eurathlon 2015 Rules (draft)

Transcription

1 eurathlon 2015 Rules (draft) 15 September 2015 Version 3.2 This document is subject to change, refinement and development. Please visit for the current version. Note: changes from previous version 3.1 are highlighted in yellow Competition date: September 2015 Competition venue: Tor del Sale Area, Piombino, Italy. ( N, E) This project has received funding from the European Union s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement n

2 Content CONTENT... 2 LIST OF ACRONYMS INTRODUCTION POTENTIAL PARTICIPANTS SCENARIOS OVERVIEW RULES AND OFFICIAL INFORMATION COURSE OF ACTION DURING A TRIAL/SUB-CHALLENGE/GRAND CHALLENGE SCHEDULE ELIGIBILITY TEAM MEMBERSHIP NON-EUROPEAN PARTICIPATION TEAM FUNDING AND SUPPORT APPLICATION PROCEDURE BASIC REQUIREMENTS SUBMISSION PROCEDURES QUALIFICATION PROCESS PUBLICATION OF MATERIALS TEAM MATCHING REGISTRATION FEE VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS MODE OF OPERATION AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE OPERATION SEMI-AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE OPERATION TELE-OPERATED VEHICLE OPERATION COOPERATION REQUIREMENTS FOR LAND ROBOTS

3 4.4 REQUIREMENTS FOR MARINE ROBOTS REQUIREMENTS FOR AERIAL ROBOTS REQUIREMENTS FOR PILOTS PROCEDURE FOR AERIAL TEAM VALIDATION SAFETY PILOT RADIO LINK LRS RADIOLINKS LRS PRODUCTS DRAGON LINK CLASSIFIED DATA AND DEVICES VEHICLE SAFETY SPECIFIC AERIAL VEHICLES SAFETY SPECIFIC MARINE VEHICLES SAFETY HEALTH & SAFETY STANDARDS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT RF AND OTHER COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT RESTRICTIONS FOR UAV COMMUNICATIONS POSITION DETERMINATION PRE-COMPETITION TESTING REGULATIONS THE CHIEF JUDGE TEAM PROCEDURES AT EURATHLON ROUTE DEFINITION STARTING AREA/DEPARTURE PROCEDURE VEHICLE CONTROL REGULATIONS FOR A TRIAL/SUB-CHALLENGE/GRAND CHALLENGE ROUTE OBSTACLES ON THE TRIAL/SUB-CHALLENGE/GRAND CHALLENGE ROUTE ABORTION OF A TRIAL/SUB-CHALLENGE/GRAND CHALLENGE DATA REQUIREMENTS LOGS COMMON SHARED DATA SETS (CSDS) FORMAT OF CSDS ACCESS AND USAGE OF CSDS EVALUATION MEASURES

4 7 AWARDS FOR PARTICIPANTS EURATHLON 2015 COMPETITION PRIZES CONTACT INFORMATION APPENDIX A: OBJECTS OF POTENTIAL INTEREST (OPI)

5 List of acronyms A Air AUV Autonomous Underwater Vehicle CSV Comma Separated Values EU European Union GNC Guidance Navigation and Control H Height ID Inner Diameter L Land LG Length OD Outer Diameter OPI Objects of Potential Interest RIB Rigid Inflatable Boat ROS Robotic Operative System ROV Remotely Operated Vehicle SAP Scenario Application Paper SAUC-E Student Autonomous Underwater vehicle Challenge Europe S Sea TBD To Be Defined UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle UGV Unmanned Ground Vehicle USV Unmanned Surface Vehicle W Width WP Waypoint 5

6 1 Introduction The eurathlon project aims to promote the development of multi-domain robotic systems for disaster response within the robotics community. Toward achieving this aim, in each of the three years of the project competition and workshop events are organized. The eurathlon competitions aim to provide real-world robotics challenges that will test the intelligence and autonomy of outdoor robots in demanding mock disaster-response scenarios inspired by 2011 Fukushima accident. Focused on multi-domain cooperation, the 2015 eurathlon competition will require flying, land and marine robots acting together to survey the disaster, collect environmental data, and identify critical hazards. The first (land) competition was held in 2013 in Berchtesgaden (Germany). In September 2014, the second (sea) competition was held in La Spezia (Italy). The final eurathlon Challenge involving the cooperation of robots from the sea, land and air domains will be held in Piombino (Italy) from 17 th - 25 th September This document describes the eurathlon 2015 Challenge rules. This document is subject to change, refinement and development. Please visit for the current version. Detailed information on the scenarios and scoring system can be found on the eurathlon website ( 1.1 Potential participants We welcome teams from Universities, Research labs or Industry; from single organisations or with team members from multiple organisations. Although eurathlon is a European initiative, non-european teams are also welcome and can participate. The eurathlon 2015 competition is open to: Users: These are (future) professional users of robots. Industry: These are designers and manufacturers of integrated ground, marine or aerial robots or accessories for these robotic systems. Research facilities: These are universities and other research institutes focusing on (partial) solutions relevant to the considered domains. See section 3 on how to apply for participation. 6

7 1.2 Scenarios overview The eurathlon scenarios have been carefully designed by the eurathlon consortium. The seven partners have contributed their expertise in each domain (land, sea and air robotics) to design realistic but also achievable scenarios, which are oriented to emergency-services and industry demands. Although competing robots will face mock scenarios, the environmental conditions and difficulties are intended to be as realistic as possible, and the success criteria will reflect straightforward end-user priorities such as task completion and minimal intervention to manage the robots. All the scenarios have been defined with safety in mind. Different measures will be adopted to guarantee the safety of participants and attendees as well as properties in the surroundings of the competition area. The competition will be held in an unpopulated area. Access to the competition arena will be restricted and under direct control of eurathlon staff. Organisers will coordinate with local and national authorities including fire fighters and civil protection. Also, there will be fire-fighting means (i.e. extinguishers) on the site as well as fences to delimit the areas that are closer to the competition arena. Special safety rules will be adopted for aerial vehicles and all flight will be conducted with the authorization of ENAC (the Italian Civil Aviation Authority). To encourage the participation of the maximum number of teams especially teams with experience in one domain only, three different categories of scenarios have been defined: The Grand Challenge: a three-domain scenario, which comprises three missions. Sub-Challenge: two-domain scenarios; each is a combination of two trials. Trial: single-domain scenarios. The scenarios will be held in increasing order of complexity (i.e. the trials will be held first followed by the sub-challenges and finally the Grand Challenge). Trials and sub-challenges will allow teams to test their robots as the scenarios are based on and preparatory to, the Grand Challenge. Note: we reserve the right to cancel a Trial in case there are not enough participants. The eurathlon Grand Challenge scenario main goal is task fulfilment, but cooperation between domains and autonomy is also essential to achieve the mission within the time allowed, and will be rewarded through the scoring schema. 7

8 In the case of the Sub-Challenges, the main goal will be the cooperation between two domains and autonomy will be rewarded through the scoring schema. Each participant team can subscribe to compete to one or more scenarios. There will be a total of one Grand Challenge, three Sub-Challenges and six trials. - The Grand Challenge (L+A+S) - Sub-Challenge (L+A): Survey the building and search for a missing worker. - Sub-Challenge (S+A): Pipe inspection and search for a worker. - Sub-Challenge (L+S): Stem the leak - Land Trial (L1): Reconnaissance in urban structure - Land Trial (L2): Mobile Manipulation (valves closing) - Sea Trial (S1): Navigation and environmental survey - Sea Trial (S2): Leak localisation and valve closing. - Air Trial (A1): Aerial detection and mapping - Air Trial (A2): Aerial reconnaissance inside a building 1.3 Rules and official information Official information concerning rules, interpretations, and information about the competition can be found on eurathlon website ( ). Please read all information available on the eurathlon website carefully especially this document! Rules (including this document), scenarios and scoring are subject to change. Please check the eurathlon website for updates regularly. In case of any questions, participants can send an to eurathlon@uwe.ac.uk. For further questions, interpretations and other information participants are advised to contact the organizers immediately. Violations of the organisers rules or instructions will result in an exclusion from the event. 8

