You have been challenged to a game of King of the Hill!
Official King of the Hill Rules
King of the Hill is a contest where at least two and up to four LEGO robot contestants try to climb to the top of a man made "hill". Once on top the robots must defend their place by pushing the other contestants off of the plateau.
Robots: Robots must be constructed of official LEGO elements or their generic equivalent. The onboard computing device must be one or a combination of the following: Cybermaster, MicroScout, CodePilot, Scout, Spybots or the RCX programmable brick. There is no limit as to how many or how few computing units a robot employs. Homebrew sensors and multiplexors are allowed, all other modifications to LEGO elements or their generic equivalent is prohibited.
Robot Control: All robots are to act autonomously, that is to say, robots must operate without human control during a match.
Weight: The total weight limit for a robot is 3 pounds. All robots will be subject to a weigh-in process at the beginning of the event to determine their weight.
Size: At the start of a match the robot must fit into a square box of 12 inches to a side, with no height limitation. Parts of the robot may extend outside this region after a match has started.
Hill Details: The hill will be the frustum of a square pyramid with a 4 foot base and a 1.5 foot top plane. The slope angle will be 45 degrees. It will be constructed using standard plywood. The 4 faces will be oriented so that the grain of the wood will be parallel to the floor (this is to aid in traction). The entire top plane will be painted black (Krylon Ultra Flat Black spray paint) while the slopes will remain bare wood. You can find out more about pyramids here: http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/formulas/faq.pyramid.html
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Prohibited Items and Actions: A robot may not spray any material on the ring or on their opponent, or in any way deform the sumo ring. Robots are not allowed to use any flying components or projectiles. Robots may not electromagnetically interfere with the other robot or its sensors. Overt attempts to damage the opponent's robot, over and above the expected ramming and pushing, are not allowed. No rotating blades or flame-throwers!
Allowed Items and Actions: A robot may use various forms of detection to locate the other robot (IR, sonar, touch...). It may also incorporate stealth technology to avoid detection by the other robot. Providing an environment which misleads the opponent's robot is allowed (for example, putting a black flap down over the white ring edge line, hoping the other robot will not detect the edge and fall off). Signals may be used to try to confuse the other robot's detectors, such as flooding the area with IR, touching the far side of the robot, or convincing the other robot it is at the edge of the ring.
Programs: You should download your program to slot 5 on the RCX. This will make it possible for remote starts of both robots via the remote control.
Match Rules: Each match (the full contest between a group of robots) has a limit of three minutes.
Match Start: The robots are placed at the foot of the hill (can be touching but not on the face) each at its designated starting pyramid face. A referee signals the start of each bout. The builders will indicate to their robots the start of the bout. Each robot should have a 5 second delay after the operator pushes start before the robot starts to move.
Match End: A match ends when the match time expires. However, a single robot may be removed from a match whenever the builder wants. Reasons for removal may include but are not limited to the following:
- The robot has become immobile.
- The robot is deadlocked with another robot for 30 seconds.
- The robot has wandered away from the pyramid.
Match Scoring: At the end of each match, all robots are awarded points as follows:
- 4 points for a solo win
- 2 points each for a 2-way tie
- 1.33 points each for a 3-way tie
- 1 point each for a 4-way tie
Match End: The match is over when either 3 minutes has elapsed or all robots have been removed by their builders.
Match Win After the match, the robot with the most match points receives 1 match win. If a tie occurs, the robots will split the match win equally.
Event Scoring: At the end of the day, the robot with the most wins, is King of the Hill. If there is a tie, the robot with the most points is King of the Hill.
Repairs and Reprogramming: No changes to construction are allowed following robot weigh-in, although minor repairs and battery replacements are allowed between matches. Reprogramming is allowed when the robot is on the sidelines (not actively in a match).
Good luck,
Jona