ROBOCAT 2022

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Objectives

The association El Racó dels Robotaires, with the organization of ROBOCAT, proposes the following objectives:

1. Create a common environment to share ideas with people who have concerns in the field of technology.
2. Encourage assembly robotics and free software.
3. Make robotic activities accessible and affordable for schools and civic centers.
4. To promote knowledge and appreciation of the cultural, artistic and natural heritage of Catalonia.
5. To promote the discovery of the richness and diversity of European heritage.
6. Encourage cooperation between entities, schools, institutions, companies and individuals in order to create synergies in research, development and innovation.
7. Combine the assembly and decoration of the competition field with learning in the programming and construction of the robot.
8. Introduce computational thinking and robotics into the school curriculum.
9. To advance in the equality of possibilities for all the people and, especially, in the scientific-technological field.

Equipment

1. ROBOCAT teams are divided into three categories:
   1. Junior Category: 5th and 6th year students of Primary Education and 1st and 2nd year of Compulsory Secondary Education
   2. Senior Category: 3rd and 4th year students of Compulsory Secondary Education, Baccalaureate and Intermediate Vocational Training
   3. Adults category: University students, Higher Degree Training Cycles and participants who are not part of any of the above categories
2. Teams can consist of a maximum of 6 members. You can also compete individually.
3. Each team has a coach or mentor. In the case of being over 18, the coach or mentor may match one of the team participants.
4. A representative of the team puts the robot into operation when the referee gives the signal to start the game.
5. The contact of the coach with the team during the whole competition is prohibited.
6. The team coach must give the authorization of image rights of the team members, in the event that their members are minors, to

the ROBOCAT organizing committee by sending an email to [email protected] before the day of competition.

Championship structure

The Championship is structured in three stages of participation

• Micro-ROBOCAT: small tournaments self-organized by schools, entities, companies or institutions in which a minimum of 2 teams participate. These tournaments give access to the territorial phases of the ROBOCAT.

• Territorial phases: tournaments co-organized between the association El Racó dels Robot workers and the territorial partners of the competition -educational centers, entities, companies and institutions-. They give access to the Grand Final of the ROBOCAT.

• Grand Finale: final tournament with the best ranked teams in the territorial phases

Dynamics of competition

1. The competition is divided into two phases: the qualifying phase and the eliminatory phase, independent for each category.
2. There are two types of scoring in the qualifying phase: qualifying points and tiebreaker points.
3. The qualifying phase consists of three rounds. In each round the team plays a game.
4. Each game lasts two minutes. Time cannot be stopped.
5. In each game two teams of the same category compete. Each team plays the game on the assigned competition field.
6. Once the game is over, the team can win, lose or draw:
   
   1. If the team wins it gets 3 qualifying points.
   2. If the team loses it gets 0 ranking points.
   3. If the team draws it gets 1 classification point.
7. The sum of the score obtained by the team in the four games make up the tiebreaker points.
8. The final classification of this phase is decided based on the classification points and in case of a tie, taking into account the tie points.
9. The best teams in each category participate in the elimination phase of the competition, which can consist of eighths, quarterfinals, semifinals and final.

