Vertical Limit

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Defy all laws of gravity by scaling a vertical metal wall towards freedom. Be God, let your creations scale new hights, quite literally our very own Mount K2 in a tryst with the 'Vertical Limit'.

Newton says that apples fall down, but we say our bots climb up...

1. Problem Statement

Make a manually controlled machine that climbs a wall made of magnetic material and then reaches the flag in minimum possible time.

Prizes worth INR 20,000 to be won.

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For further queries contact:

Anish Garg

Manager, Techtronics
Techfest 2009
+91 98337 89055
anishgarg[at]techfest[dot]org

Shobhit Gupta

Manager, Techtronics
Techfest 2009
+91 98336 45180
shobhit[at]techfest[dot]org

2.1 Arena

Each team has a zone, at the starting line, to keep the bot. 400 mm after the starting line there is a metallic wall of 1000 mm height.
The grooves in the wall are circular in shape with diameter 70 mm.
The top of the metallic wall is slightly curved to aid the bot to reach the level surface.
At the top, there is an L-shaped wooden plank. The longer arm of 'L' is of length 2100 mm. The width of the base is 500 mm, and that of the arm is 400 mm.
The incline plane is also made of wood, with a width of 500 mm and length (along the horizontal) being 1400 mm. 500 mm after the end of the incline plane is a pit full of water of dimensions 2800 mm x 1000 mm x 300 mm. A plank of width 400 mm has been placed across this pit. The wall of the pit, towards the finish line, is inclined at an angle of 56 degrees to the horizontal.
Groove details:-
- The height of the first groove from ground floor and the distance of last groove (distance measured with respect to the center of the groove) from the top is 6 cm.
- The vertical height between two consecutive grooves (distance from center of one groove to the center of vertically adjacent groove) is 22 cm.
- The horizontal distance between two consecutive grooves (distance from center of one groove to the center of horizontally adjacent groove) is 17 cm.
- The distance between the groove (closer to the edge, refer figure 1 and figure 2) and the adjacent edge is 5.5 cm (distance measured with respect to the center of the groove).
Details of the vertical wall: The wall would be made of CRCA Mild steel (refer to figure 5). It is about 1.5 mm thick. The wall will be supported by wood at its back with thickness about 16 mm, making the depth of the grooves to about 17.5 mm.

Figure 1: 3D View

Figure 2: 3D View

Figure 3: Side View

Figure 4: Top View

Figure 5: Vertical Wall

View the Machine Specifications »

3.1 Dimensions and Fabrication

The machine must fit within a box of dimensions 300 mm X 300 mm X 300 m at the beginning of the game.
The external wired/wireless remote control, used to control the machine manually, is not included in this size constraint.
If the machine uses an externally placed power supply, the dimensions of the power supply are not included in the size constraint. However, in case of an onboard power supply, the machine along with the power supply should fit within the aforementioned box.
During the game, the machine can expand or detach itself into multiple parts provided it does not damage the arena in any way. The judges hold the right to subjectively determine if the machine violates this clause. However, the complete machine should cross the finish line to complete the race. The team whose complete bot crosses the finish line first would be declared as winner.
Machine cannot be constructed using readymade Lego kits or any readymade mechanism. But you can make use of readymade gear assemblies. Violating this clause will lead to the disqualification of the machine.

3.2 Power Supply and Propulsion

The machine can use an externally placed or on-board electric or non-electric power supply. Use of compressors is not allowed. However the power supply must be non-polluting and must satisfy the safety constraints determined by the judges. In case the machine is using a non-electric power supply, kindly get it approved from the organizers beforehand via email. Organisers are not responsible for inconvenience if approval is not sought.
The use of IC engines and hydraulics is not allowed.
The method of propulsion is at the discretion of the builder, provided it does not damage the arena in any way and it satisfies the safety constraints determined by the judges. The machine cannot use any mechanism which directly transmits the manual force to the machine. For example use of clutch wires is not permitted. The judges hold the right to subjectively determine if the machine violates this.
In case of an electric power supply, the voltage at any point on the machine must be lower than or equal to 24V at any point of time during the game.
Any mechanism that makes use of ac power supply is not allowed.
The organizers will provide a standard 230V/50 Hz AC power supply. Any extension cords, eliminators, adaptors etc required will have to be arranged by participants themselves.

