Line Maze Rules

Overview
Each robot attempts to solve a line maze in the shortest time possible. Each robot is given three attempts at solving the maze as quickly as possible. The robots may use their knowledge from an earlier run to complete the maze more quickly in later attempts.

Course Construction
The maze will be constructed from a white background with black electrical tape on a 20cm grid. No parallel lines will be closer together than 20cm. All corners will be at right angles. The tile styles used to construct the maze will be as follows:


 * Blank tile
 * Straight line (center of edge to center of parallel edge)
 * Corner tile (90 degree turn connecting the centers of two adjacent edges)
 * Full Intersection tile
 * “T” Intersection tile
 * Dead end lines
 * Start / Stop areas

The level 1 maze will have a single solution and will not contain loops. The start and finish tiles are marked by a solid black 10 centimeter diameter circle and will always be in a corner. A level 2 maze will contain multiple paths to the finish, and the start and stop tiles will not necessarily be in a corner. Dead ends are not marked, the line simply terminates. All intersections will be at right angles. The maximum size of the maze will be 8 tiles by 8 tiles (64 tiles in total). The actual maze may be smaller than this, but will never be larger.

A sample level 1 maze is presented below:



A level 2 maze will be similar, but will contain loops which will trap left or right wall following algorithms. A level 2 maze will have more than one solution, with some solutions being much more efficient that others. The maximum size of the maze will be 8 tiles by 8 tiles (64 tiles in total). The actual maze may be smaller than this, but will never be larger.

Contest Procedure
The maze layout will not be known until after all robots have been registered and presented to the contest judge. Once the maze has been unveiled, no further updates may be made to the robots. This may involve placing the robots in a holding area until it is time for them to run (TBD).

Each robot will be allowed three attempts to solve the maze, the shortest time of the three runs being used for final scoring. During any single attempt, the robot will have a maximum time of 5 minutes to reach the finish circle of the maze. Timing starts when the robot begins moving and ends when any part of the robot touches the finish circle. If the robot does not reach the finish circle within 5 minutes, that attempt will be aborted and no time given.

A robot may split into multiple robots during a run. If the robot splits into multiple pieces, the time will continue until all robots/pieces have entered the finish area.

The robot is permitted to sense lines other than the one it is traveling on as long as those sensors do not extend beyond the robot itself. In other words, a camera arrangement can be used (and it may telescope vertically) to glean information about the maze, as long as the camera is mounted wholly on the robot itself.

Robots may not leave any trail, markings, or damage the maze surface in any way.

The robot may not leave the maze at anytime.


 * The robot is considered to have left the maze if some part of the body is not directly above the line it was traveling along.
 * If a course official deems the robot to have left the maze, the course official will levy a 10 second penalty and permit the robot to be restarted at the point the robot left the maze. In such an event the course official will instruct the robot owner to gather their robot and prepare to continue.  After 10 seconds has elapsed the course official will indicate to the robot owner that it is OK for the robot to resume the contest.
 * It is permissible for the robot to be deactivated and reactivated when indicated by the course official or the robot may be picked up and held until the course official indicates that it may resume.

Each point on the solution path from the Start to Finish has to be "visited" by the robot following a contiguous line. A point is considered "visited", if part of the robot passes above it. The robot does not have to travel via the shortest or most efficient path and it may back-track over paths as needed. The robot is not allowed to "jump" from following one path to another; if it does it will be considered to have left the maze (see above).

A 10 second bonus will be subtracted from the score (calculated from the time the robot first touched the finish circle) if the robot stops for at least 10 seconds over the finish and in some way "announces" its completion of the maze. The announcement could be a sound, flashing lights, talking or "dancing", as long as it is clear to the judges that the robot knows it has found the finish.

In the level 1 maze, a robot is allowed to continue moving after it reaches the finish; it just will not receive the bonus, its score will be based on the time the robot first reached the finish spot. In the level 2 maze, a robot is encouraged to continue exploring the maze after finding the finish line circle in order to find a more shorter route between the start and finish. The robot is allowed to memorize the maze during any run and use this information in a later run to improve it's time.

If a judge deems that a robot has violated the spirit of the event in some way that is not contained within this rule set, the judge may, at their discretion, disqualify that robot.

Scoring
The fastest attempt is used for ranking. Should a tie occur, then the least number of penalties shall be used. Should a tie still exist, then the second fastest time will be used.

A 10 second penalty is accessed (i.e. added to the total time) if a robot leaves the line (i.e. no part of its body is over the line).

A 10 second bonus is awarded (i.e. subtracted from the total time) if the robot signals that it has reached the finish tile.

The overall score will be a combination of the fastest time for the level 1 maze added to the fastest time for the level 2 maze. In the event that a robot does not find the finish for all three runs, a time of 5 minutes will be used for scoring purposes.

Thanks to [Chibots] for creating the initial version of these rules