start Location
Robots tethered by wires to computers, power sup- OM.start = 0.80

plies, or other devices are not permitted, so there is Only contest judges will place the robot in arbitrary
no Tethered Mode. start positions. The robot will be placed at a location
Robots may communicate through a wireless link, and orientation within any room that does not have
but must operate autonomously. Remote control by a the candle, as determined by the toss of a die.
human operator is not permitted! The robot may be facing a wall or pointed into a cor-
ner, but will not be trapped by furniture.
5.3.1.3 Sound Activated
NOTE Teams must not request any particular orien-
The Sound_Activated deduction has been eliminated. tation or position.
There is no Start Circle in Arbitrary Start Location

Walking, High School, and Senior Division robots
Mode.
must use sound activation.
The starting room does not count as a searched room
Junior Division robots must not use sound activation
for the Room Factor calculation (Section 5.3.4 on
(pushbutton switch starting only).
page 34). When the robot leaves the starting room,
The sound-activated robot begins operation when it the next room it encounters is its first searched room.
detects a sound signal of 3.8 kHz ± 13%. Each start-
ing device used by the judges during the contest will
meet the specification. 5.3.1.5 Return Trip
The Judges will begin timing the trial when the OM.return = 0.80
sound signal begins, not when the robot begins mov-
ing. The sound will last 5 seconds and will not be re- The robot must return to its starting location after
peated . extinguishing the flame.
The robot must not start until the Judge in the In Standard Mode, the robot must return to the Start
robot’s own arena activates the sound signal. If the Circle. It must stop with any part of its chassis is
robot mistakenly detects ambient noise (even an ac- within the 30 cm white Start Circle. It need not be
tivation sound from a different arena) and begins to in the same position or orientation as when it started
move, then the trial will be terminated. the trial.
If the robot does not start in response to the sound In Arbitrary Start Location Mode, the robot must
signal it will not be given a second chance for that return to the room it started from. It must stop with
trial. The Judge will not attempt to activate the all parts of its chassis within the starting room, but
robot by any other means. need not be in the same position or orientation as
when it started the trial. See Section 5.3.1.4.
See Section 3.10 on page 14 for a discussion of the
starting procedure and penalties for incorrect starts. The robot’s Actual Time (AT) recorded for the trial
will include only the time required to find and extin-
Judges will use only Standard Sound Start Devices
guish the candle, not the time for the return trip.
as described in Appendix C on page 50 during the
Contest. Teams should build their own Sound Start The robot must return its starting location within 2
Devices and use them during practice, but may not minutes; if not, then the Return Mode factor is not in
present them to the Judge during the contest. effect.

The robot need not retrace its path in returning to The candle may be in any location within the room
the starting location or take the most efficient route, that does not block the doorway. A maximum-size
but it must not enter any other rooms along the way. robot can enter the room at least halfway before en-
It must not move or pass by the Dog obstacle (Sec- countering the candle and there will be at least a 31-
tion 4.3 on page 21) during the return trip. cm wide path around the candle.
The candle won’t be directly adjacent to a wall, to re-
5.3.1.6 Non-air Extinguisher duce the chance of damaging the wall by overheating.
There is no specification for the exact distance from
OM.extinguisher = 0.75 the wall.
There are no other restrictions on the candle location
The robot must extinguish the candle using inert gas,
in this Mode.
water, or mechanical means. See Section 4.7.1.1 on
page 28 The Fire rules in Section 4.7 on page 27 will be fol-
lowed except that:
In order to use the Non-air Extinguisher Mode, the
robot must not have a fan or blower.
• There will be no candle circle, just a candle in a
See Section 4.7.1.1 on page 28 for details. standard holder.
• Before extinguishing the flame the robot must
5.3.1.7 Furniture turn on a bright red LED, that it has detected
the candle. The LED must stay on at least until
OM.furniture = 0.75 the candle is extinguished. The LED must be
mounted in plain view so that the judge can see
Every room will have one or more pieces of furniture. it clearly at all times during each trial.
This includes the room where the robot starts in Ar-
bitrary Start Location Mode. • The robot need not be within 30 cm of the can-
dle, but the robot must be entirely within the
Furniture consists of semi-gloss yellow cylinders 11 cm
room where the candle is located before it lights
in diameter, 30 cm high, and weighing more than 1
the LED.
kg.
Furniture will always be placed to allow at least one The Furniture Mode rules in Section 5.3.1.7 also ap-
path to the candle that is at least 31 cm wide. The ply in Candle Location Operating Mode. In particu-
furniture will not block the doorway and a maximum- lar:
size robot will be able to come into a room at least
halfway before it encounters furniture. Furniture may • Furniture may block the view of the candle from
block the robot’s view of the candle, so it must move the door
to different locations to see the candle and plan a
path to reach it. • Although the candle will not block the doorway,
the robot may have to maneuver within the room
The robot may have to go around the furniture to to detect and extinguish the flame.
extinguish the candle or exit from the room. It may
touch the furniture, but it cannot push it out of the
way. Robots that push the furniture away lose the 5.3.2 Summary of Operating Modes
Furniture Mode deduction for that trial.
See Table 5.1 on the next page
5.3.1.8 Candle Location (Level 1 Only)

