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News and Updates

Latest info

David: 04/11/02 Update

Here's something that everyone who participated in the hardware competition might enjoy (this will take you to another site).
David: 04/11/02 Update

Some final notes...

I would like to thank everyone for attending the conference. We had a great turn out this year, and some really good competitions.

Also, I plan on posting the final results for each competition and the code for the software this weekend. Thanks again for making this such a great conference.
David: 04/04/02 Update

Final call for competition pre-registration. The pre-registration page will be disabled at 5:00 pm today. After this time, all registrations will be taken at the Embassy Suites on Friday and early Saturday morning.
David: 04/03/02 Update

Last minute updates:
1. We look foward to seeing everyone on Friday.
2. Please sign in at the student competition registration desk so that we know you are here.
3. The hardware practice table schedule is as follows:
Friday - open 8am, 10am-10pm there will be a sign up sheet which allows each team 4 - 15 minute time slots; after 10pm the practice tables are first come first serve (please be courteous to all).
4. The competition table will be open from 8pm - 2am, each team will be allowed 1 - 15 minute time slot on the table.
5. There will be qualified judges on-site Friday, avoid problems on Saturday and get your questions answered early.
David: 03/18/02 Update

   One more update for today.... if you have registered for a competition and have not received a confirmation email from me please let me know. I have sent out confirmations to everyone whom has registered for any of the competitions.
David: 03/18/02 Update

   The conference is approaching fast (only 18 days away) so I have a few updates.

1. Reminder: The website competition registration deadline is this Friday, March 22 at 5:00 pm. Please be sure to register, judging will begin on Monday.

2. When you arrive at the conference please check in at both the conference registration table and the competition registration table so that we know your team has arrived.

3. There have been several questions regarding competition schedules the schedule will be as shown below. (Room numbers will be available upon registration.) All competition registration should be complete by 8am Saturday morning.
Hardware Competition:
  Friday, April 5th
  - Practice Tables Open all day (beginning 10am)
  - Competition Table open for practice (late evening after reception is complete)

  Saturday, April 6th
  - Competition Begins (8am) - Should be complete by 6 pm.


Software Competition
  Friday, April 5th
  - Competition Introduction Meeting (8pm) Salon D
  - Directions to site, bus schedule and project details will be announced at this meeting

  Saturday, April 6th
  -Competition Begins (8am) - Should end by 6pm

T-Shirt Competition
  Saturday, April 6th
  - Setup early morning, ballots will be collected all day.
David: 02/22/02 Update

   More information has been posted on the website competition. Please note that the deadline date for website submission is March 22, by 5:00 pm. This date was set so that the judges have ample time to view your site.
David: 02/18/02 Update

   Ok... there have been several questions regarding conference costs and payments. Please visit the general conference website for this information.
James: 02/05/02 Update

   Have you ever second-guessed yourself, only to find out that you were right after all? The table dimensions are correct. I've put the old table diagram back into place and ignore my previous correction on 1/29...The tape is in the right spot because the incline of the table allows the camera to see more width than the aspect aspect ratio would suggest.

James: 01/29/02 Update

   The FAQ has been updated, and there is an error in the table dimensions. The viewing area is a 4/3 aspect ratio, but the diagram shows a 64/45 aspect ratio. Rule 2.2.1 should read "furthest edge from the center of the table is 10in". The table diagram has been updated to reflect this correction.

David: 01/23/02 Update

   IMPORTANT:For those of you who plan on flying to the conference. In light of the tightened airport security, you may find it helpful to call the airlines in advance if you plan on carrying your robot onto the plane or packing it with your luggage. This may help you avoid unwanted airport security issues.

Also just a reminder that the conference is fast approaching. Remember that the conference begins on Friday, April 5th. On Friday registration will begin and the hardware practice tables will be open all day. Please check back frequently as we continue to update the information on the hardware FAQ's and information on the other competitions.

David: 12/06/01 Update

   The online registration page is complete. It can be found here. Just a reminder that this is the competition registration form and not the conference registration form. Details about conference registration will be provided in the near future.

David: 12/06/01 Update

   I have been corrected again. The correct viewing area of the camera is 5' x 3'9. There will be a small area in front of the tape line that defines the robot area that the camera will be unable to view. I'm sorry for all the confusion.

David: 12/03/01 Update

   OK... I have a few updates to make. First, the PDF registration form will only work with a paid version of Adobe, the free version from the web will not work. Sorry.. I know we all like the free stuff. Until I get the ASP registration page posted.. you may download the PDF and copy the form into Word to submit.

