Rule updates for Pi Wars 2022

This page contains a list of rule changes made at various points. It is intended to keep you up-to-date with the rules without having to re-read them each time!

27th January

Shepherd’s Pi

  • Your robot can now be positioned anywhere inside your Barn, facing in any direction. This should encourage a variety of different routes and methods for completing the task. If you are using a trailer, this can be anywhere as long as it is attached to your robot.

Nature’s Bounty

  • Your robot can now be positioned anywhere inside your Barn. Trailers can be anywhere as long as they are attached to your robot.
    Please note: your robot must still face the left hand wall when starting.

Hungry Cattle

These are probably the biggest changes.

  • Your robot can now be positioned anywhere inside your Barn. Trailers can be anywhere as long as they are attached to your robot.
  • You can start facing any direction as long as you are in the Barn.
  • You can carry *any* amount of cattle feed and you can refill during the run. (We realised that carrying all the feed was impossible for the smaller robots!). You must refill *from your Barn* by driving back to it.
  • You need to draw or mark a line inside your trough to show the half-filled point.
  • The cattle feed should be dried rice (of any type). If you cannot get rice, please substitute with grain or seed.
  • You must still reset everything after each set of three troughs.
  • When refilling with feed (at any point), you can use any method you like.
  • We have uploaded STL files for 3D-printing the trays if you’d like to use them.

25th January

  • We have now uploaded photographs of a sample design of the gate/latch mechanism for Shepherd’s Pi. You can see them here.

20th December

  • Changed the rule concerning the size of the trailer: The trailer may be of any size, but please bear in mind the size of your arena and the need to be manoeuvrable. We recommend a trailer no larger than 300mm in length and 200mm in width.

9th November

  • Changed Nature’s Bounty to allow for a broader definition of the apple construction method:
    • You may construct the apples any way you wish – you could 3D print them, for example. They can even be completely spherical with a little hook or hole at the top. However, they must be spherical overall and be 40mm in diameter, as in the example shown on the Nature’s Bounty page. Any questions on this, please contact us.

23rd October 2021

  • Changed Hungry Cattle layout and rules to allow for flexibility in the exact positioning of the troughs.
  • Changed Hungry Cattle to allow for robots to carry enough feed for all three runs. (This does not remove the need to return to your barn and empty your troughs each time, however).
  • Changed Nature’s Bounty to allow robots to return to the Barn multiple times for each set of 12 apples.

21st October 2021

  • Added general rule about the addition of a Trailer.
  • Added general rule about 250mm gridlines.
  • Changed challenge course designs to use 250mm x 250mm gridlines instead of less accurate, mismatched gridlines.
  • Changed Hungry Cattle design slightly to allow for new gridlines.
  • Changed Hungry Cattle trough shape to make them square (and therefore there is no worry about which direction they face).
  • Changed Nature’s Bounty tree design to incorporate box base with associated graphic/photograph changes.
  • Changed Shepherd’s Pi to have an extra sheep and changed positions of sheep and wolves to allow for new gridlines.