"id","sku","name","description","description_markdown","date_published","price","qty_price","in_stock","backorder_allowed","is_rohs_compliant","is_export_controlled","is_oshw","in_eagle_library","in_fritzing_library","sparkfun_original","hstariff","pack_length","pack_width","pack_height","packed_weight","ascii_art","ascii_art_url","categories","quantity","images","videos","related_products" "10435","CLS-10435","Autonomous Vehicle Competition - April 23rd, 2011","
AVC is back yet again for another year of epic autonomous vehicle competition! This year we have a few changes, so read the full rules (and this entire description) to see how this year will be ~~different~~ awesomer! If you\'re on the fence about it, check out the recap from last year. It\'s going to be bigger, better, and SparkFun-ier!
As always spectators are welcome (and highly encouraged) to come check out the fun! It\'s a great spring day full of hackery, tours, and if we\'re lucky a robot or two in the lake.
Basically, all you have to do is make a robot or vehicle that circumnavigates the SparkFun building. We have two categories - ground and air. Each category has a different set of rules. Here\'s how it will work this year.
This year, we are allowing unlimited ground vehicles to enter, there will be no limit like previous years. And while the race is still against a clock, each run will be up to 5 ground competitors starting simultaneously, depending on the total number of entrants. Weapons are not allowed, nor is intentional interference with other competitors, but we do anticipate some amount of incidental contact. Any vehicle judged to be intentionally interfering with other competitors will be disqualified. Air-going entrants will be limited to 15 due to time restrictions and the inherent difficulties in concurrent runs thereof. Race times will begin at 9:30am, 12pm and 2:30pm.
You are racing against the clock and the quickest of your 3 attempts will be kept, and the fastest wins overall. Grand prize for this year has been upped to $1000! We will also have smaller prizes for best ingenuity, uniqueness, most dangerous, people\'s choice, etc.
Ground Vehicle Rules:
Air Vehicle Rules:
Time reductions will also be awarded for the three planes that have the lowest peak altitude. To calculate this altitude, SFE will have devices available (likely made up of DEV-09530, SEN-09694 and PRT-00731, came in at 6.71g), weighing no more that 15 grams, to be placed on the UAV by the Judge via double-sided tape on the day of the race. A 60 second reduction goes to the lowest peak, 30 seconds for the second lowest, and 15 seconds for the third lowest. Competitors may also opt not to carry these devices and forego the possibility of a reduced time.
If a vehicle fails to complete its run, the total number of successfully navigated turns and distance will become the team\'s score rather than the time. Completed distance takes precedence over time. Example: a ¾ completion in 2 minutes beats ½ completion in 1 minute. Ultimately, the best time for a full lap takes the cake.
By purchasing this product you are purchasing an official entry to the day of competition. You are welcome to purchase an entry at any time, but last year we had a problem with people signing up and then \'not being able to make it\'. We will have more team entries than spots available, so to prevent teams from signing up and then being unable to attend, we will require every official team to submit a video no later than April 1st showing their robot driving forward and making a turn. Nothing fancy. If an official team does not submit their video in time, they will forfeit their spot and the spot will be given to a team on the waiting list.
Autonomous means your bot/car/plane/heli has to drive itself. You press the start button, three seconds later the robot begins navigation under its own control. There can be no human interaction. The car cannot receive any commands over any medium from a human operator. It is allowed to transmit debug information and receive any other signals (GPS, proximity, etc).
Update: We\'ve limited the total number of entrants to 50. We were too ambitious and unfortunately it doesn\'t look like we\'re going to be able to accommodate unlimited entries. However, we are allowing backorders, so if you still want to compete, you can enter and there\'s bound to be someone that drops out.
Prerequisites: **None! Bring a robot.
**Date: April 23rd, 2011 (a few days after US Tax day)
Time: 8:30AM to around 5PM
Location:SparkFun
Looking for a course preview? Look no further (well, a little bit further...it\'s just below)!