9 1.4 Course of action during a Trial/Sub-Challenge/Grand Challenge All teams that successfully completed the application procedure (see Section 2) and whose vehicle meets the necessary requirements (see Section 4) will receive a time slot in each registered scenario. A general schedule for the event will be found on the eurathlon website. Each team must designate a single individual to serve as the Team leader. The team leader will serve as the primary point of contact with the organizers. The Team Leader, and only the Team Leader, will speak for the team during the competition. For more information about the Team Leader see 2.1. For each vehicle one Operator is allowed to control/monitor (when applicable) the vehicle from a dedicated Control Station. Robot operators will be located in an operations tent located close to the competitions arena. They will not have line of sight with the robots all the time. In the case of aerial vehicles, one of the eurathlon safety pilots will stay with the operator to supervise the operation and ensure its safety. In the multi-domain scenario one Command and Control Operator is allowed to manage the overall control of the team and supervise the coordination between vehicles. The Command and Control Operator has to stay in the Control Station. For UAVs, the Team Safety Pilot will be present in the competition arena within visual line of sight of the aerial robot. Visual line of sight is not guaranteed for the missions inside the building. In this case, the safety pilot will only be allowed to enter the building if manual recovery of the aircraft is required (e.g. after crashing). The safety pilot will need to stay in the indicated area close to the arena and will be allowed to approach the building for indoor flights. One of the eurathlon safety pilots will stay with the team safety pilot to supervise the operation and ensure its safety. For AUVs/USVs/ROVs, one or two team members, the Technical assistants can accompany their vehicle (when applicable) along the trials on the Organization support boat. For UGVs, one or two team members, the Technical assistants can accompany their vehicle (when applicable) along the trials. Further details can be consulted in section 5.3. So with a multi-domain team with 1 UAV, 2 UGV, 1 AUV and 1 ASV the people involved in the management of the team competition are: - 1 team leader 9

10 - 5 Station - 1 command and control Station - 2 technical assistants for sea robots - 2 technical assistants for land robots - 1 Safety Pilot for UAV 1.5 Schedule The competition will take place at the Tor del Sale area ( N, E) in Piombino, Italy from the 17 th to the 25 th of September, A preliminary schedule of eurathlon 2015 is shown in the following table: Day Date Events 0 Wednesday, 16 September (Optional) From 14:00-18:00. Team arrival and registration Familiarization meeting 1 Thursday, 17 September Teams arrival and registration Vehicle safety inspection Practice 2 Friday, 18 September Practice - all day, arrival at 7:30 am, start at 8:00 a.m. 6:00 6:30 p.m. daily debrief 3 Saturday, 19 September Practice - all day, arrival at 7:30 a.m., start at 8:00 a.m. 6:00 6:30 p.m. daily debrief 4 Sunday, 20 September Trials all day, arrival at 7:30 a.m., start at 8.00 a.m. 6:00 6:30 p.m. daily debrief 10

11 5 Monday, 21 September Trials all day, arrival at 7:30 a.m., start at 8:00 a.m. 6:00 6:30 p.m. daily debrief 6 Tuesday, 22 September Sub-Challenges all day, arrival at 7:30 a.m., start at 8:00 a.m. 6:00 6:30 p.m. daily debrief 7 Wednesday, 23 September Sub - Challenges all day, arrival at 7:30 am, start at 8:00 a.m. 6:00 6:30 p.m. daily debrief 8 Thursday, 24 September Grand Challenge all day, arrival at 7:30 a.m., start at 8:00 a.m. 6:00 6:30 pm daily debrief 9 Friday, 25 September Grand Challenge all day, arrival at 7:30 am, start at 8:00 a.m. 6:00 6:30 p.m. daily debrief 10 p.m. Award Ceremony Table. 1. eurathlon 2015 program (draft). 2 Eligibility 2.1 Team Membership The organisations (from the research, industry or user domain) which are going to take part in the eurathlon 2015 have to establish a team. This team represents the organisation(s) and effectively participates in the scenario(s). A team is comprised of the individuals identified to the organisers on the team roster. Only these individuals are team members. Each team must designate a single individual to serve as the team leader. The team leader will be at least 18 years old. The team leader will serve as the primary point of contact with the organizers. The Team Leader, 11

12 and only the Team Leader, will speak for the team during the competition. The team leader must provide and sign a Letter of Intent (LOI) including the Liability Statement, and must be present at the team leader meeting. Team leadership may be transferred from the team leader to another eligible individual. However, there may be only one team leader at any time. Transfer of team leadership occurs when the organisers receive a new LOI. The form must be signed by the former team leader and the new team leader. LIABILITIES & RESPONSIBILITIES: The organisers of eurathlon 2015 assume no liability for the competitors. The organizers will perform the safety inspection of the competition area with the organisation s safety officer prior to the competition. In the case of marine domain, competitors will not be allowed to dive. Requirements for single-domain teams and multi-domain teams: Single-domain teams Single-domain teams are named as air, land and sea teams according to their domainspecific robots. No single-domain team may have more than 6 members plus one Team Leader (unless a special request regarding the number of team members has been approved by the organisers). Single-domain teams may participate in eurathlon single-domain trials only. To participate in the Sub-Challenges and the Grand Challenge a single-domain team must join with teams in other domains to create a multi-domain team (two-domain or three-domain). We strongly recommend that single-domain teams team-up before the competition. A team matching form is available and those who wish can contact eurathlon to help find suitable candidate from other domains. NOTE1: To further promote multi-domain teams, teams who participate in any combined scenario, or wish to team-up (before or during the competition), will be given priority over teams that register for single-domain trials only. NOTE2: We reserve the right to match single-domain teams during the competition period. Multi-domain teams 12

13 The eurathlon 2015 competition is focused on cooperation between domains. Multi-domain teams should be created before the eurathlon 2015 competition starts. Any change in the multi-domain team must be communicated to the judges before the start of the competition. A multi-domain team cannot change its single-domain components during the competition period. Multi-domain teams are composed of one Team Leader and up to a maximum of 6 other team members for each covered domain (i.e. 6 land + 6 air + 6 sea + team leader; 6 land + 6 air + team leader, etc. ). This means that a three-domain team may have up to 18 members plus a Team Leader. For special requests regarding the number of team members, please contact the organisers, eurathlon@uwe.ac.uk. 2.2 Non-European Participation Non-European teams and team members are eligible. 2.3 Team Funding and Support The cost of developing, fielding and insuring entered vehicles is the sole responsibility of the individual teams. Exceptionally, in the case of the aerial vehicles, eurathlon organisation will take care of the vehicles insurance. This is due to the procedure that needs to be followed to meet ENAC (Italian Civil Aviation Authority) requirements. However, aerial teams will still have to insure or take own responsibility of liability as per the LOI document. Students enrolled in EU Universities or EU Research Centres or EU Companies can apply for a travel grant. Teams that want to apply for a student travel grant must send an application letter to Gabriele.Ferri@cmre.nato.int and Fausto.Ferreira@cmre.nato.int giving reasons why support should be given to their team and indicating the authorised representative.(this is part of the registration process, see section 3). Please read carefully the Instructions for the Student Travel Support document available on the eurathlon website. The amount of travel budget and the notification of acceptance of the travel grant will be given once the team has successfully completed the registration process and has been notified as official participant. 13

