Scioly.org

I will be ES for this event later this season and have a steadily growing list of questions to make the process smoother.

1. I am guessing that most supervisors will be directly taping the track marks to the floor of the provided area. Is that the case? If not, what sort of floor covering is readily available for this purpose?
2. Is it acceptable or typical to set the track up so that other competitors can watch the event throughout the day? (I'm guessing the answer is yes)
3. If marking the track in a public area, any special tools or tricks you have found useful to speed the layout process (since it can't be laid out in a public area before impound is closed)? The obvious tools would be tape, markers, tape measure, straight edge, square)
4. Should I provide a broom so that competitors can clean the track if desired? (6.j)
5. Regarding Setup and Track time, the competitors are only allowed note paper that they impound (per a FAQ). I imagine they will take their stuff from impound, view the track(s), take notes on the course, then move to their setup area away from the track. Does Setup time begin when they pick their impounded stuff up? Or after they make notes on the track and enter their setup area "away" from the track? Or am I missing something about the process?
6. Is it practical to have one team doing their track time while the next team starts their setup time to get more competitors through? (maybe start setup a minute or so after the previous team starts track time to avoid "resource contention")
7. Is it OK for a competitor to have their laptop on and any IDE to be used open (just not the impounded program) prior to their Setup time?

The reason I ask that last question is that the stand alone Arduino IDE can sometimes take quite a while to open (at least on a chromebook). When it does open, it opens the last local program used, which won't be the impounded one (definite 6.c.iii violation). If you close all open sketches, the IDE closes and you need to relaunch it. If they do open the IDE before Setup time and create a new (empty) sketch and make sure it is the only one open, it seems that this is meeting the spirit of 6.c.iii, but maybe not the letter since that empty local file that wasn't impounded is essentially a required part of the IDE application and what they will do is select File/Open from that window to open a copy of the impounded program and edit that.

Thanks,
A.L.Kotz

I lot of good questions. Below are my tips since I have ran this event through all its trial years.

1) I use painters tape or gaffer tape (more expensive) to mark the lines. Below are tracks from this past Nationals and a coaches clinic. I can setup a track in 15 mins but I have a lot of practice. The track can be setup on any smooth floor. There could be other floor lines or different color tiles within the track. I have advised teams to avoid detecting the tape lines on the floor for the previous reasons.


2) You are correct that Robot Tour is one of the events open to the public. Which means the event setup should allow for spectators.

3) I have used the following process to setup the track. Before starting its best to have a paper copy of the track setup. This link (https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/ ... ue&sd=true) is for a Google Slide that I use to drag and drop the track setup. I recommend having extra copies in case it is difficult for competing students to view the track setup. I also tape this printed version next to the track and in the setup area for reference.
- Setup the outside 1" track lines first. Create the 2 m by 2m inside track area. A large square and two 1 meter rulers are my main tools.
- Mark every 50cm along the outside tape.
- The rules say the inner lines are imaginary lines and not required. I have very much learned its much easier to setup if these lines are present. I use 1/4" painters tape from Amazon (https://a.co/d/aLf46TD)
- The Gate Zones are the next tape lines I add to the floor. I use a different color tape for these lines.
- On the tape lines mark the locations of the 2x4 obstacles. The rules allow students to run with or without the 2x4s. Marking the tape makes this process easier. In the above pictures I use different color tape to mark the 2x4 locations. This requires extra time and is not required.
- Students will see the setup process and its near impossible to hide all the details. I do not put the Start and Target Points on the track until just before the start. The 2x4s do not need to be on the track until a team moves to the track.
NOTE: The rules say approximately for several key dimensions in section 5. It is near impossible to create a perfect track. While I do not like the word "approximately", this protects the ES from students complaining if the track is not perfect.

4) No. I very rarely clean a track area unless the area is extremely dirty. The rule 6.j puts the responsibility to clean the track on the students. All my students bring a swifter to clean the track.

5 & 6) This depends a little on how the ES wants to run the event. Meaning does the ES let the teams go to the track at first or open the program first. To keep the experience the same for all teams, I make the students open their impounded program first. When they actually open the file, then I start their 10 min setup time. Until the setup time is started, they cannot walk to the track to view the setup. I use cheap classroom timers (https://a.co/d/0hoFsGk) with an alarm to track their 10 mins. I bring in several teams to start their setup time. Each one gets one of these timers. You can loose a lot of time if you bring teams in one at a time. This allows teams to open their IDE and call over the ES when ready to open their impounded program.

7) I have seen a lot of students to have their laptops ready before walking into the event area. There is nothing in the rules to prevent this. On your last point, Arduino IDE can be difficult at times. I generally ask the students to start a new blank program if they have the laptop already open before walking in. This is a difficult area due to the goal of not impounding laptops.

Other notes:
- Due to the setup time, you can typically get 4 teams per hour per track. You may need 1 to 3 tracks depending on the tournament size.
- I have tried sharing 2x4s between multiple tracks. It was not a good idea as it caused delays moving 2x4 between tracks.

Thank you for the very detailed answers! That will give me a good start.

alkotz wrote: ↑November 13th, 2023, 3:12 pm Thank you for the very detailed answers! That will give me a good start.

You are welcome!! Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Or if anyone has any suggestions to help the event run smoothly.

I have a question about the coding and rules for it that is done for robot tour (as a person with small coding experience)
- so my code is built off of getting codes from multiple tutorial videos and put it togther with the existing code given in the robot kit. How much do I have to simplify for the event supervisors?
- is the traget for 2024 just a red dot if not how would you code your robot so that it would stop near the trarget
- in the rules it says that the robot should started with a Pencil, would that mean I have to input a code that could sense that or could I push the start button with the Pencil.
- also is it allowed to turn on the robot before the event but only make it so that it moves with a certain trigger.

My 0.02 on questions from Fenetd:
* My answer to this first question is based on my opinion and my read of the rules - I would be interested to hear from anyone that reads them in a different way. Looking at tutorials, talking to others about how the code can be set up, etc are all good ideas. I would not use explicitly cut/pasted code so that you can say honestly that you (and those on your current team) wrote the code (as per general Sci Oly build rules since the event specific rules don't say how it should be written). Perhaps simplify and use your own variable names for your own benefit, as cut/pasting code from multiple sources can get ugly and unmanageable quickly.
* The color of the target point (5.e) (and boundary/gate tape) is not specified, so can be any color, and the target is indicated by a dot in the middle of that target tape. In addition, there may be markings on the floor that have nothing to do with the track itself. As a result, relying on optical sensing to find the boundaries or target point is problematic. You are better off with an encoded wheel or other means of detecting how far your robot has moved. The rules do say that the target will be at the center of a grid square and you have 10 minutes of prep time before your track time to give the robot code the info it needs about which grid square and the path to get to it.
* (6.k) You can either sense the presence of the pencil or press down on a button or switch with the pencil to start the robot. Just make sure the pencil doesn't move the robot (push it or otherwise disturb its position, which could corrupt the accuracy of its starting point or create a competition violation.
* (3.d) Your robot cannot be powered while in impound. Once your setup time begins, you can install the batteries and open/start modifying your code that was impounded. You can also set your code up so that the program begins by waiting for a button press. Just don't let the robot move on any surface before you start a run (6.d.i).

Not asked here, but after observing an invitational a month ago, I concluded that teams should strongly consider impounding a writing utensil and blank paper with your practice log. As per 2.b, if you plan to make notes or jot down the course layout during your setup time you need to have impounded these items. (no guarantee that you can see the track from your setup location as per 6.d.i, so you might have to walk to the track sketch the layout and walk back to your setup area during your setup time).