2009 Rules

2009 Rules For Mount Terror!

Fire Under The Ice!

Click Here For PDF File

When is the competition?
The competition will be held on June 12-14, 2009. The teams that make it to the finals will compete at night and their ROV should be able to provide its own lights. Finals will be from 8pm to 4 am.

Where will the event take place?
The event will be held at Chandler High School in Chandler, Arizona

Who may enter?
The competition is open to any home school, jr. high, high school, jr. College or university as well as private corporations or adult teams. Teams may consist of combinations of students, industry mentors, faculty members and parents. Students must however be the ones competing in all the parts of the competition. Adults can be team members, but the students do all the competing at the competition. Private corporations or adults are the exception, unless they have students. Jr. high, high school, colleges and universities, and corporations will be scored separately as categories, but they will all compete in the same mission. All adult teams can enter and compete and will be scored against the universities.

What is the Entry Fee?
The entry fee is $250.00 which is non-refundable. It is due by April 24th 2009. After April 24th the entry fee will be $300.00

How many teams can enter the event?
A total of 24 teams will be allowed to compete in the finals of the competition. The teams will have to qualify for the finals and only the top 24 teams will make it to finals, and the rest of the entrants will compete in the consolation event that will be held earlier the day of the competition while there is still daylight. More information on qualifying will be announced soon. Basically you must demonstrate that your ROV is capable of doing the basics of the mission.
Why is this event being held?
The event organizers want to bring another technological competition to the state of Arizona, to complement the FIRST LEGO for junior high, FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Arizona Regional for high school students. The event organizers want to encourage students participate in science and technology. The event allows students from jr. high to university to be exposed to one another in a competitive and fun venue where ideas can be exchanged and friendships developed.

Who is putting on this event?
Chandler High School and Carl Hayden High School, as members of the Arizona Promoters of Applied Science in Education (APASE), Through Si Se Puede, a non-profit organization dedicated to promotion of science and technology education in Arizona.
Power Restrictions:
The ROV power must come from team supplied batteries. Console, pilot monitors and such pool side equipment can use venue supplied 120v AC GFI protected power.
(Teams need to supply power strip, if needed)

There is a new rule under the power section this year. "Green Charging"


There is a power limit of 1700 watts direct current (DC) for the ROV. In addition, no ROV system may use more than 56 volts (nominally a 48 volt system). No ROV may draw more than 120 amps. There must be an appropriate sized fuse or circuit breaker that will insure the 1700 watt limit.

The size of the circuit protection will depend upon the voltage of the system. A 12 volt system powered by fresh batteries, may, in reality, be a 13.7 volt system.
Using the power formula, Power= voltage * amps will determine the maximum current.

1700w= 13.7v * amps; amps = 1700w/13.7v; 124 amps.

Since 120 is the legal limit, a 120 amp breaker should be used.

Using the same formulas, a 36 volt system may charge to 40 volts, thus 1700w/40 = 42.5 amps. A 40 amp breaker would be used to insure the system does not exceed 1700 watts.

Once the main breaker is determined, it is advisable, but not required, that ROV subsystems are fused to protect your ROV.
If an independent subsystem power supply is used (e.g. four 12v 3 amp underwater flashlight with their own batteries),
The (4 * 12 * 3) 144 watts must be deducted from the 1700 watt total. If more than one ROV is deployed, the total power budget is 1700 watts.
Judges will be concerned that the gage of wires are appropriate for the current, that there are no exposed wires nor other safety issues during inspection and during the competition.
If there are any power limit questions, please contact Dr. Allan Cameron for clarification. N7UJJ@cox.net See attached chart.

Qualifying for the Night Mission, another new things for this year

Team must qualify in order to enter the night mission scenario.

A team will get a maximum of three qualifying attempts. A team that has not had a qualifying run or that has not qualified that shows up to qualify will supersede any team waiting to do a another qualifying run.

Qualifying times are Friday from 2pm to 6pm and Saturday from 1pm to 4pm on a first come first serve basis.