5.3.3 Actual Time (AT)
The Candle Location Mode is required in at Level 2.
If the robot extinguishes the flame the Actual Time is
The Candle Location Mode is an option in the Level
the number of seconds elapsed from robot activation
1 contest. The multiplier is OM.candle = 0.75.
to flame disappearance. The maximum Actual Time
The Candle Location Mode challenge is to find can- for such a successful trial is AT = 300. If the robot
dles without a candle circle. The Judge will place the does not extinguish the flame within the limits set
candle at a randomly chosen location within a room below, the Judge will terminate the unsuccessful trial
for each trial. and assign AT = 600.

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
5.3.3.1 Time Limits It does not matter in which order the robot searches
the rooms. The only thing that matters is how many
The maximum time allowed for a robot to finish any rooms the robot has searched before it finds the can-
trial is 5 minutes, after which the Judge will stop the dle.
trial and assign AT = 600. When the robot searches the room with the candle,
A robot operating in Return Trip Mode must return whether or not the robot extinguishes it, the Judge
to the Start Circle within 2 minutes after extinguish- records the Room Factor for that trial. The room
ing the candle, after which the Judge will stop the factor will not change regardless of how many more
trial. The AT equals the time required to extinguish rooms the robot searches.
the candle. Because some robots can detect the candle by looking
in the doorway without entering the room to search
it, when the robot passes a doorway for the first time
5.3.3.2 Loops and Stalls the Judge will count that room as searched. If the
robot has already searched a room and then goes past
If a robot gets stuck in a loop and performs the same the doorway again on its way to a different room,
(or a similar) movement 5 times in a row without that room will not be counted twice.
progress, the Judge will stop the trial and assign AT
= 600.
5.3.5 Penalty Points (PP.x) (Levels 1,
Any time the robot does not move at all for 30 sec- 2, 3)
onds, the Judge will stop the trial and assign AT
= 600. The kill-power plug will be pulled in case of Penalty Points (PP) will be added to the Actual Time
loops or stalls. (AT) of any robot that exhibits the behaviors de-
scribed in this section. These penalty points apply
at all competition Levels.
5.3.4 Room Factor (RF) (Level 1 and
Level 2 only) Touching the Candle
The Room Factor (RF) adjusts the elapsed time PP.candle = 50

based on the number of rooms searched. The more
rooms a robot searches before it finds The run time Any robot that touches the candle or its base, either
limit for Level 1 is 3 minutes.the candle, the lower the deliberately or accidentally, while the candle is lit will
Room Factor for that trial. have 50 penalty points added to its Time Score each
time the candle is hit.
When the candle is in:
There is no penalty for a touch that occurs as part
of the actual extinguishing process, i.e., smothering
First room searched RF = 1.0 the flame with a wet sponge, or after the candle is
extinguished.
Second room searched RF = 0.85
Touching refers only to any part of the robot’s body,
Third room searched RF = 0.50 including feelers or probes, and does not include the
water, air or other material that the robot might use
Fourth room searched RF = 0.35 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
PP.slide = (contact cm) / 2

