⚠️ RULE ZERO – Zero Tolerance & Common Sense
In all sports, Rule ZERO applies, which states:
➤ "If you are not sure whether something is allowed, then it is probably NOT allowed."
All rules are based on common sense, the spirit of the sport, and the safety of all participants.
Any deliberate misinterpretation, violation of the meaning of the rules, or attempt to exploit gray areas for unfair advantage will not be tolerated and may lead to team disqualification from the competition.
🎯 GOAL
The goal of the Robot Rowers is to cover a distance of 4 meters in the shortest possible time.
👥 TEAM – COACH
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Participation in the competition is team-based, not individual.
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Each team may consist of two (2) to three (3) members.
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Each team must designate up to one (1) Robot Athlete Technician. Only the Robot Athlete Technician is allowed in the waiting area or competition area. The rest of the team must remain in the competition venue but cannot wait in line. ➤ In other words, they cannot occupy an additional spot. If a team fails to comply with this rule, it will be disqualified.
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The team is allowed to change the designated Technician before each attempt on the track, to give all members the opportunity to be actively involved in the sport, although this is not mandatory.
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All team members must be at least 10 years old (equivalent to 4th grade of primary school or above).
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The team’s coach must be at least 20 years old.
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To ensure smooth participation in the competition, the coach must have 1 assistant for every 3 teams they register in the competition.
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Each team is allowed to have only one robot. Changing the robot during the competition is not allowed.
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Teams are not allowed to share the same robot.
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If a team encounters a serious technical issue with their robot, they are allowed to replace only the microcontroller or the electronic components, after obtaining permission from the Head Judges.
🤖 ROBOT ATHLETE – ROBOT CATEGORY
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The Competition is for Robot Athletes regardless of the robotic package or hardware used.
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Do It Youself Robot Athletes are also allowed.
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All Robot Athletes compete together in each age division.
⚙️ ROBOT ATHLETE REQUIREMENTS – SPECIFICATION
1. The Robot Athlete must be autonomous.
2. Its maximum dimensions must be 20cm, 25cm, independent weight and independent height.
3. To confirm the specifications mentioned in the point above, the Robot will be weighed and should comfortably fit in a control box.
➤ The control box has dimensions of 20cm, 25cm, plus two (2) millimeters tolerance.
4. The Athlete Robot should be placed in the control box without applying pressure.
5. The Robot Athlete must not wear or damage the track or pose a threat to spectators in any way.
6. The Athlete Robot must have a start and stop button for safety reasons.
7. The start of the Robot Athlete should be done with the help of a laptop or a controler to avoid the formation of waves inside the track. ➤ Attention, that means to press program's play and not its use as a controller to control the movement of the Robot Athlete.
8. The Robot Athlete must have a waterproof base with maximum dimensions of 20cmX25cm.
9. To facilitate the teams MRC has designed and will provide at a cost of €49.60 including VAT a special base on which the team can build their robot. A team can build their own base from any material they wish.
10. Teams must have ensured the safety of their Robot Athletes from the water.
11. The Organization bears no responsibility for any damage that may be caused to the robot throughout the competitions, both on and off the track.
12. The Robot Athlete should only have 2 oars as it is intended to simulate a Rowing Athlete. Only one (1) plastic or wooden spoon or similar on each side could be used for a paddle. Its length should not exceed 15 cm.
13. The Athlete Robot should have at least 2 pressure sensors one on the front and one on the back.
14. Regardless of robot class, only one processor, 4 motors and 4 sensors are allowed.
🧪 TECHNICAL INSPECTION
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The initial technical inspection takes place on the day of the competition, during the Robot Athlete’s first attempt.
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During the initial inspection, the team will be asked questions about the critical parts of the robot's program.
➤ The team must have their laptop with the robot’s program open.
➤ If it becomes clear from the answers that the team does not understand the program, they will receive a penalty equal to +20% of the time they achieve in the event. -
The technical inspection includes a robot examination based on the specifications described above.
➤ If the robot does not meet the requirements, it will not be allowed to compete and will be automatically disqualified from the event. -
After the completion of the initial inspection, the Robot Athlete is assigned its unique ID code.
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If a team is not present at the time of the initial technical inspection, it will result in automatic disqualification from the competition.
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A secondary technical inspection is also conducted before each attempt, performed by the assistant referee.
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It is mandatory for the Robot Athlete Technician to wear safety glasses. Protective equipment is mandatory on the playing field before and during matches. The protective equipment will be checked during the technical inspection.
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The lack of protective equipment in whole or in part will be reason for the team to be disqualified from the Sport.
