Project 2: Limited range sensing in a simulated soccer team

• Due: 24 October

• Overview of the project:
  In the last project you implemented a homogeneous soccer team. In this project we will complicate matters by limiting the sensor range of your robots.

• Installing the new software:
  The first thing you need to do is install the new implementation of the robot "hardware" with reduced sensor range. Do that by getting this file: SocSmallSimSRV.java which you should install in the directory teambots/src/EDU/gatech/cc/is/abstractrobot. Next, move to that directory and compile it (e.g. javac SocSmallSimSRV.java).

  Next, move to the directory where you have been running your experiments and make the following changes to the robocup.dsc file. Skip to the bottom of the file and look for instances of "SocSmallSim" and change them to "SocSmallSimSRV". This will convert the robots to the new version with limited range sensing.

• Description of the new sensors:
  The robot's sensor range has been reduced to 0.685 meters (approximately one quarter of the length of the field). You can access this number as a constant, SocSmallSimSRV.VISION_RANGE. If you get a sensor reading for an opponent, teammate or the ball that indicates it is further away than 0.685 meters, you should assume it is WRONG.

  In order to avoid breaking some of the existing teams the sensors work as follows:

  If an opponent robot is out of range (beyond 0.685 meters) it will appear to be located in the direction of the opponent's goal at a distance of 0.785 meters.

  If a teammate robot is out of range (beyond 0.685 meters) it will appear to be located in the direction of your goal at a distance of 0.785 meters.

  If the ball is out of range (beyond 0.685 meters) it will appear to be located in the direction of your goal at a distance of 0.785 meters.

• What you need to do for this project:
  1. Run your team from last project on the "old" robots (SocSmallSim) with full range sensing against the same team with the "new" robots (SocSmallSimSRV). What are the results, which team performs better? Why?
  2. Modify your team to address the new sensor constraints. You are free to use the robot's ID number as part of the decision-making process (i.e. you can build a heterogeneous team). Describe the new features of your team. What is different?
  3. Evaluate your new team against your old team, with both teams using the "new" hardware (SocSmallSimSRV). What are the results, which team performs better? Why?
  4. Evaluate your new team and your old team against the baseline team you used last time. Your teams should use the "new" limited sensors, while the opponent should use the "old" hardware. What are the results? Why?

• Send the following files to me by email (trb@cs.cmu.edu). Note: please prepend "project2:" to the subject of your email message. This will help me sort files into the right folder.
  • The source for your new team.
  • Text of the answers to the questions above.

• Your grade will be determined, in order of significance, by:
  • The creativity of your solution.
  • Your analysis of of the results.