ROV Underwater "Game #3"
Collaboration
The team that wins the Collaboration Award is the team that wins the ROV Underwater "Game #3". The team with the highest score will win the ROV Underwater "Game #3", Collaboration.
As underwater ROV technologies advance, their applications will be numerous. Some tasks, however, will surely be too much for a single ROV to accomplish on its own. There will be a need for multiple ROVs cooperating simultaneously to achieve the same goals. These types of missions will present many difficulties, especially for tethered vehicles, but an ROV that can perform well on a team with other ROVs is much more valuable than one that cannot.
“Underwater Game #3” will require a total of two ROV’s, one from each of two teams. Each team will utilize a driver and tether cable manager, as in previous games. Tether cable managers and drivers must be especially careful not to get the two ROVs’ tether cables tangled on each other. Either ROV may perform any game activity, in any order.
The game itself will consist of a three Dials that float on the surface of the water. Each Dial will have a Needle above the surface, and Handles below the surface, at varying depths, by which an ROV can rotate the Needle. At the start of the game, the first and third Dials will have several game pieces resting on top of them, and the Middle Dial will have one game piece. These game pieces will vary in size.
The goal is to dislodge the game pieces from the Dials by turning the Needles using the Handles; the game pieces will fall into the water, earning a small number of points. The game pieces must then be brought to the team members by the ROVs, and removed from the water for additional points. NOTE: Team members may not touch a game piece until either the retrieving ROV or the game piece touches the pool wall (as determined by the Lane Referee).
The Middle Dial will have one game piece on it, and will be painted with quadrants labeled A, B, C, and D. The goal is to dislodge this one game piece from the Dial and return it to the team members. A multiple-choice SEAPerch curriculum question will be attached to the game piece. The team must decide the correct answer (A through D), and return to the Middle Dial and set the Needle to point to the answer. There is no penalty for an incorrect answer, but a correct answer gives significant bonus points.
Consideration towards optimal propulsion speed and finely-tuned depth control should be given when constructing the SEAPerch ROV for Game #3; motor placement and orientation, tether attachment, buoyancy and ballast, and your control box, can all have an effect on the ROV's performance.
This Underwater ROV game will be scored on several factors.
- 1 point is awarded per game piece dislodged from the First Dial
- 3 points are awarded per game piece from the First Dial that is retrieved by team members.
- For a total of 4 points per game piece dislodged and retrieved from the First Dial
- 2 points are awarded per game piece dislodged from the Third Dial
- 6 points are awarded per game piece from the Third Dial that is retrieved by team members.
- For a total of 8 points per game piece dislodged and retrieved from the Third Dial
- 20 points are awarded for both retrieving the Middle Dial game piece and correctly answering its question using the Needle on the Middle Dial
- NOTE: No points will be awarded as it relates to the Middle Dial point structure unless the Middle Dial game piece has been successfully dislodged and retrieved.
- Example 1:
- By the end of the match, a team of 2 ROVs has dislodged 3 game pieces from the First Dial and 3 game pieces from the Third Dial, and have retrieved 3 game pieces from the First Dial and 1 from the Third Dial. They have not dislodged or retrieved the Middle Dial game piece. They earn:
- 3 points for the 3 game pieces dislodged from the First Dial
- 6 points for the 3 game pieces dislodged from the Third Dial
- 9 points for the 3 game pieces retrieved from the First Dial
- 6 points for the 1 game piece retrieved from the Third Dial
- For a total of 24 points
- Example 2:
- By the end of the match a team of 2 ROVs has dislodged 3 game pieces from the Third Dial, retrieved all 3 of them, and retrieved the game piece from the Middle Dial and answered its question correctly. They have not dislodged or retrieved any game pieces from the First Dial. They earn:
- 6 points for the 3 game pieces dislodged from the Third Dial
- 18 points for the 3 game pieces retrieved from the Third Dial
- 20 points for the correct answer of the Middle Dial's question
- For a total of 44 points
- Game #3 Collaboration will have a time limit of 5 minutes. A stop signal will sound at 5 minutes; at this time, all operators must place the ROV objects they are holding on the ground.
- The ROV MUST touch the wall at the start of the game; an operator should hold the ROV in place until the start signal is sounded.
- The ROV Control Box must be on the ground at the start of each game; when the start signal is sound, an operator may pick up the controls.
- The tether may NOT be pulled on during the game.
- A team member may "manage" the amount of tether cable in the water, feeding and retracting length as desired, but the tether cable must be slack at all times; the team member may not use the tether cable to assist the ROV's movement in any way
- Subject to the lane referee's discretion
- Each time the ROV is returned to the team members to deliver a retrieved game pieces, the ROV or game piece must touch the wall before the game piece is removed from the water. If a team member removes the game piece prior to the ROV or game piece touching the wall, the points for that game piece will not be included in the game.
- If a team has a "false start" defined as (a) the ROV has left the wall before the start signal OR (b) an operator has the controller in possession prior to the start signal; 20 seconds will be added to that team's timed score of the maneuvering course.
- If a team has possession of ROV Controller after end of game signal: 5 points will be subtracted from that team's score.
