ROBOTC.net Blog  

We are very happy to announce the official prizes for the Robotics Summer of Learning competitions! We will be giving away VEX IQ and NXT Kits; ROBOTC and Robot Virtual Worlds licenses; and two $1000 scholarships. There will be three competitions eligible for prizes: CS2N VEX Toss Up Challenge, CS2N FTC “Ring It Up!” Challenge, and Robot Virtual Worlds Beacons and Barriers.

Each competition will be broken up into three divisions. Each player is eligible for only one prize per competition. The official rules are listed on the official Robotics Summer of Learning page.

Competitions are open now, so sign up today!
 

 
Divisions

• Middle School Division – 6th to 8th Grade (for the 2013-2014 School Year)
• High School Division - 9th to 12th Grade (for the 2013-2014 School Year)
• Open Division - Teachers, Mentors, Coaches, Educators, Hobbyists, Everyone!

 
Prizes

The official rules are listed on the official Robotics Summer of Learning page.

Start programming today for your chance at these awesome prizes!
 

Robot designed by Drew Ellis from The Noun Project and the Trophy is from The Noun Project.

In preparation for the 2013 Robotics Summer of Learning, we’ve released a second round of Robot Virtual Worlds updates! New versions of the VEX Toss Up, FTC Ring It Up, and RVW Level Builder can be downloaded today.

VEX Toss Up 1.5.2
If you haven’t already signed up for the VEX Toss Up programming competition on CS2N, you should do so here.

• Added Preload Buckyballs
  • Buckyballs load into Intakebot, are placed at predefined location when using Ballerbot
• Better handling of game pieces when performing robot switch and realignment in a base zone (CS2N Competition)
• Updated scoring to include hanging with a ball bonus when low hanging
• Robots no longer fly away when hanging in CS2N Competition
• Added score submission for CS2N Competition
• Made “remember me” checkbox on login screen work properly
• Changed keyboard control mapping on Intakebot’s Tread motor to be more intuitive

FTC Ring It Up 2.5.2
Sign up for the FTC Ring It UP programming competition on CS2N here.

• Fixed Scissorbot’s through-hole grip of rings
• Fixed scoring bugs with floor goals (CS2N Competition)
• Gripperbot’s range of motion is now limited to make it specialized for picking up rings from the ground and scoring on low pegs
• Added final score popups in Ring It Up mode
• Fixed bugs with the behavior of rings that are hanging on pegs
• Made “remember me” checkbox on login screen work properly
• Added score submission for CS2N Competition

RVW Level Builder 2.1.0
CS2N is also hosting a RVW Level Builder design competition, called Beacons and Barriers. Click here to sign up and see full competition details.

• Added “checkpoint” functionality. Robots must come into contact with checkpoints before reaching the stop tile.
• Added “obstacle” functionality. Robots must not come into contact with obstacles before reaching the stop tile.

All of the updates can be downloaded from the RVW Level Packs Download area at ROBOTC.net or RobotVirtualWorlds.com.
 

We had a great time at the 2013 FTC World Championship last week! It was awesome seeing so many teams using ROBOTC on their computers. We really enjoyed meeting all the different teams and hearing your stories. We will have interviews posted from the event in the next couple weeks. Thank you to every one who stopped by to say hi and congrats to EVERY team. Also thank you to FIRST and FTC for inviting us to be a part of such an awesome event. We look forward to next year!

Check out our short recap video:

And if you haven’t had a chance, head on over to our Facebook page to check out our photo album – FIRST World Championship 2013

We will be hosting our final April Robot Virtual Worlds Google hangout tonight at 6pm EST! We will be discussing the competition environments in RVW. This will be your last chance to enter the ROBOTC annual license drawing and get your 15% off discount code for Robot Virtual Worlds! Join us at http://www.robotc.net/hangouts

If you missed any of that past hangouts, check them out here …

Week 1 – What is RVW?

We have recently been made aware of a bug in the samostat.c program in ROBOTC 3.60 that is preventing it from displaying the correct information on the NXT screen. Due to this bug being discovered at the beginning of the FTC Worlds Championship, we are making this easy fix public knowledge instead of pushing out an update. To fix the samostat.c program bug, simply follow the steps below:

1) Open the samostat.c program in ROBOTC by navigating to the ‘File -> Open Sample Program -> Samantha Module -> samostat.c’ program file.

2)  Navigate to the ‘nxtDisplayTextLine(status.nLine, “%s”, status.message);‘ line in task main (line 69 by default). Add an ampersand (&) to the ‘status.message‘ and change it to ‘&status.message‘ (no quotation marks).

Add an ampersand to the front of ‘status.message’ to change it to ‘&status.message’ on the nxtDisplayTextLine(status.nLine, “%s”, status.message); line (line 69).

3) Save the file to finalize the changes and make sure to compile and download it to your NXT brick.

We apologize for any inconveniences this may have cause. Please email our support team directly at support@robotc.net if you encounter any other issues or bugs.

When it comes to setting up any new robot, the age-old saying ‘knowledge is power’ tends to ring particularly true. This is why one can find a variety of beginner guides already available, such as the Video Curriculum Trainer and the ‘Getting Started with NXT and TETRIX’ ROBOTC wiki guide. There’s no such thing as too much knowledge, though, and the more tools a roboticist has at their fingertips the higher their chance for success.

Because of this, we are pleasantly surprised by the depth of content covered by Avi, aka TheProgreammerDude’s YouTube tutorial video. Avi is a member of FTC team 5773. Not only is his tutorial straight from the screen of an FTC team programmer, it focuses on ROBOTC programming concepts specifically for the FTC competition (such as using competition templates and setting up a TETRIX robot using the Motors and Sensors Setup window).

