5th Latin American IEEE Students

Robotics Competition
COWBOTS DUEL
Version 1.1

Motivation

The “Cowbots Duel” is a competition in which two robots (Cowbots) must fight each
other. To this end, each Cowbot must detect the position of the contender and shoot
while the opponent tries to evade the shots.

This competition is open to any participant with an interest in robotics (national or

international), without restrictions on the platform, which may even be a commercial
one, e.g. AIBOs, Lego MindStorms, R2D3, etc.). The competition will take place as part
of the IEEE Latin American Robotics Contest for Students on October, 23rd-25th, at the
San Joaquín campus of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

Elements of the Game

Combat Zone

The combat zone will be a 3x3 m area raised 20 cm from the ground, delimited by 2
cm (+-0.5cm) high walls all, painted black. In the middle there will be a black
cylindrical obstacle of approximately 40 cm in diameter and 50 cm high. The obstacle
will have a white line at a height between 40 and 45 cm. The ground will be a flat and
smooth as possible, with any irregularity no exceeding 5mm. It is assumed that all the
town robots ran away and hid because they are afraid of the duel and that there will be
no spectators in a square area of 6x6 m centered around the combat zone and

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protected by black walls 70 cm high. Any Cowbot leaving the combat zone will be
deemed a coward and will loose the duel.

Figure 1. Diagram of the combat zone

Figure 2. View of the field including the safety area

The Revolver

Each Cowbot has a weapon (revolver) capable of shooting a maximum of 3 bullets

(bulletbots). The bulletbots will be white ping-pong balls brought by each team. All the
bulletbots must be carried by the Cowbot. The propulsion method of the bulletbots may
be chosen freely, as long as no explosives, chemical or nuclear reactions are employed.
The revolver must not be able to shoot a bulletbot vertically more than 3 m high, nor
shoot more than one at a time (the time between each shot must be enough to be
perceivable by plain sight). The revolver may have as many barrels as there are
bulletbots. Rolling a bulletbot is considered a valid shot.

Hand-to-hand Combat Weapon

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There exists a special weapon, called “Shrieking Lump” (“Chipote Chillón”) which is an
orange ping-pong ball and that may not be shot. This weapon is for hand-to-hand
combat, as will be explained below. The shrieking lump must be fixed to the robots
chassis (similar to a ram or a ship’s cutwater).

Cowbots

The Cowbots must move autonomously. There is no restriction whatsoever as to

which locomotion system or sensors the robots may use. Each Cowbot must be
responsible for withstanding the shots of its enemies without being damaged.

The robot must have a small horizontal 5x5 cm platform located at 40 cm from the
ground and no more than 5 cm apart from the vertical axis passing through the robot’s
center of mass and capable of carrying stably a mass of at least 300 g. On top of the
aforementioned platform, the contending team will place a localization beacon whose
characteristics are described below. No part of the robot must be at a height equal or
above that of the beacon. Furthermore, no part of the robot may occlude the beacon,
so that it is always visible from a height of 20 cm above the ground. If this rule is
violated, the Cowbot will be deemed a cheater and will loose the duel.

Beacon

The purpose of the beacon is to help in localizing the robots and is optional. Each team
may build an emitter-detector pair and mount the emitter on the opponent’s robot. To
this end, the team must be used the provided platform. There is no limitation as to
which technology may be used for the beacons, such as IR, laser, or ultra-sound based,
to name just a few. However, there are restrictions as to the maximum dimensions and
weight of the emitter. Its base must be 5x5 cm and it must not exceed a size of 5x5x10
cm. The maximum weight of the emitter is 300 g. The emitting beacon will be
attached to the opponent’s robot by jeans of a Velcro® strip. The emitting beacon must
have its own power source, i.e. it must carry its own batteries, and may not use energy
from the rival’s Cowbot to function. The beacon may not destabilize the opponent’s
Cowbot through motion.

From experience, it is recommended that an IR-based system is used because it has

proven to be a reliable and comparatively low-cost solution. This system is composed of
a ring of IR emitters (figure 3) sending a train of square pulses at a rate of 1,5kHz
modulated at 40kHz (figure 4) in all directions. This signals can easily be detected by IR
sensors modulated at 40 kHz.