Sanctions regime

1. In the event that a coach or mentor enters the training or competition area, from the start of the opening ceremony to the end of the tournament, a member of the organization will notify you that their conduct it is punishable. In the event that the coach persists in this breach, the member of the organization will notify the referee of the situation in order to disqualify the team, which means that he will not be able to play any more games.
2. If the coach or mentor contacts, physically or through any means, one or more team members, from the opening ceremony until the end of the tournament, in order to provide technical information on the robot, a member of the organization will make you notice that their behavior is punishable. In the event that the coach persists in this breach, the member of the organization will notify the head of referees of the situation in order to proceed with the disqualification of the team.
3. In the event that both previous conducts take place simultaneously, the member of the organization, will give record of the facts to the head of referees, in order to proceed to the immediate disqualification of the equipment.
4. In the event that one or more people who do not have the status of coach or mentor get in touch, physically or through any means, with one or more members of a team, from the inauguration ceremony until at the end of the tournament, in order to give technical instructions about the robot, a member of the organization will notify the parties involved that they are in breach of the regulations. If the non-compliance persists, the member of the organization will notify the head of referees of the situation in order to proceed with the disqualification of the team.
5. The participant or participants who contact the trainer or other attendees in any way, in order to obtain technical information about their robot, will be notified that their behavior is punishable. If the non-compliance persists, the member of the organization will notify the head of referees of the situation in order to proceed with the disqualification of the team.
6. The referee, before making any decision that affects the right to participate in the team tournament, will hear the allegations of the parties involved, and will make the decision that is most convenient in order to ensure the proper functioning of the tournament. .
7. At the end of the game, if the team participants do not agree with the score obtained, they will inform the referee of their game board and the referee will make a decision that will be binding. In exceptional cases, the intervention of the head of referees may be requested.
8. When a situation arises on the game board not provided for in the rules of the challenge and this generates a dispute between the two teams that are competing, the head of referees will decide according to what is most reasonable and fair. The decision taken by the head of referees will bind all participants in the local tournament.
9. It is strictly forbidden for members of the public and coaches or mentors to influence, directly or indirectly, the referees in the decisions they have to make. In any case, they will be able to transmit their assessments to the territorial coordinator, who will take note.
10. Ignorance of ROBOCAT's sanctioning regime does not exempt it from compliance. The sanctions provided for in this section are in addition to those provided for in the regulations of ROBOCAT 2022.

Teams registration

The registration period for ROBOCAT 2022 begins on June 10, 2021 and ends on February 13, 2022. Registrations are made through the following link: https://robocat.cat/inscripcions/

Payment for registrations is made by credit card or PayPal. Registrations no they will be valid if the payment is not made within a period of two weeks. No returns will be made.

The maximum number of teams that can register per school, company, institution or entity is six. The maximum number of participants per team is 6.

Once registered, the team will have access to the web portal that will be used to facilitate communication between teams and the organization. The goal is to create a community that helps you enjoy learning robotics.

You can find the prices of the registrations in ROBOCAT here.

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Setting

The game board of the sixth edition of ROBOCAT, The Catalan Robotics Championship, is set in the theme of the Castellers.

Teamwork, effort and a spirit of self-improvement. These are the values that embody the Castells, a cultural practice with more than 200 years of history and declared in 2010 Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The oldest data on these human towers date back to the 18th century: the towers formed by two or three people were the culmination of the Ball de Valencians, typical of the main festivals of the Tarragona region. When these constructions became independent of the rest of the dance, the Castles were born as an exhibition with their own character.

Its popularity has gone through different stages. After consolidating in the 19th century, with castles up to nine stories high, its practice declined in the early 20th century, and resurfaced during the 1960s. The golden age of the Castles occurred in from the 1990s to the present. The creation of new groups with a young and multicultural profile, the achievement of new and spectacular constructions, and the retransmission of the castle exhibitions on television have contributed to this. There are currently more than 100 groups in the Catalan Countries, with more than 12,000 castellers, exceeding the 12,000 castles set up each year.1

To know the essential vocabulary "casteller" we recommend you consult the following link.

• ¹ Generalitat de Catalunya, available at http://patrimoni.gencat.cat/ca/coleccio/castells

Game board

1. The game board measures 2362 ± 3mm long by 1143 ± 3mm wide.
2. The game board consists of two competition fields.
3. Each team competes with their robot in their respective competition field.
4. The competition field measures 1173 ± 3mm long by 1143 ± 3mm wide.
5. Consult the plans for other measurements.

Robot

1. The robot can be built with any type of material and can be programmed using the desired platform.
2. Each team can present only one robot.
3. The robot must be decorated with a motif related to the theme of the championship.
4. The team cannot manipulate the robot during the game, only to put it into operation. This includes communication with the robot by any means: it must be completely autonomous. Failure to comply with this rule will result in the robot being disqualified.
5. If the robot has more than one control unit, they must all move around the field at the same time. In particular, it is explicitly forbidden to make "subrobots" autonomous from the main robot.
6. The maximum size of the robot is 278.25 mm wide x 270.75 mm long. There is no height limit.