14 3 Application Procedure 3.1 Basic requirements World Wide Web access, access and basic text processing are necessary to complete and submit the application and to communicate with the organisers of the eurathlon 2015 competition. The registration procedure for teams is divided into 2 parts: Part 1 Send an to Gabriele Ferri: Gabriele.Ferri@cmre.nato.int and Fausto Ferreira Fausto.Ferreira@cmre.nato.int, to express your intention to participate in the competition (the should include all the documents described below, if applicable). Fill and send the Team Information Form with team members information. Fill and send the Vehicle(s) specification sheets for each of the participating robots. - AUV Vehicle specification sheet - UGV Vehicle specification sheet - UAV Vehicle specification sheet - USV Vehicle specification sheet (Aerial robots) Fill and send the following documentation: - Maintenance Manual - Operations Manual - RPAS description - RPAS safety study If your team is looking for teams in other domains, send the Team Match Form and we will put you in contact with teams that match your criteria. Part

15 Send the Scenario Application Paper (SAP) and a video (optional for ground and marine robots) describing the vehicle(s). The video is not mandatory (except for UAVs as provided in the aerial robots documentation) but will guarantee additional points to the team. Fill and send the Letter of Intent (LOI) signed & Liability Statement. Send the Photograph & Video release form signed by each of the team members. To apply for a student travel grant send an application letter to Gabriele.Ferri@cmre.nato.int and Fausto.Ferreira@cmre.nato.int giving reasons why support should be given to your team and indicating the authorised representative. (Only applies to Students enrolled in EU Universities or EU Research Centres or EU Companies). Payment of a non-refundable registration fee. (See section 3.6) A team that has submitted the application Part 1 before the deadline 1 and has received acknowledgement from the organizers becomes a eurathlon entrant. However, to remain an entrant and to successfully finish the application procedure, Part 2 has to be completed before the second deadline as well. The teams will receive an acknowledgement of their received applications. The needed forms and all deadlines are published on the eurathlon website. The submission must be in English. The organisers reserve the right to limit the total number of entries that are allowed to compete by declaring the competition closed to new entries before the due date above. As with all official information, this announcement (should it be necessary) will appear on the official website. Furthermore, the organisers reserve the right to not accept some entries on the basis of the provided material (e.g. if the vehicles are not considered enough mature/safe for the competition). In that case, the team registration fee will be refunded. Materials received after the respective deadlines may not be considered and may be discarded by the organisers. For information and updates on the registration please check the eurathlon website. ( ) 3.2 Submission Procedures Application documents must be submitted using the transmittal instructions on the forms. The receipt of application documents will be acknowledged by the organisers. 15

16 Application materials remitted using any kind of delivery service should be addressed to: Gabriele Ferri Research Scientist, Research Department NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation Viale S. Bartolomeo 400, La Spezia, Italy Qualification Process A scientific qualification process is obligatory for all eurathlon 2015 entrants. For each scenario in which a team is going to participate a Scenario Application Paper (SAP) has to be prepared. Therein the participants have to describe how their team will tackle the challenges of the selected trial scenario. The participants should explain how their system will cope with problems typically arising in the selected task. The eurathlon scientific panel will then perform an evaluation of the SAP. To gain as much scientific progress as possible, all Scenario Application Papers and their evaluation will be published on the eurathlon website. This qualification process must be completed by all teams that wish to take part in the competition. 3.4 Publication of materials For each team the following documents will be published on the eurathlon website: The Team Information, to enable contact from potential sponsors, other teams and media. The Scenario Application Papers (SAP) and the corresponding evaluation results for each selected scenario. Teams should state in the SAP if they do not want to have some information published on the website. For instance, writing the parts that must remain private in red colour. All measures collected for evaluation purposes. Additionally, any information related to the participants awards will be published on the eurathlon website. 16

17 3.5 Team Matching To participate in the Sub-Challenges and the Grand Challenge a single-domain team must join with teams in other domains to create a multi-domain team (two-domain or threedomain). We strongly recommend teaming-up before the competition. In the case of matching with another team before or during the competition, if all teams vehicles have already been registered and approved, the only change will be to register all the vehicles under the new team s name (no technical information will be required). Because of that, the Chief Judge Team and the organisers will evaluate the new candidature. The team-up during the competition will only be possible if there are time slots available. For teams that are looking for suitable candidates from other domains to create a multidomain team, there is a Team Match Form and a series of Vehicle(s) specification sheets available on the website ( 3.6 Registration Fee Each team that successfully completed the application procedure will have to pay a nonrefundable registration fee of 400 EUR (single-domain team), 600 EUR (double-domain team) or 750 EUR (three-domain team). This fee, together with additional donations from the eurathlon sponsors, builds a budget for prize money. 4 Vehicle Requirements There is no limitation on the number of robots in a team. However, for safety reasons, we will limit the number of robots in simultaneous use during competition, as follows: Air: Only one UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) may be flying during the Trial/Sub- Challenge/Grand Challenge. The team may use more than one robot in the allocated timeslot (up to a maximum of 3); in which case this must be communicated to judges prior the starting of the Trial/Sub-Challenge/Grand Challenge. Land: Two UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles) may be concurrently used on field during one Trial/Sub-Challenge/Grand Challenge. Sea: One AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) and/or one USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) may be used during one Trial/Sub-Challenge/Grand Challenge. Note: ROV or AUV or USV tele-operated are only allowed in the manipulation tasks. 17

18 However, teams with novel approaches that fall outside the guidelines above (i.e. multi-robot swarms) are strongly encouraged to enter, and contact the organisers. Multimodal vehicles (e.g. amphibious vehicles that can operate both on ground and at sea) may be used as long as they are registered for the domains in which it can operate. Only vehicles registered under a team s name and approved by eurathlon through the Scenario Application Papers (SAP) may participate in the competition. The organisers will provide teams with the opportunity to register new vehicles under their name if they submit information for approval prior to the competition. The teams may use different robots during different time-slots. For instance, one team may use one AUV during the Monday time-slot and another one during the Tuesday slot. The judges must be informed of all robots that a team intends to use and each robot needs to pass a safety check before being used. 4.1 Mode of Operation In the SAPs each team must explain how they plan to target each scenario, including the mode of operation of their vehicle(s). During the competition teams must inform the judges about changes in the modes of operation (in case they have changed from those specified in their SAPs). The three modes of operation are categorised as: autonomous, semiautonomous and tele-operated. A vehicle may be operated in different modes depending on the scenario tasks. The categorization will be verified and, if necessary, updated by the eurathlon authorities (e.g. the Chief Judge Team, see section 5.1 ). The classification only applies to the mode of operation after the vehicle s launch/release and before the vehicle s retrieval/return. For example, in the case of aerial vehicles, a UAV will be considered autonomous if the scenario tasks have been executed autonomously, but the take-off or/and landing has been tele-operated Autonomous Vehicle Operation For the purposes of this competition, autonomous operation is defined as operation in which a robot s low-level motor control including starting, stopping and steering, together with medium-level control such as navigation, are performed without human intervention. 18

19 Direct control via an operator device is prohibited. Interaction is only allowed to provide the vehicle with necessary input data before the vehicle is launched and to receive result data from the vehicle after the vehicle retrieval. However, even in autonomous mode, a robot may be monitored and supervised passively by a human operator, who is able to intervene and assume manual control if necessary. If the vehicle or operator console signals an incident it cannot cope with autonomously, the operator (or, on the operator s request, the technical assistant /safety pilot) may interact with the system. Note, however, that any interaction between the technical assistant/team safety pilot and the vehicle is likely to have a negative influence on the resulting evaluation (see section 6). Autonomous operation vehicles must be unmanned Semi-autonomous Vehicle Operation In semi-autonomous operation a vehicle operates autonomously, but the operator is allowed to send high-level commands to the vehicle. High-level commands are instructions such as move to waypoint 1, search for the OPI or close the valve which the vehicle must interpret into a series of medium- or low-level control actions. The use of such high-level commands still requires the vehicle to have a closed loop control system with some autonomy. In this mode full manual control of the vehicle, via a remote interface with a joystick or other human interface, is prohibited. At any time the operator (or, on the operator s request, the technical assistant /team safety pilot) may assume full manual control of the system. Note, however, that such interventions are likely to have a negative influence on the resulting evaluation. In semi-autonomous operation vehicles should be unmanned. For land robots a safety driver instead of a technical assistant is permitted by prior agreement with the organisers. Note: For marine vehicles, if the team decides to switch to a semi-autonomous operation mode, the AUV will be permitted to surface in the proximity of the valve so that the Team Technical Assistants will be able to connect the cable to control the AUV without any penalty. The vehicle can be connected to a cable directly from the shore or from a surface vehicle/buoy acting as a communications relay. 19