Any robot that slides along a wall will have 1 point
added to its Actual Time score for each 2 cm of wall
it touches.
A robot may still touch a wall to orient itself, as long
as the contact is not sliding.
There is no penalty for touching or sliding along the
wall on the return trip to the Start Circle.
See the Note in Section 4.4.1 on page 22 regarding
Figure 5.1: Target–Level 3 Secondary Safe Zone
“Navigation by Crashing”.
Option. 10 x 10 cm blue square, 5 cm diameter red
circle
Kicking the Dog
PP.dog = 50 a window, but the target position will be changed by

Any robot that moves the Dog more than 1 cm will the judge from run to run. Robots that execute this
have 50 penalty points added to its Time Score. task will recognize the target, lift the baby over the
edge of the arena at that position, and place the baby
The robot may touch the Dog with a sensor probe, as carefully into a safety net just over the wall.
long as the probe does not move the Dog.
The target must be found using computer vision with
NOTE A robot that bypasses the Dog and continues a camera. The presence of a camera and its function
along the hall will fail the trial. will be checked by judges at the Robot Inspection
Table.
5.3.6 Level 3 Mode Factors When this option is chosen,the time for the run will
be reduced by multiplying it by the Mode Factor
NOTE: There are no room factors at Level 3.
MF = OM.Alt_Target = 0.6.
As part of their normal Level 3 operation, robots
must handle the challenges of arbitrary start, return
trip, non-air, and furniture modes. So, there are no
score-reducing multipliers for these modes in Level 5.3.6.2 Hallway Option
3. However, score reduction multipliers will apply for
three other special mode factors described below. The hallway connecting parts A and B of the Level
3 arena may take two forms: flat or ramp (see Sec-
tion D.2 on page 55 for geometries). When the ramp
5.3.6.1 Secondary Safe Zone
is chosen, the actual time score will be reduced by
10%; i. e, the Mode Factor is
As an option the robot may bring the baby to a sec-
ondary safe zone. This safe zone is always in Arena MF = OM.Ramp_Hallway = 0.9.
B and it is marked by the target shown in Figure5.1
below. The target consists of a square blue field mea- EXAMPLE: If both Computer Vision Option and
suring 10 cm x 10 cm enclosing a red circle 5 cm in Hallway Options are successful, the score for the
diameter. The target will always be found on an out- run will be (actual time) x (OM.Alt_Target) *
side wall of Arena B on the inside of the maze under (OM.Ramp_Hallway) = (raw time) x 0.54.

5.3.6.3 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) x (OM.Alt_Target) x (OM.Ramp_Hallway) x
(OM.All_Candles) = (raw time) x 0.324.
5.4 Scoring Examples

Scoring examples for 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.

