Rubble Rush Rabblerousing Racquetball Rusters

The Mission

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Five teams of 6-7 team members each are challenged to design and build two mobile robots capable of both R/C or autonomous control, plus a third robot ("the shooter") that is capable of shooting but has no motorized translational movement. Two teams will face off against each other in a four-minute match where robots must score points by shooting racquet balls into targets at two different heights on their side of the field, with the higher targets worth more points. The non-mobile shooter robot can receive ammunition from the other robots to shoot into any targets. The mobile robots can score only on the lower targets. Each team has an obstacle course on one edge of the field where they can earn advantages for their team by crossing challenging terrain. Each team's mission is to earn the most points and use power-ups to maximize their score before time runs out. The objective is to score more points than your opponent during the scoring period of each match. Doing so will award your team a win. The four teams with the most wins by the end of the round-robin tournament will advance to a single elimination final bracket. Winning two games in the final bracket wins the 2022-23 ME72 competition.

Competition Rules & Tasks

• Each game consists of two periods. The first period "the rush," begins with a teleoperated race to the center line, where the first robot to trigger the switch earns their team an advantage.
• The team which strikes the switch first earns a 15-second head start to obtain balls from their hopper and will receive two 5x bonus balls to be dispensed through the hoppers. During these 15 seconds, the losing team may play on but may not begin dispensing balls to their robots.
• A four-minute "free-play period" follows where most of the gameplay will occur.
• To score, a team must shoot a game ball into one of their goals. There are three goals, each with two targets. The higher target is worth 3 points, and the ground target is 1 point.
• Any robot may score on the ground targets, but only the "shooter bot" can score on the higher target. Robots may not block any of the 3-point elevated targets for any reason. Doing so will incur a penalty.
• To earn any points or rewards, robots must enter their team's challenge zone through the entrance, traverse the obstacle course, and exit through the reward zone. If a team completes all three obstacles autonomously, they will receive 45 points (15 points per obstacle), plus a 15-point bonus and their choice of reward in the Reward Zone.
• Teams are rewarded for completing the challenge zone using remote or autonomous control. While the robot is in the reward zone, the team can select to get two 5x (bright red) multiplier balls or disable one of the opponent's goals for up to one minute. A team may obtain bonus balls as often as they can traverse the challenge zone and reach the reward zone.
• If a team switches to teleoperated control to traverse an obstacle, they will not get the points for it or any subsequent obstacle. They will not obtain the 15-point bonus (as they did not complete the entire course autonomously).

Design Challenges

• Mobile robots must fit in a 16-inch x 16-inch x 16-inch cube at the start of the game. Shooters must fit in a 16-inch x 16-inch square at the beginning of the game but have no height limit.
• All robots can deploy mechanisms into a 24-inch x 24-inch space, but mobile robots cannot break the 16-inch height limit. Additionally, robots may not deploy any device or object that detaches from the robot itself.
• Autonomously navigate the challenge zone consisting of three obstacles; (1) a pair of 3.5-inch-tall ramps at 5-degree angles facing each other, (2) an uneven surface made up of cubes of varying dimensions., and (3) a pair of 20-inch ramps at a 15-degree angle leading to a bridge with a 20-inch-wide plywood board across a 10-inch gap over a canyon 5 inches deep.
• Mobile robots must be designed to efficiently store racquetballs obtained from the ball hopper and efficiently transfer them to the stationary shooter bot.
• Shooter bots should be designed to receive racquet balls and ideally maneuver in place to face the goals and achieve an optimal trajectory.