20 4.1.3 Tele-operated Vehicle Operation Tele-operation is defined as full manual control of a robot via a remote interface with a joystick or other human interface. For tele-operated vehicles the operator is allowed to control the vehicle at any time during the trial/sub-challenge/grand challenge. On the operator s request, the technical assistant may interact with the vehicle. Note, however, that any interaction between the technical assistant and the vehicle may have a negative influence on the resulting evaluation. Tele-operated vehicles must be completely unmanned. Note: For marine vehicles, tele-operation mode is only allowed for manipulation tasks. If the team decides to switch to tele-operation for the manipulation task, the AUV will be permitted to surface in the proximity of the valve so that the Team Technical Assistants will be able to connect the cable to allow control of the AUV without any penalty. 4.2 Cooperation Cooperation is defined as the act of working together toward a common purpose. Robots from different domains can cooperate in different ways to complete the scenarios. This may be through direct cooperation (i.e. robot1 robot2) or mediated by human operators (i.e. robot1 human robot2, robot1 human1 human2 robot2, etc). 4.3 Requirements for Land Robots Mass There is no upper limit on the mass of UGVs, although teams with UGVs > 350Kg are advised to contact the organisation for advice on their suitability for the terrain of the competition scenarios. Heavy vehicles will face difficulties in some scenarios, similarly exceptionally small/light vehicles may face difficulties with terrain. UGVs weighing more than 75 kg must be equipped with a recovery facility. The UGV must be able to travel on an asphalt pavement without damaging the pavement surface. Traction UGVs must be propelled and steered by traction with the ground. The type of ground contact devices (e.g. tyres, treads or legs) is not restricted. The vehicle must not damage the environment or any infrastructure at the eurathlon location. 20

21 Size There are no size limitations for the UGV, but teams should be aware that large vehicles are likely to have difficulties with the indoor part of the scenarios. Wireless Emergency Stop and E-stop mode It is the sole responsibility of the team to properly install a wireless emergency stop (E-stop) system in its vehicle. The E-stop system must be fully functional for the participant to be eligible to participate in eurathlon. In case of emergency (i.e. imminent danger for individuals and/or the vehicle) the E-stop system must be activated instantaneously. Triggering the E-stop mode brings the motion of the vehicle to an immediate stop, with brakes applied to hold the vehicle even if it is on a slope. The E-stop mode should be latched so that its state cannot be changed unintentionally after initiation. Electrical connections to the E-stop must be ruggedized to ensure functionality even after exposure to adverse (damp or dusty) environmental conditions and a high vibration environment. The vehicle should be ready to promptly resume motion as soon as the E-stop mode has ended. The E-stop mode may be entered numerous times during a trial, and each E-stop event may last up to several minutes. In the special case of a vehicle with a safety driver, entering the E-stop mode requires the driver to stop the vehicle immediately and completely. If applicable, additionally the handbrake must be put on and the gearbox/automatic transmission must be put into the neutral position. Vehicle mounted Emergency Stop Unit Each vehicle must be additionally equipped with an externally actuated emergency stop capability. Activating the emergency stop must promptly bring the vehicle into the E-stop mode, leading to an immediate and complete stop. At least one actuator and its labelling must be easily visible and accessible from anywhere around the vehicle. The manual emergency stop must be easy to identify and to activate, even if the vehicle is moving at a walking pace. The operation instructions for emergency stop actuators must be clearly labelled in English. The instructions must not be interfered with by any other labelling or advertising. Warning Devices Each vehicle shall display one or more flashing amber warning lights, the combination of which results in a visibility of 360 degrees azimuthally around the vehicle. The warning 21

22 light(s) shall continuously operate whenever the vehicle is switched on. The vehicle may not commence movement until the warning light(s) have been in operation for 5 seconds. The warning light(s) shall comply with standards for warning lights and shall not produce light that can be confused with those of public safety vehicles such as law enforcement, fire or ambulance. This warning light is mandatory for vehicles heavier than 20kgs and recommended for vehicles lighter than 20kgs. General Vehicle operation must conform to any regulations or restrictions imposed by the applicable land-use authority. 4.4 Requirements for Marine Robots Mass There is a limit of 100 kg for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and a limit of 250 kg for Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs). Size There are no size limitations for any of the vehicles. A maximum of one AUV and one USV can be used at the same time during the trials even if the teams can bring spare robots. The used robots in one trial have to be communicated to the judges before the start of the trial. General Power constraints: All entries must be battery powered. All batteries must be sealed. The open circuit voltage of any battery in an entry may not exceed 60 Volts DC. No materials (except for compressed air) may be released by the entry into the waters of the Arena. Any vehicle leaking a fluid will be deemed unsafe. All vehicles must carry a clearly legible label showing the vehicle weight in air. All vehicles must have 2, 3 or 4 clearly identified lifting points onto which standard commercial lifting slings may be easily attached / detached on land or in the water in a safe manner. All vehicles will be required to install strobe lights. 22

23 All entries must bear a clearly marked OFF switch that a diver can readily activate. The switch must disconnect the batteries from all propulsion components and devices in the AUV. Note that this does not have to kill the computer. Upon reactivation, the vehicle must return to a safe state (propellers do not start spinning). All entries must be positively buoyant by at least one half of one percent of their mass when they have been shut off through the OFF switch. Vehicle operation must conform to any regulations or restrictions imposed by the applicable marine-use authority. 4.5 Requirements for Aerial Robots - Only VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircrafts will be allowed to participate in the competition. The area for taking-off and landing will be of 3x3m - The aircraft maximum take-off weight (MTOW) must be smaller than 25 kg. - The UAS system must include a flight termination system that must be capable of being remotely activated from the ground by pressing a crash button. When remotely activated, the flight termination system must stop the aircraft motors. - A member of the organization, an aerial expert, will be in charge of pressing the crash button only in the case that safety is seriously compromised. o It is important to highlight that the flight termination system will only be activated in extreme circumstances in which is evident that the aircraft will put people in danger, crash against a critical building or element (e.g. a power plant) or is going so far that is evident that it won t be possible to recover its control. o The member of the organization in charge of the crash button will be a highly experienced and qualified UAS pilot. - The device on ground used to activate the flight termination system has to be completely independent from the rest of the system so if other parts of the system fail, the flight termination system can still work. - Optionally, the flight termination system can also activate other complementary systems (e.g. activating a parachute) in addition to stopping the motors. - The RC (Radio Control) radio used by safety pilots cannot operate in 2.4 GHz. Aircrafts with a MTOW lower than 2 kg will be exempt from this requirement. - Alternative bands such as 433 MHz could be used for this purpose (section includes more information about devices operating in this band). Teams using safety pilot radio links operating in the 5 GHz band must notify the organizing committee. - It is compulsory that teams use RC radiolinks based on FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) which makes the signal more robust against interferences. 23