Cubs

1. Each team has 20 cubes.
2. There are two types of cubes: 4 cubes are known as "enxaneta", while the remaining 16 are called "trunk" cubes.
3. All cubes of the same type must be similar and must follow the same pattern.
4. The “enxaneta” cubes must be significantly different from the “trunk” cubes from all angles.
5. Teams can customize their cubes with their colors or motifs, without altering their original physical properties.
6. The cubes are made of 4.5x4.5x4.5cm polyurethane foam with a weight of 19 ± 3g.

Operation of the challenge

1. 1. The robot must build cube castles in the competition area designated as the "square".
   2. Each area of the counter does not include the black bands that border each of the zones, but the inner guide lines in the zones do. The plan of the competition field is as follows:
   3. Before the start of the game the team:
      
      1. You must place the robot inside a rectangle in the starting area, without completely or partially stepping on the black bands.
      2. You can place a maximum of 8 "trunk" cubes on the surface of the rectangle in the start area where the robot is not, without stepping on the black bands. All cubes should be completely touching the ground. The cubes you decide not to place must be handed over to the referee or, if this is not possible, set aside for the rest of the game. Discarded cubes do not score.
      3. You must place a hook bucket inside each "hook" area. Therefore, he will place two hookers on the competition field. The cubes must be completely inside the “enxaneta” area and in flat contact with the ground on one of their faces.
   4. Each time the robot leaves the start area completely, the team will be able to place up to two cubes - of any type - in the start area, and one of them must be completely touching the ground. . In no case can cubes with a level higher than 3 be added, i.e. no cube towers can be made by hand over 3 floors. The "enxaneta" cubes that are added must always touch the ground completely. During these changes, none of the existing cubes on the competition field will be able to move, and once a cube is released, it is considered to have become part of the competition field. To put more cubes back, the robot will have to leave the start area and re-enter. In the case of teams in the category Junior, the limit of cubes you can put each time is increased to 4 cubes, instead of the 2 that apply to Senior i Adults. The maximum number of floors is not modified and is still 3.
   5. At the end of the game, all cubes in contact with the robot will be invalidated. Cubes above the cubes that are in direct contact with the robot will also be invalidated. This rule no applies to Junior category games.

6. It is forbidden for the robot of one competition field to interfere with the robot of the other field of the game board. Failure to comply with this rule may result in disqualification of the equipment.

Score

1. 1. At the end of the game, a value will be assigned to each of the cubes located on the competition field.
   2. The score of the game will be the sum of the points awarded to each of the cubes, plus 10 additional points if the robot "flips".
   3. It is considered that the robot "flips" if at the end of the game the robot has visibly raised an "arm" (or an equivalent part) above the rest of the robot's body.
      1. This "arm" can vary depending on the robot and does not need to be designed specifically for this purpose. However, it must have been completely or partially downloaded at some point during the game. That is, it must be able to move, without ever being able to be, for example, a fixed flag.
      2. In case of doubt about whether a part of the robot meets the definition of "arm", it must be consulted in advance with the referee before starting the game. The additional 10 points will not be awarded if the referee interprets that the required characteristics are not met.
   4. The floor (level) of the cubes that touch the ground of the competition field is 1. Above the 1st floor will be the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th floors, and so on.
   5. The cubes located outside the "square" always have a score of 0 points, regardless of the floor where they are.
   6. All the cubes located in the "square" receive a score according to the floor where they are, following the table at the end of this section. As an exception, the score of a cube that crowns the castle will be replaced by a special score as indicated in the table. The score of other cubes is not affected
   7. To consider that a cube crowns the castle, this one must:
      1. Be a “enxaneta” type cube.
      2. Being on the 2nd floor or higher, that is, in no case can it be a cube that touches the ground.
      3. It is not in contact with any cube of upper floors. This means that the "enxaneta" cube must be placed on the top floor in order to obtain the maximum score. Otherwise, the "hook" cube scores as a "trunk" cube.

Cube crowning the castle	Cube does not crown the castle

8. Any cube that falls outside the limits of the competition field, including the opposing field, will be immediately withdrawn by the referees, will not score, and may not be recovered during the match.

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