RULES IN THE KITCHEN

RULES 2015-2016 – IN THE KITCHEN

France, Germany, Italy

Introduction: why participating in such a challenge? ... 2

1. The scenario ... 3 A. Nao runner ... 3 B. Nao chef ... 5 C. Nao entertainer ... 7 D. Me & you! ... 8 2. Participating is easy... 9

a. Who can participate? ... 9

b. How to participate? ... 9

1. Create your team ... 9

2. Register your team ... 9

3. Get technical information ... 9

4. Prepare the tests ...10

5. Attend the finals ...10

c. Registration ...10 3. Contacts ...11 a. France ...11 b. Germany ...11 c. Italy ...11 d. Aldebaran ...11 4. Technical information ...12

a. Robot & software version ...12

b. Technical details for the finals ...12

I

:

W

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The NAO Challenge is an annual competition organised by Aldebaran, initially in France and now spreading across the world, especially in Germany and Italy for the 2015 – 2016 edition. The goal is to raise awareness, motivate and train students in the use of humanoid robotics through multi-technological and innovative projects. Through programming and the development of a mechatronic system, students create scenarios optimising NAO’s capabilities and taking into account its limitations, thus enabling NAO to become a companion and an ideal assistant at home.

This competition is part of the educational activities aimed in particular at developing students’ initiatives and taste for innovation, as well as scientific and technological skills. This challenge has been designed in collaboration with teachers, in order to fit in with the various scientific, technological and technical projects (for students aged 15 to 18 years).

THE BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATING IN THIS CONTEST ARE MANY:

Students: Imagine yourself in a nearby universe, both fascinating and intriguing, where robots will be our daily companions. You will progress in advanced technology techniques, learn in an entertaining way and as a team, stimulate your creativity and, above all, discover promising jobs and careers.

Teachers: You will interest your students, both boys and girls, in science and technology; you will offer them attractive career prospects and capture their attention and stimulate their imagination. If you have been planning to supervise a project or a scientific workshop with a group of students, this challenge is a motivating framework for it. Participating is a unique opportunity to showcase their work and engage them in a collaborative effort.

Institutions: Your participation is a mean of promoting your institution’s innovation and excellence values through the international media.

Everyone: You will have the chance to meet the NAO-users community, as well as technical teams and engineers, who will offer you special support throughout the competition. You will also discover the fascinating world of robotics and its start-up spirit, combining a sense of humour, creativity and passion for robotics.

Through the NAO Challenge, we invite you to participate in the development of robot companions and assistants, thanks to applications that will be daily used.

The NAO Challenge allows your students to progress, solve current societal challenges and meet manufacturers & innovators.

1.

T

S

In the NAO Challenge, NAO is an integral part of the house and helps its occupants to live better. After the hallway then the living room, NAO is now interacting in the kitchen.

The story takes place in a family house, in the morning. The inhabitants are still sleeping and NAO is getting the breakfast ready for you!

Before presenting each test, the teams should present themselves to the jury, to explain who they are, what they are doing, the difficulties they have faced during the development and the solution they have chosen to win the challenge!

Teams can do 1, 2, 3 or 4 of the tests.

A.

NAO RUNNER

NAO has many things to do in order to prepare the perfect breakfast, boil eggs, make pancakes, cut fruits and squeeze others to make a juice. NAO is mastering this cooking but happens to get late, and the pancakes start burning in the pan. NAO has to rush to the pan to get the pancakes out.

The goal is to win a speed contest. NAO has to walk (or run!) five meters in straight line, faster than the competitors. Unfortunately, the robot is not fully awake and does not naturally walk very straight… your job is to find a smart way to correct this as the deviation is not always the same depending on the floor, the battery, the motors …

The area will be a running track, 5m long by 1m large. The starting and finishing areas are 1m x 1m. For this challenge, you are playing against other teams, with one track each (number of tracks to be decided by the ambassador for the finals).

Scenario for the competition:

i. Pools of teams are constituted by the jury, separating the teams owning a NAO and the teams who don’t have a robot. The number of teams competing against each other will depend on the number of available running tracks.

