Balloon Challenge

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Balloon challenge can be solved many different ways. It can be used to introduce robot teams to random behavior, target seeking, as well as patterned behavior.

Mission Objective

Build an autonomous robot that will pop all of the balloons with pushpins while staying inside a given area.

Figure 1 Balloon Challenge Starting Position

Race Rules

• The robot must pass an inspection before the race starts to ensure no construction rules have been violated. The robot team will have a chance to make modifications before the race starts.
  
• The robot is placed in the center of the challenge area facing a pre-determined direction.
  
• When commanded, the robot driver will press the green “run” button and the clock will start.
  
• The robot must pop all of the balloons while staying in the challenge area.
  
• If a robot pushes a balloon off its base, then the balloon is reset by the driver as fast as they can.
  
• Each robot’s run is timed from the time the run button is hit to the time last balloon is popped.

Robot Construction

• The robot must be less than 11 inches long including any extensions.
  
• The robot must be less than 10 inches wide including any extensions.
  
• The robot must use pieces from a standard Lego Mindstorm Robotics Invention System 1.5.
  
• One extra light sensor is allowed for this event.
  
• The robot is allowed up to 5 pushpins for popping balloons. These pins may be attached to the robot by any means as long as the robot doesn’t violate the height and width restrictions.
  
• The robot must be programmed using RCX code programming.
  
• Once started, the robot must be completely autonomous.

Violations

Major Infraction

When a major infraction occurs, the robot must be restarted from the beginning of the track without stopping the clock.

• Once the robot is moving, there can be no human intervention until the robot completes the task.
  
• Losing pieces while the robot is running.
  
• Leaving the challenge area.

Minor infractions

None.

Determining the winner

The robot with the shortest time is declared the winner.

In case of a tie, the tied contestants are allowed a run-off. The racer with the shortest run-off time is declared the winner regardless of their initial time.

Play field

Materials

• A large table or flat ground with consistent coloring.
  
• White or black tape, whichever has more contrast against the playing surface.
  
• Round balloons, up to 5” in diameter.
  
• Packing tape, or other strong tape to attach the balloons to the playing surface.
  
• Push pins and tape or rubber bands to attach the pushpins.

Construction

• Layout a closed area using white or black tape.
  
• In this area, place 3 or 4 balloons for the robot to pop.
  
• The balloons should be placed consistently between runs so that every robot competes on the same layout.

Figure 2 About to pop a balloon

Hints:

• There are many ways to solve this problem. Experiment to find the best solution.
  
• Attaching your pins to extensions can be tricky. If you use extensions, make sure they are placed tight on the robot.
  
• Sometimes you can get lucky by using a little random behavior in your robot’s program.