The Rules
This year's challenge is called "Cruise to the Park". Your goal is to navigate from the START position to the FINISH position in the park. It's a fully autonomous challenge, meaning from when Zumi leaves the START position until the FINISH position, Zumi cannot be controlled or touched. It will require you to master driving skills and some of Zumi’s AI capabilities by utilizing her camera to recognize a STOP sign, using AI to learn red and green, and reading QR codes to navigate the field. Below, you'll find all the details you'll need to know about the rules and scoring.
How to Set Up Your Field
This is the official way to set up your Cruise to the Park field for the competition. The same field can be shared between multiple participants and teams, so a classroom can purchase one field, and participants can take turns practicing or using the field to record their submission video.
The Field
Here is the "Cruise to the Park" field for this year. Your goal will be to navigate along the road from START to FINISH, completely autonomously, using driving functions, AI features, and sensors.
The Challenge
Before you start
You must use The Spinner to determine which location you will be stopping at in Challenge A, and which direction you will be going Challenge C. Then, make sure that the following things are in place, before you begin.
Walls are placed according to this diagram
STOP sign is placed at marker in Challenge B
Red card is placed at the marker in Challenge C
"left" or "right" QR code is placed at the marker in Challenge C
Challenge A: QR Code Parking
Zumi starts at the START position on the map, facing west. She should be shown one location QR code that is randomly selected from "factory", "school", "office", and "museum" by using The Spinner. When it is detected, she must play the 3-second 'do-re-mi' sound. The clock starts as soon as the sound is played. The objective is to visit the correct location based on what the QR code says, then drive on to the next challenge.
The points are given as follows:
+20 Read QR code, play 3-second 'do-re-mi', stop at correct location
+5 pass in front of the factory
+5 pass in front of the school
+5 pass in front of the office
+5 pass in front of the museum
40 total points
Challenge B: STOP Sign and Drive
This challenge starts facing the STOP sign, which should be placed at the marker before the start of the run. You can use the "funnel" shape to help get aligned with the STOP sign. Zumi must play the 3-second 'do-re-mi' sound when the STOP sign is detected, then wait. During this time, you have the option to readjust Zumi's alignment by hand by adjusting her left or right slightly. You will earn bonus points if you don't manually readjust Zumi. Zumi should only continue when the STOP sign is removed. Then she should drive through segments 1 - 3, without touching the walls or driving onto grass.
The points are given as follows:
+20 Detect STOP sign, play 3-second 'do-re-mi', remain stopped until STOP sign removed
+5 pass segment 1
+5 pass segment 2
+5 pass segment 3
+5 bonus ponts:
After detecting the STOP sign, if you don’t readjust Zumi’s position by hand, you’ll earn 5 bonus points.
35 total points (+5 bonus points)
Challenge C: Traffic Light and QR Decision
Zumi will need to align in front of the red card, which should be placed at the marker before you start the run. Like before, you can use the "funnel" to assist with alignment. Zumi must play the 3 second 'do-re-mi' sound when the red card is detected, then wait. During this time, you have the option to readjust Zumi's alignment by hand by adjusting her left or right slightly. You will earn bonus points if you don't manually readjust Zumi. She should only continue when the green card is detected.
She should follow the line along the floor, then face the QR code to determine which direction to go at the T-intersection. The QR code for left or right must be randomly selected using The Spinner, then placed prior to the start of your run. Zumi must play the 3 second 'do-re-mi' sound when the QR code is read, then turn in the correct direction and follow the line to finally park in the correct FINISH parking spot. The clock stops as soon as Zumi is fully stopped in the parking spot.
You can earn 10 extra bonus points for doing a celebratory dance, which just needs to include some movement and some sound. You can also earn 10 bonus points if you display the location from challenge A and the direction from challenge C on Zumi's OLED screen.
The points are given as follows:
+10 Detect red card, play 'do-re-mi', remain stopped until green card detected
+15 Read QR code, play 'do-re-mi', drive in correct direction
+10 Park in correct FINISH spot
+10 bonus points Do a celebratory dance
+10 bonus points Display location and direction on OLED
+5 bonus ponts After detecting the color card, if you don’t readjust Zumi’s position by hand, you’ll earn 5 bonus points.
+10 possible points Based on your presentation
35 total points (+25 bonus points)
Grand Total Possible Points: 150
General Rules
The following are general rules for this competition:
- Junior league (grades 4 - 6 / ages 10 - 12) can submit in Blockly or Python. Senior league (grades 7 - 12 / ages 13 - 18) must submit in Python
- You may join as an individual, or as a team with a maximum of 2 people
- Your objective is to get as many points as possible, as quickly as you can
- Shorter runtimes will be ranked higher. For example, if two participants score equal points, the participant with the shorter runtime will be ranked higher.
- Presentations and code will be taken into consideration as tie-breakers in instances where points and runtime are equal
- You must drive on the road and on the black line, you cannot use the grass or drive outside of the field to be considered.
- If you drive onto grass or crash into a wall during a run, you will get all points up until that point. However, you cannot accumulate points after driving onto grass or crashing into a wall.
- During your run, you are allowed to skip certain challenges if you choose. For example, you may choose to simply drive straight and not visit any of the locations in Challenge A. This would still earn you 20 points (4 locations x 5 points), rather than the full 40. However keep in mind, this will mean you do not receive those points for challenges you skip.
- Your code will be reviewed to make sure the behavior in the video submission matches your code. Videos that do not match submitted code will not be considered.
- As a fully autonomous challenge, only runs where the Zumi is not controlled or touched during the run between START and FINISH will be considered
- Rules specific to recording a valid video submission can be found here