5m 1m 1m Team 1 5m 1m 1m Team 2 5m 1m 1m Team 3

ii. Each team places its robot in the starting area. The exact position and orientation within this area are free.

iii. The jury gives a GO: one member of the team starts the robot. Means chosen to start the robot are left to the team’s choice, but this is a speed competition; the robot should react as fast as possible!

iv. The competing robots walk to the finishing area, without leaving the running track. All required means are authorized to help NAO walk straight and reach the destination square, including (but not limited to) adding pads, banners, adhesive tapes, signs or objects, except human intervention or remote controlling. These add-ons can be placed inside or outside of the running track, no more than 10 cm next to the track.

If the robot gets out of the running track, a member of the team should grab it and put it back in the middle of the track, at the same level as the exit point.

v. When the robot reaches the finish area, it can play a little animation, but should stop walking.

Grading:

-  Team presentation: 3 pts - Solution to make the robot walk straight: 7 pts -  First robot to reach the destination: 10 pts -  Second robot to reach the destination: 6 pts -  Next robot(s) to reach the destination: 3 pts -  Never reach destination after 3min: 0 pt. - Bonus:

o 2 points if the robot never goes out of the running track (even if robot does not

arrive at destination).

o 2 points for fun animation when reaching the destination area.

- Malus:

o 2 points if human intervention is required, for any reason (including putting

the robot back on its own running track). Playing area:

Running track: rectangle of 7m x 1m, including 1m for starting area and 1m for destination area, on opposite sides of the rectangle. Tracks are separated by at least 1m from each other. The three zones of the track will be clearly marked on the ground.

Areas of expertise: programming, animation, tracking 5m

1m 1m

B.

NAO CHEF

You finally wake up, and your favourite robot is ready to prepare you perfectly toasted bread, just as you like them! NAO is a connected device that can communicate with all the other connected appliances in the kitchen.

Your goal is to create a connected toaster, which will be controlled by NAO. Two slices of bread will be toasted, either at once or one after the other.

Scenario:

i. Say hello to your robot. NAO greets you back

ii. NAO asks you how toasted you would like your bread this morning

You have to create a scale of 3 degrees of toasting, going from 15s to 25s, to be presented to the jury. The scale allows ±1 second. Such as for example:

o Warm: 15s (from 14 to 16s) o Toasted: 20s (from 19 to 21s) o Grilled: 25s (from 24 to 26s)

iii. NAO acknowledges and programs the toaster accordingly.

The choice of the means of communication between NAO and the toaster is left free to the teams.

iv. You insert the bread in your toaster, which starts heating. The toaster is activated when you insert the bread, after having selected the cooking time with NAO.

For the challenge purposes, and for security reasons, you cannot include heating parts in the toaster. They should be replaced by a red light clearly indicating that the toaster is heating.

Toasts must be created and adapted to your toaster. No real food can be used. v. NAO does the timer, can do some animation in the meantime.

vi. At the end of the timer, the toaster ejects the bread that has to land in a basket without any human intervention.

This basket can be placed anywhere around, on top, or under the toaster. vii. NAO is proud and tells you that your toasts are ready (and perfectly cooked).

Requirements: Teams have to create:

- 1 toaster,

- 2 toasts (No real food can be used)

- (or find & bring) the basket and any required furniture.

Teams are free to use any design and materials to build the toaster and the toasts (except real food). The solution chosen to hold and release the bread is also left to the team’s choice. As always, fun solutions will be preferred!

Grading:

- Team presentation: 3pts

- Design and manufacture of the toaster: 4pts - Design and manufacture of the 2 toasts: 2pts - NAO interaction with human and toaster,

toasting time configured, fun animations: 7pts

- Toasts fall in the basket: 4pts (2point/toast in the basket)

Playing area:

- Empty rectangle of 1.5+m x 1.5+m clearly marked on the floor. Any furniture, as well as the toaster, toasts, basket and other required accessories will be brought by the teams.

Areas of expertise: Mechatronics, programming, dialog, animation, network communication. 1.5

C.

NAO ENTERTAINER

One (or more) member of the team is playing with NAO in the kitchen, waiting for the breakfast to be ready.

The goal is to imagine, design and program an interactive game in which NAO plays against or with the kid. This open challenge has just a few requirements:

i. The game is interactive: NAO plays with humans.

Interactivity can include (but is not limited to) dialog, object grasping, sensors activation, vision recognition. A human must be involved in the game.