If you’re looking add this video set to your ROBOTC toolkit, be sure to check out the first video in his series.

Following up from an earlier post, new versions of the FTC Ring It Up and VEX Sack Attack Virtual Worlds are now available!

In version 1.50 of Ring It Up, all arm, wrist, and gripper motors now include encoders, allowing you to get feedback and implement precise control over the robots. We’ve also swapped the Compass Sensor for the Gyroscope, which was highly requested by FTC teams. New Sample code  for the encoders and gyroscope is installed with the world.

In version 1.50 of Sack Attack, we’ve added encoders to the arm motors on all of the robots, and a potentiometer to the scooper motor on Scooperbot, giving you very precise control. All robot models have also had the Compass sensor replaced with a Gyroscope, better aligning them with the real world VEX system. As with the Ring It Up world, Sample code for all of the new functionality is included.

We genuinely appreciate all of the feedback and comments we’ve received about these worlds, and we hope that these changes show that we’re listening. Keep the feedback coming!

Adding support for all of the new inputs required a significant update of our back end, so these versions require ROBOTC 3.54 or later to be installed. Happy programming!

UPDATE: Version 1.2.2 of the Ring It Up virtual world is now available, which includes additional starting points and memory management improvements.

We’re happy to announce a MASSIVE update to this year’s virtual world for FTC Ring It Up! Download it here, or on the RVW Level Packs download page. Read on to find out what’s new.

Support for the IR Seeker and IR Beacon

• As the title implies, the IR Seeker and IR Beacon are both emulated in this new version. From the robot selection screen, you can choose whether your want your robot to start with the Compass or IR Seeker.
• The IR Beacon is randomly placed along one of the three columns, just like the real game.
• We’ve even added a cool, new “Sensor View” mode so you can see how the robot is detecting the IR Seeker, Sonar, and Compass values.
• Additional sample programs for using the IR Seeker are also installed with the update, and can be downloaded here.

Pre-loads

• Both Scissorbot and Gripperbot can be pre-loaded with a striped ring!
• You can control what side the robot starts on, the color of it’s pre-loaded ring, and enable the autonomous duration all from the main menu.

Automatic Scoring

• Scoring is fully implemented in this new version.
• Concepts like the weighted rings, owning pegs, line score bonuses and corner goal bonuses are all simulated.
• Cool, new timer and scoreboard in the top-left corner of the window. Compete with your classmates or teammates to see who can get the highest score before time runs out!

Additional Enhancements

• We’ve improved the lighting and contrast of the game, making it easier to grab and score the rings.
• Improved robot-to-ring interaction and control.
• Lots of small tweaks and adjustments.

To view the original post for the FTC Ring It Up virtual world (complete with video), visit this link.

The Robot Virtual World team is proud to announce their initial release of the FTC Ring It Up! virtual environment, just in time for kickoff! This year’s virtual competition field features two new robots designed specifically for the game; the Scissorbot and the Gripperbot. The robots are completely programmable in ROBOTC and even use the same Logitech USB Remote Control as the real world competition, allowing teams to refine their programming skills, practice driving, and form gameplay strategies well in advance of their first matches.

Note that the new features in the virtual world require the latest version of ROBOTC, version 3.50.

Here’s a video of the Ring It Up! virtual world in action:

New Robots
TETRIX Scissorbot features 4 driving motors, a scissor lift and a LEGO gripper:

The Scissorbot gripper is best at picking up tubes parallel to its gripper.

TETRIX Gripperbot features 2 driving motors, and arm motor and a LEGO gripper:

The gripper on Gripperbot is best at picking up tubes perpendicular to its gripper.

User Interface
The new and improved user interface allows you to switch between the robots, choose different starting positions, and tells you where the growing list of motors and sensors are connected:

Controlling the Robots
Sample code for programming the robots to move autonomously or via a Logitech USB Remote is installed with the level pack. It can also be downloaded here.

Don’t have a Logitech USB Remote Control? No Problem! We’ve also added keyboard control for the robots when a ROBOTC program isn’t running! The controls are as follows:

• “W” key: Robot moves forward
• “A” key: Robot turns left
• “S” key: Robot moves in reverse
• “D” key: Robot turns right
• “{” key: Gripper Closes
• “}” key: Gripper Opens
• “;” (semicolon) key: Wrist motor up
• “’” (single quote) key: Wrist motor down
• “<” key: Scissor lift / Arm motor up
• “>” key: Scissor lift / Arm motor down

Driver Camera View
Check out Camera view 4 to practice driving the new virtual robots from the same perspective you’ll use in the competition.

Future Enhancements!
We’re extremely excited about this release, but we’re not done yet. Check out some of the enhancements that are on their way!

• Addition of “Autonomous Rings” pre-loaded on the robots
• Emulation of the IR Sensor and IR Beacon
• Dynamically calculated scoring

The FTC Ring It Up! virtual world can be downloaded here, or under the Available Level Packs section of the RVW Download Page.

This year at the St Louis FTC finals, Team 4466 (R.A.B.B.I.) will holding nightly FTC practice field sessions as part of their after pit activities.

On Wednesday they will also be organising workshops and lectures and a Q&A session with your truly (Xander Soldaat). I’m going to have to get up at the ungodly local time of 4AM to be able to be there via Skype but I am sure it’ll be fun.

So if you’re looking to learn more about advanced ROBOTC programming techniques, how to debug your Samantha module or what’s coming in the upcoming major release of my driver suite, make sure you’re at the downtown Hilton “Independence” conference room, starting at 20:00 on Wednesday.

You won’t want to miss this!