🏟️ FIELD
The track and its dimensions are described in the image below.
TOTAL LENGTH 2m, TOTAL WIDTH 60cm
🏆COMPETITION
⏱️ PREPARATION
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The Technician who will run the lap goes through the secondary control and then places the Robot Athlete at the starting point inside the rowing track which is filled with water. The Athlete Robot should have the program open and waiting once the button is pressed to start within five seconds.
🏁 START - PROCESS OF THE RACE
1. The referee will start the countdown 3,2,1, Go.
2. The Athlete robot should start within the next 5 seconds.
3. If a robot does not start within this time, then the referee will only give a restart. This will only be done on the first attempt of the Robot Athlete.
4. The Robot Athlete must move as fast as possible to the end of the track and after touching the finish line, reverse to the start. For this use it will need to have a pressure sensor. A robot Athlete that has not touched the end of the rowing track is not allowed to reverse.
5. If the Athlete Robot does not start moving within five (5) seconds, it is considered to have failed the attempt.
6. The Robot Athlete (or any part of it) may not go outside the bounds of the track. If this is done, then he is considered to have failed the attempt.
7. If a Robot Athlete is canceled in the attempt then 180 sec (180) time is recorded by the referee.
🔁 ROUNDS – ATTEMPTS
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The duration of the sport is 2 hours.
(This time may be extended depending on the number of participants).
During this time, each Robot Athlete will make repeated attempts on the track, according to the order announced by the organizing committee. -
If a Technician is not present when it is their turn, they lose their attempt, and the next Technician in line will proceed.
➤ The Technician who missed their turn must wait until all other attempts are completed for their turn to come again. -
Before each attempt, the Robot Athlete must pass a secondary technical inspection conducted by the assistant referee.
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The referee records the time of the Robot Athletes for each attempt.
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It is the responsibility of the Robot Athlete’s team to ensure that they perform each attempt within the allocated time window.
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Between attempts, teams are allowed to make corrections to their Robot Athletes and their code/algorithm,
➤ however, no testing is allowed.
❌ END OF A ATTEMPT
1. Timing stops when the robot touches the track wall in the reverse start area.
2. The robot should be able to stop itself at the stop after pressure is applied to the pressure sensor.
3. If the round exceeds 2 minutes then the referee ends the round and declares it invalid.
⚠️ CAUTION:
As the competition promotes the creation of robots as close as possible to human movement and the movements of a sport, THE MOTION OF THE PADS MUST REPLICATE THE MOTION OF THE PADS OF A ROWING ATHLETE. The movement MUST not be rotary but exactly what you can see in the video below.
IF ANY ROBOT ATHLETES DETECTED DURING THE TECHNICAL CONTROL WITH A MOVEMENT THAT DOES NOT SIMULATE THE MOVEMENT BELOW WILL BE DISCLAIMER FROM THE SPORT.
VIDEO:
🟥 TEAM DISQUALIFICATION
A team is disqualified from the event and must withdraw in the following cases:
➤ The team’s results will not be taken into account and will not appear in the official competition rankings.
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If a Robot Athlete does not comply with the specifications defined in the sport’s rules and the team refuses to make the required adjustments.
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If any of the Technicians behave inappropriately or disrespectfully, use offensive language, provoke, or verbally (or otherwise) attack fellow participants or referees.
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If it is discovered that a Robot Athlete is not operating autonomously, but instead is being remotely controlled via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or any similar technology.
✅ ALLOWED / ❌ PROHIBITED
✅ Allowed:
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The use of wood, plastic, metal, rubber for the construction of the paddle and the creation of the base.
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The use of any material to seal the robot.
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The wireless connection (bluetooth) with a computer for the sole purpose of starting the robot ONLY (to avoid creating waves inside the track).
❌ Prohibited:
• Robot Athletes to use parts that can harm spectators.
• The use of adhesives to improve adhesion.
• Breaking the Robot Athlete into pieces during the race.
• Remote control for controling the movement.
• The use of elastic materials (rubbers, belts, etc.). The method of throwing must be exclusively mechanical.
• The wireless connection (bluetooth/Wi-Fi) with a computer or any other electronic device during the match. Teams found to have connected their robot wirelessly (team members or coaches) during the match will be disqualified from the sport.
• The restrictions listed in the Athlete Robot technical control section.
🏆WINNERS
The 3 winners for each age category are the Athletes who finish the route at the shortest time.
The best time is used to determine placement in:
🥇 1st place
🥈 2nd place
🥉 3rd place
In the event of a tie, the previous best time of the team is considered, and so on.
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