Mech-Warfare Rules

All Mechs are subject to final approval by an official before competing, and may be rejected if considered unsafe for human bystanders or not keeping in the spirit of the event. To elaborate, these rules here are intended to keep things balanced and fair, while I'm sure there are little loopholes that can be found for most things, have a sense of honor and respect for your opponents, and don't try to 'gimmick' your way to a win.

If you have questions, please Contact Andrew

Mechs:

• True walking robots only. Legs must be servo/actuator driven. This means no cam-driven, wheeled, or treaded configurations.
• Your robot may have up to 4 legs. There is a penalty for using more than 2 legs.
• Average Mech size is estimated between 10-18" tall. The arena itself has a 4' ceiling. There is no maximum height, bearing in mind the ceiling.
• Maximum weight is 5 kg. This includes all batteries, weapons and ammo.
• Your Mech may be remotely operated by a pilot or autonomous.
• Shields are not allowed.

Weapons:

• There are two separate weapon classes, each with different limitations.
• The Airsoft Weapon Class is standard competition class. Mechs are not likely to be damaged when participating in this class, as weapons are design to score hits rather than cause damage.
  Allowed Weapons:
  • Airsoft projectile and Nerf missile type weapons are allowed. No shotgun type weapons.
  • Basic melee weapons are allowed. Powered and/or rotary melee weapons are not allowed.
  • Flamethrowers or sharp melee weapons are not allowed. The point is not to physically damage the Mechs.
  • Rate of Fire- There is no limitation to rate of fire.
  • Velocity- Maximum of 350fps.
  • Ammo- Airsoft BBs and Nerf-type 'missiles'
• Hardcore Weapon Class will use much more powerful weapons such as CO2 powered rifles, micro class rockets, and flamethrowers. The weapon guidelines for this class are fairly open, however we must obey laws and keep bystander safety in mind. If you plan on participating in this class, be prepared for your Mech to take some damage.
  Allowed Weapons:
  • 'BB gun' type weapons are allowed. This includes CO2 and spring powered weapons. Gunpowder based weapons are not allowed.
  • Micro-Class Rockets are allowed. The MicroMaxx type rockets are a good example of what is allowed. Rockets must have less than a .5 second burst and cannot be explosive.
  • Flamethrowers are allowed, though highly ineffective due to the way that scoring is handled. Consider these weapons mostly for show. Contact an official prior to even considering a flamethrower.
  • Basic melee weapons are allowed. Powered and/or rotary melee weapons are not allowed.
  • No Liquid, Chemical or Electricity based weapons.
  • Rate of Fire- There is no limitation to rate of fire.
  • Velocity- Maximum of 450fps.
• Mechs can be outfitted to participate in either competition class as long as the weapons active abide by the rules of the class.
• Auto-aiming, tracking and lock-on systems are allowed. Automatic firing is not allowed. The only exception to this is on a fully autonomous mechs. In this case automatic firing is allowed however there must be a verified remote kill switch, to be demonstrated before participating. I won't have Skynet go live on my watch.

Control:

• Pilots may only view the battle through a first person POV camera mounted on their bot.
• Pilots may not view the battle directly.
• Cameras should be mounted roughly in the center of mass of the robot, where the 'cockpit' would be. The intention is to simulate piloting the Mech, not having cameras on your guns mounted to extensions so you can fire around corners without fear of being shot. This would fall under the 'Gimmick Clause'.
• Remote control setup is up to the pilot, though there are multiple methods being discussed on the forums, many of which are free and available to users.

Arena:

• The Arena dimensions are 8'x8'x4'. Larger arenas may be used in upcoming years. Expect an updated render of the arena and building placement shortly.
• The Arena will be located within an armored fully enclosed 'ComBot' cage, with 4-8 mock 'buildings' roughly 2 feet tall placed strategically throughout the arena to provide cover.
• 'Streets' will be 2' wide, enough to allow bots to traverse down and through the city.
• Mechs will start at opposite corners of the arena.
• Spectators will be able to watch the entire fight in the arena, and also have a view of each pilot's 'mech cam' displayed on monitors.
• Proposed Arena Designs are currently being discussed.
  

Scoring:

• Matches are won by reducing your opponent's Mech hit points to 0.
• Each Mech has X amount of hitpoints. X is still being decided, 10 is an estimate.
• Targets will consist of thin plates mounted to vibration sensors.
  
• Your Mech must be equipped with Targets equal to the amount of legs it has. Bipeds require one front target and one rear. Tripods and Quadrapods must have at least one target visible from any horizontal angle (meaning, if an enemy mech is facing you, at least one target must be visible)
• Targets must be reasonably mounted on the Mech's main frame and not obscured by any limbs. This means no mounting them on poles sticking off of the Mech. Use common sense when choosing a mounting location, and keep in mind the spirit of the game. The intention is that if you are able to fire upon an opponent, they should be able to return fire given that they are facing you.
• The target plates will most likely require a consistent color scheme to provide a basis for vision based tracking and aiming systems.
• A knockover will also count as a hit. If you mech is unable to right itself, the match will be paused while the mech is assisted up and penalized an additional point of damage.
  
• Targets will report hits to a Wireless Scoring Slave Unit, which will relay those hits to a Master Scoring Unit hooked up to a scoreboard.
• Scoring Units will not register any more than 1 hit per every 1 second.
• The Wireless Scoring Slave Unit is being developed and will be made available at cost. It will be plug and play, targets will plug in using .1" spaced 2 wire connectors (think of a servo connection with only 2 wires) It is being developed by Jon Hylands. Here is a brief overview:

  We're going to the Xbee wireless module one per robot, plus a master. The robot (slave) modules will have a secondary board (which I will design & build) that has an onboard ATmega168, and it will interface with up to four taget modules. Each target module is basically a vibration sensor that triggers when it is hit. It will be up to the robot builder to build the target modules for their robot. We will come up with standards for the size of the target.
  
  The slave module will require a 3-wire connection to the robot - power (5 volts), ground, and a digital input pin that will be strobed each time a target is hit. This is so that the robot can send that information back to the controlling PC, and the person controlling the robot will know how many hits they have. Each slave module will have a unique ID.
  
  Once per second, the master will interrogate each slave to find out how many hits they have, and the results will be posted on a large screen that the audience can see.
  
  In terms of number of targets per robot, that is up in the air, but my initial thoughts are:
  
  # of targets = # of legs
  
  So a biped would have two targets (front and rear), a tripod would have three, and a quad would have four. One of the targets has to be clearly visible and hittable when the robot is facing an opponent.
  
  I'm going to build two version of the slave module - one as mentioned above for non-Bioloid mechs, and one that is a Bioloid bus device for Bioloid mechs (so the three-wire connection will be a standard Bioloid bus connector).
  
  The slave modules will be available at cost, which will be somewhere around $50." -Jon Hylands
  

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