RoboRugby*08
After may weeks of hard work, the teams of first-year
Engineering and Computer Science students finally got to see
their robots compete on 22 April. 21 robots competed in
41 matches to decide the overall winner.
| The winning team: Con Murray, John Kirby
and Shane Power |
The aptly-named Sir Winalot deployed an ingenious hinged
wall, cleverly designed to allow the robot to manoeuver behind
the wall, yet come through the wall when it wanted to.
It started the competition ranked only ninth, as its defensive
strategy was of no benefit in the raking round.
Playing against other robots in the competition, Sir
Winalot lived up to its name, winning three matches before
being defeated by Jen 2.0. The double-elimination
tournament provides a second chance, and Sir Winalot went on
to beat Speedy Gonzales into third place and then beat Jen 2.0
twice in the final rounds to claim a well-deserved victory.
Second place went to Jen 2.0, a fast robot with a simple
attacking strategy, created by Conor Murphy, Brendan Murray
and Ian Woods. Jen was undefeated until the final
matches, where the defensive Sir Winalot managed to block her
attack.
Vincent Grace, Aidan Harvey and John Layden took third
place with another fast-moving and entertaining robot,
appropriately named Speedy Gonzales. This team also used
a very effective wall - no robot scored against them.
However, the wall trapped 3 balls in their own scoring area,
and this proved to be their downfall when they were beaten
twice by Sir Winalot.
In fourth place was Gone in 60 seconds, created by Glenn
Hingerty, Donal McGovern and Jamie Rothwell. Their robot
was designed to collect balls and deliver them to the scoring
zone, but was defeated in its first match. Undaunted,
they fought back, winning 5 matches before being defeated by
Speedy Gonzales.
The Innovation award went to Team Nein! and their robot
Sid, which was slow but methodical and used an ingenious
kicking mechanism to score points without having to travel the
full length of the table.
Full competition results are available here.
What is RoboRugby?
RoboRugby is a game where small autonomous robots try to score points by moving
balls into the scoring areas at each end of the playing table.
A match involves 2 robots and many balls of different colour and value.
Each match lasts for 60 seconds, and the position of the balls
at the end of the match determines the score.
The robots are designed and built by first-year students,
mostly Engineering students, working in small teams.
Each robot must be built from a standard kit of parts.
The robots are controlled by an on-board computer, programmed in advance of the
competition.
There is no remote control - the team cannot intervene during a match.
The robots must rely on information from sensors to find balls and move them to the
scoring areas.
The teams initially spent 4 weeks learning how to use
various sensors and actuators, and developing the programming
skills and algorithms needed to control an autonomous robot.
During this time, they also devised strategies for the game of
RoboRugby, and selected a likely winner.
With their skills perfected and a winning strategy chosen,
each team proceeded to design and build a unique robot,
optimised for their chosen strategy. They programmed
their robot's computer to carry out this strategy, trying to
anticipate all the possibilities and devise algorithms to deal
with them.
Why RoboRugby?
Design and problem-solving are an important part of an Engineering
education and there is no substitute for learning by doing.
The RoboRugby design exercise provides an interesting and enjoyable problem, with plenty of
scope for innovation and creative thinking.
The competition and prizes provide an extra incentive, thanks to generous sponsorship from
Siemens Ireland.
RoboRugby forms the basis of a module:
EEEN 10020 - Robotics Design Project.
It is available as an elective module under the UCD
Horizons system, to students who have taken an introductory module
in Electronic and Electrical Engineering.
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