Next, someone has found a math error on the hardware rules. Under the camera tower section it states that the camera should view 5' x 3'9"... this is incorrect. The camera should view the entire play area of 64" x 3'9". I appologize for the mistake.

Finally, there have been several questions regarding the fundamental rule. I think that by carefully reading the FAQs and understanding of this rule can be achieved.

David: 11/30/01 Update

   I have finally updated the software competition page with some preliminary information. More information to come soon.

David: 11/13/01 Update

   We have prepared a PDF form for competition registration. To register for the competitions: download the PDF, fill it out and email to secon2002hardware@engr.sc.edu. Please use the subject of: Registration. Also an online version of this form is still being created and will be posted prior to winter break.

David: 10/21/01 Update

   After a long delay from answering the many questions that all of you have been sending over the past few weeks, the FAQ's have been updated. I would advise everyone to look through these, they answer a lot of good questions and provide some clarifications on the rules.

   I am currently working on coding some online competition team registration forms... I will post these as soon as they are completed.

David: 10/04/01 Update

   Just a reminder that our committee is working very hard on getting the available information to the website in a timely manner, so keep checking back for more updates. Today, I have posted the finalized rules for the student paper competition. We hope to have the competition registration information ready soon, and the FAQ's for the hardware competition updated sometime next week.

David: 09/25/01 Update

   As per the many email requests have received, the preliminary T-Shirt competition information has been posted. The registration details should be posted in early November and locations for the competition and on-site (late) registration will be posted as soon as I know where they will be.

David: 09/24/01 Update

   Note: Rule 2.3.5 has been modified for clarification purposes.

   The amplifier issue has been resolved. If you have already purchased the Radio Shack amplifier you do not need to purchase the new part. The Radio Shack amplifier is the exact same part as the replacement. The replacement part is: AntennaCraft part No. 10G203, purchasing details can be found on their website. I hope this has not caused too many delays in your development schedule.

   Things to expect in the near future: Info on paper competition, info on website competition (early Nov.), info on T-Shirt competition.

James: 09/16/01 Update

   Ladies & Gentlemen, I must apologize for the untimely update of this site. We had the rules finalized by Friday, but my computer decided it was overworked and underpaid, so it quit. Although I keep frequent backups, it took a few hours yesterday to bring it back, at which point I had to make all of the updates...again. Hopefully, this late update did not disrupt your plans much. (Besides, you should be out enjoying yourself on a Sat. night - See a movie, get some ice cream, coffee, go out with friends, whatever.)
   The hardware competition rules are finalized. Clarifications will be posted but the current wording of the rules will not change. We are making efforts to provide information on the other competitions sometime in November.
   Also of note is that the base for the table is no longer optional. Since we are allowing teams to have robots that extend outside of the playing arena, we must be certain that a uniform height for the competition table exists.
   For those of you who haven't noticed, the ball has been changed from the foosball to a practice golf ball. This change was made due to the problems we've heard concerning Quality Table Games. There are a few changes in the rules, so be sure to read up.
   We have recently been told that Radio Shack has discontinued the distributer amplifier that we've specified in the rules for the hardware competition. If you can still find it, go ahead and use it, if not, we'll have a suitable replacement posted shortly.
I will be updating the FAQs and the Camera tower information tomorrow, so be sure to check back.

James: 07/18/01 Update

We've resolved the lens issues with the camera. If you haven't purchased your camera yet, the change of lens doesn't affect your purchase. (The correct lens is now in the package.) If you have already purchased your camera and have not been contacted by J.C. at Global Technologies, please give him a call to arrange an exchange of lenses. Because of the new focal length of the lens, the camera will need to be about 80" above the table. We'll put together new camera tower instructions sometime soon. In the meantime, be creative...you should see how we have it mounted to the rafters.
I've put up a PDF version of the rules for easier printing, reading, etc.

James: 06/30/01 Update

We have some issues with the choice of lens for the camera. If you haven't already purchased the camera, please wait until these issues are resolved (which will be very soon).

James: 06/26/01 Update

The rules have been revised for some wording issues and are now updated. The instructions for the new table arena are up so you may start building it. (The new arena is so simple, you'll be done building before you know it). We haven't hammered out any new design for a camera tower, and the curtains may be removed from the new table, so don't proceed with those yet. That's it for now. Coming soon: animated assembly video.