A team must demonstrate the following capabilities under a timed qualifying run:

Submerge to 13 feet deep at the side of the pool, travel 20 feet in a straight line away from side of pool, retrieve an object from the bottom of the pool that has a 2 inch PVC ring, return to side of pool and surface under the ROV’s own power to deliver the object to a team mate.
Send video to the surface the whole time during the qualifying run

Once a team qualifies, it will earn its right to select its mission time slot in the order of fastest qualifying times. The exception is that pre-high school teams that qualify will get the first slots from 8pm on.

ROV Dimensions:
There are no restrictions on the size and weight of ROV. The mission props may provide you with guidance on what might be appropriate dimensions for this mission.

Number of ROV’s per team:
There is no limit to the number of ROV’s a team may use in the competition, however, the total power of all of the ROV’s combined must not exceed the 1700 watt limit with all the ROV’s combined.

Number of people per team:
There is no limit to the number of people who can be on a team, but, only students may participate in the underwater mission and the oral presentation. Private corporations without students, and adult teams are exempt from this rule, but will be scored in the University Division. On the pool deck where the mission takes place, no more than 10 people can represent a team.

Number of teams per school:
There is no limit to the number of teams allowed from each school.

Components:
This competition is designed to strengthen problem solving skills and encourage learning in systems integration. Use of off the shelf, plug and play systems is allowed. That is, while, an ROV cannot be bought and used off the shelf, separate ROV components can. Each team must design and build its ROV, integrating a series of components into a ROV system. A team may chose to design and build components or find components that fit its needs from any commercial vendor. A team must be able to explain all the functions of the ROV and all of its components. Use of a component without a general understanding of the component’s fundamental theory of operation could result point deductions during the oral presentation.

Price Limit:
There is no limit to the amount of money that may be spent on the ROV. Functionality is of primary importance and cost effectiveness is secondary. Higher scoring may, however, result if a capable ROV is built for less money. A detailed itemized price list that includes donated items and lists vendors is required for each team’s ROV system.

Website:
Each team is encouraged to have a website which documents and showcases the team’s participation and learning through all phases of ROV construction. The teams that have websites will get 50 points that contributes to their overall scores and teams that do not maintain a website will not get the 20 points. Students and audience will judge websites during the competition for a special website award. Team websites will be listed and linked through the event website as they become available. The competition will be broadcast on the world wide web with live, video and audio stream. All video footage will be archived and available through the event website after the competition.

Video Feed:
Each team must have a live video feed available to show the video from the ROV to the public in the viewing room and the world wide web via the live stream. This connection must be a female RCA connector. The event staff will connect to this feed.

Audio Feed:
Each team is encouraged to have a live audio feed available. They will be connected with female RCA Jacks as well.

Team ROV video Footage:
Each team will be able get a copy of the video of its mission after completing the mission. This video will contain angles of the mission as recorded from the various vantage points in the pool, as well as the video feed from the ROV itself. Teams may use this footage to showcase their ROV’s performance and promote the event.

Oral Presentation:
Each teams will have 15 minutes to make a presentation to a panel of judges explaining the design, construction and operation of its ROV. All teams must have their ROV and surface support systems present during the presentation and only the students team members may present to the judges (with the exception of corporations, unless they have students, or an all adult team). Teams may bring any additional props they like to aid in the presentation, but they must provide these on their own behalf. A table and screen will be provided, computers and projectors are the responsibility of each team, and may be used optionally. There is no limit to the number of team members who may participate, but non-presenters must remain outside the room. Each presentation will be broadcast outside of the presentation room on a closed circuit TV for the non-presenting team members and the general public to see. Video footage of each presentation will be burned to DVD and each team will be receive a copy of its presentation for its records. This video footage will also be archived on the event website, for teams that sign a waiver, so that future teams may watch and learn from them.

