Hi guys! The First Tech Challenge is coming to Singapore and the briefing was held at the Singapore Science Center today. I think that this is an interesting competition that allows you to advance your skills from just building Lego robots in competitions such as NJRC as well as the lower level FLL. The skills shift from using basic building blocks in Lego to metal parts in the basic sets provided. However, CAD software is also provided and these parts are allowed in the rules. Programming can be done in Labview or RobotC and this will allow for an option between GUI coding and C. However, the starting cost is rather hefty at SGD800 for the first 50 kits purchased and SGD1600 from there on. This does not include registration fees or the purchase of any parts or services such as CNC milling. Here are some pictures taken at the briefing:
Picture of the demo robot with a blue team flag. The front attachment is used for collecting the batons and is driven by 2 wheels with an Omni-wheel in the front to allow dual axis of freedom. This runs on the NXT processor and has a wireless module, a multiplexer among other components. From the looks of it, the metal frame is assembled from the basic set.
This is the general playing field although the presenter was quick to point out that there were some flaws in terms of dimensions and emphasized that Science Center will get it fixed quickly. There is a mountain in the middle flanked by 2 balancing boards. On the sides are ramps as well as the collection points of the batons. The four corners are where the robots start from and the 4 movable trolleys are also dumping points for the batons.
This is another sample robot with the red flag. Almost all modules look the same except that this robot is driven by tank tracks instead of an Omni wheel + 2 motors system. In this picture, it is perfectly balanced on the bridge and hence scores a point!
This is the same robot as the one in the first picture, just from a different angle.
This would be the baton dispenser loaded with batons. Essentially, there are 3 types of batons, the multiplier, which is completely colored and is not in the picture (2 of them), the regular baton as well as the magnetic baton. The scoring for each one is different but I will not bore you out here. If you need any additional details, please visit the FTC site (the link is posted below)
This will be the front view of the second demo robot. Apparently, the battery pack take 3 months to ship so the organizers have allowed this homemade battery pack. You might notice that the robot is not symmetrical- something that I place much emphasis on in my creations to ensure an even drive.
This is the movable scoring trolley. The 4 containers at the edges are for regular batons while the middle one will only be scored if it holds the magnetic baton. However, this looks the same as the regular baton and teams would be required to find some way of differentiating them.
This is the blue version of the baton dispenser.
This is a closeup view of the mountain, ramp as well as the balance board.
This would be the field viewed from another angle.
There is an infrared beacon placed beneath the medium height baton dispenser which is located in the middle of each side of the field. The presenter recommended that teams use this during the autonomous period to locate the dispenser.
This would be the standard NiMH battery pack on the left and the homemade battery pack on the right. As you might have noticed, the size is the same and the specifications has to be the same for the homemade pack to be used as a replacement.
This are the batons. The fully colored ones are the multipliers which were missing in the picture above as well as the regular batons. The double striped batons are loaded onto the robots (5 of them) while the single ones are placed in the dispenser. Among them, there will be one magnetic baton.
This is the identifier flag which is to be placed on the robots and indicates which team it is on.
The rules are really quite complex so I am afraid I am not able to summarize them here. You could go to the FTC site at
http://www.ftcsg.com.sg/. I hope that I have helped with some pictures to give you a better idea!
Thanks for visiting!
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