","[![Register for SparkFun Autonomous Vehicle Competition 2011 Spectator Ticket in Boulder, CO on Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.com/registerbutton?eid=1222664021)](http://sparkfunavc2011.eventbrite.com?ref=ebtn) AVC is back yet again for another year of epic autonomous vehicle competition! This year we have a few changes, so read the full rules (and this entire description) to see how this year will be ~~different~~ awesomer! If you\'re on the fence about it, check out the [recap](http://www.sparkfun.com/news/351) from last year. It\'s going to be bigger, better, and SparkFun-ier! As always spectators are welcome (and highly encouraged) to come check out the fun! It\'s a great spring day full of hackery, tours, and if we\'re lucky a robot or two in the lake. *Basically*, all you have to do is make a robot or vehicle that circumnavigates the SparkFun building. We have two categories - ground and air. Each category has a different set of rules. Here\'s how it will work this year. This year, we are allowing unlimited ground vehicles to enter, there will be no limit like previous years. And while the race is still against a clock, each run will be up to 5 ground competitors starting simultaneously, depending on the total number of entrants. Weapons are not allowed, nor is intentional interference with other competitors, but we do anticipate some amount of incidental contact. Any vehicle judged to be intentionally interfering with other competitors will be disqualified. Air-going entrants will be limited to 15 due to time restrictions and the inherent difficulties in concurrent runs thereof. Race times will begin at 9:30am, 12pm and 2:30pm. You are racing against the clock and the quickest of your 3 attempts will be kept, and the fastest wins overall. Grand prize for this year has been upped to $1000! We will also have smaller prizes for best ingenuity, uniqueness, most dangerous, people\'s choice, etc. **Ground Vehicle Rules:** * are only required to go around all four exterior walls of the building. No “exact” course will be marked, but sections will be roped off to keep spectators off of the main “expected” course. * No environmental modifications allowed (competitors may not put down tape, IR beacons, or any other temporary or semi-permanent marks). * There will be 4 large barrels placed as obstacles on the course, spaced no closer than 15\' to each other, positions to be determined on race day. * Raw times for each run will be calculated from when a ground vehicle first crosses the start/finish line, goes around the building, and again crosses the start finish line. If a vehicle becomes stuck for more than 60 seconds it is disqualified for that run (that’s usually enough time to determine that there’s a problem). * There will be a 3\' diameter arch (imagine croquet) located somewhere on the course, actual position to be determined on race day. Any ground vehicle that goes through the hoop gets 30 seconds off their official time for that run. The arch will be painted red for ease of optical identification, and a picture of this arch will be made available before race day for all competitors to see. * Max time limit per run is 5 minutes. * Kill switches are required for vehicles over 30 pounds, to be demonstrated to the judges on race day. **Air Vehicle Rules:** * Must also go around all four exterior walls of the building. * The lap time will be calculated from when the Judge says \'Go\' to when the plane comes to a halt in the back parking lot. A landing (autonomous or manned) outside the rear parking lot will disqualify the lap time. * Weather permitting, balloons on long freaking strings will be launched from the four corners of the building. The balloons will serve as guides for the judges/competitors as to the location of the corners/walls of which the non-ground vehicles must circumnavigate. * Regardless of weather/wind, the vehicles must clear the four exterior walls/corners of the building (not the balloons), verification of clearing the vertical plane will be up to the four line judges. * Autonomous take off is worth a 10 second reduction from raw time. * Wheel carriages are allowed for aircraft that don\'t have their own wheels. Human assisted take-off (throwing a plane) is not considered autonomous. * Autonomous landing (coming to a halt) within the indicated box is worth a 30 second reduction in time * Within SFE back lot parking area (not in the box, but must be on our blacktop) gets a 10 second reduction in raw time. * Time reductions will also be awarded for the three planes that have the lowest peak altitude. To calculate this altitude, SFE will have devices available (likely made up of [DEV-09530](http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9530), [SEN-09694](http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9694) and [PRT-00731](http://www.sparkfun.com/products/731), came in at 6.71g), weighing no more that 15 grams, to be placed on the UAV by the Judge via double-sided tape on the day of the race. A 60 second reduction goes to the lowest peak, 30 seconds for the second lowest, and 15 seconds for the third lowest. Competitors may also opt not to carry these devices and forego the possibility of a reduced time. If a vehicle fails to complete its run, the total number of successfully navigated turns and distance will become the team\'s score rather than the time. Completed distance takes precedence over time. Example: a ¾ completion in 2 minutes beats ½ completion in 1 minute. Ultimately, the best time for a full lap takes the cake. By purchasing this product you are purchasing an official entry to the day of competition. You are welcome to purchase an entry at any time, but last year we had a problem with people signing up and then \'not being able to make it\'. We will have more team entries than spots available, so to prevent teams from signing up and then being unable to attend, we will require every official team to submit a video no later than April 1st showing their robot driving forward and making a turn. Nothing fancy. If an official team does not submit their video in time, they will forfeit their spot and the spot will be given to a team on the waiting list. Autonomous means your bot/car/plane/heli has to drive itself. You press the start button, three seconds later the robot begins navigation under its own control. There can be no human interaction. The car cannot receive any commands over any medium from a human operator. It is allowed to transmit debug information and receive any other signals (GPS, proximity, etc). **Update:** We\'ve limited the total number of entrants to 50. We were too ambitious and unfortunately it doesn\'t look like we\'re going to be able to accommodate unlimited entries. However, we are allowing backorders, so if you still want to compete, you can enter and there\'s bound to be someone that drops out. **Prerequisites: **None! Bring a robot. **Date:** April 23rd, 2011 (a few days after US Tax day) **Time:** 8:30AM to around 5PM **Location:**[SparkFun](http://www.sparkfun.com/static/contact) Looking for a course preview? Look no further (well, a little bit further...it\'s just below)! 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