24 - eurathlon organising committee does not impose any particular safety pilot radio system. Teams are free to choose the RC radiolink as long as it fulfils these requirements. - Teams can bring multiple aerial robots to the competition (e.g. a back-up vehicle, different vehicles for different tasks, etc) but only one aerial robot will be allowed to fly at a time. All the aerial robots to be used during the competition must pass the validation tests and provide the documentation described in section Requirements for pilots - Each aerial team must have one or more safety pilots. - The safety pilot must be exclusively devoted to manually control the aircraft using the RC radio if needed. If the aerial team chooses to perform a mission task flying manually the safety pilot will be on charge of controlling the aircraft. If the aerial team chooses to perform a mission task flying autonomously, the safety pilot will supervise the operation and will take manual control of the aerial robot if any misbehavior is observed during the flight. - Safety pilots must be over 18 years old. - Safety pilots will have to provide a valid second class medical certificate. You can get more information on this e.g. on Training/a/Qanda-Medical-Certificate-Requirements-For-Pilots.htm. - Safety pilots must be properly identified with a photo ID during the competition. - Only those pilots indicated in the documentation that is submitted to the eurathlon organization will be allowed to fly. - Not all the pilots that were included in the documentation must attend the competition (e.g. an aerial team can include in the documentation some pilots that might be attending the competition just in case that the main pilot gets ill). - Safety pilots that intend to fly during the competition will have to perform the in-site validation flight tests indicated in section Procedure for aerial team validation. In order to be accepted as a participating team in eurathlon 2015, aerial teams will have to provide evidence showing that their aerial system is safe and they have enough knowledge and skills to safely operate it. When applying for participation, aerial teams must submit a good-quality video showing their aerial system performing the following operations: - Take-Off operation, in manual mode. 24

25 - Hovering operation, in manual mode at 40 meters from the ground. - Fly following a rectangular trajectory as the one shown in Figure 1, both clockwise and counter-clockwise, in manual mode. These flights must be performed at an altitude of 20 meters. - Perform vertical displacements of at least 20 meters, in manual mode. - Landing, in manual mode. - Execution of the flight termination functionality on the ground. The video must show how the motors are stopped when the crash button is pressed. Figure 1. Flight trajectory for validation test. Teams will also have to submit the following documentation: 1. Description of the aerial system. 2. Safety aeronautical analysis. 3. Operation and maintenance manuals. Templates with guideline information on how to write those documents are available at eurathlon website. The submitted documentation and videos will be analysed by eurathlon organization. Based on this analysis the organization will decide which teams are accepted for participation. During the competition, flights will be subject to approval from the aerial expert designated by eurathlon organization at any time. Aerial experts will be properly identified so teams can recognize him/her. Any aircraft will be allowed to take-off and fly without the explicit authorization from the aerial expert designated by eurathlon organization. Obviously, teams cannot flight if an aerial expert is not physically present. Team pilots will always have to follow the indications of eurathlon aerial experts at any time before, during and after the flight. Before the actual competition, validation test flights will be carried out on-site to test that the aircraft can be flown safely by the team pilot. The operations that will have to be performed will be basically the same as required for the video. However, eurathlon aerial experts will be able to request any additional operation. eurathlon aerial experts will decide if a team 25

26 has proven they can operate the aerial vehicle safely and hence they are allowed to perform the aerial missions Safety pilot radio link As the name suggests, Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) must be remotely controlled by a pilot on the ground. When operating in manual mode, the pilot is in charge of directly controlling the aircraft. When operating in autonomous mode, the aircraft is controlled by the autopilot and the pilot on the ground is in charge of taking manual control of the aircraft when any issue is experienced during flight of the aircraft. Hence, this pilot is normally referred as the safety pilot. A specific radio link must be used exclusively as the safety pilot radio link. It is critical that the security pilot can take control of the aircraft when needed. Therefore, this radio link must assure connectivity between the security pilot and the aircraft. Most of the commercial radio links used by security pilots operate in the 2.4 GHz ISM band. It is widely known that the 2.4 GHz ISM band is very populated as it s used by a lot of radio systems including WiFi devices, Bluetooth, etc. For this reason, security radio links use Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) techniques in order to increase the robustness against interferences. However, some interference issues affecting 2.4 GHz security radio links have been reported and experienced in the past. Although these issues are not common, their effects can be catastrophic and hence it is preferred to avoid any risks. In a multi-domain robotic competition as eurathlon, it is expected that many 2.4 GHz radio devices are used by the different robots for different communication tasks (and control, telemetry or payload sensor management). For these reasons, it is mandatory that safety pilot radio links operate in a different frequency band of the spectrum. Note: The use of 2.4 GHz RC radiolinks is only allowed in aircrafts with a MTOW lower than 2kg. For more information please, read the section about the requirements for aerial robots. eurathlon organizing committee does not impose any particular safety pilot radio system. Teams are free to choose the system that better fit their requirements as long as it doesn t operate in the 2.4 GHz band. Nevertheless, after analyzing the different commercial solutions available in the market, eurathlon organizing committee proposes using LRS (Long Range System) devices as they can be easily integrated with existing systems with a minimum effort LRS radiolinks. Long Range Systems (LRS) operate in the 433 MHz band. In addition to an extended range, using lower frequencies also increases the penetration of the radiofrequency signals into 26

27 buildings which is important for indoor scenarios as those found in eurathlon 2015 competition. Figure 2. LRS module installed on a transmitter. RC radio transmitters are the most expensive component of the safety pilot s radio link. Additionally, safety pilots are often reluctant to changing the radio transmitter that they normally use. Fortunately, LRS transmitters are sold as modules that can be connected to RC transmitters via what is called the trainer port as shown in Figure 2. The output of the trainer port is a PPM (Pulse Position Modulation) signal that contains the values of the different channels as commanded by the transmitter controls. When operating with an LRS module it is important to disable the 2.4 GHz radio of the RC transmitter to avoid extra radiation in that band. Figure 3. Elements of a LRS system. 27

28 In order to use LRS, adequate LRS receivers and antennas must be installed on-board the RPA. Figure 3 shows the elements that form the LRS system including the transmitter, receiver, transmitting and receiving antennas, and cables. Figure 4. Futaba and Hitec trainer-port connectors. When choosing a LSR device it is important to check the compatibility with commercial RC transmitters (basically this is a matter of electrical and physical characteristics of the connector). Figure 4 shows some examples of trainer ports. The cables that are used for connecting the RC transmitter to another device via the trainer port are commonly called buddy box cables LRS products There are a wide variety of commercial of the shelf LRS products that are available in the market. Some of these commercial systems are presented below. ImmersionRC ImmersionRC ( EzUHF transmitter costs 209 $. It uses a 4-pin round connector (as an S-Video connector). This device can be connected to the trainer port of the following RC radios: - Futaba radios with square connector (see Figure 5). - Futaba radios with round connector (see Figure 6). - Radios with jack connectors (Spektrum, JR, Turnigy, Hitec, Graupner radios). - Radios with Multiplex DIN connectors. 28

29 Figure 5. Connection between Futaba with square connector and EzUHF. Figure 6. Connection between multiplex DIN connector and EzUHF. Figure 7. Buddy cable for EzUHF and Spektrum, JR, turnigy, Graupner, Fly Sky and Hitec radios. With regards to the receiver devices, there are two suitable options: - 8 channels with antenna diversity: 124 $. - 8 channels without antenna diversity: 109 $. EzUHF receivers can be connected to PixHawk, APM2 and Paparazzi autopilots which are the most common open source autopilots. A complete kit including the transmitter, receiver, cables (for a specific RC radio) and antennas can be bought for