3.3 Controls

The machine has to be necessarily controlled by some wired/ wireless remote control mechanism at all stages of the game.
The use of wireless mechanism will prove most useful because the game arena is large in size and the game involves one-on-one competition where wired machines have a high chance of entangling. Hence use of wireless mechanism is highly encouraged.
In case of wireless mechanism, the machine must have two remote control circuits (or a dual frequency remote control circuit) which can be switched to either frequency before the start of the game. This is done to avoid frequency interference between the two competing machines in the final round of the game.
In case of wired mechanism, the wire must be slack at any point of time during the game. The total length of wire extending from the remote control to the machine must be minimum 6 meters. The participants have to ensure that the wire does not get entangled to the opponent's machine during the game.

View the Rules »

4.1 Competition Rules

The competition will be played on a knock-out basis, with two machines competing against each other at a time.
The goal of the game is to cross the finish line i.e. at the end of the water body in the quickest possible time. The slower machine would lose.
At the beginning of the game, the teams have to place their machines in the Start Zones (400 mm before the vertical wall).
It is must that the bots should touch down at the L- shaped plank.
The participants can call Time Out any time in the game and any number of timeouts if the machine needs to be lifted or repaired. In case of a Time Out, one person from the team (the team which has called for time out) will lift the machine and take it out of the arena. The team which has called for time out will receive a time penalty of 10 seconds for a time out (10 seconds would be added to the total run time of the machine). After the Time out is over the bot would be replaced at its previous location (before the time out).
If the bot falls into the blue region from the plank or the inclined plane (refer Figure 3 and Figure 4) then the bot needs to restart from the start zone and will face a time penalty of 10 seconds.
The bots are allowed to damage each other once they reach Zone C (the path form the beginning of the plank till the end of the path i.e. till the flag).
In case of accidental entangelment of wires and none of the bots is able to move forward then both the teams will restart from the start zone. However, if any one of the teams is found guilty for the wire entangelment , then that team would be disqualified (based on organisers and judges discretion).
The machine should not leave the arena at any point of time during the game.
The participants are not allowed to enter the arena at any point of time in the game.
Machine Fabrication: It is highly important in building robotic machines that you ensure proper fabrication. To check the rigidity of the machines every machine will undergo a 500 mm VERTICAL DROP TEST before the first round of the game. In this test the machine will be dropped vertically from a height of 500 mm in an orientation decided by the participants on a coir mat. The machine will be placed as it is on the arena after drop test. If some part of machine gets damaged during drop test the participant will not be allowed to fix it. The image of the surface on which the machine will be dropped is shown in Figure 3. The material will be 3 mm thick.

Figure 3

4.2 Elimination Rounds

The elimination rounds for the main event would be held on the same board and would be points based elimination rounds.
Initially there will be a DROP Test for the machine.
The participants would have to climb the 1000 mm wall. The top teams (based on time taken) will qualify for the knock out round.

4.3 General Rules

The teams must not damage the opponent's machine in any way before reaching the Zone C. Judges reserve the right to disqualify any team indulging in misbehaviour.
Any team that is not ready at the time specified will be disqualified from the competition automatically.
The machine would be checked for its safety before the race and would be discarded if found unsafe for other participants and spectators.
The name of your machine must be prominently displayed on the machine.
Participants should not dismantle their bots before the completion of the competition as the machine might be needed to be verified at a later stage by the judges to ensure that none of the rules have been violated by the participants.
Judges decision shall be treated as final and binding on all.
The organizers reserve all rights to change any or all of the above rules as they deem fit. Change in rules, if any will be mentioned in bold on the website.

4.4 Team Specifications

A team may consist of a maximum of 4 members. Students from different educational institutes can form a team.

4.5 Eligibility

All students with a valid identity card of their respective educational institutes are eligible to participate in Vertical Limit at Techfest 2009.

4.6 Certificate Policy

Robots that will climb the metallic wall will be awarded a participation certificate of Techfest 2009.
The top 3 teams would be awarded with a certificate of excellence.

4.7 Registration