SHARC Highland Range completion Line Following Rules
Name of Event: Line following beginner track 1
Robots per Event: One
Length of Event: 3 minutes Max
Robot Weight Range: suggested < 750g
Robot Dimensions: W: 20cm x L: 20cm x H: 20cm
Arena Specifications: 100 cm wide by 100 cm long with open areas
Robot Control: Autonomous
Engineering Principles: Mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer
science, and sensors
Purpose and Goals: This is the starting point for an increasing challenge to the robotist
to expand the sensors and effectors used in the problem solving and terrain traversing
by careful changes to the rules and the course we can make this first course turn into a
very challenging course. The courses will become obstacles courses and/or game
boards. To keep this an ongoing effort the winners title for a specific track will be kept
and can be challenged by anyone at a later date, thus giving others at a later time to
challenge the title for a course time (provided the leaders have been given sufficient
notice to reproduce the course). (i.e. similar to Olympic records.) The titles to a course
could be sub classified by robot design types (motor, number of sensors, etc) to
encourage and reflect the diversity of designs.
Event Summary: Line following beginner track 1
The objective of this contest is for a robot to follow a black line on a white background,
without losing the line, and navigating several turns. The robot that completes the
course in the shortest period of time while accurately tracking the course line from start
to finish will be declared the winner.
Line Following Event Rules
Disclaimer: All rules and event details are subject to change. Best effort will be made to
provide notice, but no guarantees.
1. Size and Weight Limits:
 Dimensional and weight limits for robots shall be strictly enforced when
applicable as follows.
 A Line Follower shall not exceed 20 cm in overall length, 20 cm in overall width
and 20 cm in overall height.
 Weight maximum 750 g
2. Rules for the Line Follower competition
 Robots must be autonomous. All Line Followers must be self contained, and not
externally operated by wire or by remote radio control during the race. Data links
to off-board computers are allowed, but no human operator activity on the
computer during the competition. In other words, no human-operated remote
controls.
 The robot must start the race in the forward facing perpendicular to the start line.
So, one cannot angle the robot one way for qualification measuring and then
rotate the robot to a different orientation for starting the race.


Except for the battery pack, the handler shall not make any addition, removal,
replacement or change to the hardware of a Line Follower during a contest. It is
however permissible to make minor repairs. At the judges concurrence.
Robots must have passed inspection prior to competing.
3. General Requirements
3.1. Course Time:
 Time is measured from the time the robot crosses the starting line until the time it
crosses the finish line. A robot is deemed to have crossed the line when the
forward most wheel, track, or leg of the robot contacts or crosses over the line.
 A maximum of 3 minutes is allowed for a robot to complete the course. A robot
that cannot complete the course in the allotted time shall be disqualified.
 A simple single action means should be provided to start the robot, like a
button/switch. After which the handler may not touch or interact with the robot
until it has finished or been disqualified.
3.3 Timekeeping:
 Time shall be measured by an electronic gate system or by a judge with a
stopwatch, based on the availability of equipment. In either case the recorded
time shall be final.
3.4 Maintenance:
 Within the given performance time 3 minutes, the handler is allowed to replace
batteries and/or upload new program parameters to the Line Follower.
3.5. Finish:
 After crossing the finishing line, the Line Follower must automatically come to a
complete stop within the finish area, and remain stationary for at least two
seconds, failing to do so will incur a time penalty of 5 seconds.
3.6 Environment:
 The organizers will ensure that the track is located within a typical indoor
environment in so far as is feasible. No request to adjust the lighting shall be
entertained.
4. Disqualification:
 The organizers may demand from handlers such explanation concerning their
Line Followers as is deemed necessary, and they may use their discretion to
direct handlers to give up racing, disqualify them, and take any other necessary
measures.

