2024-2025 GAPPS Robotics Competition Kickoff

January 25, 2025

Introduction

• Francis Sullivan
• Electrical and Computer Engineering Major from Georgia Southern.
• Participated in previous robotics competitions since around 2015 up until I graduated high school, and volunteered a few times after that.
• I currently work full time at SRNS in South Carolina.
• My fiance, Gabrielle helped throughout the process, with feedback, proofreading and brainstorming.
• Feel free to email me any questions or concerns at francismsullivan04@gmail.com

General Competition Rules

• Match: Four autonomous robots, competing head-to-head over two rounds to score the most points.
• A match is made up of two 90 second rounds. Points are awarded at the end of the second round, defined by the game rules
• In a round, robots can be restarted whenever they leave the field (either automatically or “rescued” by students)
• Restarts must be entirely in start zone and not touching field mat. When leaving start zone, robots must pass through gate without knocking it off (Robots must be less than a cubic foot in size)
• While in start zone or on the floor out-of-play, robots can be modified with attachments and different programs can be selected. Scoring elements can be loaded as described in the game rules.

General Rules Con’t

• Once the robot and scoring elements are in the field, they may not be touched by the teams. Robots (and referees) only, unless a robot is being rescued by a student.
• Something out of play (robot/scoring element)? – teams can retrieve immediately for reuse.
• Rescue tokens: Can be “spent” to have your robot retrieved by a student immediately, in case it gets lost. These tokens are worth points at the end of the game, so spend wisely.
• Robots are returned to teams at the end of each round. Elements that are “free” are left in the field. Elements still in control of the robot are returned to the team (unless stated otherwise in the game rules).
• Entanglement: Automatic retrieval if two robots contact each other (unless stated otherwise in the game rules)

General Rules Con’t

​

• No programming (or computers / tablets, for that matter) permitted at queuing or the competition field.
• Bluetooth on the robots needs to be disabled at queuing. If you are going to use Bluetooth to program, please use a school-centric name and a custom 4-digit code
• If team’s match points are tied at the end of the round, see the game rules for the tie breaking mechanism.
• Each team will play four matches at the event. Top 8 in ranking points will move on to a single-elimination tournament, quarter-finals to final. Top two from quarter-finals will advance to finals. Top two from finals will win State Champion, State runner-up
• Teams limited to 3 students at the competition field at a time.

General Rules Con’t

​

• A team’s score for all matches is cumulative, meaning they add together for one total score
• At the end of the seeding matches (matches before quarter-finals), every teams’ lowest scoring match will be removed. This does not apply to the quarter-final matches or final match.
• A false start at the beginning of a round will incur a 10 second penalty. This means starting before the round has begun.
• More details and rules in the official rules document, located at GAPPS website.
• Also please note the rules are subject to changes, so be sure to check the GAPPS website and rule document for the most up-to-date rules.
• A Referee training document will be available to provide examples of scoring a board.

​

This year’s game:

“Robot Quest”

Main Objective

• The primary objective this year is to collect 3 shelf pieces by completing different tasks on the game board, which are:
• The Chest
• The Switches
• The Boss
• Once all three are collected, they are to be placed on the shelf in order to complete your quest.
• The pieces can be collected in any order.

Side Objectives

• Chest
• The Chest is located on the left wall and will need to be opened by the robot to earn points and a shelf piece.
• Switches
• The Switches are located on the right wall, and need to be pressed by the robot to earn points and a shelf piece.

Side Objectives, Con’t

• Sword and Boss
• The sword is located in the PVC elbow, represented by the sharpie.
• The boss is represented by a notecard taped to the wall between the pillars, in line with the top of the wall.
• The boss will need to be marked with the sharpie to collect the final shelf piece.
• Dice/Pit
• The Dice are located on markers on the field, these will be collected by students and placed in the Dice Pit for bonus points.

Layout

• High School and Middle School will have the same layouts, as described in the build instructions,
• A reset board will have the dice located on the markers, with 1-4 pointing up, an uncapped sharpie in the PVC holder, a notecard taped to between the pillars, a closed chest, shelf pieces will be collected and held by the corner ref.

Game Specific Rules and Notes

• Each team starts with 2 Rescue Tokens. Two more tokens will be earned at the end of the first round. Bonus points are earned based on number of tokens remaining.
• Once a shelf piece is given, the element cannot be “unscored” (closing an open chest, undoing the switches, etc) and full points will still be given.
• Important notes:
• Double sided tape will be used to hold the notecard in place to represent the boss
• Issues with components not sticking have come up, so E6000, gorilla glue, or epoxy will be used to prevent game pieces from falling off/breaking during gameplay.
• See rule document for more rules and details.

​

Point Values

Questions?