*** ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PARTICIPATION *** NCAI ROBOTICS COMPETITION AND EXHIBITION July 11--16, 1993 Washington, D.C. Draft of January 12, 1993. Following the highly successful robotics exhibition last year, AAAI is planning to hold a robot exhibition at the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence. The exhibition will include robots on display, videos, and poster presentations. There will also be a competition, in which mobile robots will be involved in a variety of events. It is important to note that the competition is meant to encourage the advance of the art, and to give participants an opportunity to show off their research in an atmosphere of friendly competition. The purpose of this Announcement is to describe the rules of the competition, and to solicit entries for the competition and exhibition. This version is still subject to minor changes based on feedback from the competitors. Those wishing to participate will find instructions at the end of this document. Mobile robotics is an area where much of the research in diverse AI areas can be effectively and creatively combined to give interesting results. Last year's competition was a three-stage event in which mobile robots demonstrated skills of reactivity, exploration, and directed search (a detailed description is in the Summer 1992 issue of AAAI Magazine). At AAAI93, we would like to extend the competition to cover as wide a variety of mobile robots as possible, and to stress the ``intelligent'' aspects of their behavior. There will be three events. Each team can enter as many events as they choose, and may use different hardware and software platforms in the different events. There will be prizes for each event, as well as an overall winning team. We also encourage participation by those wishing to display innovative robotics designs without entering the competition. The focus of the events is mobile office robotics. This is an important application area for mobile robots, as well as a familiar one for the majority of mobile robotics researchers in universities and private laboratories. Given current hardware and software limitations, the tasks and environment will not be totally realistic, but we will try to make the events push the current state-of-the art. To encourage innovation, events are specified as tasks to be done, rather than giving rules on how it is to be done. GENERAL Robots. Last year there were separate arenas for large and small robots. The size and speed differences between these robots was not great; the largest robot was the Cybermotion K2A platform with a one-meter diameter, and the smallest were Nomad-class platforms at about 1/2 meter. All robots will compete using the same arena, unless there are teams with very small (< 20cm diameter) robots; we may make a smaller arena for them. The largest robot that can be entered must have a diameter less than 1.2 meters and height less than 2 meters. Minor modifications will be made to the arena to accommodate robot sizes, e.g., changing the width of doors. The arena area will be smaller than last year, approximately 10 by 15 meters for most events. Multi-bots, or groups of cooperating robots, can compete as a single entry. They will compete in the same events as single robots. Robots must be powered by an on-board electrical source. They must have a visible, easily-operated "kill" switch that quickly stops any motion. Unlike last year's competition, there will be no separate event for testing whether a robot is "housebroken" or not. We expect robots to exhibit reasonable obstacle avoidance behavior, and not to damage the arena or create a danger to the audience. Walls, floors and objects. Like last year, the walls will be panels of a plastic material approximately 1 meter high. The sonar and infrared reflection characteristics of these panels are surprisingly good. We do not yet know what the floor will be like, but it will probably be wood or concrete rather than a soft rug; at any rate we will make sure that it is appropriate for wheeled robots. Objects for the different events will be ordinary office furniture and cardboard boxes of various sizes. More detail on the perceptual characteristics of these objects can be found below. Communication. No tethered robots will be allowed. In last year's competition, there were many problems using radio links for digital and video communication with the robot. This will probably be true this year also. There will be no special allowances for communication problems; teams are encouraged to use on-board computation for all critical functions. There will be side-by-side events, in which two robots will be competing simultaneously (although they will always be physically separate); this may also cause problems for radio communication. Although last year's rules allowed for communication from team to robot, almost noone took advantage of this. The result was that all robots functioned completely autonomously. This was a Good Thing, and one of the main points of the competition. This year, we will still allow limited forms of advice to be given to the robot, for example, if it gets hopelessly lost. There will be some penalty for doing this, depending on the amount of information conveyed. Unfortunately this is a hard point to judge objectively. As teams tell us the type of advice they expect to use, we will negotiate the penalty. Another aspect of communication is educating the audience about the technology of the robot systems. We strongly encourage this, to make the competition and exhibition a learning experience. There will be monitors in the competition area to display computer