30 4.5.6 Dragon Link Dragon Link transmitters cost 168 $ ( It uses a flat cable with 3 pins. This device can be purchased with cables for connection with the following radios (via the trainer port): - Futaba radios with square connector. - Radios with jack connectors (Spektrum, JR, Turnigy, Hitec, Graupner radios). Very little evidence of people using this system with open source autopilots has been found. However, at first glance they appeared to be able to connect to these autopilots. A complete kit including the transmitter, receiver, cables (for a specific RC radio) and antennas can be bought for 268 $. However, it seems that there are availability issues (it seems that they are frequently out of stock). Orange OpenLSR Orange system is based on the open source LRS system called OpenLRS ( This system is compatible with JR and Turnigy radio device. It can be used with Ardupilot. However, it is worth to mention that the setup and use of OpenLRS requires computer programming skills and basic Arduino experience. It is not a "plug and play" system. The complete kit can cost around $. 4.6 Classified Data and Devices No classified data or devices may be used by a team in preparation for or during the eurathlon. 4.7 Vehicle Safety The organisers do not guarantee the safety of any vehicle entered in the eurathlon, notwithstanding any rule or the organisers acceptance of any application document, vehicle specification sheet, video demonstration or any inspection or demonstration required for participating in the eurathlon Specific Aerial Vehicles Safety Before the competition starts, all the aerial teams will have to attend a workshop and safety briefing given by the organisation committee. During the first day of the competition, the organisation committee will inspect all the aerial robots to be sure that they fulfil with the description provided during the application and 30

31 registration phases. Flight termination mechanism will be tested on the ground to check that, when actuated, the motors are stopped. The teams whose aerial vehicles have passed the inspection test will have to perform a controlled flight in the competition area (with no public) according to a flight plan provided by eurathlon organizing committee, so they can show that they can operate their system in safe conditions and that they follow all the safety rules for its operation. Safety briefings will be held at the beginning of each competition day. Aerial teams will have to provide the organization committee with the flight plan that will be performed during the competition in advance, at least an hour before their participation. The organization committee can require the teams for introducing modifications in the flight plan to ensure safe flight operations. The flight plan will have to be approved by the organizing committee before the flights can be authorized. Before authorizing the flights each team will have to conduct pre-flight checks under the supervision of eurathlon safety pilots. Pre-flight checks will include at least: Visual structural inspection of the aircraft and wiring. Testing the security radio link between the aerial robot and the safety pilot checking that movements of control surfaces are coherent with the commands issued by the safety pilot. Checking that GPS signal is good enough and GPS data are available for the autopilot and ground control station. The team safety pilot of the aerial robot will be out of the Control Station tent and can get into the competition arena in order to have line of sight with the aircraft when flying outdoors. However, he/she will not be able to enter the building while the aerial robot is flying so line of sight is not guaranteed for indoor flights. The team safety pilot will be able to enter the building to recover the aircraft if it crashes or to change batteries when the aircraft has been landed. Two eurathlon safety pilots will be responsible for the safety of flights. One of the eurathlon safety pilots will be side by side with the team safety pilot for the whole flight time, monitoring the aircraft in line-of-sight. The other eurathlon safety pilot will stay with the aircraft operator of the team (who is in charge of the Ground Control Station). One of eurathlon safety pilots will be in charge of pressing the crash button only in the case that safety is seriously compromised. It is important to highlight that the flight termination system will only be activated in extreme circumstances in which is evident that 31

32 the aircraft will put people in danger, crash against a critical building or element (e.g. a power plant) or going so far that is evident that it won t be possible to recover its control. Team pilots will always have to follow the indications of eurathlon aerial experts at any time before, during and after the flight. Not doing so will cause the disqualification of the team from all eurathlon competitions. During eurathlon, teams cannot flight anywhere if eurathlon safety pilots are not present. Not doing so will cause the disqualification of the team from all eurathlon competitions. eurathlon safety pilots will be considered as the maximum authorities for the aerial operations as they are on charge of ensuring their safety. Hence, they will always have the last word with respect to the operation of the aircrafts Specific Marine Vehicles Safety One of the following safety measures has to be used by the team in the navigation tasks: A small float body painted in visible colour (e.g. orange), towed by the AUV via a thin rope. A safety rope from the rubber boat to the AUV Health & Safety Standards All teams and vehicles must comply with all applicable safety regulations (see for details). All teams must obey the health & safety rules and laws of the host country including the rules of ENAC (Italian Civil Aviation Authority) for the aerial robots Environmental Impact Any aspect of vehicle activity or operation that has an unacceptable impact on the environment is prohibited. These activities include destructive vehicle behaviour, the use of abnormally hazardous substances or materials, and generally reckless operation. Potentially hazardous equipment or activities must be identified to the organisers for review in the vehicle specification sheet and at the site visit. Going out of the competition area or/and impacting the sensitive dune area leads to disqualification of the team. 32

33 4.8 RF and other communication equipment Please note that the participants have to take care of the frequency regulations themselves but the Organisation has the right to verify and enforce the regulations. Teams must bring their own communication devices between team members. Note that the eurathlon organisation will not provide them. No antenna of any RF or other communication equipment used by the team shall exceed the overall height of 2.5 m Restrictions for UAV communications The UAVs cannot use the 2.4GHz for safety pilot communication. We recommend the 433 MHz channel for safety pilot communication. Other bands such as 5GHz can also be used. Note: The use of 2.4 GHz RC radiolinks is only allowed in aircrafts with a MTOW lower than 2kg. For more information please, read the section about the requirements for aerial robots. UAV teams are requested to inform about the intended communication channels the organization using the dedicated vehicle specification sheets. Further restrictions might be added to avoid communication interferences on the basis of the number of teams, robots and preferred channels. 4.9 Position Determination Vehicles may be equipped to receive and process electronic position determination signals (such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, WAAS, EGNOS etc.) that are openly available to all teams. Any costs associated with any subscription service are borne by the team. GPS signals might not be available throughout the route at all times (e.g. inside the building). Be aware that GPS alone might not provide adequate navigation information to the vehicle. Additionally, visual navigation of land robots may be disturbed (i.e. dust and other visual obscurants on the route) and visual-spectrum-only sensing may not be adequate under these conditions Pre-Competition Testing Testing of vehicles or components is the sole responsibility of each team. The use of public lands (including aerial volume) or private spaces for this purpose is at the team's own risk and must be in accordance with the applicable country laws. 33

34 Teams will be based in gazebos and will be provided with the following resources: About 6 square metres of clear floor space per domain. Workbench/table/work surface. 220 V mains electricity supply. Internet access. Teams will have access to the following shared facilities: Pools (and possibly areas in the dock, when not in use for competition) for sea robots Areas for land and air robots test and set-up. Note that: Teams must provide their own consumables, hand tools, drill bits and test equipment, etc. All team members must be skilled in the operation of all tools and equipment utilised. Only low voltage battery powered tools and equipment will be permitted within 2 metres of the pool. Inspection of the Trial/Sub-challenge/Grand Challenge competition area by any participants is not allowed without the organisation consent. Entering the building or inspecting through windows and/or doors the inside is completely prohibited, and will cause the disqualification of the team. Note: aerial robots may be allowed, during their time slot to approach the building. Land robots will be given time slots and will be able to practice in a specific practice area designated by the organisation. Practising outside that specific area (e.g. practising in the competition area) without permission from the organisation will lead to disqualification of the team. Aerial robots will be given time slots and the practise will be supervised by one of the organisation safety pilots. The robots will be allowed to fly above the building, in the area designated by the organisation. Practising outside time slots or the aerial volumes designated by the organisation and/or without the supervision of the organisation safety pilot will cause the disqualification of the team. 34

