Robo-Cross Div B
2014-2015
Jeff Anderson
janderson@twmi.rr.com or jander14@ford.com
Basics, RoboCross
 Goal, move a variety of objects quickly to from
starting point to a target location and place them
in a jug. All within a 4 by 4 ft sq area.
 Mobile Robot base, attachments to pick up and
move objects
 Objects include Ping-Pong balls, pennies, tennis
ball, and Lego bricks
 Scored by difficulty of task, with penalty for
incomplete documentation
 Three minute limit to accomplish task
Power, RoboCross
 14.4 volt maximum in any given circuit, ES has to
be able to check batteries
 No stored pressure device this year
 Motion may be generated only by electrical,
elastic, or gravitational energy. These forms of
energy must not be converted to other forms such
as hydraulics or pneumatics to power the Robot.
NO operator powered motion.
Building Specifications, RoboCross
 Must fit in an imaginary 28 cm by 28 cm by 28cm
cube.
 Remote control, wire or radio allowed
 Kits must have SOME functional modification
Playing Field, Robo-cross
Competition, Robo-Cross
 No Setup time or practice time mentioned, 3 minutes
to complete task
 Time starts on go of supervisor “3, 2, 1 Go”
 Time stops on
 Three minutes
 Students say “SCIENCE”
 Students touch robot
 Team steps into playing field after being warned once
 Robot moved by control wires
 Any part of robot or jug leaves Playing Field
Scoring, Robo-Cross
 Score based on where objects placed, harder places earn
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higher scores, to a point.
Objects get higher scores if put jug
Even higher score if you get same object in BOTH jugs
Objects leaving the Playing Field AND touching down at
any time are NOT scored
5% penalty for partial documentation, 20% penalty for
NO documentation
Time explicitly part of score, drives strategic thinking,
is that last penny worth chasing!
Ties broken, then lowest mass
Some thoughts on design
 The field is allowed to be broken down for
transportation, barriers are allowed a range of sizes.
 Don’t prepare for best case, prepare for worst/all cases.
 Both design AND practice are important.
 Tethers don’t have interference with other devices,
BUT may cause problems if they drag on playfield
 Use modern RC control to avoid possibility of
interference, ES will not protect you