General:

The goal is allow the robots to play a fair game of nerf gun tag.

Robot Control:

The robots must be fully autonomous, NOT remote controlled. The brains of the robot must be fully contained on the robot. RF links to the robot are allowed, provided that this link is only transmitting from the robot, not receiving.

Robot Size Specs:

There is no maximum or minimum robot size. Each robot is required to present 4 target areas to provide for fair play.

The target area must have some sort of surface that a dart can physically hit. That surface can be made of anything. Each target area is a rectangle 4" wide by 12" high. The centre of the target area is to be marked with a 2" wide reflective continuous tape strip running the full height of the target area.

The 4 target areas are to be positioned so that each are facing outwards 90 degree apart. Each target is to begin 5" from the ground extending to a total height of 17". The target area may be modified slightly with holes and slits in order to allow the robots sensors and mechanics to work. The extent of the modification must not make the target unfair for other robots to target or hit.

There is no maximum robot speed. The robot must be able to move though, and must move at least 20 feet during a match with at least one turn of 90 degrees.

Weapon Position On The Robot:

The can be anywhere. The robots will be limited to 6 shots. This could be 6 guns or 1 gun that reloads.
(see the construction/hacking section for more information)

Counting Hits:

Your robot is considered hit if a dart from the other robot hits you. It doesn't matter if the dart sticks when it hits your robot or not. ie - don't bother coating your robot in soft foam or something.

Detection Scheme:

All the robots must have the necessary reflective tape mounted on it so that the other robots can find them. 2" wide reflective continuous tape strips are running the full height of the target areas. The intention of this reflective tape is to provide the robot a means to accurately detect and target each other.

One such means of detection is to sense the reflection of a laser off of the reflective tape.
(see the laser/detector section for more information)
The detection scheme is not limited to laser detection and other means of detection is encouraged. The information on the laser is presented as we have found that it is the most reliable method of accurately detecting another robot (so far).

If your robot is equipped with a laser device, it must adhere to the following:

1. The laser output cannot leave the robot shining above horizontal. In other words, if your laser is mounted at 18 inches on the robot, the output must never reach above 18 inches at any distance from the robot.

2. The laser transmitters must have a maximum output power of 5 mW or less with the additional requirement that the irradiance of the laser beam should not exceed 25 W m-2. Most laser pointers meet this criteria.
3. The laser mounting/robot design must be such that the laser output must never shine above 3.5 feet at 100 feet. This means that the robot itself could not tilt more that 12 degrees over any sort of terrain. The arena floor itself is reasonably flat, so that is not normally a large consideration. The rules is more to avoid unreasonably 'tippy' robots that might fall over during competition due to a bump from another robot.

The intent of the laser is to ensure that the robots will be able to see each other. This is what the competition is all about. It's much more fun when they see each other and are firing shots around the arena. This allows strategy to become much more important (ie- hiding behind walls, etc...) Having a robot which bends the rules or utilizes a loophole is no fun for anyone. On the other hand, feel free to push the limits and have a unique design. You may kick some *ss the first time, but the other robots will be ready for you next time.

Safety Note:

Avoid shining lasers into anyone's eye. Safety is the most important factor to consider when you are building your robot. Any robot that is deemed to be a safety risk will not be allowed to complete.

Arena Specs:

The arena will be approx. 30 feet by 50 feet long. It may either be indoors on wood flooring or concrete or could be outdoors on pavement or concrete, but will be reasonably flat. There will be 5 obstacles in the arena. Four of these obstacles will be 3 feet high and 4 feet long, and one will be 3 feet high and 6 feet long. They will be painted off-white in a flat paint. 2 of the smaller obstacles will be placed at either end of the arena, and the large one in the centre of the arena. Regardless of the arena (whether it be skating rink, mesh paintball tent or parking lot), the boundaries of the arena will be marked with a 3 inch wide white chalk mark. Your robot will not be allowed to fully cross that boundary. You can cross it partially, but not completely. This means that you'd better have some sort of detection circuitry on the base of your robot looking for this, or just count on being lucky.

Scoring:

Each round of competition will last 10 minutes, with up to four robots fighting against each other at the same time. A winner will be declared based on successful hits, overall aggressiveness and design creativity. For instance, in the absence of any hits, a search-and-destroy robot would gather more points than a robot that camps and waits for an opponent to come into range.

Misc:

No cheating. You know what I mean... if you come up with something that skirts the rules due to an oversight, you'll be busted. There is a fine line between smart/inventive design and gaining an unfair advantage due to holes in the rules. I encourage everyone to push the limits, but if you know deep down that you are skirting the rules, don't do it.