[ANNOUNCE] Rat's Life robot programming contest
Olivier Michel <[email protected]> Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:13:39 +0100
| Newsgroups | gmane.comp.cybernetics.webot.contest |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
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/* RAT'S LIFE: robot programming contest
*/
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/*
*/
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/* call for contest
*/
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/*
*/
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/* <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.ratslife.org">http://www.ratslife.org</a>
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<br>
This contest is organized by the ICEA project to promote research
results
<br>
and stimulate further interest in bio-inspired robotics control. The
<br>
participation to the contest is open to anyone and free of charge.
<br>
<br>
CHALLENGE
<br>
<br>
Rat's Life is a complete cognitive robotics benchmark that was
carefully
<br>
designed to be easily reproducible in a research lab with limited
<br>
resources. The real setup relies on two e-puck robots, some LEGO bricks
<br>
while the simulation setup relies on the Webots robot simulation
software.
<br>
This benchmark is a survival game where two robots compete against each
<br>
other for resources in an unknown maze. Like the rats in cognitive
animal
<br>
experimentation, the e-puck robots look for feeders which allow them to
live
<br>
longer than their opponent. Once a feeder is reached by a robot, the
robot
<br>
draws energy from it and the feeder becomes unavailable for a while.
Hence,
<br>
the robot has to further explore the maze, searching for other feeders
while
<br>
remembering the way back to the first ones. This allows them to be able
to
<br>
refuel easily again and again and hopefully live longer than their
opponent.
<br>
The e-puck robots are equipped with several several sensors, including
a
<br>
camera, 8 distance sensors and a 3D accelerometer. Developing a robot
<br>
controller requires basic programming skills in Java language.
Different
<br>
approaches can be investigated and combined with each other, including
robot
<br>
control, image processing, landmark based navigation, self localization
and
<br>
mapping (SLAM), game strategy, autonomy management, AI, learning, etc.
<br>
<br>
SCHEDULE
<br>
<br>
The contest starts on January 7th, 2007 and terminates on June 30th,
2007.
<br>
During this period, the contest remains open to new competitors. Every
<br>
business day, a contest round is executed so that every competitor will
<br>
face at least one opponent and the general ranking is updated
accordingly
<br>
in the hall of fame. All the matches of a round are immediately visible
<br>
online from the contest web site.
<br>
<br>
PRIZES
<br>
<br>
On June 30th, the competitor ranked #1 in the hall of fame will receive
the
<br>
simulation prize of the Rat's Life contest: a license of the Webots PRO
<br>
software (about EUR 2,000). Then, the top 5 competitors ranked #1, #2,
#3,
<br>
#4 and #5 will be selected for a real world series of 4 rounds. These 4
<br>
rounds will executed with two real e-puck robots roaming a real LEGO
maze.
<br>
After this series of 4 rounds, the new #1 will be awarded a real e-puck
<br>
robot (about EUR 600).
<br>
<br>
HOW TO ENTER
<br>
<br>
Participation to the Rat's Life contest is totally free of charge and
<br>
doesn't require the purchase of any product or service. To enter the
contest,
<br>
you will have to register on the <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="http://www.ratslife.org">www.ratslife.org</a> web site, download
and
<br>
install the demo version of the Webots software, program your robot
controller
<br>
and submit your code on the contest web site.
<br>
<br>
REFERENCES
<br>
<br>
Rat's Life: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.ratslife.org">http://www.ratslife.org</a>
<br>
IST ICEA project: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.iceaproject.eu">http://www.iceaproject.eu</a>
<br>
Cyberbotics / Webots: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.cyberbotics.com">http://www.cyberbotics.com</a>
<br>
e-puck robot: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.e-puck.org">http://www.e-puck.org</a>
<br>
<br>
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