Contestants 1995
Contestants 1995
(As of 3 October 1995)
The School of Computer Science invites all members of the CMU community to participate in "The Second Annual CMU Mobot Slalom Race" in the spring of 1996. Entrants will race autonomous vehicles ("MObile roBOTs") they have built along a slalom-type course on the paved walk in front of Wean Hall. The course consists of a series of gates connected by a wavy, painted stripe. Vehicles are judged on their ability to navigate sequentially through the gates.
The purpose of the competition is to generate technological excitement, provide hands-on experience for our undergraduates, and showcase the cleverness and technical competence of CMU undergraduates and other community members. We hope to stimulate inter-disciplinary activity toward producing something that is technically noteworthy.
While the competition is intended primarily as an undergraduate activity, we have expanded the field to include a new "Open-Class" for other members of the CMU community. The Undergraduate Category is open only to students registered as full-time CMU undergraduates during the Spring 1996 semester. Anyone associated with the university, including faculty, staff, graduate students, special/part-time students, and alumni, may participate in the Open Class. Competing vehicles must be the result of work by the team members. Please note that this is a contest, not a class. You are on your own finding or obtaining whatever resources you need to design, build, and test your Mobot.
Two official competitions will be held during the Spring Semester. A Preliminary Competition will be held on Wednesday, 3 April 1996 (the Wednesday following Spring Break) and the Finals on Friday, 19 April 1996 (Spring-Carnival Friday). In the event of inclement weather (at the sole discretion of the race judges), the date of a given race may be postponed one day at a time. However, contestants should be prepared to run in any weather conditions. The preliminary competition provides an opportunity for contestants to run the course under race conditions and (we hope) encourages early development of vehicles. Instructions for formal registration will be provided in advance of the preliminary competition next Spring.
Three prizes will be awarded for the Undergraduate Category at each competition:
In addition, there will be a single prize of $250 for the best performance in the Open Category at the Finals. (Contestants in the Undergraduate Category are not be eligible for the Open Category prize.) Any prize money awarded will be split equally among registered members of the winning teams. There is no registration fee.
If you are interested in the Mobot competition, please send E-mail to "Mobot@cs.cmu.edu to have your name added to the list of potential entrants. Those registered will be sent a copy of the official race rules and will be kept informed of race announcements and developments. We welcome questions about the race and its rules. Replies to individual questions will be periodically e-mailed to the list as a whole to assure uniformity of information. You should also subscribe to the BBoard "cmu.misc.mobot". It is primarily for use by potential competitors to discuss issues, find team members, etc. We will post future announcements on this BBoard in addition to sending them via E-mail to the registered participants.
If you are interested, please send E-mail to mobot@cs.cmu.edu to have your name added to the list of potential entrants. Those registered will be sent a copy of the official rules, and will be kept informed of race announcements and developments. We welcome questions about the race and its rules. Replies to individual questions will be periodically E-mailed to the list as a whole to assure uniformity of information.
This competition is sponsored by the RedZone Robotics, Schlumberger, CMU School of Computer Science.