5. Autonomous Control:
 Once a robot has crossed the starting line it must remain fully autonomous, or it
will be disqualified.
6. Arena Edges:
 A robot that wanders off of the arena surface will be disqualified. A robot shall be
deemed to have left the arena when any wheel, leg, or track has moved
completely off the arena surface.
7. Losing a line:
 If a Line Follower leaves the black line, for that robot to continue in the contest it
must reacquire the line at the same point where it was lost, or at any earlier (e.g.
already traversed) point and has not exceeded the time limit 3 minutes, otherwise
it will be considered to have gone off the track, and that run shall be invalid.
8. Overtime:
 If the performance time limit is reached and the Line Follower is in the midst of a
run, if time permits, the judge may allow the run to complete for the owners
benefit and obtain the recorded lap time however the run is still disqualified.
9. Second Attempt:
 Any robot that loses the line course and fails to reacquire it will be allowed a
single reattempt. The robot must start the course again from the beginning, and if
it loses the line course on its second attempt it will be disqualified.
10. Power of Judges:
 The decisions of all judges regarding these rules and the conduct of the event
shall be final.
 The judge must be a member or invited by the leaders to judge a competition
 The judge may not have an entry in the contest that they will judge.
 More than one judge is recommended
 If one of the judges does have an entry in the contest it must be judged by a
separate independent judge otherwise their entry is for demonstration purposes
only.
11. Course Specifications:
(Link to sample tiles: http://robotsquare.com/2012/11/28/line-following/ )
 The line following course shall traverse a white background. The track surface is
assembled from 7 7/8" (20 cm) squares of 1/16 in (1.6 mm) hardboard. Each
square may be plus or minus 1/8 inch (3 mm) in size.
 The course line is 3/4 inch (19 mm) wide, plus or minus 1/8 inch (3 mm) is black
ink printed pattern and/or it will be made of 3M vinyl electrical tape, 3M splice
tape (thicker and stretchers for curves) The course line may have discontinuities,
not to exceed 1/8 inch (3mm).
 The line course starts inside the starting area and ends inside the exit area.
 The starting point of the line course shall be clearly marked via a transverse line
and the exit shall be an all black block.










The starting line and the finishing line are to be located in the straight section of
the circuit.
The track shall comprise of straight lines and arcs within the confines of the
base-board(s).
The surface of the racetrack shall normally be level differences in level of up to 2
mm may exist at the joints between modules.
Gaps of up to 2 mm may exist at the joints between modules.
There shall be no crossovers (e.g. places where the line crosses itself).
Track may have arcs with different curvatures linked continuously.
The course line may be curved, with a centerline radius of 3.9 inches (100 mm).
(No sharp angles).
Switchbacks and hairpins are possible, but the adjacent sections of the line shall
be no closer together than 15cm when measured from the center of each line.
Complaints about the grip on the track surface will not be entertained.
The robot must deal with the lighting conditions as they appear. That is, room
lighting and window drapes will be set as desired by the judges and will not be
modified for individual contestants. Also, flash photography and IR focusing
cameras will be allowed, unless the judges deem such activities as interfering
with the ability to hold the event in general.
12. Race Operations
 A sample track will be available for "test drives" prior to the competition, to
perform testing and calibration.
 All robots must be ready to run at the start of the contest. The order of running
will be randomly assigned. Before the contest starts, all contestants are invited to
examine the course. Any issues the contestants have with the course (smudges,
uneven surfaces, etc.) must be brought to the attention of the judges at this time.
 When it is his or her turn, a contestant may perform a quick calibration (e.g.
metering black and white) before starting the run. The contestant starts a match
by pressing a start button. Timing of the run will begin when the robot crosses the
"START" line.
 Once a match has started, no contestant or judge may touch the track or
interfere with the robots in any way except to reset a robot as stated below.
Resets are done only by the race judge. Multiple restarts will be allowed, at the
discretion of the judges.
 If time permits, after all robots have made one run, robots may make a second
run. The score for each robot will be the better of its two scores. No robot
modifications are permitted between runs!
 One robot races on the track at a time.
13. Race Scoring
 The robot with the fastest time to complete the course will be the winner. Each
race is timed; the robot with the lowest total time wins the match.
 If the track is open-ended, the time is to the end of the line. If the track is a closed
loop, the time is to the start/end line after the specified number of laps.





