Sojourner This...Y2.007K

Goals:

The contest has the following goals:

1. A FUN REWARD FOR A SEMESTER OF HARD WORK!
2. Your learning is enhanced with a real-world focused problem.
3. The contest is also a means to compare your design to other designs.

History shows the contest is 50% designing and building, and 50% driving.  So finish building early and leave plenty of time for practice driving and debugging (1 to 2 weeks is good).

Rules:

The contest is a single elimination ladder. with a pair of machines competing head to head against each other in each round.

Each round of the contest is 45 seconds long.

1. Methods of Scoring
   1. COLLECTING ROCKS: Machines dump rocks into their respective collection station. At the end of the contest points are awarded to each machine by a factor of XX points/kg of rock collected.  Machine components will be remove from the bin before the final mass is taken.
   2. DEPOSITING SENSORS:  Each machine may start with up to 10 hockey pucks on board.   Points are scored by placing these sensors in the "sensor zones" on the table.  Points are added at the end of the contest.  (So if machine A deposits the sensor in the zone and machine B removes it the points are not added to machine A's score). Each machine is only awarded XX points for one (1) of their sensors in each zone (i.e. two sensors from machine A in the same zone are only worth XX point, not twice that).   See Section XX for the staring requirements of the sensors.
   3. THE ASTEROID:  23 seconds into the contest the asteroid will come crashing in to the surface of Mars.  Getting the asteroid into your collection station is worth XX points.
2. Starting Configuration
   1. Each machine in its starting configuration must fit into green and purple packing crate (kit box) with the lid on the correct way.  No bulging in the sides. Machines that are oversized will compete in the first round but are not eligible to proceed.
   2. At the start of the contest the machine may only touch the table on the starting plate.
   3. The machine may NOT be touch the side walls of the table at the start of the contest.
   4. Machines may overhang the outside of the wall by 1 inch at the beginning of the contest.
   5. When you are "on deck" for your round of the contest you will be issued your hockey pucks.  These will be color coded for the side of the table that you will be competing on.  You must be able to load these pucks into your machine and have your machine ready to start within 90 seconds.
   6. The hockey pucks themselves may not be modified.
3. Machine vs. Machine Interaction
   1. Machine should be prepared for interacting with their opponent. However, if the malicious destruction of the the other opponents machine will not be tolerated.  The judges may disqualify you they deem that you maliciously damaged your opponents machine.
   2. On the other hand, your machine should not be wimpy.  If in the process of wrestling over a particularly tasty piece of rock with your opponent a flimsy part of your machine breaks off, tough noogies.
   3. The umbilical cords is 100% off limits.  If machines umbilical cords become too tangles the judges will stop the round and it will be run again.  Any machine that intentionally grabs the other machine's umbilical cord will be disqualified.

   Questions about the rules, clarifications etc. can be emailed to   2.007-supreme@mit.edu but please check to see that your questions has not already been answer in the 2.007 Supreme Court Decisions.

This configuration may evolve slightly over the course of the semester.  Emails will be sent and announcements made in lecture, but please check back here occasionally to double check.

Surface:

The surface of the table is indoor/outdoor carpet.

Rocks:

The rocks on the table range in size from pebbles through gravel up to softball size rocks.  XX Gallons of rocks will be evenly distributed over the upper table playing surface.  XX Gallons of rocks will be evenly distributed on the lower playing surface. No rocks will be placed on the sloped walls.  The carpet does bulge a bit at the intersection of the two slopes.   See the photo for the approximate size.

Starting Zone:

The starting zones consist of an 18" x 18" piece of sheet steel screwed to the table.  It is mounted at the top of the hill.  The starting zone extends 1.5 inches beyond the outside surface of the wall.  Machines may only be touching the steel starting surface at the beginning of the contest.

Walls:

The walls around the table edge are made of 1/2" Lexan.  They are 3.5 inches above the surface of the table.

Umbilical Cords:

The umbilical cords are hung from either corner of the tree.

The Pucks

Each puck is XX inches in diameter and XX inches thick.  They weigh XX each.

The Asteroid

The asteroids are rubber kick balls 7 inches in diameter.   There are mostly filled with water.  They wiegh approximately 6 lbs.   Since they are not completely full of water they are not round and slosh around a bit as they roll.  They are released by an electromaget halfway though the contest.

The 2.007 table as of 29 NOV 99.  The side walls have not been built, nor the holes addeds, not starting zones.