Roller - A robot whose final drive output rotates through more than 180 degrees (e.g. wheels)
Shufflebot - A robot that rests on part of its body during the recovery phase of its leg movement.
CE - CE mark, used in
R&TTE - Radio & Telecommunications Terminal Equipment directive. See http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/rtte/index_en.htm
Clusterbot - A robot which consists of two or more parts (e.g. two half sized robots/botlets)
Botlets - The smaller parts that make up a complete Clusterbot.
Remote control - Control without physical contact between the robot and the controller (i.e. conventional model radio control, bluetooth or infra red; no wires or strings etc.)
2a) Weight limits: robots must weigh less than the following:
Fleaweight |
Antweight |
|
Roller |
75g |
150g |
Walker/Shufflebot |
113g |
225g |
2b) Size limits: robots must fit completely (including aerial) inside a cube of the following dimensions:
Fleaweight: three inches (76.2mm)
Antweight: four inches (101.6mm
2c) Robots may only expand from their size limit once they are in the arena, and only if the expansion is instigated by remote control (i.e. not just by being springy).
2d) Batteries must not contain liquid acid, or electrolyte, or exceed a maximum of 24 volts.
2e) Robots must have an externally accessible way of being shut down (e.g. a power switch, removable link or battery plug).
2f) The following weapon types are not permitted:
-
Fluid based weapons (treacle guns, etc.)
- Glue or sticky pad weapons
- String or entanglement weapons
- Flame based weapons
- The use of electricity as a weapon
- Explosive weapons
- Rotating weapons that may shatter (as opposed to breaking off)
2g) Any system involving the use of pressurised gas or liquid is limited to 100 p.s.i. (7 Bar).
2h) For safety purposes, all weaponry must have the capability of being deactivated by remote control.
2i) Weapons are not permitted to deliberately detach completely from the robot, but may be partially separated as long as it is connected by a tether of no more than 3 feet (914mm). The tether may not be used as an entanglement weapon.
2j) The following radio frequencies are acceptable: 27 MHz, 40 MHz, 418 MHz, 433-434 MHz, 868 MHz and 2.45 GHz.
2k) Magnetic/inductive systems are not permitted (due to the possibility of interference with later arena designs).
2k) In the absence of other transmitters, the robot weapon shall cease motion when the controlling transmitter is switched off.
2m) All radio control transmitters must be CE marked and comply with the R&TTE Directive
2n) The botlets of a clusterbot must altogether meet the size and weight limits of the class in which they are competing (i.e. all three botlets of an antweight clusterbot must all fit in the same four inch cube at once), but if two fleaweights are competing as botlets of an antweight cluster then they must each conform to fleaweight size and weight restrictions.
2o) Where a clusterbot is composed of a rotary and a walking/shuffling botlet, then each botlet is allowed up to half the maximum of its class (e.g. an antweight cluster might be composed of a roller weighing 75g and a walker weighing 113g).
2p) A robot must be placed in the arena, ready to fight within five minutes of being called to fight by the event organiser (this is a maximum limit, contestants are encouraged to be ready to fight as soon as possible). Failure to be ready to fight within five minutes will mean the robot may be judged to have lost the fight.
2q) Sponsorship is allowed if it is in good taste
2r) Robots must be clearly labeled with their names. A clusterbot must display the name of the cluster on all botlets.
3) Arena Rules
3a) All battles must take place in a battle box,
regardless of weapons being used in the battle (a minimum of 1mm thick
polycarbonate is recommended for indirect contact with the robots. For direct
contact, a minimum of 4mm thick polycarbonate is recommended).
3b) The arena will be a raised platform with an area of at least 30 inches (762mm) square.
3c) At least half of the edge of the arena must be unwalled, to allow robots to drop directly into the ditch that surrounds the arena (a recommended height for arena walls is 50mm).
3d) The minimum distance between the edge of the unwalled part of the arena and the battle box (and therefore the width of the ditch) is 150mm.
4a) Battles will last for a maximum of three minutes.
4b) A robot that falls off the arena has lost.
4c) When any robot is immobile (lacking controlled motion) then a judge will call cease and the driver will have ten seconds to demonstrate that control has been restored, otherwise the robot will have lost.
4d) At any time in a fight, a robot may surrender, if so they will have lost (The roboteer may shout stop).
4e) Robots may hold or pin each other for a maximum of 20 seconds. The judge will give a verbal warning at 15 seconds into any holding or pinning, for the contestants to disengage. Should they not do so within final 5 seconds then the battle will be paused and the robots returned to their respective corners. The battle will then recommence immediately.
4f) Outside manipulation is not permitted during the contest (they may be manipulated by a judge during a pause in the battle, as described in the previous rule).
4g) A Clusterbot will have lost when more than half of the botlets have been eliminated.
5a) Robots will be weighed by scales that are accurate to at least one gram (the weight limit is judged as the 'fighting weight' entering the arena).
5b) Contestants must register their frequencies (including which crystals they have) with the event organiser at least 7 days before the contest.
5c) Contestants must obey the event organiser at all times, or be disqualified.
5d) All sharp edges must have protective covers outside the arena. All protective covers are to be coloured red and made clearly visible.
5e) Contests must communicate in a socially acceptable way.
5f) There shall be 3 neutral judges identified before each battle and all shall have an equal vote.
5g) If a contestant has an objection to one or more of the judges then he/she shall make it clear before the match begins. The AWS committee will then decide if the complaint is valid.
5h) A team may enter a maximum of four robots of which three may be rollers and one either a walker or a clusterbot.
5i. All teams must be self-contained in terms of driver, transmitter, robots and battery packs, i.e. these cannot be shared with another team.
5j. If opposing robots have left the arena simultaneously (e.g. because they struck each other so hard that they flew apart) then the following will occur
i. The battle will be paused
ii. The robots will be placed straight back into the arena, in their former starting positions, without repairs.
iii. The battle will be restarted