In this theme, teams will design 2-DOF Ball Balancing Platforms capable of navigating the balls through mazes placed on top of the said platforms.

• Platform Tables

  These are the Ball Balancing Platforms (designed by teams)

• Conveyor Belt

  These are belts used to transfer balls

  Belt Name	Source of Ball	Destination of Ball
  Conveyor-Belt-1 (B1)	Table-4(T4)	Table-1 (T1)
  Conveyor-Belt-2 (B2)	Table-4(T4)	Table-2 (T2)
  Conveyor-Belt-3 (B3)	Table-4(T4)	Table-3 (T3)
  Conveyor-Belt-4 (B4)	Ball Dispenser(BD)	Table-4 (T4)

• Ball Dispenser

  A mechanism shown in Figure 3, will dispense the balls on to the B4 at a regular interval of 80 simulation seconds.

  The first ball will be dispensed at time t = 0 sec.

• Few Collection Boxes

  For each of the three Platform Tables (T1, T2 and T3), there can be a minimum of one and maximum of three Collection Boxes associated in which the balls are to be dropped finally.

  Platform Table Name	Collection Box 1 Name	Collection Box 2 Name	Collection Box 3 Name
  Table-1 (T1)	T1_CB1	T1_CB2	T1_CB3
  Table-2 (T2)	T2_CB1	T2_CB2	T2_CB3
  Table-3 (T3)	T3_CB1	T3_CB2	T3_CB3

• Vision Sensor

  There are five Vision Sensors in the Arena, out of which four are placed directly above the four Platform Tables coinciding with their center and looking downwards onto the Tables.

  The fifth Vision Sensor is placed above the Conveyor-Belt-1 (B1).

Teams will be provided with the following files before the start of theme run:

1. arena_scene.ttt - This is the CoppeliaSim scene file in which the theme run will take place.

2. arena_scene_details.pdf - This document will define the objects / elements of arena_scene.ttt, their position, dimensions and properties.

3. ball_details.json - This JSON file provides the details of all balls that will be dispensed by the BD. The color and the drop location (i.e. a particular Collection Box) of each ball will be specified.

4. maze_t1.jpg

   ,

   maze_t2.jpg

   ,

   maze_t3.jpg

   and

   maze_t4.jpg

   - These are the image files of the mazes to be generated on top of the four Platform Tables. These files are named according to the Platform Table on which that particular maze is to be generated.

   • maze_t1.jpg - to be generated on T1
   • maze_t2.jpg - to be generated on T2
   • maze_t3.jpg - to be generated on T3
   • maze_t4.jpg - to be generated on T4

{
    "red"	: ["T1_CB3", "T2_CB1"],
    "green"	: ["T3_CB2"],
    "blue"	: ["T1_CB1", "T3_CB1"]
}

The above dictionary conveys the following information:

Total number of balls to be dispensed by BD: There are in total five balls that will be dispensed by the BD. Color of each ball: There will be two red, one green and two blue balls dispensed by the BD in random order. Drop location of each ball: The drop location i.e., the name of Collection Box in which balls are to be dropped, is given as list of strings corresponding to the color of each ball.

NOTE:

• The balls will be dispensed by the BD in random order.
• This means that at the very beginning, the first ball dispensed by the BD may or may not be red in color.
• Similarly, at the very end, the last ball dispensed by the BD may or may not be blue in color.

There will be pre-defined number of balls and their drop locations that will be dispensed by the BD at regular interval of 80 simulation seconds, which can be determined from the ball_details.json file provided before the theme run.

