OFFICIAL COMPETITION RULES
for the 1995 International Aerial Robotics Competition
General Rules Governing Entries
1. Vehicles must be unmanned and autonomous. They must compete based
on their ability to sense the structured environment of the Competition
Arena. They may be intelligent or preprogrammed, but they must not
be flown by a remote human operator.
2. Computational power need not be carried by the air vehicle.
Computers operating from standard commercial power may be set up
outside the Competition Arena foul-line boundary and uni- or bidirectional
data may be transmitted to/from the air vehicle.
3. Data links will be by radio, infrared, acoustic, or other means
so long as no tethers are employed. The air vehicles must be free-flying
with no entangling encumbrances, however, tethered subvehicles are
allowed. Subvehicle(s) must be attached permanently to the autonomous
air vehicle at all times. Subvehicles must themselves be autonomous.
They may be deployed within the rings to search for, and/or acquire
the disks. Subvehicles may not operate outside of the rings.
4. Any form of propulsion is acceptable if deemed safe in preliminary
AUVS review.
5. Air vehicles may be no larger than a 10-foot (side) cube when
operational.
6. Intention to compete must be received no later than September
30 , 1994. To avoid unnecessary delay due to the mail (particularly
for international entries), a letter of intention to compete can
be transmitted by FAX to Robert C. Michelson, AUVS Technical Chairman
at (404) 528-3271. The completed original application form can follow
by mail, but must be received no later than October 31, 1994. A brief
concept outline describing the air vehicle must be submitted at that
time for safety review by AUVS (the application form provides space
for this). AUVS will either confirm that the submitting team is a
qualified competitor, or will suggest safety improvements that must
be made in order to qualify.
A VHS video tape of your vehicle flying under either autonomously
or under remote human pilot control must be supplied by March 1,
1995 to continue to be considered as a serious entry.
A research paper describing your entry will be due by June 1, 1995
(see rule No. 6-9).
The competition will be held in Atlanta Georgia on the campus of
the Georgia Institute of Technology on Thursday, July 6, 1995 (with
Friday, July 7 as an alternate). Prize money will be distributed
during the Awards Banquet at the AUVS national symposium being held
July 10 through 12 in Washington, D.C.
7. Teams may be comprised of a combination of students, faculty,
industrial partners, or government partners. Students may be undergraduate
and/or graduate students. Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged
(EE, AE, ME, etc.). Members from industry, government agencies (or
universities, in the case of faculty) may participate, however full-time
students must be associated with each team. Participants must be
enrolled at their schools for at least 12 credit hours or more per
quarter/semester during winter and spring 1995 to be considered "students." The
student members of a joint team must make significant contributions
to the development of their entry. Only the student component of
each team will be eligible for the cash awards.
Competition Rules
1. Air vehicles must transfer six randomly placed disks from the pick-up
ring to the drop-off ring on the other side of the three-foot high
central barrier. The disks must be transported one at a time. Though
randomly placed, the disks will initially be at least three inches
from the edge of the pick-up ring.
2. All air vehicles must start from the designated starting area.
Only two members from the team may be within the boundaries of the
Competition Arena once attempts to start the vehicle begin. From
lift-off until the end of the round, all team members must remain
outside the Competition Arena.
3. Teams will be allotted 60 minutes to complete the task. Each
team will be assigned a specific 60-minute time slot in which they
must set up and perform as many attempts as they wish. Judges will
score each valid attempt, with the highest score being used to determine
the winner.
To accommodate the number of competing teams within a reasonable
time, three arenas will be constructed side-by side as shown at the
top of the next page. A team will be assigned to one of the three
arenas. Non-flight activities such as set-up, calibration, and take-down
will be performed simultaneously by the three teams occupying the
arenas.
Upon notice that a team is ready to fly, the clocks will be stopped
for the other two teams and the field will be cleared except for
designated officials and two members of the currently flying team.
Once that run is complete, the other teams may return to their on-field
activities and the clocks will be allowed to continue. After 60 minutes
of arena time, a new team will be allowed to take control of the
arena and the clock for that arena will be reset.
4. Teams may have more than one entry. Each entry must be based
on a different air vehicle technology or navigation scheme and must
be documented by a separate application form, submitted in accordance
with all deadlines. A round will be declared a valid try if the vehicle
leaves the starting area.
