Information Sheet
2nd Annual University of Maryland Robotics Competition
December 16, 1994
The Robots
The Department of Computer Science offers a yearly course, CMSC 422,
which is an introduction to the programming of ``Autonomous Mobile
Robots.'' By autonomous we mean that no human controller is
``in the loop.'' By mobile we mean just that -- that the robots
must move. Programming such systems is very hard -- they require
being able to take information in from the environment, via the
sensors, and to use that information to decide what actions to take,
via effectors.
The students in this course finish the term by building small robots
from a combination of Lego(TM) parts and low-cost electronic
components for sensors and effectors. The robots are given a
``brain'' in the form of a small processor board, which is programmed
in the ``C'' computer language. Students must use this board to
for the robot figure out what the sensors are seeing and to decide
which actions to take. This processor board was originally designed
at MIT, and the University of Maryland is proud to have been the first
campus in this country to use these boards in a for-credit course.
The students are provided with all the components in these kits as
part of the class. The kits were purchased by the College of
Computer, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences at the University of
Maryland.
The Competition
Instead of a final exam, the students in this course participate in
this competition. They were given the rules and the kits, and had to
decide for themselves which of the many techniques learned during the
term they would put in practice.
This year's competition requires the students' robots to find
ping-pong balls and to deposit them in the bins which are next to the
ramp. White ping-pong balls are worth 1 point (there are 20 of them),
black ones are worth 5 points (there are 4), and gold balls are worth
20 points (there is only one). Robots may use any technique they
wish to find the balls and to deposit them in the bins.
Other Teams
In addition to the class members, this year we have invited several
other teams to participate. These include teams from the campus
chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), from Richard
Montgomery High School, from the University of Maryland Baltimore
Campus, and a team from the Kiss Institute for Practical Robotics, a
non-profit corporation from Virginia.
Sponsors
The robotics competition would be impossible without the support of
many groups. This year's major sponsors were the Department of
Computer Science, the UM Student Robotics Club, and the
campus ACM chapter}. EDS Corporation provided support
for the competition and a $500 scholarship for the winning team.
Other groups providing support include:
- The Center for Automation Research.
- The UM Institute for Systems Research.
- The UM Institute for Advanced Computer Studies.
- The Department of Electrical Engineering.