Robotics @ Shaastra 2005 has its winners now. We thank all the participating teams for making it such a big event.

Mine Detector:
1. MineSweeper, College of Engineering Trivandrum,TRIVANDRUM
Ashok Chandran,Ashokanand N,Praveen S,RAnjith S
2. ALLIGATOR, SINHGAD COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,PUNE
B.PRATHIK,ANIRUDH SAH,SRINIVAS CHOWDHARY,KRUNAL KANTALE
3. Tridev, P.E.C,Chandigarh
Pulkit Kapur,Amandeep Singh,Shyam Gupta,Amanmeet Garg

Sumo Wrestling
1. Tarantula, A.C.PATIL COE (NAVI MUMBAI),mumbai
karan gupta
2. ALLIGATOR, SINHGAD COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,PUNE
SRINIVAS CHOWDHARY
3. Predator
mitesh katakwar,ameya phadke,saurabh bengali,pushkar apte
Media Coverage:
http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/09/stories/2005100914420300.htm

SUMO WRESTLING

During the past 10 years, this event has slowly spread across the world, and now has become one of the most popular robotics contests ever created.

This event aims to explore your creativity against another bot in a field of combat where brute strength and cat-like reflexes hold the key to success. The challenge is to create a robot whose sole purpose is to push, throw, flip, drag, or otherwise move your opponent out of a circular ring within three minutes. This competition is the most popular of the events, both to watch and to participate in!

The Arena: A playfield of 120cm diameter (cut from plywood) with a 1.5cm white line around the field.

Specifications: The specifications of the bot are

· The bot can be autonomous or manual controlled.

· Maximum dimension 15 x 15 cm. No restriction on height.

· Maximum weight 2.5 Kg (for the manual control bot it excludes the controls or the wires.)

· A design that incorporates the stretching the bot’s body or a part is allowed.

· Remote controls will be provided by us so as to prevent any frequency mismatch.

See the pictures for more details. The size of the receiver is 9x12 cm. It’s a 5 way control. (The bot should have enough space to accommodate the receiver)

· Participants are allowed to bring their own remote control but if there is a frequency match then they have to use the remote provided by us.

· No AC supply will be given. The maximum DC supply you can use is 12V. If you battery dries up during the match, it cannot be replaced.

· You should have enough batteries or chargers as the bot might have to play up to 7 matches.

· The bot should not contain any sucking device or glue to stick the bot on to the base.

· The bot should not have pointed edges.

· The bot is not allowed to throw anything at the opponent.(e.g.- fire, solid, powder or some liquid)

The Gaming Rules:

· The bots start at a distance of 15 cm from the centre of the arena facing opposite to each other.

· There will be one to one competition between bots. It case the number of participants crosses the 40 mark then there shall be a Royal Rumble (At least 3 bots will be placed in the arena and the bot that is thrown out will be eliminated and thus the last bot standing in the arena wins).

· Each round will be of 3 minutes, but the semifinal and the final shall be for 5 minutes. Winner of each round progresses to the next round.

· The bot with more points at the end of 3 minutes or the first bot to score 5 points, wins.

· Even if a bot flips it cannot be placed on its wheel, in that case the opponent has a chance to throw it out of the arena.

· In the event of a bot going out of the arena; both will start from initial starting position.

· The round will restart when the bots get locked in a position for more than 30 seconds without motion.

Registration:

All the participants are requested to register themselves before 30^th September 2005, once the registration begins on the shaastra home page. You also need to submit the partlist of the bot

Points:

One point will be given when

· The bot legally forces the body of the opponent’s bot to touch the space outside the arena (i.e. the white line). Partial touches will not fetch points.

· The opponent’s bot has touched the space outside the arena on its own( again the whole body has to touch to get the point)

· The bot flips the opponent’s bot, on its back or side, and thus causing it to be stationary.

In case of a tie, at the end of 3 minutes, the judges can award additional point on the basis of-

· Design of the bot (The movement and operation will be considered).

· Effort by the bot.

· Penalty points during the match.

Penalty points:

· Use of unfair means during the match will lead to immediate disqualification.

· Intentionally trying to damage opponent’s part e.g. motor, wires etc. will lead to disqualification.

In all cases the decision of the judges will be final.

Other rules, which will not dictate the design criteria, will be declared on the day of the competition.

**There can be some changes of which you would be intimated. This is just a preliminary towards what you would face in SHAASTRA. In any case decision of the Coordinators would be final.

**Keep checking the SHAASTRA website or the blog (http://shaastrarobotics.blogspot.com) for latest modifications and discussions.

Coordinators

Anurag Sharma

Sharique Ahmad

Saurabh Ratnakar

Siddharth katare

Email

MINE DETECTOR

Introduction: One of the most deadly legacies of the 20th century is the use of landmines in warfare. Anti-personnel landmines continue to have tragic, unintended consequences years after a battle and even the entire war has ended. As time passes, the location of landmines is often forgotten, even by those who planted them. These mines continue to be functional for many decades, causing further damage, injury and death.
Landmines are basically explosive devices that are designed to explode when triggered by pressure or a tripwire. These devices are typically found on or just below the surface of the ground. The purpose of mines when used by armed forces is to disable any person or vehicle that comes into contact with it by an explosion or fragments released at high speeds.
Currently, there are more than 100-million landmines located in 70 countries around the world, according to One World International. Since 1975, landmines have killed or maimed more than 1 million people, which has led to a worldwide effort to ban further landmine use and clear away existing landmines.
So here is the opportunity to try your hands on an AUTONOMOUS MINE DETECTOR ROBOT.