5. Subvehicle tethers may only touch the three-inch high edge of
either ring, the six-foot diameter base of either ring, or the region
designated as the starting area. A run will be terminated if any
part of an air vehicle, subvehicle, or subvehicle tether touches
the ground outside of the starting area or the pick-up and drop-off
rings.
6. The score will be based on a number of factors as follows:
-
Effectiveness Measures:
- 1. The number of disks (c) successfully transferred from
the pick-up ring to the drop-off ring (50 points per disk).
- 2. The elapsed time (d) between take-off (leaving
starting area) and the first valid disk acquisition
measured in seconds divided by 10, and subtracted
from the total score during a given round.
- 3. Successfully leaving
the starting area and "operating
autonomously and intelligently" for
not less than 30 seconds
(e) is worth 99 points.
- 4.
The
number
of
successful
disk
acquisitions
from
pick-up
ring
(200
points
each).
Disks
dropped
within
25
feet
of
the
center
of
the
pick-up
ring
do
not
count
as
successful
acquisitions.
- 5.
Successful
autonomous
landing
at
the
end
of
a
round
(g)
is
worth
30
points.
-
Subjective Measures:
- 6. Elegance of design and craftsmanship (h) on a scale
of zero to 30 (highest).
- 6.1 Component integration (0 - 10).
- 6.2 Craftsmanship (0 - 10).
- 6.3 Durability (0 - 10).
- 7. Innovation in air vehicle design (i) on
a scale of zero to 50 (highest).
- 7.1 Primary propulsion mechanism {lift}
(0 - 10).
- 7.2 Attitude adjustment scheme
{yaw/pitch/roll/lateral} (0 - 10).
- 7.3 Disk retrieval mechanism/scheme
(0-30).
- 8. Safety of design
to bystanders (j) on
a scale of zero to 40
(highest).
- 8.1 Isolation/shielding
of propulsors (0
- 10).
- 8.2 Containment
of fuel
and exhaust
by-products
(0 - 10).
- 8.3 Crashworthiness
(0 - 10).
- 8.4 Emergency
flight
termination
mechanisms
(0 - 10).
- 9.
Each
team
is
required
to
submit
a journal-quality
paper
(written
in
English)
documenting
its
project.
This
paper
(m)
is
worth
50
- 100
points
depending
on
technical
quality.
Papers
are
limited
to
10
pages
(including
figures
and
references,
if any).
The
format
shall
be
single-sided
with
text
occupying
a space
no
greater
than
9 inches
tall
by
6.5
inches
wide
on
each
page.
Font
size
shall
be
12
point
(serif
font)
with
14
point
leading.
The
example
format is
provided
on page
12 of
these
rules.
Topics
to
be
covered
include:
competitive
strategy,
how
your
vehicle
design
achieves
your
strategy,
propulsion,
stability
augmentation
schemes,
navigation
schemes,
and
disk
retrieval
mechanism.
Five
copies
of
your
paper
are
due
to
the
application submission
address
by
June
1,
1995.
- 10.
Best
team
Tee
Shirt
(l)
(one
point
to
the
best).
- The
points
for
a
given
round
will
be
totalled
according
to
the
following
formula:
- SCORE
=
(c
*
50)
+
e
+
(f
* 200)
+
g
+
h
+
i
+
j
+ l
-
(d/10)
+
m
- The
highest
score
accumulated
by any
entry
after
all
rounds have
been
completed
will
be declared
the
winner.
7. Up to $10,000 will be awarded to the team having the highest
score achieved during any fully autonomous round in which a disk
is successfully moved. In the event that no air vehicle is capable
of successfully moving even a single disk during any round, the
method of prize money distribution will be at the discretion of
the judges- however any partial awards resulting shall not exceed
$1,000 per award with the total allocated to such partial awards
not to exceed $5,000.
8. Air vehicles may only land within one of the two rings or
within the starting area. The air vehicle must be airborne at
all other times. "Air vehicles" are considered to be those capable
of sustained flight out of ground effect while requiring the
earth's atmosphere as a medium of interaction to achieve lift
(as such, pogo sticks and similar momentary ground-contact vehicles
are not considered to be flying air vehicles). The scoring formula
and arena have been carefully designed to normalize advantages
inherent to a given class of air vehicles such that all may compete
fairly to perform the same task. Prospective teams must decide
how best to allocate resources to maximize their potential score
in light of the constraints imposed by the arena, the task, and
the scoring algorithm.