After the initial start, a contestant may not operate a robot. All manipulation of the
robot is to be done only by the tournament judge.
A judge may reset a machine that is no longer tracking the course line. Resetting
a machine onto the course incurs a 5 seconds penalty for each time the robot is
touched plus however much time it takes the judge to replace it (i.e. the track
lapse clock continues to run). Placement is to be at the previous turn or hazard.
Decisions regarding whether a machine is tracking the course line are made only
by a track judge. A robot which cannot track the course line will be disqualified,
at the sole discretion of the judges. A machine that has no part of its structure
over the course line, or is clearly not steering in response to the course line, is no
longer tracking the course line. The wandering robot must be restored to the line,
or it will be disqualified at the discretion of the judges.
The time penalties will be added to the total time.
A robot's run ends when it has completed the course, or it is deemed by the
judge to be unable to track the line, or at the end of 3 minutes.
13.1 Final scoring
 Accuracy in completing the event is ranked above speed.
 Final scoring shall be as follows:
 Entries that have completed the course with no penalties shall be ranked in
order of fastest time.
 Then entries that have been assessed penalties shall be ranked in the order
of lowest combined time and penalty points.
 If no robots complete the course, the robots shall be ranked by total distance
traveled before the first reset, as determined by the match judge.
 In the event of an apparent tie, robot design aspect may be used, the number
of sensors used (smaller number higher score). Or a distinction of drive types
(i.e. Servo, DC motor, Steppers) in to a class winner. Likewise for the type of
sensors used.
14. Organizers’ Decision
 The organizers reserve the right to make changes to any of the above in the
interest of fair play and sportsmanship, and to ensure that all competitors have
an enjoyable competition.
 In the event of ambiguity, the organizers’ interpretation of any clauses of the
rules shall prevail.
15. Power of Judges
 The decisions of all judges regarding these rules and the conduct of the event
shall be final.
16. Declaring Objections
 No objections shall be declared against the judges' decisions.
 The lead person of a team can present objections to the Committee, before the
match is over, if there are any doubts in the exercising of these rules. If there are
no Committee members present, the objection can be presented to the judge
before the match is over.
17. Flexibility of Rules
 As long as the concept and fundamentals of the rules are observed, these rules
shall be flexible enough to encompass the changes in the number of players and
of the contents of matches. Modifications or abolition of the rules can be made by
the local event organizers as long as they are published prior to the event, and
are consistently maintained throughout the event.
18. Liability
 Participating teams are always responsible for the safety of their robots and are
liable for any accidents caused by their team members or their robots.
 The SHARC club and the organizing team members will never be held
responsible or liable for any incidents and / or accidents caused by participating
teams or their equipment.
Hints
 Make some effort to shield the sensors from camera lights and IR focusing
cameras. A flexible skirt around the sensors may help.
 Get a piece of white poster board, some electrical tape, and PRACTICE.
 Make sure you can calibrate your sensors at the event. Lighting conditions are
sure to be different than in your Robot Cave.
The author would like to thank the many clubs and organization (UK Micromouse, Robot
Challenge, Robothon, Vancouver Robotics, and Robogames other were also found that
will help to contribute to the more challenging courses) that have posted their line
following rules as this was helpful to avoid missing information and situations.
Some ideas for Future challenges:

Invert black and white of line pattern mid course

Have spot light or strobe light shine on board

Various Color lines and goals, obstacles

Shiny tiles and lines

Flat color tiles and lines

Combinations of Flat and Shiny backgrounds same course

Various Line Patterns and spacing

Dead ends

Multi Line crossings intersections

Curves and corners of different angles, i.e 90 degree and sharper

Line widths changing

Vanishing lines

Conversion of line to walls with no line

Obstruction on line, goal put all same color obstacles on same color square,
different weights, materials, and colors.

Obstacle avoidance i.e. go around an obstacle without touching it and resume
line following

Verbal announce information

Verbal Q/A response on turns choices

Follow a buried wire RF signal

Follow a magnet path

UV Florescence paths

Electrical conductivity of path

Detect water trap/path

Detect alcohol trap/path

Look for heat source, path nichrome wire some with power other without, IR

Terrain issues, slippery, oil, soap, rough, sand paper, sand, gravel, carpets

Ramp up and down of various grades

Ledges and stairs

3D line following IE it has levels

Doorways or tunnels

Tele-presences with delay to simulate a robot on mars

Go to visual beacon while following path rules

Multiple waypoints

Multiple robots same course

Maze solving

Robots can push others, use laser line to disable or do simulated damage to
other

Follow RFID signal for robot operation

Various tile features taken from RoboRelam game.

Trap doors – real

Pits – real

Laser beams – 1 damage – real

Pusher – RFID, real?

Gear turns – RFID, real?

Water – RFID, real?

Oil slicks – RFID, real?

Conveyor belts – real?

Water current – ~ conveyor belts

Repulsor – RFID

Checkpoint/repair – RFID

Crusher – RFID

Chop shop - RFID