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 Figure 3. Base with beacon emitter
Figure 4. Signal emitted by the infrared beacon

The Duel

Each combat consists of three to five duels (rounds), depending of the number of
participants in the competition. Only two robots participate in a duel. In each duel, the
winner is the robot that is able to hit the rival with a shot. A score of 2 points will be
assigned to the winner of the round and 0 points to the looser. If there is a tie, each
robot will receive 1 point. The maximum duration of a duel is 2 to 3 minutes. If the
robots are not able to defeat the opponent in that period of time, then the duel is
finalized and a draw declared assigning a score of 1 point to each robot. The time
between each duel is of 1 minute, lapse during which the Cowbots may be modified. If
a competitor does not respect the 1 minute time limit, the team will loose the duel.

A shot is considered a good hit if the bulletbot hits the opponent in any of its parts
before hitting a sidewall or obstacle. A shot is considered a bad or missed shot when
the bulletbot stop before hitting the opponent. In such case, the bulletball becomes an
obstacle of the field.

If a Cowbot feels like ramming onto its opponent for a hand-to-hand duel, the Cowbot
may use its Shrieking Lump. It is enough to hit the opponent with the Shrieking Lump
in any place other than the opponent’s Shrieking Lump in order to win the duel. If the
Shrieking Lumps of each robot bumps against each other, none of the Cowbots is a
winner and both may continue fighting.

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Obstacles and non-obstacles

- The walls, the central cylinder, and the missed shots (bulletbots lying on the floor)
are all considered obstacles.
- The rival Cowbot and the ground are not considered obstacles.

Reasons to declare a defeat in a duel

- Be hit by a bulletbot in a direct trajectory, before hitting any obstacle and before
stopping (flawless victory).
- Be hit in any part by the Shrieking Lump of the enemy, except when the blow is
aimed at one’s own Shrieking Lump (flawless victory)
- Leave the combat zone (defeat by shameful abandonment)
- Have a height equal or greater of that of the beacon (defeat because of cheat)
- Shoot more than 3 bulletbots (defeat because of cheat)
- Throw the Shrieking Lump (defeat because of cheat)
- Damage the rival Cowbot by means of a too powerful shot, capable of reaching a
height that exceeds 3 m (defeat because of lack of mercy)
- Spill some fluid over the combat zone (defeat because of cowardliness)
- Abandon a part or component in the combat zone (defeat because of badly fasten
waist belt)

Missed shots

- Any shot that in its initial trajectory hits an obstacle before hitting the openent, or
that stops before hitting the opponent. In such situation, the missed bulletbot
becomes a field obstacle.
- Any hit made with the Shrieking Lump to the rival Cowbot’s Shrieking Lump.
- Any parabolic hit over the obstacle.

Good shots

- Any shot that hits the rival in any of its parts, including the Shrieking Lump, before
hitting any other obstacle before stopping.
- Any hit with the Shrieking Lump that strikes the rival in any of its parts, except for
the Shrieking Lump.

Duel ends

- When 2 to 3 minutes have passed since its beginning and no Cowbot has been
defeated. In such case, a draw is declared and both Cowbots obtain one point.

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- When a robot is defeated. In such case, the winning robot scores 2 points and the
defeated robot scores none.

Condition for acceptance into the competition

- Be an autonomous Cowbot, controlled by itself without human intervention.

- Have a platform for the setup of the emitter as earlier decribed in this document.
- Carry at least one bulletbot and/or a Shrieking Lump. The bulletbot must be fired by
the revolver and the Shrieking Lump must only be used for hand-to-hand combat.
- Be capable of fighting the enemy, either using the bulletbots or the Shrieking Lump.
- Have no more than one Shrieking Lump. This may not be fired.
- Do not use chemical or nuclear reactions as sources of energy for the Cowbot or for
firing the bulletbots, with the exception of batteries.
- Do not employ other weapons. The competition judges will determine which parts of
the robot may be considered illegal weapons. In general, any parts, such as large
moving masses or sharp edges or spikes or hight temperature parts will be declared
illegal weapons.
- Pay the participation fee.