9. Air vehicles may not latch onto, or use, the central
barrier for locomotion or stability. Vehicles crossing over
the foul line will be disqualified for that run and must
be returned to the starting area.
10. Disks placed within the drop-off ring, but which are
later knocked out by other disks or the air vehicle itself,
still count toward the total. Disks which bounce or roll
out of the drop-off ring during initial placement do not
count.
11. Each air vehicle must be equipped with an independently-powered,
independently-controlled, non-pyrotechnic termination mechanism
that can render the vehicle ballistic upon command of the
judges (e.g., if using R/C radio equipment, a separate battery
and receiver must serve as the independent relay for the
onboard flight termination signal). This termination mechanism
must be demonstrated to the judges prior to the first round.
Air vehicles may be landed under manual control if desired,
but the points that could be awarded for an autonomous landing
will be forfeited. Both autonomous and manually-assisted
landings must occur within the foul lines of the Competition
Arena. Fully autonomous flights which successfully move a
disk but have manually-assisted landings are still considered "fully
autonomous runs" and are eligible to receive the $10,000
award.
HOW COMPETITORS WILL BE JUDGED
1. A team of three judges will determine compliance with all
rules. Official times and measures will be determined by the
judges. Subjective measures (6 - 10) will be judged the day
prior to the competition at a location near the arenas and
in accordance with a schedule to be announced a week prior
to the competition. Team papers will be ranked and scores assigned
to them at this time.
GROUNDS FOR DISQUALIFICATION
- Vehicles crossing over the foul line will be disqualified
for that run only.
- Judges will disqualify any vehicle which
appears to be a safety hazard.
- Intentional
interference
with a
competitor's
run will
result
in disqualification
of the
offending
contestant's
entry.
- Damaging
the
Competition
Arena,
disks,
or
navigation
aids
may
result
in
disqualification.
- Actions
designed
to
damage
or
destroy
an
opponent's
vehicle
are
not
in
the
spirit
of
the
competition
and
will
result
in disqualification
of
the
offending
contestant's
entry.
AWARDS
- Up to $10,000 Cash tuition award to winning student
team members.
- National recognition for the winning
student's university.
- National
recognition
through
AUVS for
the winning
industrial/government/faculty
organization.
- Free
full-page
advertisement
for
the
winning
company,
governmental
agency,
or
university
faculty
department
in
Unmanned
Systems
magazine.
If
more
than
one
industrial/government/academic
entity
is
supporting
the
team,
then
the
student
component
shall
designate
which
partner
has
supplied
the
greatest
assistance
(in
whatever
form),
and
that
partner
shall
receive
the
free full-page
advertisement.
- Special
recognition
to
the
winning
team
at
AUVS
'95
to
be
held
in
Washington,
D.C.
including
free
attendance
to
the
symposium and
awards
banquet
for
up
to
10
team
members,
an
invitation
to
display
the
winning
air
vehicle
in
the
exhibit hall,
and
the
opportunity
to
present
a
paper
to
the
unmanned
vehicle
community
detailing
winning
design
and
construction
strategies.
Other competing
teams
will
receive
two
complementary
registrations
to
the
symposium.
All teams are invited to submit papers describing their
designs and strategies by submitting them for presentation
in one of the air vehicle sessions by the regular submission
deadline. Also, exhibit space can be made available to all
teams wishing to showcase their technology at the symposium
by contacting AUVS headquarters. (Teams having their entries
on display in the exhibit hall have found this to be a good
way to make further contacts for their universities and for
themselves as graduates).
REMEMBER THESE IMPORTANT DATES:
- Notification of intention to compete September 30, 1994
- Application Deadline October 31, 1994
- VHS Video of air vehicle flying March 1, 1995
- Journal quality paper June 1, 1995
- Static Judging the day prior to the competition July
5, 1995
- Performance judging (i.e. "the competition") July 6,
1995
- Rain-day for performance judging July 7, 1995
- AUVS Symposium in Washington, D.C. July 10 through
12, 1995
ATTACHMENTS TO OFFICIAL RULES PACKAGE
Incorporated into this rules package are the following figures
and drawings:
- Competition Arena (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
- Navigation Aid Locations (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
- One Possible Flight Path (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
- Disk Geometry (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
____________________________________________________________
Robert Michelson
Past President, AUVS International
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Aerospace, Transportation & Advanced Systems Laboratory (ATAS-CCRF)
7220 Richardson Road
Smyrna, Georgia 30080
robert.michelson@gtri.gatech.edu
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