A bonus is granted if the robot can correctly handle several people for the game. ii. Rules must be clearly established and presented to the jury before the attempt. iii. Demo lasts between 2 and 4 minutes.

The playing area is a rectangle of at least 1.5m-long sides. It is empty but can be filled with as many objects as necessary. Finding, buying or building any required accessory is under the teams’ responsibility, as well as bringing these accessories to the finals.

Starting and ending positions of the robot are left to the team’s choice with one requirement only: keeping the robot in a stable position to avoid falling.

Grading:

- Team presentation: 3 pts

- Rules – Clearness, originality, adaptation to the scenario…: 4 pts - Demo – design, fun, relevance, animations, accessories…: 5 pts Demo – technical, smoothness, stability, dialogs, interactions…: 5 pts

- Fun: 3 pts

Bonus for playing with several people: 2 pts

Playing area:

- Empty rectangle of 1.5+m x 1.5+m clearly marked on the floor. Any furniture or required accessories will be brought by the teams.

Areas of expertise: Creativity, animation, programming, creation of accessories 1.5

D.

ME & YOU

The NAO Challenge @ Home is a creative & fun challenge! The Me & You test is about creativity, team spirit, animation, interactivity with the community and exchange.

How to do that? Be creative and use digital tools to offer everybody an opportunity to be somehow a member of your team:

 Broadcast videos : number of views will be highly considered

 Offer insights on how you work on your project, the problems you face & how you find solutions

 Present the members of your teams, how your school and family is involved  Be active on the Community forum

 Broadcast pictures across social media

To make sure it is well scored, the content must be announced on the forum and the name or description should contain the following information: NAO Challenge 2016, Team name, Country, School name

Share your work on the forum, tease the other teams with awesome videos and get new ideas from international competitors!

Examples of social networks:

 YouTube: - create team channels

- include NAO Challenge 2016 in the name of your video  Facebook: - create team page

- quote @naotherobot in your public posts

2.

P

E

A.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

All secondary classes, whether you have a NAO or not, located in France, Germany and Italy can participate in the NAO Challenge.

You have a NAO *:You are ready for the NAO Challenge! * See part 4.A

You don’t have a NAO: The NAO Challenge is made for you! You can prepare tests in simulation throughout the year, and keep in touch with your ambassador; they may be able to help you get access to a robot. A robot will be lent to you at the finals.

B.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE?

Throughout the competition, teams are in contact with the ambassador of their country (and not with Aldebaran).

1. CREATEYOURTEAM

Teams shall consist of 2 to 5 students maximum and a supervising teacher in charge of the team. This teacher will be the unique contact person throughout the competition. A school can register several teams, but a teacher can only support one team.

We encourage schools to create teams of students from different sections to get various skills to do the tests.

2. REGISTERYOURTEAM

Teams must choose a team name; this name cannot be changed. The teacher fills in the registration form.

Each student, their parents and the teacher sign the Copyright Transfer Agreements.

The teacher sends the registration form and all the Copyright Transfer Agreements to the ambassador of its country (see contacts in part 3).

3. GETTECHNICALINFORMATION

The ambassador invites teachers to local trainings and webinars.

Teams register (as teams or as individuals) to the Aldebaran Developer Program to get access to the software suite and all the tools required for programming NAO:

Link: https://community.aldebaran.com/en/developerprogram

The online forum on the Community website enables the teams to ask any question on the NAO Challenge. Questions must be in English only. Teams are encouraged to ask any question on the forum, using the “NAO Challenge” category for rules or organization-related

questions, or any other relevant category regarding programming issues. Questions received by email will not be answered.

Link to the forum: https://community.aldebaran.com/en/forum Link to the NAO Challenge category:

https://community.aldebaran.com/en/discussion-category/nao-challenge

4. PREPARETHETESTS

Teams prepare the tests for the finals (see next part). Teams who don’t have a NAO prepare the tests in simulation and keep in touch with the ambassador to get access to a real robot for tests during the year, or at least for the finals.

5. ATTENDTHEFINALS

Teams will be invited to present all their work during the finals that will occur during one day at the end of the term. Local Ambassadors will let you know the exact date and place.

There will be 3 national finals, i.e. one per country. Teams can only attend their local finals. Each local ambassador will communicate to the teams all the details for the finals. Teams who do not have a NAO will have access to a NAO during the day of the finals.