James: 06/14/01 Update

The newest revision of the rules is up. Not including revisions of wording, I hope this is the last major change. We're working on putting together the new building instructions. I'm sure you'll be happy with them. We built the new table in about 1.5 hours from scratch and we didn't even know what it was going to look like. Simplicity, Simplicity, Simplicity.

James: 05/31/01 Update

STOP!!!

Apparently, I was wrong about the green-light on building the table. It seems we're going to be going back to the old-style version of the competition (i.e. more like pong). The benefit of this is that the rules and the table become much, much simpler. If you have begun work on the table, please e-mail us to let us know, but we'll be changing the table design some (e.g. lowering the angle :) ). We're going to return this competition to simplicity and hopefully make it easier on all of you in the end. Stay tuned, we'll update as quickly as we can to shift to the old version of the competition. If you have any question / concerns, please e-mail us.

James: 05/22/01 Update

The latest of just about everything is now posted. I've listed the things that have yet to be posted, and if anything appears missing (e.g. listed as "will be posted") and is not listed above please send an e-mail. The rules are fairly finalized. Once everything gets up, we'll specify a "lock-out date" on which the rules will be considered final. The building instructions are now updated and posted. I have to add some images and add-ons to some of those instructions, but unless I'm incorrect, you can start building away!

James: 05/06/01 Update

I bet you're wondering where the latest revision to the rules are...so are we. No, really. We're currently swamped with exams and have some major issues that need to be addressed before we can post the next rules revision, but expect that the next revision will be made available as soon as we can.

James: 04/19/01 Update

The current revision of the rules are now available, along with a new link for some of the frequently asked questions. We will not have the rules available in PDF format until the rules have reached a "steady state" :). As for table building instructions, we're still making modifications to them, so don't rush out and go carpenter on us just yet. The base of the table is optional, 4 concrete blocks may work just as well, as long as you can keep the table level and don't have to get the blocks from under a car.

James: 04/13/01 Update

We've decided to keep everyone up to date by posting what we're working on here. Since I'm handling the Webmastering, I'll try and keep these pages as current as possible.

I'm currently trying to make a good, clear diagram of the robot size limitations so that what I'm about to explain is clearer. We've decided to extend the paddle width limitation and try to clarify where those limitations occur. A robot is limited to 8" in width from the top of the table to 5cm off of the table. Above 5 cm above the table, there are NO width resrictions (as long as it follows the other rules - disqualification bad). Depth (distance from the front of the robot to the back) remains 10", but that limitation is due to the construction of the table. You are allowed to have just under 12" in depth above the 5 cm from the table. Basically, the footprint (area under 5cm) of the robot cannot be larger than 8" by 10", but there are no width and height restrictions beyond that and the allowable depth goes up to 12" above the footprint (until the height exceeds the walls, then depth is also unlimited).

Wouldn't that diagram come in handy now? I'll make it available as soon as it's ready.

Amiel: 04/13/01 Update

Hey guys. I was one of the people who presented to you about the competition at southeast con. Since I am a graduating senior, you probably won't hear much more from me except for the next couple of weeks as we update the rules and FAQs and what not.

I am working on these issues:
  1. The buffer design for isolation of the circuits (May 1st)
  2. The competition bracket system - since there will be multiple levels of competition (April 19th)
  3. camera selection and specifications with Dave (April 20th)
  4. anything else that comes up


Trish: 04/13/01 Update

Hey, right now I am working on getting the updated version of the rules out. The new updated version of the rules should be posted on the this website under Hardware Competition Rules by Thursday, April 19th. I hope to have alot of the conflicts with the rules worked out by then, but I know that more may arise. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at secon2002hardware@engr.sc.edu. This email account should be up and running soon.
David: 04/13/01 Update

Currently I am resolving many of the issues regarding the table. The size of the bins have been set and we have added them to our table. The information for constructing these will be added to the playing area instructions during our next update on Thursday of next week. Also, I am in the process of creating a 3D AutoCAD drawing of the table; my current plan is to have this finished before May 1st.

I am also helping Amiel in the process of finding a camera with ample availability, we plan on having this issue resolved by the end of next week.

Finally, I am compiling and finding answers / solutions to all the FAQ's. I hope to get most of these answered during this weekend and start posting them beginning next week. It seems that everyone is as excited with this competition as we are, so keep sending in those questions so we can make this the best hardware competition that the Southeastern Conference has seen.