Chapter 6
Awards and Prizes
6.1 Robot Performance Prizes 2018 TCFFHRC. Only Unique robots are eligible to
win the GPMP, and the team must prepare a poster.
The TCFFHRC cash prizes are provided by our con- The robot that wins this award will be considered the
test sponsors and non-cash prizes provided by contest overall champion
supporters. All prizes are described on the Contest
Website at http://www.trinityrobotcontest.org.
Each team participating in the contest will receive
6.1.3 Lowest Individual Score Prizes
a Certificate of Achievement and one official contest (LISP)
T-shirt.
There will be cash awards for the lowest individual
To be eligible for a performance cash prize the robot
LS1 (Level 1), LS2 (Level 2), and LS3 (Level 3) scores
must:
in the contest. For each of the three contest Levels,
1. Have at least three successful runs. Successful prizes will be: First Place: Unique, $200; Customized,
runs at any contest level will be counted. The $100.
ability to complete at least three runs demon- Only Junior or Walking Division robots are eligible
strates reliability in this challenging event.. the Level 1 award.
2. Prepare and display a poster. See Part 8 on Robots in any Division are eligible for Level 2 and
page 41 for technical presentation guidelines. Level 3 award
In addition to the robot performance prizes, a robot
may win one or more of the special prizes awarded by
the TCFFHRC. These include Cost Effective, Tiny 6.1.4 Summary of Robot Performance
Robot, and North American. See sections below for Awards
description of the special prizes.
NOTE: Your robot must have at least three successful
runs to win a robot performance prize (BRD, LISP,
6.1.1 Best Robot in Division Perfor- GPMP).
mance Prizes (BRD)
BRD and LISP awards are summarized in Tables 6.1
Robots in each Division with the lowest Total Final and 6.2 below.
Scores will be eligible to receive the “Best Robot in
Division” (BRD) prizes. First ($300), Second ($200),
and Third ($100) Place BRD prizes will be awarded 6.2 Special Awards
to Unique robots in each Division. The BRD prizes
for Customized robots will be one-half these amounts.
6.2.1 North American Awards
6.1.2 Grand Performance Mastery The top North American robot in each Level will re-
Prize (GPMP) ceive a special cash award of $100.
The Grand Performance Mastery Prize (GPMP) will “North American” countries lie north of the Panama
be awarded to the robot with the lowest TFS in the Canal.

Best Robots in Division (BRD) Awards Unique Customized

DIVISION First, Second, Third First, Second, Third
Junior $300, $200, $100 $150, $100, $50
Walking $300, $200, $100 $150, $100, $50
High School $300, $200, $100 $150, $100, $50
Senior $300, $200, $100 $150, $100, $50
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
6.2.2 Spirit of an Inventor $5 is now a $5 motor. However, if you got a $50 mo-
tor for free from a friend, then it’s still a $50 motor
Once Upon A Time, a creative engineer developed a even though you got it for free. On the other hand, if
unique two-legged firefighting robot. Even though the you destroyed three $50 motors in building the robot,
robot was not the fastest in the contest and and had you only have to account for the one motor that is
no chance to win first prize, it made its way through actually on the robot.
the arena and extinguished a candle.
Evaluation Method:
We were so impressed that we created a special award
to recognize this engineer’s achievement: The Spirit 1. As part of the on-line registration process teams
of the Inventor Award. This award will be given in will indicate in a check box on the registration
addition to any other prizes that the robot may win. form whether they wish to be considered for the
To qualify for The Spirit of the Inventor award, the Cost-Effective Prize (CEP).
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-
• show unique concept and design features and ceipts and copies of the receipts to the Judges. If
you do not have that material your robot is not
• navigate through the arena and eligible for the cost effective prize.
• extinguish a candle 3. Two Judges will inspect the robot and verify the
inventory.
The robot need not successfully complete a trial run
according to the rules of its Division. 4. Each robot will be put into a cost category (CC)
• 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.
It does not matter what you paid for the parts, but (c) If no CC1 robots had successful trials, the
only what they are worth. A motor that originally winner will be the robot in CC2 with the
cost $50, but is now for sale in a surplus catalog for best TFS.

6.2.4 Tiny Robot Award
Although the contest rules for each Division require

robots to fit into a specified maximum volume, there
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
compete in any Contest Division.
At the Contest inspection table the judges will deter-
mine the size of each entry by determining the small-
est volume into which the robot will fit. This volume
must contain all robot components as deployed during
a typical contest trial including the chassis, projecting
sensors, wires, appendages, etc.
6.3 Robot Olympiad Prizes

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
Team, High School Individual, High School Team,
Senior Individual, and Senior Team. To be eligible
for an award, the score must meet minimum require-
ments established by the judges.
6.4 Poster Competition Prizes

Cash prizes of $200 will be awarded for the highest
ranking poster in each contest division (Junior, Walk-
ing, High School, Senior).
6.5 Gallichotte Award for Best

Connecticut Robot
This $100 award is granted annually to the robot
from Connecticut with the lowest total final score.
The award remembers John Gallichotte for his dedi-
cated and longstanding volunteer service to the Trin-
ity College Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest, which
includes evaluating robots for the IEEE Connecticut
Section, setting up the competition area each year,
and offering new ideas for the contest. John embodied
the enthusiasm and professionalism we aim to achieve
as public-spirited engineers.