Technical Report:

Each team must submit one week prior to the event (June 5, 2009 by midnight) a technical report documenting the design, construction and operation of the ROV in order to conduct the mission. This report must be submitted via e-mail in Word, Publisher or PDF format. Confirmation of the submission of the technical report will be in the form of an email verifying the date and time of the submission. The report may be written by any member of the team. Each team may decide how many people participate in writing the technical report, but it is highly advisable that the authors of the report also participate in the oral presentation, as the presentation judges will use this report as a reference. The technical report may not exceed 25 pages in length and must use 12pt Times New Roman font. It must include a title page with the school name, team name, school location, photo of the ROV, and a list of team members. The report must include a table of contents, headings for each section, a list of references. An abstract, no longer than 250 words, must immediately follow the table of contents. The intention of the report is to communicate understanding, learning and experience gained through the stages of ROV development and testing. Sample headings might include "Design Rational ", “Mission Strategy”, “Design Revisions”, “Techniques learned”, and “Preliminary Results”. Incorporate graphs and photos and other visual enhancements if so desired. Several sample reports are available on the event website for reference. Once all the teams have submitted their technical reports, these reports will be posted on the website and made accessible to all teams and the general public. The technical report is worth a total of 250 points.

Technical Inspection:

Before any team will be allowed to participate in the competition, its ROV must pass a technical inspection. The ROV will be evaluated for safety and the removal or modification of exposed sharp edges, electrical hazards, and mechanical pinch points. Each team must demonstrate its ROV can be readily turned off. It will only pass inspection if it deemed safe to operate in the water. Keep this in mind when designing and building the ROV. During the inspection each team must also present a schematic of the ROV system , and identify appropriate fuses. Each team must demonstrate to the extent possible, all functions of the ROV. Teams must show that the ROV is the within the 1700 watt limit, and must present the female RCA type video connector to the inspectors so that they may test the live video feed. The audio feed will also be tested at this time, but a lack of functioning audio will not prevent a team from competing. If a team’s ROV fails the technical inspection, the team may make modifications to the ROV and repeat the inspection until either the ROV complies with safety regulations and competition rules or the inspection period expires.

Measurements:
All measurements will be in SI (metric) units. .
Mission Scoring: Maximum Score is 569 points (not counting charging bonus points)

1. Free Anchor from the research vessel

5 points for locating the anchor

10 points for freeing the anchor

2. Manually activate the emergency ascent device on the damaged ROV

5 points for location the damaged ROV

10 points for activating the emergency ascent device on the damaged ROV

3. Turn on remote sensing station work lights

5 points for locating the remote sensing station

5 points for locating the work light toggle switch

10 points for turning on the work lights

4. Re-attach the broken mooring of the remote sensing station

5 points for locating the loose mooring chain

5 points for locating the mooring mount

10 points for securing the mooring chain on the mooring mount

5. Retrieve the old scientific package from the remote sensing station and return a new science package

5 points for locating the scientific package door on the remote sensing station

10 points for opening the science package door on the remote sensing station

15 points for retrieving the old science package to the surface

15 points for returning the new science package to the remote sensing station

10 points for closing the science package door

6. Retrieve a glacial core sample from a tunnel bored into the glacier, perpendicular to the glacial melt flow with turbidity currents. (5 min. time limit once entered into the glacial melt flow)

5 points for locating the opening of the glacial melt flow with turbidity currents

100 points for getting into the tunnel that was bored into the glacier that is perpendicular to the glacial melt flow with turbidity currents

10 points for locating the depth of the mark on the wall of the tunnel that was bored into the glacier, perpendicular to the glacier melt flow with turbidity currents

25 points for measuring the mark within 2.54 centimeter accuracy

15 points for measuring the mark within 5.08 centimeter accuracy

10 points for locating the core sample in the tunnel that was bored into the glacier, perpendicular to the glacier melt flow with turbidity currents

50 points for retrieving the core sample to the surface

If the ROV has not has not cleared the opening of the glacial melt flow in the 5 minutes since entering the opening of the glacial melt flow, the mission will end and all points acquired since entering the opening of the glacier melt flow will not count toward the mission score.