Objective: A playfield of 240 x 240x 5 cm (5 cm being the width, the base plywood and another plywood at 5cm height). The playfield will have a boundary of 5 cm height. There will be sand patches (7 cm x 7 cm) around the field, into which the mines will be hidden. The mine is laid throughout the playfield (only at the intersection of grid lines) in the form of iron discs (of diameter 3cm and thickness 0.5cm, maximum weight 100 gm). The mines will be at a maximum depth of 3cm. The field has two homes. The two autonomous bots will start from their respective homes and will have to detect mines in the field and then dig the mine out of the sand and place it outside the pit within a time limit of 5mins. The bot has to have an indicator, electric or mechanical (e.g. - led bulbs or a flag etc.) that will be used to indicate the detection of a mine. Each mine will have an alphabet associated with it, so that the judges can note down the alphabet. The Gaming arena will have 2 cm thick white lines forming a grid and surrounding the pits. The mines will be placed on the intersections of the lines.(See the figure above for details)The colour of the actual playfield will be black with white grid lines painted.

Scoring: The detection of the mine carries 5 points (this has to be indicated by the bot in form of a visible electrical signal or some mechanical movement).The signal has to be shown for a minimum of 5 seconds, after that the digging should start. Digging it up from the sand carries 15 points (there has to be actual digging, the mines cannot be pulled out by strong electromagnets). The bot should place the mine on the ground (i.e. on the plywood) to get full 15 points. Partial points can also be given depending upon the digging work done by the bot; this will be on the discretion of judges. If the bot gives the mine detection signal at a wrong point, 5 points will be deducted.

Technical specifications of the Bot: Participants Must ensure that all hardware and software used for the bot are made from the scratch .No readymade assemblies are allowed be it mechanical hardware or electronic circuits like readymade circuits boards of IR sensors, light sensors or microcontrollers. Use of any microcontroller is allowed. No pre assembled gear drives or mechanisms can be used. The participants are required to make all these mechanisms by themselves. The bots will have to be submitted a day in advance, of the event, so that it can be inspected by the coordinators.

The size of the bot is limited to 20 x 30cm. No restriction on height. The bots have to be battery powered; no AC power supply sockets will be given. Net DC voltage use by the bot must be strictly less than 12V.

Sessions: There will be a preliminary round followed by subsequent rounds and the winners of each round will move to the next stage.

Winning criteria: The bot with the most points at the end of 5 minutes will win. Incase of a tie an additional 1 minute will be given.



General Specifications

• The teams have to declare, before the start of each round, the indicator the bot uses to denote detection of a mine.
• The indicator has to be unique and should not be a part of some other mechanism.
• Use of permanent magnets are not allowed. Magnets, if used have to be electromagnets.
• The robot should not collide with the other bot. The bots have to have a collision avoidance technique using some kind of sensor. Incase the bot collides with a stationary bot it will be immediately disqualified and the other competitor will be declared as winner.
• Incase both the bots are moving and they collide both will be disqualified from the event.
• The bot should indicate the mine without touching the mine physically
• The bot shall not have any electronic jamming devices to disturb your opponent's infra-red or ultra-sonic sensors..
• The scoring scheme will be as mentioned above.
• No human intervention allowed once the game starts.
• In all cases the decision of the judges will be final.
• Any activity against the spirit of fair play will lead to disqualification.

All the participants are requested to register themselves before 30^th September 2005, once the registration begins on the shaastra home page. You also need to submit the following documents
1. The partlist of the bot

2. Copy of the code used.
The dates for these will be notified later.

Other rules, which will not dictate the design criteria, will be declared on the day of the competition.

We request not to assume anything without discussing with us. Coords are human and can make mistakes or perhaps miss few points. Please inform us about any of such mistakes.

**There can be some changes of which you would be intimated. This is just a preliminary towards what you would face in SHAASTRA. In any case decision of the Coordinators would be final.

**Keep checking this website or the blog for latest modifications and FAQs.

Coordinators
Anurag Sharma
Sharique Ahmad

Saurabh Ratnakar

Siddharth katare

FAQs

1. How do I dig sand?

Ans: You can have a crane mechanism or a rotary fan at the bottom. But be careful with any mechanical system on the bottom of the bot as it can get damaged while moving.

2. What about the quality of sand?

Ans: We will make sure that the sand is as pure as possible. So as to make sure that the bot is not damaged while digging.

3. What if my battery dries up during the event?

Ans: You cannot change the batteries during the event. If you still manage to win the round, you are allowed to change the batteries after the event.


4. What about the indicator?

Ans: An indicator is required on the bot so that the judges can know when the bot has detected the mine. All the sand patches will be denoted by an alphabet so when the bot displays the signal the judges will note down the alphabet and later check whether a mine was there or not.
The indicator can be either electrical (e.g. led) or mechanical movement of a specific part. Make sure that the indicator is used only to denote detection of mines.

5. Can I reprogramme the bot after the event starts?

Ans: It sounds weird but it is possible. Unfortunately we cannot allow this as the mines will be replaced after each round in front of everyone.

6. What sort of assistance will be offered by the coordinators?

Ans: The coordinators will make sure that as much information regarding bot making is given out during Fundae Sessions inside the campus (IITM). For others, they are welcome to call or email us for any doubts. If possible we can arrange Fundae Sessions in other colleges as well. Please contact us if are interested in having the session in your college.

You can discuss the problem on the blog (http://shaastrarobotics.blogspot.com) by adding your comments. Any other communication with the coordinators can also be posted here. Feel free to post your difficulties in making the bot.