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 2018 Olympiad schedule.
Questions for the 2018 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:
Igor Verner [email protected]

David Ahlgren [email protected]

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

– 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.

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.

Appendix A
Scoring Examples
These examples track the progress of three robots: (1) OM.candle = 0.75.........No candle Circle
Jazz, Hanley, and Spazz. Jazz is a Junior Division
Room Factor:
robot, Hanley is a High School Division robot, and
Spazz is a Senior Division robot. RF = 0.35: 4 rooms were searched
In these examples, OS represents the Operating Penalty Points:
Score, LS1 represents the Lowest Score at Level 1, PP.dog = 50 robot kicked a dog.
LS2 the Lowest Score at Level 2, and LS3 the Lowest
Score at Level 3. TFS is the Total Final Score: PP.slide = 8 robot contacted wall for 16 cm.
TFS = LS1 + LS2 + LS3. Total PP = 58 points
Operating Score OS = TS x MF x RF
Time Score: TS = (AT + PP)
A.1 Robot Jazz (Junior Divi-
TS = 132.614 + 58 = 190.614
sion)
Mode Factor:
MF = 1 x OM.candle
TRIAL 1 (Level 1) MF = 1 x 0.75 = 0.750
Actual Time AT = 1555.742 Sec, less than the 180 sec OS = 190.614 x 0.750 x 0.350 = 50.036
(3 min) time limit.
Still hoping for a better result at Level 1, Jazz decides
Modes used: Standard Mode to take a third run. The run is not successful, but
Jazz gets a deductions for searching one room. Such
Room Factor:
deductions apply only to Junior and Walking robots
RF = 0.85: 2 rooms were searched at Level 1.
Operating Score OS = TS x MF x RF TRIAL 3 (Level 1)
Time Score: Terminated Time:
TS = (AT + PP) OS = 600.000 <‌<‌<‌<‌<
TS = 155.742 + 0 = 155.742 Completed Tasks:
Mode Factor: Rooms searched: -30 x +1 = -30
MF = 1 = 1.000 OS = 600 + (task.search x rooms.searched)
OS = 155.742 x 1.000 x 0.850 = 132.381Jazz decides OS = 600 -30
to take another run in order to lower its 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.<===
Modes used: TRIAL 4 (Level 2)

Actual Time A.2 Robot Hanley (High School

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

LS1 = 16.21275<=== OM.All_Candles = 0.6...All_Candles Mode

TRIAL 3 (Level 2) OS = AT x (OM.All_Candles) = 58.222 x 0.6 =
34.9332
Actual Time
LS3 = 34.9332 <===
AT = 150.304 Sec
TFS = LS1 + LS2 + LS3 = 16.21275 + 39.717 +
Modes used: 34.9332 = 90.863.<===
Room Factor:
Penalty Points:
PP.slide = 1 robot contacted wall for 3 cm.
Total PP = 1 points
Operating Score
OS = TS x MF x RF
Time Score:
TS = (AT + PP)
TS = 150.304 + 1 = 151.304
Mode Factor:
MF = 1 x OM.furniture
MF = 1 x 0.75 = 0.750
OS = 151.304 x 0.750 x 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.
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. 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.
Actual time
AT = 58.222 Sec
Modes used:

