Competition 2: Line Following Robot

General Objectives:

The objective of this contest is for a robot to follow a black line on a white background, without losing the line while navigating several turns on a race course. The robot to complete the course in the shortest period of time while accurately tracking the line from start to finish wins.

Course Specifications:

• The contest arena will be approximately 1.3 m. wide and 3 m. long and will have a flat, even surface, and a white background.
• The start/finish line will be in the middle of a straight section of the course, no less than 1 m long.
• The start/finish line will be marked by a strip of black tape 25 cm long and approximately 2 cm wide, perpendicular to the course line.
• The surface of the course will be covered with white paper, cardboard or similar no-reflective material.
• The black line will be no less than 25 cm from the edge of the course at any point.
• The black line will be approximately 2 cm thick and will be made from black, non-reflective tape.
• The course will have several sharp turns of 90 degrees, or more. Turns sharper than 90 degrees will have an arch radius of at least 10 cm.
• There will be no gaps and intersections in the black line (except on the start/finish line as specified above).

Robot Specifications:

• Line Followers must be self contained, and not externally operated by wire or by
  remote control during the race.
• A Line Follower must not exceed 30 cm in overall length, 20 cm in overall width and 15
  cm in overall height.
• The robot must be powered by DC battery pack(s) attached to its body and carried with the robot along the race track.

Contest rules:

• Each line follower will make 2 consecutive, uninterrupted laps on the course track to complete the race.
• The total time for completing the race in seconds, minus any bonuses (see below) is the final score for the robot.
• If a line follower completes successfully all laps, without losing the line, or requiring manual intervention of any kind, it will receive a 10% time bonus (i.e. its total time for completing the race will be reduced by 10%).
• If a line follower loses the line, it has to re-enter the course track in a position before the point, where it lost the line. The robot may be picked up and placed manually back on the line by a contestant, but time will not be stopped.
• A robot is deemed to have lost the line when no part of the robot (base, wheels etc.) is over the black line at any point in time during the race. The official of the race will signal immediately when he /she determines that a robot has lost the line.
• If a robot experiences a mechanical failure during the race, a contestant may pick it up, do minor adjustments and place it back on the course at a point, before the point when it was picked up. Time will not be stopped during this process.
• If a robot does not complete all required laps in the race, or exceeds 5 minutes in completing the race, it receives a score of 300 (5 minutes).
• The line follower with the lowest score from successfully completing the race wins.