The Zombie Apocalypse
Aim of the challenge
Zombies have taken over the Pi Wars Tower! It is up to you to rid the building of the “differently mortal”.
Shoot all the zombies in the Tower and save the inhabitants. The targets will be at a number of different levels and you must use projectiles as your “anti-zombie device” to knock them over.
Control method
Remote control or Autonomous.
Time limit
5 minutes.
Rules
- The course/arena will look like this in terms of sizes and areas. The colours below are not accurate. The floor will be painted black/grey and the “tower” (the orange area) will be decorated like an office building.
- Robots will be placed (by the robot’s driver) in the green area, facing the tower.
- Zombie targets will be placed in the “car park” of the tower – the yellow area – and will be at floor level. There will be further targets within the tower at ground level, plus more targets in two upper storeys.
- Targets will be located no higher than 60cm above ground level, as per the diagram.
- The targets will be the size of a standard playing card – 62mm wide by 88mm length (2.45 inches by 3.5 inches).
- The zombie targets are drawings and are green, blue and grey in colour. See below for the actual zombies. They are on a white background.
- No target will be obscured.
- There will be a ‘boundary/stop line’ in front of the targets beyond which robots are not permitted to go. This line is 90cm from the front of the course (as shown – the boundary between the blue and yellow areas) The distance between this boundary line and the targets is between 1m and 1.5m. The line will be white in colour.
- There are two possible methods of knocking down the targets. Either one, but not both, can be used:
- Five balls, each 63mm in diameter and weighing 70g (search for 63mm rubber dog balls on eBay and you’ll be on the right track!), will be provided in set positions (within the blue area above). These can be shunted, nudged or cannoned towards the targets.
- Once knocked over the boundary line, the balls may not be retrieved until the next round.
- The boundary line will be a short distance in front of the balls.
- Your robot can be fitted with its own mechanism capable of firing a maximum of five soft projectiles. We recommend official Nerf darts. (Please note: although the standard Nerf holder allows for 6 darts, please ensure that only 5 are loaded!)
- If using projectiles, the balls will not be set on their spots so you will have free reign to manoeuvre in the green and blue areas above.
- You can reload between shots, if you wish, but you must not step on the course. Your robot must be driven to your driving position, reloaded and then sent out again.
- Five balls, each 63mm in diameter and weighing 70g (search for 63mm rubber dog balls on eBay and you’ll be on the right track!), will be provided in set positions (within the blue area above). These can be shunted, nudged or cannoned towards the targets.
- Please note: If you use the five balls method, you will not be able to reach the upper-levels which contain higher-value zombie targets.
- You can use any method of aiming that you wish, for example a low-powered laser pointer.
- You will have three full attempts (of 5 balls or projectiles) at this challenge course. After each attempt, the targets and the balls (if used) will be reset.
- The stopwatch will be stopped whilst targets and balls are reset. The stopwatch will not be stopped for reloading projectiles however you may choose to reload during the reset of the targets.
- High-powered lasers must not be used, either for targeting or for knocking the targets down!
- Only targets that have been knocked over will score. This is to ensure fairness when scoring. The targets themselves are finely balanced so any “good hit” should result in a knockdown.
- Rebounding projectiles may knock over targets. The highest scoring five targets will be counted using the scoring system below.
- For those tackling this course autonomously, you are allowed one additional minute at the start for any calibration you may wish to do.
The Zombies
Here are the images of the Zombies that will be infesting the building (click them to see the large versions):
Scoring
Autonomous robots
- 30 points will be awarded for each target in the “car park”.
- 40 points will be awarded for each ground floor target.
- 60 points will be awarded for each middle floor target.
- 90 points will be award for each top floor target.
- An additional 140 points will be awarded if all 5 shots hit their target, regardless of which floor the target is on. This can apply a maximum of 3 times.
- An additional 200 points will be awarded to robots that run completely autonomously with their own firing mechanism (i.e. not using the supplied balls).
Remote-controlled robots
- 25 points will be awarded for each target in the “car park”.
- 35 points will be awarded for each ground floor target.
- 40 points will be awarded for each middle floor target.
- 50 points will be award for each top floor target.
- An additional 140 points will be awarded if all 5 shots hit their target, regardless of which floor the target is on. This can apply a maximum of 3 times.
- An additional 200 points will be awarded to robots that provide their own firing mechanism and do not use the balls provided.
Penalties
Autonomous robots
- 40 points will be deducted, and no points scored for that roll/shot, if your robot should cross the foul line marked on the floor of the course.
Remote-controlled robots
- 20 points will be deducted, and no points scored for that roll/shot, if your robot should cross the foul line marked on the floor of the course.
Ask Questions and Discuss
There are a number of ways you can discuss this challenge and the competition in general.