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
Actual Time OS = TS x MF x RF
AT = 85.641 Sec Time Score:
Modes used: TS = (AT + PP)
Standard Mode TS = 187.638 + 150 = 337.638
Room Factor: Mode Factor:
RF = 0.85: 2 rooms were searched MF = 1 x OM.start x OM.returntrip x
Operating Score OM.extinguisher x OM.furniture
OS = TS x MF x RF MF = 1 x 0.8 x 0.8 x 0.75 x 0.75 = 0.360
Time Score: OS = 337.638 x 0.360 x 0.350 = 42.542
TS = (AT + PP) The Spazz team decides to take its last run at Level
3.
TS = 85.641 + 0 = 85.641
LS2 = 42.542 <===
Mode Factor:
MF = 1 TRIAL 5 (Level 3)
MF = 1 = 1.000 Spazz rescues the baby in 117 seconds in an arena
OS = 85.641 x 1.000 x 0.850 = 72.795 with the hallway ramp. Using its vision system the
robot finds the secondary safe zone and it places the
Spazz feels that this score is too low and goes for a baby through the window to the safe zone at that po-
third trial at Level 1. sition. Robot finds the candle in arena B and extin-
guishes it in an additional 56 seconds. Both candles
TRIAL 3 (Level 1) in Arena A have been lit by this time, and the robot
Terminated Time: takes another 123 seconds to extinguish them. The
total time is 123 + 117 = 240 sec., which is less than
OS = 600.000 <‌<‌<‌<‌< the run time limit of 5 minutes (300 sec.).
With three trials taken at Level 1, Spazz moves to Actual time AT = 117 Sec
Level 2.
Modes used:
LS1 = 72.795 <===
(1) OM.Alt_Target = 0.6...Secondary Safe Zone
TRIAL 4 (Level 2) (2) OM.Ramp_Hallway = 0.9...Ramped Hallway
Actual Time Mode
AT = 187.638 Sec (3) OM.All_Candles = 0.6...All_Candles Mode
Modes used: OS = AT * (OM.Alt_Target) x
(OM.Ramp_Hallway) x (OM.All_Candles) =
(1) OM.start = 0.8..........Arbitrary Start
117 x 0.324 = 42.12
(2) OM.return = 0.8.........Return Trip
The Lowest Score at Level 3 is LS3 = 42.12 <===.
(3) OM.extinguisher = 0.75...No Air Extinguisher
The Total Final Score for Spazz is TFS = LS1 + LS2
(4) OM.furniture = 0.75......Furniture Mode + LS3 =72.795 + 42.542 + 42.12 = 157.457 <===.

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

sion) MF = 1 x OM.start x OM.returntrip x
OM.extinguisher x OM.furniture
TRIAL 1 (Level 1) MF = 1 x 0.8 x 0.8 x 0.75 x 0.75 = 0.360
Actual Time OS = 337.638 x 0.360 x 0.350 = 42.542
AT = 85.641 Sec LS2 = 42.542 <===
Modes used:
TRIAL 3 (Level 3)
Standard Mode
Susan traverses the flat ramp and finds the baby and
Room Factor: puts out one candle..
RF = 0.85: 2 rooms were searched OS = 400
Operating Score
TRIAL 4 (Level 3)
OS = TS x MF x RF
Susan chooses the inclined ramp, rescues the baby,
Time Score: but is fooled by a mirror and extinguishes no candles.
TS = (AT + PP)
TS = 85.641 + 0 = 85.641 OS = 325.
Mode Factor: TRIAL 5 (Level 3)
MF = 1
Suasn fails to start. OS = 600.
MF = 1 = 1.000
The Lowest Score at Level 3 is LS3 = 325 <===.
OS = 85.641 x 1.000 x 0.850 = 72.795
TFS for robot Susan: TFS = LS1 + LS2 + LS3 =
72.795 + 42.542 + 325 = 440.337 <===.
TRIAL 2 (Level 2)
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
Room Factor:
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 x MF x RF
Time Score:
TS = (AT + PP)
TS = 187.638 + 150 = 337.638

Appendix B
Robot Carrying Handle
Figure B.1: Example o f 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.

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 next page shows the schematic dia-
gram of the circuitry inside the Sound Start Device.

Figure C.2: Standard Sound Start Device Schematic (StartBoxSchematicBW.png)
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.
Figure C.3: Interior view of Standard Sound Start Add 25 mm nonconductive rod near the buzzer to
Device (Standard Sound Start Device - Interior - maintain the correct standoff distance from the
StartBox12_031.jpg) robot’s microphone.
Figure C.3 shows the component layout inside the

case.
C.3 Parts List
Table C.1 on the next page lists the parts required to

construct a Standard Sound Start Device.