35 Marine robots will be given time slots and will be able to practise in the competition arena and pools. There will be a plume and valve for practising. Practising in the competition arena without permission from the organisation will lead to disqualification of the team. 5 Regulations Pushing the development of revolutionary technologies is a key objective of eurathlon. Entrants are invited to contact the organisers regarding any rule that restricts their ability to demonstrate technical achievement and innovative solutions to intelligent marine, ground or aerial vehicle behaviour. 5.1 The Chief Judge Team The Judges are a group of officials designated by the organisers. The Chief Judge Team is the final authority on all matters referred to in the rules and all matters affecting the operation of the eurathlon competition. The Chief Judge Team is divided into three Judging Teams, one per domain. Each Judging Team is led by one Head Judge which manages the activity of the Judging Team. The Chief Judge Team has the authority to modify the rules at any time. Reasons for modifications include, but are not limited to, the accommodation of promising but unexpected technical approaches that would have been prohibited by the rules and the exclusion of approaches that seek to participate without demonstrating the desired technical achievement in the vehicle s behaviour that is the purpose of the event. The organisers will announce any modifications of the rules with an to all entrants and a corresponding statement on the eurathlon website. The Chief Judge Team may revise the schedule of the Trials, Sub-Challenges and Grand Challenge and provide interpretation of the rules at any time and in any manner that is required. The Chief Judge Team s decisions regarding the rules are based on a number of factors, such as safety, legal compliance, fairness, trial goals, environmental protection and efficient operations. Decisions of the Chief Judge Team are final. 35

36 5.2 Procedures at eurathlon Route Definition Per scenario, three route definitions will become available over time. See the eurathlon website for further details. These definitions are: 1. a preliminary general description of the scenarios, (via eurathlon website, together with the general announcement of the competition) 2. a detailed description of the scenarios, (via eurathlon website, about 2-3 months before the event) 3. map and waypoints. (on site, prior to the start of a Trial/Sub-Challenge/Grand Challenge) Inspection of the Trial/Sub-challenge/Grand Challenge area by any participants is not allowed, without the organisation consent. Entering the building or inspecting through windows and/or doors the inside is completely prohibited, and will cause the immediate disqualification of the team. For information on practise areas please see point Starting Area/Departure Procedure Each team has to name one or two technical assistants and an operator. For aerial vehicles, each team has to identify also the team safety pilot. Each team will be allocated a time slot for their participation in the competition. The order will be announced on the eurathlon website. Each vehicle must be enabled for operation within 5 minutes after entering the start area. Vehicles must be prepared and waiting in the start area up to 10 minutes before the trial/subchallenge/grand challenge starts. At the designated starting time the vehicle must be waiting in the start area, readily prepared for operation. As soon as the departure signal is given by an eurathlon official, the vehicle can depart from the start point. During the departure procedure, the vehicle(s) will be put into operation and prepared for the start. All required material has to start being moved by the team from the unload location to the start area or deployment area (sea robots) 30 minutes before their allocated time slot. A team must place its vehicle in the start area prior to enabling it for operation. Note that there will be no support at this location (no table, no chair, no electricity etc.). The support will be 36

37 located at the Control Station, nearby the starting points of the land and aerial robots and of the deployment point of the sea robots. As an example, if your time slot is at 10:00 a.m., you should start moving your robots and materials at 9:30 a.m. At 9:50 a.m. your robot(s) should be in the start point prepared and waiting for the judges signal. At 9.55 a.m. the robots should be enable for operation. At 10:00 a.m. Judges will give the start signal and the scenario will start. In the case of the Sub- Challenges and Grand Challenge, not all the robots need to start after the Judges signal, as it will be decision of the team when they enter in action. However, all the robots participating in that scenario must be prepared and waiting in the starting points. The team will have first to communicate to the judge that they want to start and when given the approval, they will have 5 minutes to enable the vehicles before the judge gives the start. Teams must respect their official time slot and be ready to start on time. If there is a delay on the starting time of the scenario, the eurathlon Judges may decide, depending on the factors that have cause the delay, to reallocate time-slots or to disqualify the team for that scenario run. The technical assistants are responsible for operating the emergency stop systems (i.e. E- stop for land robots). Thus, he/she will leave the starting area (and the control station) and will accompany the vehicle as soon as the start signal has been given. In the case of aerial robots, eurathlon safety pilots will be in charge of operating the emergency stop system. The whole run will be supervised by the eurathlon officials. Only the Judges can signal the start of operations. Only competition officials may deploy and recover the vehicles (i.e. marine vehicles) or supervise the vehicle deployment/recovery by teams (i.e. aerial and ground vehicles). This is to prevent unsafe actions in an attempt to speed the deployment and recovery processes. A team may attempt multiple runs during the time-slot operations period. One run ends when any of the following occur: The time slot ends. Judges order the end of a run. The Team Leader requests the end of the run Vehicle Control There is only one control station (physical location). The three operators with all their control equipment will be located there. This control station is part of the starting area (see Figure 37

38 8). It is not possible to see the entire competition area from this control station. The operator must not leave the control station during the Trial/Sub-Challenge/Grand Challenge. Figure 8. Area of the Control Station. (Source: Google Maps) Only the operator/safety pilot is allowed to control the vehicle. The exact kind of permitted interaction depends on the chosen mode of operation, as defined in section 4.1. The technical assistants accompany the vehicle during the Trial/Sub-Challenge/Grand Challenge, and operate the E-stop (Ground robots). For marine robots, the technical assistants can accompany the vehicle in the rubber boat and interact with it as defined in for navigation tasks. They can also interact with the robot in the manipulation tasks as defined in and At any time in the preparation phase and during a scenario run an eurathlon official may prompt the technical assistant to put the vehicle in emergency stop mode due to safety or operational reasons. As soon as the official agrees, the vehicle may be resumed from emergency mode. In the case of aerial vehicles, eurathlon safety pilots will be in charge of the emergency stop system. In case of emergency (i.e. imminent danger for individuals and/or the vehicle) the technical assistant must self-reliantly activate the emergency stop. In the case of aerial vehicles, eurathlon safety pilots will activate the emergency stop system in case of emergency. Only due to an explicit request of the operator or safety reasons, the technical assistant/team safety pilot may interact with the vehicle. Without the operator s request, the technical assistant/team safety pilot may interact with the vehicle only in case of emergency (i.e. imminent danger for individuals and/or the vehicle) and only after activation of the emergency stop 38

39 In the special case of a ground vehicle with a safety driver, the driver may interact with the vehicle only in case of emergency (i.e. imminent danger for individuals and/or the vehicle).if so he must put the vehicle immediately into E-stop mode. Any other unauthorised interaction between the technical assistant/safety driver and the vehicle will lead to the abortion of the run. Note, moreover, that any interaction between the technical assistant and the vehicle, including any activation of the emergency stop, will have a negative influence on the resulting evaluation. This does not apply for manipulation tasks as defined in and and for navigation tasks as defined in Please, refer to the Scoring and Benchmarking document for the list of disqualifying and penalising behaviours for each scenario. The organisers will take measures to stop a vehicle that does not respond promptly to an emergency stop command, even if these measures may result in damage to the vehicle. Specific for marine vehicles: An USV can use its sensors to perform tasks (e.g. mapping). Some tasks can only be performed by using an AUV (passing the gate, long range navigation, manipulation). An USV can collaborate with an AUV during all the scenarios via an acoustic link. The AUV can receive messages directly from the Control Station on-shore through an acoustic link. The type of messages allowed are navigational helps and commands to surface to get a GPS fix (when applicable) from the USV or orders to switch/abort tasks (or general high level commands see the description of Semi-autonomous Mode of operation in section 4.1) either from the USV or from the Control Station. In the case of the Control Station, the Operator will have no line of sight. For instance, if a team cannot perform a long range navigation task, it can decide to interrupt it and start the next task from a closer point. Penalties are applied for manual intervention to move the vehicle to a different starting point. The AUV MUST remain fully submerged at a depth 1 m in all tasks. Surfacing at any time will result in termination of scenario run (with cancellation of the score) except when explicitly stated. In those cases, the AUV can emerge for GPS fixes. The AUV cannot communicate via radio link with an operator neither emerge to use GPS, unless explicitly stated in this rules document. 39

