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8MileX

 

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  4. Download the high resolution arena pics for 8 mile

"Those who have come into Formula One without experiencing cars devoid of electronic aids will find it tough. To control 800 horsepower relying just on arm muscles and foot sensitivity can turn out to be a dangerous exercise"
--Michael Schumacher

Micheal Schumacher is no doubt a legend in racing , his skill unrivaled and his position as formula one's poster boy remains unchallenged.Yet even he conceeds the importance of having an electronic eye in a car. As automotive technologies slowly amalgamate with artificial intelligence and image processing, is it possible that the next formula one champ might not even be human ?

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Problem Statement

Inspired from the famous DARPA challenge, a sequel to the last year’s event 8Mile, 8 MileX calls upon roboteers to design, build and code a bot which can navigate the road autonomously following certain traffic rules like basic lane following, lane changing, traffic light obedience and U turns.

The Tasks:

The performance of a robot will be judged based upon a series of tasks that the robot has to perform inside the arena. Each task has a minimum criteria for a robot to "qualify" in it.The tasks are specified below. Please note that participants will have 5 runs and the best 3 will be considered for scoring. The scoring for individual tasks is availiable in the scoring tab.

 

Basic Lane Navigation:
  1. The robot has to move on the lanes avoiding the divider and the side lines. 
  2. No part of the robot should be on either the divider or the side lines. 
  3. In order to successfully qualify in this task the robot has to cover the region between any two traffic lights or the start and the first traffic light - continuously and take at least one turn.
  4. While lane following, the robot must indicate so by an indication light, which has to be stated to the judge/scorer at the start of the run.
Traffic Lights:
  1. The robot has to cross over the zebra line only when the light is green, if the light is red it has to stop before the line.  
  2. In order to successfully qualify in this task, the bot has to cross at least one traffic light(s) successfully.
Lane Changing:
  1. The bot has to change the lane it is traveling on after the first two traffic lights.
  2. While the bot is changing lanes it has to indicate so using indicator lights, left indicator for change to left lane and right indicator for change to right lane.
  3. The lane change operation has to be started and completed between the zebra line and the buffer line. The end of the lane change operation should be indicated by turning off the lane change indicator. When lane change indicator is turned off, no part of the bot should be on the divided line or buffer line or zebra line.
  4. To successfully qualify this task the bot has to make at least one lane change.
The U-Turn
  1. The final task is the U turn, the bot has to detect the end of the track marked as written in the arena specifications and take a U turn thus returning on the same road. 
  2. A U-turn is defined as a complete 180 degree turn of the vehicle and moving into the empty lane from the lane it is currently occupying and not merely moving the vehicle back.
  3. The U-Turn has to be accomplished 3 meters from the last traffic light at the end of the track. 
  4. The bot has to resume lane following in order to successfully complete this task.

Robot Specifications

Dimensions
  1. The dimensions of the bot cannot exceed 1.5m x 1.5m x 1.5m.
Method of Control
  1. The bot must be autonomous and must not have any manual intervention during its run.
  2. Wired communication between bot and Processor is allowed . 
  3. The bot should have provision for a button to stop the bot.
  4. Mounting of a laptop or any kind of processor on the bot is allowed. You may also choose to carry the laptop along with you in your hand during the event only as a means of supporting the processor. you may not send any manually generated signals to the robot during the run.
Environmental Interaction
  1. The robot is allowed to have external light sources on board,
    • Ex- A robot can have a flash light attached to it. However it cannot be manually toggled during the run.
  2. Bot should be able to operate under all weather conditions
  3. Any type of sensor e.g camera is allowed for the robot.

Note: A power supply of 220V will be provided by the ROBOTIX team. However keep in mind that it will pose limitations on the speed and flexibility of your robot. A wire of large length (approx 50 m) is required by participants to cover the track effectively. The participants are requested to bring their own wire if they wish to use the power supply provided by us. However, participants may also choose to use their own power supply.

Calibration

  1. Participants will be given 45 min of calibration time.
  2. During calibration, a team is free to place their robot on any part of the arena.
  3. The robot will not be allowed to run on the track during this time.
  4. At the request of a team during calibration time, any of the traffic lights may be toggled on or off.