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)

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.

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

Interior Walls Removed

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 next page
shows the geometry of the ramped hallway, excluding
the central box.

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

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 consists of two parts: a basket that con-
3. The area of every mirror will be in the range 30 - tains the baby and a base upon which the basket lies.
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

Figure D.7: Level 3 Base Center (Green– Figure D.9: Level 3 BaseRight Side (Blue–
>BW2018.png) >BW2018.png)
3. Teams may uses their own bases in the contest.

All such bases must pass inspection at the Robot
Inspection Table.
Figure D.8: Level 3 Base Left Side (Red–

>BW2018.png)
An example of a cradle is shown in Figure D.10. This

cradle is constructed from from a double-thickness
of 1/4” (6.35mm) foam board and assembled using
hot glue. Rough edges were sanded and a single coat
of white latex interior paint was applied. Complete
directions for constructing the cradle are given in Fig-
ure D.13 on page 60
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 differentiated by using computer vision and pat-
tern recognition software. A robot’s eye view from the
left front corner of the base is shown in Figure D.11,
and a 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

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.
2. Original files, with images full size, are posted on Figure D.10: Photo of Cradle and Baby
Dropbox and may be downloaded via this link: (Baby&Cradle2018.jpg)
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cdmub3uenwfiwm0/AACBgmRkPap07aON3aHTY9DSa?dl=0.

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

(LeftFrontCorner18.jpg)
Figure D.12: View of Base from Right Front Corner

(RightFrontCorner18.jpg)

Figure D.13: Cradle Construction (Cradle2018Rules.png)

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.

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

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.

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


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Trinity College

Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest

Copyright 2017 Trinity College

January 23, 2018

Modified January 23, 2018 Copyright 2017 by Trinity College 1 of 64

2 Registration and Eligibility 8

3 General Rules and Procedures 11

Modified January 23, 2018 Copyright 2017 by Trinity College 2 of 64

Modified January 23, 2018 Copyright 2017 by Trinity College 3 of 64

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

4.7.1 Extinguishing the Candle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4.7.1.1 Methods of extinguishing the flame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4.8 Trial Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

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

5.3.1 Operating Modes (OM.x) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

5.3.1.3 Sound Activated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5.3.1.4 Arbitrary Start Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5.3.1.5 Return Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5.3.1.6 Non-air Extinguisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5.3.1.8 Candle Location (Level 1 Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5.3.2 Summary of Operating Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5.3.3 Actual Time (AT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5.3.3.1 Time Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.3.3.2 Loops and Stalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.3.4 Room Factor (RF) (Level 1 and Level 2 only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.3.5 Penalty Points (PP.x) (Levels 1, 2, 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.3.6 Level 3 Mode Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

5.3.6.1 Secondary Safe Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

5.3.6.2 Hallway Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

5.3.6.3 All Candles Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

5.4 Scoring Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Modified January 23, 2018 Copyright 2017 by Trinity College 4 of 64

6 Awards and Prizes 37

7 Robot Olympiad Exam 40

8 Technical Presentation Competition 41

9 Regional Contest Events 43

B Robot Carrying Handle 49

C Standard Sound Start Device 50

Modified January 23, 2018 Copyright 2017 by Trinity College 5 of 64

E Robot Inspection Table Checklist 61

F Trial Options Sheet 63

Modified January 23, 2018 Copyright 2017 by Trinity College 6 of 64

1. Practice times: Arenas will be open for practice

Modified January 23, 2018 Copyright 2017 by Trinity College 7 of 64

Registration and Eligibility

No more than 15 teams may register from any single

Modified January 23, 2018 Copyright 2017 by Trinity College 8 of 64

2.4 Multiple Entries 2.6 Fees

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

Modified January 23, 2018 Copyright 2017 by Trinity College 9 of 64

The full schedule of events for the contest will be

Modified January 23, 2018 Copyright 2017 by Trinity College 10 of 64

General Rules and Procedures

If any members of your team require translation ser-

Modified January 23, 2018 Copyright 2017 by Trinity College 11 of 64