• Before the theme run starts, teams will import their Ball Balance Platform design in arena_scene.ttt file. The coordinates to which these platforms are to be positioned will be defined in arena_scene_details.pdf.
• Teams will start their Python client script, process the four maze image files provided using Image Processing and generate these mazes on top of the four Platform Tables in the arena_scene.ttt. The maze generation takes place with the help of customisation Lua script(s) in CoppeliaSim.
• Once the simulation starts, the Ball Dispenser (BD) will start dispensing each ball at regular interval of 80 simulation seconds.
• The Theme Run Timer will start as soon as the first ball is transferred on to Table-4 (T4) by Conveyor-Belt-4 (B4).
• T4 has to navigate the ball through maze on it and pass the ball to the next table i.e., T1 or T2 or T3 based on the designated drop location mentioned in ball_details.json file.
• The next table will then navigate the ball through maze on it and drop the ball in the appropriate Collection Box (CB).
• The second ball will be dispensed at 80 simulation seconds after the first ball was dispensed. This will repeat itself until the last ball is dispensed.
• The Theme Run Timer will end after 480 simulation seconds from the start of timer.
• The objective is to drop all the balls to their respective CB within 480 simulation seconds.

• Each team will be provided with a set of four maze image files (maze_t1.jpg to maze_t4.jpg) for the mazes to be generated on the four Platform Tables.
• The image for T4 will have a maze of 10 x 10 net traversable cells.
• The images for T3, T2 and T1 will have a maze of 8 x 8 net traversable cells.

the resultant maze on T4 should resemble

T1
T2
T3

The ENTRY and EXIT cells for T1, T2, T3 and T4 will remain same irrespective of the maze images.

• The maximum time allotted to complete the task is 480 simulation seconds.

• A maximum of two runs will be given to each team from which the best of the two runs will be counted as the final score.

• A maximum of one restart is allowed per run wherein the Python client script, the CoppeliaSim simulation and the Theme Run timer will start again. In case a team requires a second restart, the run will be ended and maximum time for the task (480 simulation seconds) will be considered for that run.

• If during simulation, any kind of collision or balancing of Platform Tables causes any changes in the arena configuration, then it will result in immediate end of the run and maximum time for the task (480 simulation seconds) will be considered for that run.

• Teams will be provided with the following files before the start of theme run:

  • arena_scene.ttt
  • arena_scene_details.pdf
  • ball_details.json
  • maze_t1.jpg, maze_t2.jpg, maze_t3.jpg and maze_t4.jpg

• Teams will import their Ball Balance Platform design in arena_scene.ttt file. The coordinates to which these platforms are to be positioned will be defined in arena_scene_details.pdf.

• Teams will start their Python client script, process the four maze image files provided using Image Processing and generate these mazes on top of the four Platform Tables in the arena_scene.ttt. The maze generation takes place with the help of customisation Lua script(s) in CoppeliaSim.

• Once the simulation starts, the Ball Dispenser (BD) will start dispensing each ball at regular interval of 80 simulation seconds.

• The Theme Run Timer will start as soon as the first ball is transferred on to Table-4 (T4) by Conveyor-Belt-4 (B4).

• Teams have to make T4 navigate the ball through maze on it and pass the ball to the next table i.e., T1 or T2 or T3 based on the designated drop location mentioned in ball_details.json file.

• The next table will then navigate the ball through maze on it and drop the ball in the appropriate Collection Box (CB).

• The second ball will be dispensed at 80 simulation seconds after the first ball was dispensed.

• This process will repeat itself until the last ball is dispensed.

• The Theme Run Timer will end after 480 simulation seconds from the start of timer.

• The objective is to drop all the balls to their respective CB within 480 simulation seconds.

• Each Platform Table that is able to pass / drop each ball to the next table / the designated CB within the stipulated amount of time is considered as OK Tested!

• A run ends and the

  Theme Run Timer

  is stopped when:

  • If the maximum time limit of 480 simulation seconds for completing the task is reached OR
  • If the team needs a second restart but has already used first restart for that run OR
  • If any of the Platform Tables or any kind of collision while performing the task causes any changes in the arena configuration.

• Second run will start after the first whilst resetting the score, timer and the arena.

• The score of both runs will be recorded and best of two runs will be considered as the team's final score.

  May the PID be with you! 😛