7. Measure the temperature of the newly created volcanic vent

5 points for locating the newly created volcanic vent

15 points for measuring the temperature within 3 degrees Celsius

10 points for measuring the temperature within 8 degrees Celsius

8. Record the sound of the newly created volcanic vent

20 points for broadcasting the sound to the surface for the judges to hear during the mission

40 points for recording the sound and playing it back on the surface for the judges to hear

9. Retrieve the four core samples and the six bioluminescent bacteria samples.

5 points for locating each core sample (4 for a total of 20 points)

10 points for retrieving each core sample to the surface ( 4 for a total of 40 points)

5 points for locating each bioluminescent bacteria sample ( 6 for a total of 30 points)

10 points for retrieving each green bioluminescent bacterial sample ( 2 for a total of 20 points)

12 points for retrieving each blue bioluminescent bacterial sample (2 for a total of 24 points)

15 points for retrieving each red bioluminescent bacterial sample( 2 for total of 30 points)

Mission Details:

Set Up: Teams will be pre-staged in a designated area and the team captain will notify the staging crew of the team’s arrival. When the team is given the signal to begin its mission, the team will have five minutes to set up in the mission control area. The set up timer will stop once the team captain declares its completion and all members are idle. The team will receive a one point penalty for every five seconds spent in set beyond the 5 minute set up period. This delay will also cut into the total mission time.

Mission: Each team will have thirty minutes to complete the mission. The mission timer will begin exactly five minutes after the team is given the start signal. The team captain can end the mission at any time. A team that ends the mission in under thirty minutes will get one point for every minute under thirty minutes. Any team that completes mission element 6 (Retrieve a glacial core sample from a tunnel bored into the glacier, perpendicular to the glacial melt flow with turbidity currents.) and ends the mission in under thirty minutes will receive two bonus points for every minute remaining under the thirty minutes.

Break down: Each team will have five minutes to break down their equipment and leave the mission control area. The team will receive a one point penalty for every five seconds spent in break down beyond the five minute break down period.

Details on Props: Scale drawings of mission props can be seen and down loaded on the SketchUp Models Of Mission Props link on the left in the menu. You must download a copy of the Google SketchUp program and install it before attempting to view the models. The link for that is also on the left menu.

Meet and Greet:

Teams will have a pit area in which to work on their robot and set up a display or exhibit for the public to see when they come to see the teams. This setup can be anything the team wishes it to be. Each Team must have, at all times that the pit is open, a person or group of people who’s job it is to meet and greet anybody that come by to see the pit and the team. Their job is basically to act as the team’s public relations officer, where they are to explain to the public how their team works and answer any questions about their ROV that might be asked. This whole part of the competition is informal although, there will be judges in the crowd who will watch how teams interact with the public when they are approached. Enthusiasm and interest in explaining about their team and ROV will be judged according to a simple rubric. Media personal may also be present and how teams interact with them will also be scrutinized. The jist of this part of the competition is to share all your knowledge and enthusiasm with the people who come to visit, as well as the other teams who are present. Teams may wish to make hand outs, pass out “freebies” and so on. Posters and video clips may also be used to showcase the team. The total points possible is 50 points. A rubric of this will be made available before the competition.

Team Intro Video:

Each team must submit a 2 minute video showcasing their ROV and its features. This does not have to be a “super slick” production. It can be very informal. No special effects or complicated video editing needed. The purpose for the video is that before each team competes in their mission, the video will be shown to the audience in the viewing area. Each Team’s video will precede the live video footage of their ROV completing the mission. The video must be as close as possible to two minutes with no more than a few seconds to spare either way. Teams will receive points for their submission of the video. If it is submitted, a team will get their 50 points. Teams must submit the video during check in on Friday, no exceptions! The team should turn in the video on flash drive or DVD format.

Total Points:

Mission =569 plus bonuses

Meet & Greet =50

Technical Report =250

Oral Presentation =150

Website =50

Team Intro Video =50

Total Points =1199

Penalties:

Points will be deducted for the following reasons:

*5 points for pulling the ROV by the tether for each incident, pulling the ROV all the way to the surface would be one incident or pulling the ROV to free it from an entanglement and proceeding with the mission would also be an incident.

*1 point for every five seconds spent in setup beyond the 5 minute set up period.

*1 point for every five seconds spent in break down beyond the five minute break down period.

*5 Points for being unable to bring the ROV back to the surface without diver assistance

*5 Points for damaging any mission props.

*5 Points for tether man communicating ROV position to ROV pilot.

*5 Points for passing through volcanic vents

Contact Info:

coachfredi@hotmail.com