graphics or videos. Teams may submit videos describing their projects, and also may display the internal workings of the robot during its execution. Voice communication by the robot during its activities, giving information as to what it is doing and why, is especially effective. We will try to have a wireless mike available for broadcasting from the robot. Extra points will be awarded for effective communication. Perception. Sensor hardware and processing is one of the most difficult areas for most teams. Last year, teams were allowed unrestricted use of perceptual markers in the environment, and could design high-performance, special-purpose sensor systems using these markers. This year we would like to transition to a more "natural" environment, while still recognizing the difficulty of the perception problem. Given the ubiquity of visual cues in human environments, we will include such cues in each of the events. Most of the cues will be patterns on the surface of objects; some will be in the size or shape of the objects themselves. Details can be found in the description of individual events. Visual cues place a premium on vision sensors, although laser-light ranging systems and, to some extent, sonars can take advantage of shape cues. To make perception easier for teams without sophisticated sensor systems, we allow team-supplied perceptual markers to be used. The number and placement of these markers is limited according to the event, and there is a penalty for their use. A Priori Information. This includes general information about the environment, as well as particular configurations of walls and objects for each of the events. Teams can take advantage of whatever information is available from the competition description. The amount of information supplied varies with the event; see the descriptions below. We recognize that the performance of robots is heavily dependent on advance knowledge of many aspects of the environment, and if some points are unclear, teams are encouraged to ask us to clarify them. EVENTS Event I: Escape from the office! Robots will start in an enclosed area similar to a cluttered office. A "door" in the office will be opened, and the robots must find their way out into an open area and across a finish line. No prior knowledge of obstacles is given; points are awarded for speed and safety (not damaging objects or the robot). Maximum time limit is 15 minutes. The door will be a panel in the office wall, 1.5 meters wide. There will be visual and shape cues on each of three possible doors located on three different walls of the office. The visual cues are crosses ("+" signs) of contrasting color, approximately 3 inches wide and 12 inches in diameter, placed somewhere along the upper portion of the door. The shape cue will be a raised strip 2 inches wide and 2 inches high running vertically on the door. Teams may add their own perceptual markers to each door, at a penalty. These markers must be in the same position as the visual cues. The office will contain real office furniture: chairs, tables, desks. There will be enough room for the robot to have a clear path to each of the doors. At some penalty, teams may modify the environment by placing boxes to fill out convex forms for objects so that their robots will be able to sense them better (normal sonar placement makes them particularly bad at detecting table tops, for example, leading to a danger of decapitation). We will have some typical office configurations available at a later date. Here is a rough diagram of the arena configuration. It is approximately 20 meters long by 10 meters wide; the office is about 2 meters by 4 meters. The obstacles are rectangular boxes, 3 feet high, scattered randomly in the arena. The boxes will have contrasting tape along their edges. ---------------------------------- | | | O | |OdOO O F | | O OO I | |R d N | | O O I | |OdOO S | | O O H | | O | | O | | O | | | | | ---------------------------------- The robot is started at an arbitrary location in the office, facing the finish line. The robot will have completed the course when it comes to a complete stop within 2 meters of the finish wall. Teams may add, at some penalty, a maximum of two perceptual markers to the finish wall. These markers will be placed on two designated panels of the wall. Event II: Blocks-world stacking A set of pushable blocks and immovable obstacles will be scattered in an open area. Robots are to push the blocks into a pattern specified at the start of the event. Points are awarded for speed and accuracy, and for putting certain perceptually-marked blocks at the right positions in the pattern. Maximum time limit is 30 minutes. As in the first event, blocks are 3 feet high with contrasting tape along their edges. They are of different sizes, from about 40 centimeters to 1.5 meters on a side. All blocks will be weighted to slide rather than tip over when pushed from near the bottom. Blocks will be light enough to be pushed by Nomad-type robots; we will try to keep floor friction to a minimum. There are three types of blocks: obstacles, normal blocks, and special blocks. All will be marked with visual cues on one or two sides, and will have shape cues. Normal blocks will have crosses as in the first event, and special blocks will have X's: crosses rotated 45 degrees. The obstacles are marked with a square O about 12 inches in diameter, with 3-inch think sides. Shape cues are that obstacles are rectangular, with one side at least 20cm longer than the other; normal blocks are square and larger than 80cm on a side; special blocks are smaller than 80cm. At some penalty, teams may attach their own markers to the sides