Environmental Tolerences

  1. The event will take place between 9 am to 5 pm. Any lighting condition that will occur during this time is a valid lighting condition, even if the weather is cloudy and overcast.
  2. The surroundings will be outdoors with trees and buildings. Pictures of the arena will be put up soon.
  3. The event will continue even if a light drizzle is falling. In case of a heavy rain, the event will be postponed.

Scoring Rule


  1. Each task is worth a maximum of 100 points. As the team clears a certain percentage of a task it will be awarded points based on the percentage completed. And on 100 % completion it will be awarded 100 points. Distribution of points is linear based on the number of challenges of that type. 
  2. The score in the Lane following will be on the basis of the average speed. The upper limit being 30 kmph.
    • For example if a team's average speed is 27 kmph it will be awarded (27/30)* 100 = 90 points.
    • If a team's average speed is greater than 30 kmph it will recieve the full 100 points.
  3. The score in the Traffic light challenge is 35 for completing one traffic light 67 for two and 100 for clearing all traffic lights.
  4. The score in the lane changing challenge is 50 for one lane change and 100 for two lane changes.
  5. The score for the U-turn challenge is 50 for resuming lane following after the U-turn and 100 for successfully reaching  the buffer line of the 2nd traffic lights.
  6. If a robot qualifies two tasks in one run, the sum of the scores it earns in these two tasks is doubled. This is called a combo. The score is trippled for three tasks. And multiplied by four if it completes all tasks in one run.
  7. Thus the maximum score of any robot can be 1600.
  8. Penalties will be deducted from the total score of each run BEFORE the combo is multiplied.
  9. Each team will be allowed a maximum of 5 runs with each run being scored.
  10. The final scores will be the average of the best three runs.

The Penalties:

  1. 15 point penalty for any part of the robot coming over the side line during normal lane following.
  2. Above penalty recurs every 5 seconds ie if the bot is outside the lane for say, 7 seconds : it will recieve a total penalty of 30 points.
  3. 15 point penalty for changing lane without indicator.
  4. 10 point penalty for stopping after the zebra line.
  5. 15 point penalty if lane change is not done in designated zone or U-Turn is not done within 5 m of the prescribed place.
NOTE:
The ROBOTIX team reserves all rights to publish the participants' algorithms on the net. However the participant shall remain the sole author of the content.

Arena Specifications

The Road:
  1. The arena will be a road, 4m wide - marked by one continuous white line of width 10cm on either side.
  2. The surface of the road will be black tar.
  3. The road will have both straight and curved sections.
  4. The road will be divided into two lanes by a divider line which is a discontinuous white line. Length of each divider strip will be 1m and width 10 cm.
 
Picture of End line from left lane
Picture of the left lane

 

The Zebra line from the left lane

High resolution photos for the arena are available on point 4 in the yellow box



8MileX Arena Photograph:

  • The above pictures are the photographs of the same track of road one taken from close to the mid point of the track, showing the finish line and the other from the finish line, showing the whole track.
  • The black lines and the dotted line is for reference only and will not exist on the main arena.
  • The divider will be repainted so that they are properly visible before the event.
  • The side lines, stopping line before the traffic lights, the buffer line after the traffic lights and the End line at the end of the track will be painted white as written in the rules.
  • Note that there are 2 turnings in the arena. The first traffic light will come before the 1st turning, the 2nd between the 1st and the 2nd turning and the 3rd after the 2nd turning.


The updated pictures will be updated in a week."

Traffic Lights:
  1. Traffic lights will be placed over the middle of the road at a height of 2m from the ground. Each traffic light panel will contain two lights - red (stop) to the left and green (go) to the right. Each having a diameter of 15 cm. Distance between their centers will be 32cm.
  2. There will be a white line of width 10cm across the road just before the traffic lights at a distance of 1m from a point vertically below the traffic light. This is the zebra line.
  3. There will be another white line across the road after the traffic light 3m behind the previously mentioned line. This is the buffer line.
  4. There will be three such traffic lights.
U-Turn:
  1. The end of the road is marked by a traffic light and the Divider as well as the sidelines terminate there. Hence the region can be identified.
  2. The robot must make a U turn on this region only.

 

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