3D Robotics

All you ArduRover fans out there, this is your chance to once again show your skills at AVC. It's September 17 this year. Here's the new Sparkfun announcement post:

This year, SparkFun’s Autonomous Vehicle Competition (AVC) will incorporate a few new twists. Along with our classic autonomous race course and Combat Bots, this year will feature the Power Racing Series (PRS) and a new autonomous PRS category. I’m here today to talk about the classic AVC race track.

To accommodate all of the attractions, we’ve split up our parking lot into smaller sections. So while the classic AVC course will be smaller than in previous years, it will almost certainly be more challenging. 

The track will be 10 feet wide, with hay bales along the sides. These are just hay; they’re not covered with anything. To start the race, each entrant gets 300 points, and one point will be deducted for every second that you’re navigating the course. Those deductions stop as soon as your vehicle crosses the finish line, and you can earn more points by tackling some of the obstacles along the way.

From the starting line, your vehicle will navigate a very nice and easy, 120-foot straightaway to the first right turn, followed by another 35-foot straightaway to the second right turn. Following that turn, you’ll encounter a 58-foot section with four red barrel obstacles. You can dodge them or hit them (they may or may not be easily movable), it’s up to you, but you don’t get any extra points for navigating the barrels.

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But that’s a long way around there, isn’t it? That’s gonna eat some time. So maybe you want to take the optional dirt section, huh? About 30 feet from the start line, there’s a right turn onto a 7-foot-wide section of track that’s going to be covered with dirt, maybe some rocks, skulls, etc. Definitely off-road in nature. Taking this section will shave off some time if your ‘bot can hang, as it will lead you to the end of the barrel section, avoiding them entirely. It will also land you 50 extra points.

Regardless of which of those two paths you choose, your ‘bot now sits at a four-way intersection. From the barrel-straight, the easy path is to your left (or straight from the dirt section) to another 58-foot straightaway. There will be a green hoop placed in this section, and going through the hoop will net you another 10 points. At the end of that section is a right turn onto a 67-foot straightaway with no other obstacles, followed by another right turn and another 58-foot straightaway. On this section, there will be a ramp (more of a jump) that will net you 10 points if you get over it.

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But again, that’s a long way around and it’s going to eat your time. So if you want to save some time, instead of taking the left turn from the barrel-straight, you can go straight (or a right turn from the dirt section). This will lead down a straight that ends with the Discombobulator.

If you don’t remember this from last year, it’s a giant gas-powered turntable that’s specifically designed to lay waste to your navigation algorithms. Taking this path will relieve you from taking the three other sections, but it can send your ‘bot flying. And if you choose to jump the Discombobulator, beware: If you jump too far, you can end up in the “Ball Pit of Despair.” This is essentially a low-edge kiddie pool filled with those big plastic balls you see at fast food chain play areas – the ones that always smell sorta funny (hey, we were going to use acetone to begin with). Landing in the Ball Pit of Despair will end your run. If you make it past the Discombobulator, you’ll get 50 more points. But just to show you that we’re nice guys, we’ll give you 10 points just for getting up the Discombobulator ramp. Who loves ya? We do.

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Assuming you successfully navigate the Discombobulator, hang a right turn (or just straight from the easy path) into the last “hard” section of track. You’ll first take a right turn, then a hairpin to the left, followed by another hairpin to the right. That leads you to the final, 25-foot path to the finish. Yay! You did it!

I also need to mention that there are three weight classes this year: lightweight (<10lbs), welterweight (10-25lbs) and heavyweight (>25lbs). The high-end weight restriction is 40lbs, so don’t come with anything heavier than that. Students and veterans will run in the same heats, and registration closes August 1. Teams will be required to submit verification of progress on August 15th and September 1st, so plan for that.

So that’s it! It all sounds so easy, doesn’t it? We’ll see about that, and we’ll see you on September 17th!

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Comments

  • Admin

    With the way the weather has been in Colorado this year, you might want to make sure that your Rover is waterproof.

    Regards,

    TCIII AVD

  • Developer

    It is going to be interesting and spectacular these days :)

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