of objects, at most two markers per object, in place of the visual cues. A pattern to be formed will be given just before the start of the event. This pattern will consist of a set of about six blocks pushed together near one of the walls. Extra points will be awarded for having special blocks at the places noted in the pattern; others positions may be filled by either normal or special blocks. A typical pattern is: N NSN NNS ---------------- wall Robots are allowed to push any block, including the obstacles; however they should not harm the blocks by running into them at high speed. Robots should not try to push the walls. The initial placement of blocks will be random. Some blocks will be aggregated into groups, and some will be alone. The arena will be approximately 15x20 meters, with a center partition. The robot will be started in the indicated corner of the arena, facing the center partition. The pattern is to be constructed at the end of the partition. Initial state: 20 meters -------------------------------- | R | 10 meters | | | | | O | | | | O | | | | | | O | | O | | 15 meters | | | | | | O | | O | | | -------------------------------- Desired state: -------------------------------- | | | | | | | | | | | O | | | | | OO| O | | OOO| | | OO| | | | | | | | -------------------------------- There are no markers on any of the walls. At some penalty, teams may place at most 2 markers at locations of their choosing on the walls. Event III: Office delivery Robots are given an approximate geometric description of a typical office environment, with hallways, open areas, and offices. The task is to find a marked object placed somewhere in the arena, and bring it to a specified location (no manipulation is required, the robot must just indicate it has found the object to "acquire" it). Hints about the approximate position of the robot and the object may be given at the start of the event. Points are awarded for speed and partial completion of the task. Maximum time is 30 minutes. The arena is approximately 15x25 meters. Here is a sample arena map. ---------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | | | |----------------------------------| | | |OOO | OO | | | |OOO | OO | | | | | | | |-------- |m | | | | | | | | OO | dd | |--------| m| | dd | | | | | | | |OOO | | | | |OOO | | | OOO | | | | | | OOO | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |--------------- ---------------| | |--------| m OO | | | OO | | | | | |m OO | | OO | | | | | m | |OO | ----- ------------------ -----------| |OO | | | OOO | | | | OOO | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------- The delivery object will be located in one of the offices. It will be on a block marked on each side with the cross from Event I. The robot need only approach this block and signal its intention to pick up the delivery object. The corridors and doorways will be wide enough to accommodate the widest robot. There will be obstacles, and they may block some corridors and doorways; but there will always be an alternative way into all offices. Wider robots might be at a disadvantage here. Obstacles are blocks or groups of blocks; their edges will be covered with contrasting tape. The actual arena map will be handed out on the day of the event. It will show the locations of all walls, but no obstacles or the delivery object. It will also show the locations of most of the office doors. Some doors may not be indicated on the map. The map will be reasonably accurate; the error in distance between any two features should be less than 5%. About half of the office openings will be perceptually marked with crosses on one side or the other of the opening. Additionally, there will be a unique code next to each cross, consisting of a set of vertical stripes each 3 inches wide. The map will indicate which openings have the markers, and what their code is. Teams may place their own markers, at some penalty, in place of the ones provided. The robot will be started in an unknown position and orientation within the arena. A hint will be given about its position: whether it is in an office or a corridor, and which quadrant of the arena it is in. Another hint will give the quadrant in which the delivery object is to be found. The robot must navigate to the object, declare it has found it, and "deliver" it to a marked office specified at the start. The object is "found" if the robot is within the same office as the object. PARTICIPATION Those interested in participating in the competition should send an extended abstract (3-5 pages, email preferred) to Kurt Konolige by 15 April 1993 describing 1) the robot(s) to be entered with regard to the above specifications, 2) the general technical approach to be taken to accomplish the tasks in the three stages of the competition, and 3) the composition of the robot team, i.e., students, faculty, industry partners, etc. Those interested in exhibiting a video or poster, or putting an actual robot through its paces outside of the competition, should send an extended abstract (2-3 pages, email preferred) to Terry Weymouth by 15 April 1993 describing 1) the type and purpose of the exhibit, 2) requirements for the exhibit, e.g., floor space, video equipment, and 3) the exhibitor's name(s) and affiliation. Kurt Konolige Artificial Intelligence Center Rm. EJ254 SRI International 333 Ravenswood Avenue Menlo Park, CA 94025 USA email: konolige@ai.sri.com phone: (415) 859-2788 FAX: (415) 859-3735 Terry E. Weymouth Artificial Intelligence Laboratoty EECS Department University of Michigan 1101 Beal Av. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2110 weymouth@eecs.umich.edu (313) 764-3726 FAX: (313) 763-1260