Amazon Mystified

Around the end of the 15^th century, in a distant part of the world, there lived a strong civilization called the Inca Civilization thriving in South America. The Incas had conquered most of the Andes on the west side of South America, around Peru and Ecuador. But, they hadn’t ventured to the eastern side because of the dangerously dense Amazon rainforest. Around the dawn of the 16^th century, Incas planned to explore the eastern side by travelling through the Amazon River and then commemorate this achievement by building an Inca temple in the middle of the sea at the end of the Amazon. But, they didn’t know of the dangers lying ahead.

The Amazon gets flooded because of tidal waves flowing rapidly inland from the sea. This is called tidal bore and in Amazon, the phenomenon is locally known as “Pororoca”. The Incas didn’t have any idea about this phenomenon in Amazon and when they were midway, the river swelled up enormously. The ships sank and people drowned without a trace left of them, and most importantly, all the blocks with which the temple was to be built got lost in the dense rainforests of Amazon. The makeshifts camps made on the river side by the Incas submerged under water and in the course of history, this event was forgotten.

The temple which was planned to be built in the middle of the sea had just iron rails left as their remnants and after centuries of weathering the sea and storm, this unfulfilled dream of Incas got lost between the pages of history.

But, there still remain believers and historians who have faith that the lost blocks come up when the “Pororoca” swells the Amazon and its rainforest. But, not a single soul dares to travel when Amazon is flooded by the notorious tidal bore.

Here, at Shaastra, we unlock this amazing Amazon Mystery which has been lost in its dense vegetation. The teams have to collect these blocks and rebuilt the temple, which was lost in the ravages of nature. This enormous task will be done by robots made by men with nerves of steel. One robot has to pick up these blocks by climbing the submerged make shift camps of the Incas and build the temple, while the other has to carry the former through the Amazon River and prevent it from sinking in the tidal bore.

We give you chance to relive these amazing moments and make history here at Shaastra.

We have dug the past. It is your turn to create the magic!!!

Build On!!!

Robotics at Shaastra has three different events with their own Problem Statements, each one that tests different skill sets of the contestants.

This Shaastra, the Manual Robotics event is named Amazon Mystified.

Manual Robot competition -

The problem statement requires the participating teams to use only two manually operated robots each.

PS:- This time around, the manual problem statement requires two manually operated robots.

1. The event is open to all colleges in India and abroad. There is no restriction on the number of teams from any given college. Also, a team might consist of students from different colleges.

2. The maximum number of participants to a team is four for each of these three problem statements. A person involved in one of the problem statements can be involved in the other two also unless he/she is a bot operator. This is because the events will be held somewhat simultaneously and his/her presence in both the competitions cannot be ensured from our side.

3. Teams must be prepared to send a team description paper (TDP) and/or video/stills at least  three to four weeks prior to the competition. More details about this will be available soon.

4. The TDPs will be used to select the participants for the contests. You will be allowed to register once you have been selected through the TDPs.

5. Please refer to the Shaastra Certificate Policy for information regarding certificates.

6. IMPORTANT: Some of the rules may be clarified, corrected or added through FAQs. So please keep checking the FAQ section. This section would be regularly updated to answer all possible queries of teams. The final rulebook would consider all changes made through FAQs.

Amazon Mystified Problem Statement Updated!
CAD Top View updated too!

Q 1. What is the initial dimensions of carrier and collector robot?
Ans:  Refer points 8.2 and 8.4. The initial dimensions are in the standard format (length * breadth * height)

Q 2. Are there any restrictions on the dimensions of the robots after the match statrts?
Ans: Refer point 8.5. Both robots can extend in any direction to any amount once the match starts.

Q 3. What do you mean by the rule 13.3 "the robots must not use readymade parts"?
Ans: The rule means that you should not bring a readymade robot itself or should not use readymade/industrial robotic parts like robotic arms, robotic cranes, etc. Use of sliders, pulleys, readymade gears and other components is allowed as they are the basic components and cannot be student manufactured.

Q 4. Can the collector robot move in the pathway?
Ans: No, the collector robot cannot move in the pathway. It also cannot take support from the boundaries of the pathway.