A jury will evaluate the teams during the finals. Awards and prizes will be given at the end of the finals.

C.

REGISTRATION

Only the teacher registered as the contact person will be able to register a team in the NAO Challenge. One registration per team is necessary. By filling the form, the teacher accepts the terms of the NAO Challenge rules.

The teacher sends this registration form during the registration period to the country ambassador by e-mail. Originals of the Copyright Transfer Agreements must be sent by post to the ambassador.

SCHOOL NAME: ADDRESS:

COUNTRY: CITY & ZIP:

TEACHER NAME: E-MAIL:

PHONE: TEAM NAME:

CLASS LEVEL & MAJOR:

NUMBER OF STUDENTS PARTICIPATING:

3.

C

During the whole competition, the local ambassador is the unique contact of the teams.

A.

FRANCE

Entity: ERM Automatismes Contact Person: Frédéric Grelier

Email: [email protected] - Tel: +33 (0)4 90 60 05 68 Address: 561 Allée Bellecour, 84200 Carpentras

B.

GERMANY

Entity: zdi-Netzwerk IST.Bochum.NRW Contact Person: Klaus Trimborn

Email: [email protected] - Tel: +49 234 - 388702 – 25

Address: Geschäftsstelle Heinrich-von-Kleist Schule Heinrichstr.2 Bochum, Nordrhein-Westfalen 44805

www.nao-challenge.de

C.

ITALY

Entity: Scuola di robotica

Contact Person: Emanuele Micheli

Email : [email protected] - Tel : +39 348 09 61 616 Address: P.O. Box 4124, piazza Monastero 4 - 16149 Genoa http://nao.scuoladirobotica.it

D.

ALDEBARAN

Should you have any comment or proposal for the NAO Challenge @ Home, please contact: [email protected], the forum on http://community.aldebaran.com/en/forum (Category NAO Challenge).

4.

T

I

During the year, teams can communicate with the organizers through the Aldebaran Community forum. Messages must be sent in English only.

Official rules are published on the ambassador website and on the Aldebaran website. In case contradictions would exist, teams should contact the ambassador to get the correct version of the rules.

A.

ROBOT & SOFTWARE VERSION

All NAO versions can be used for the challenge, as well as all operating system versions. All of this software can be downloaded on the Aldebaran Community website, with your login & password provided when you register to Aldebaran Developer Program.

Using the latest software version is strongly advised.

B.

TECHNICAL DETAILS FOR THE FINALS

The choice of method and programming languages is left to the teams. Connection to the robot via Wi-Fi is allowed, as well as non-embedded applications. It is thus possible to program the robot with any compatible methods.

The code must nevertheless be presented to the jury, without any restriction.

Each area will dispose of a special network with Ethernet and Wi-Fi The use of Wi-Fi must take into account the possible instabilities of a wireless network.

The day of the finals, each scenario will be presented independently in different areas.

Starting and ending positions of the robot(s) are left to the team choice with one requirement only: keeping the robot in a stable position to avoid falling.

It is important to remember that behaviours must be reproducible and robust to the slight differences between the lab and the finals environment. A special care should be given on robustness to changing lighting conditions, background noise or network quality, which are very vulnerable to external and uncontrollable factors.

Note: it is to the teams’ responsibility to ensure that their NAOs are ready to perform when their demonstration occurs.

Teams must bring their laptops as well as any required accessory (cables, chargers, etc.). Laptops will not be provided for the finals.

C.

EVALUATION

Fun, creativity, simplicity and imagination will be appreciated.

Each attempt shall begin with a presentation of the team to the jury, explaining the scenario, the chosen solution and the project management.

Each test will be graded separately. Grading will be performed on the day of the finals according to NAO's behaviour in the real room and not in a simulation. The jury will be composed of teachers, engineers, as well as corporate and institutional partners.

Each team has one attempt per test, lasting 10 minutes at maximum each. Human intervention during the first minute is allowed. After that, any human intervention in the room will result in a penalty being applied to the results of this test.

The total result is the sum of the 4 tests grades. The team that achieves the highest number of points summing the 4 tests gets the Grand Prix and wins a NAO robot!

Other awards specificities and gifts will be communicated before the finals by local ambassadors.