Q 5. Can the collector bot can be placed in each cylinder with hands?
Ans: No. The collector robot has to travel from one cylinder top either on its own or with the help from carrier robot.

Q 6. Is it necessary for the collector robot to rest on the cylinder while collecting cubes?
Ans: Yes, the collector robot has to rest on the cylinder while collecting cubes.

Q 7. Can collector bot pick the blocks without landing on cylinders?
Ans: No, the collector bot has to rest on cylinder while picking up the blocks.

Q 8. Suppose a team has placed some blocks through the rails and has some blocks on its robot to be placed.
Now if the team violates and goes for a retry then, will the 2 points for the placed blocks be included in the score or only 5 points for it and for the blocks on robot, will no points be given?
Ans: For each block placed, there is an additional 5 point in addition to the 2 points.
But, if a team goes for a retry, the team would not get any points for the blocks on it.
But, at the end of the match, if the team has blocks on the robots, they would get 2 points each for picking up a block.

Q 9. Which robot can press the buzzer?
Ans: Any of the robots can press it. Refer 10.1.5 and 10.2

Q 10. Can the carrier robot pick up blocks if blocks fall in the pathway?
Ans: Yes. Any of the robots can store the blocks once the carrier robot picks up the blocks from the platform.

Q 11. Should the second bot compulsorily be on the cylinder (or) Can an extension of the second bot be placed on the cylinder after which the blocks are lifted?
Ans: Once the blocks are lifted, the collector robot may or may not be on the cylinder. But, when you are lifting the block, the collector robot must be placed on the cylinder.

Q 12. Can we lift blocks from 2 cylinders (1A & 2A) simultaneously?
Ans: When you are lifting the blocks from the platform, the collector robot must be placed on the respective cylinder. This means that if you are picking blocks of 1A, then the collector robot should be on the cylinder 1A. If this above situation is satisfied, you can pick in any manner.

Q 13. Can the carrier robot touch the cylinder or the edges of the pathway?
Ans: There is no such restriction on carrier robot. It only cannot touch the cubes when cubes are on the platform. The carrier robot can touch the cylinders and the sides of the pathway.

Q 14. Can the collector robot touch the pathway?
Ans: No. Refer 14.2.3. the collector robot cannot touch any part of the pathway.

Q 15. Can the collector robot be on the carrier robot while collecting the cubes?
Ans: The base of the collector robot has to be on the respective cylindrical top while picking up the blocks. It means that when the collector robot is collecting blocks from platform of 1A, the collector robot should be on the cylinder top 1A at that time.  There can be contact between the collector and the carrier robot when the collector robot is picking up blocks. But, the collector robot must rest on the cylinder.
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Please keep checking the FAQ page for updates

Mail your queries to robotics@shaastra.org with subject as 'Amazon Mystified: Query" . Please mention your name, college and contact number in all your mails.

Team Description Paper (TDP)Template for Amazon Mystified is uploaded!
Please upload your Amazon Mystified Team Description Papers latest by 31st August, 2010 to Shaastra Userportal -  http://www.shaastra.org/userportal/home/
The TDP should be named as AM_cityname_institutename_teamname.pdf.
Only PDF format would be accepted. Please convert the .doc to .pdf before sending us the TDP.
For any query, mail us at robotics@shaastra.org

If you are a beginner and want to learn robotics, you have come to the right place. We are starting tutorials for Robotics. This tab would contain tutorials on Manual Robotics and would help in getting started with Robotics. This space would be updated weekly with new tutorials. So, keep watching this page.
The first tutorial on Manual Robotics is up!!!

The following 42 teams have been selected after the 2nd Phase for the finals of Amazon Mystified!
CONGRATULATIONS to all the 42 selected teams. We hope that you would accelerate your efforts and put up a great show in the Finals.

All teams selected in 2nd phase:- Please send an email immediately with following details to robotics@shaastra.org with the subject as "AM Selected Team Details"

In addition to the above 26 selected in 1st phase, 16 more teams have been selected in the 2nd phase.

Note: These are the final 42 teams who have made it through the TDP selections.
Congratulations!
See you at SHAASTRA!

BEST OF LUCK...