40 No physical link is admitted (wires or cables) to communicate/tele-operate the robots (except in the manipulation task). A USV and an AUV can communicate via wireless, no wire or cable between them is admitted (except in the manipulation task). The USV must be autonomous (or semi-autonomous in the Challenges and Grand Challenge) and provided of a radio tele-operation system. No tele-operation is allowed except for safety reasons. Judges will be able to forbid a team using the USV if it is considered unsafe. To close a valve, the vehicle should rotate the handle counterclockwise, by at least 90 degrees. A negligible friction has to be expected to perform the handle rotation. Details on the valve type can be found in the OPIs section of this document Regulations for a Trial/Sub-Challenge/Grand Challenge Route While a vehicle is on the route, eurathlon officials might follow it. During land Trials there will be no communication between the operator and other individuals, especially other team members, with the exception of communication with eurathlon officials. During sea Trials, there will be no communication between the operator and other individuals, especially other team members, with the exception of communication with eurathlon officials and the technical assistants on the rubber boat. During air Trials, there will be no communication between the operator and other individuals, especially other team members, with the exception of communication with eurathlon officials and the team safety pilot. The same rules as in Trials apply to Sub-Challenges/Grand Challenge, however in this case the team s operators (one per domain) will be able to communicate between them and indicate what his/her robot(s) has detected, mapped, etc.. A part from the technical assistant, no team member will physically intervene in any aspect of vehicle operation or physically participate in vehicle tracking from the time the vehicle clears the start area until it is returned to the team. A vehicle is returned to the team after the trial/sub-challenge/grand challenge is aborted or after the vehicle returns to the respective starting point or designated landing area. The aerial robots must take off and land at the specified areas (the landing area may be different to the take-off area). The aerial robots will also be allowed to land inside the building if required. 40

41 During Trials/Sub-Challenges/Grand Challenge refuelling or charging batteries of ground and marine vehicles is not permitted. During the Sub-Challenges and the Grand Challenge, teams are allowed to change batteries or refuel the combustion engines of aerial robots. The time-clock will not be stopped, so any penalty will be on the time lost, not on the points. Teams will only be able to change batteries and/or refuel UAVs combustion engines at the take-off and landing areas which will also be used as a pit stop area. During Trials teams are allowed to change batteries or refuel the combustion engines of UAVs only once without penalisation. Aerial teams will be allowed to change batteries inside the building but refuelling will not be allowed inside the building for safety reasons. A part from designated viewing areas, teams may not operate any vehicles or position any team members on or near a route at any time during the eurathlon 2015 event. If the eurathlon officials determine that letting a vehicle proceed on the route would hinder subsequent eurathlon operations, the trial/sub-challenge/grand challenge can be aborted. The team may apply for a second attempt. Specific regulations for marine vehicles on route The long range navigation can be fulfilled only by using an AUV. An USV can be used to support AUV operations with navigational helps and commands to emerge and get GPS fixes. The starting point is the same for both vehicles and will be given by the organisation in WGS decimal latitude and longitude coordinates as well as the set of waypoints. The AUV has to reach the arena passing through the waypoints and surfacing close to each waypoint. GPS fix at each surfacing has to be logged to be provided to the judges. The vehicle can surface a maximum of two extra times with penalty points. The AUV has to navigate inside a safety corridor of 40 m width with respect to the straight line uniting two waypoints. Exiting this corridor implies a penalty and a restart of the attempt. Exiting three times disqualifies a team. Details can be found in the Scoring and Benchmarking document. During navigation sub-tasks, the team members can perform the following actions: The Technical Assistants keep the safety rope and may touch the float towed body during particular AUV manoeuvres (e.g. surfacing) to avoid entanglement of the AUV propellers with the ropes. Can communicate with the Operator located on the shore. For passing the gate tasks: 41

42 The AUV has to submerge and navigate around 8 meters since the starting point until the gate. The teams will be allowed to specify vehicle s orientation at the beginning of the Mission. The vehicle should traverse at the controlled depth towards the centre of the Arena, make a 90 degree turn, and pass through the validation gate without contacting any part of the gate. An USV can only be used to support the AUV operations but the gate has to be passed by an AUV. The starting point of the USV is the same For marine vehicles in pipe following and "piping assembly inspection sub-tasks: In the pipe following, a constant distance from the pipe should be maintained and evidence of the pipe following should be provided to the judges. In the piping assembly inspection, the vehicle can start at any point and circle around maintaining a constant distance (team decision). Except for the Trials, the AUV can surface up to three times to communicate with other vehicles/control Station in the competition arena, but without the possibility of navigating at the surface.. In this case it can communicate via radio with other vehicles/control Station receiving direct commands from the operator Obstacles on the Trial/Sub-Challenge/Grand Challenge Route The route will include mobile obstacles and on-the-fly modifications. For example, a deadend can appear where the previous participant had a free road. The vehicle must avoid collisions with any obstacles, moving or static, on the route. The organisers will place obstacles along the route to test obstacle avoidance capabilities. Incidental or non-damaging contact with obstacles may not result in trial/sub-challenge/grand challenge abortion Abortion of a Trial/Sub-Challenge/Grand Challenge A vehicle must not continue on the route if the trial/sub-challenge/grand challenge was aborted. The organisers will coordinate the recovery of the vehicle or vehicles together with the team. Teams may enter the competition area only if directed by the eurathlon officials. If a participant has to abort the trial/sub-challenge/grand challenge because of technical difficulties, the Chief Judge Team may allow repeating it, depending on available start slots. 5.3 Data Requirements All data requirements have to be met. Submitted data which do not comply with the formats specified in the Scoring and Benchmarking document will not be handled/accepted. 42

43 The Scoring and Benchmarking document is available on eurathlon website Logs Each team will produce a log file with the mission data. The data must be provided to the judges within two hours (Grand Challenge) and one hour (Trials and Sub-Challenges) from the end of the team's slot to encourage the teams to push their system to produce good quality data as close to real time as possible. The log file has to clearly show the actions of the vehicle during the tasks. For details on the log file formats please refer to the Scoring and Benchmarking document at eurathlon website. 5.4 Common Shared Data Sets (CSDS) Teams that are new to the competition or teams with limited access to proper hardware and training areas face the problem that they cannot test their system against typical settings appearing at the competition. Also the comparison of methods or configurations requires an exactly reproducible data stream from all (sensor) inputs. A classical way to cope with this situation is to provide standardised Common Shared Data Sets (CSDS). Standardised CSDS can be used as a mean of comparison and, in fact, they are a good base to accelerate the progress of the state-of-the-art in research. The eurathlon organisers have published recorded real data sets for eurathlon 2013 and 2015 and some of the teams that participated in eurathlon 2013 and 2014 competitions, kindly agreed on sharing with the community the real data acquired during their participation in some of the scenarios Format of CSDS All CSDS created by the eurathlon organisation are distributed in the ROS bag format. This is the standard log format of the openly available Robot Operating System (ROS). A variety of tools is freely available to get raw sensor information out of recorded ROS bags. See for further details. The exact composition of sensor devices in a CSDS is scenario-dependent and generally specified. Note: CSDS provided by teams are in different formats, although most of them are in ROS. 43

44 5.4.2 Access and usage of CSDS The open science driven rules of eurathlon encourage teams to make available to the community the data collected during their performance in the competition. This repository of Common Shared Data Sets will build a valuable pool for benchmarking, testing and comparison. The CSDS of eurathlon 2013 land robotics competition, eurathlon 2014 sea competition and eurathlon 2015 combined competition are available to download on eurathlon website. eurathlon 2013 land competition CSDS eurathlon 2014 sea competition CSDS Combined Datasets 2015 : Aerial Domain (provided by the organisers) eurathlon 2015 combined datasets provided for the aerial domain: Download from the cloud storage: ba12f9c9e850 6 Evaluation Measures The Trial/Sub-Challenge/Grand Challenge must be fulfilled in one single run. A run is an attempt at completing one scenario. The final scoring of the team is the highest score obtained in the different runs executed by the team during its time slot. In some scenarios, the team has the possibility to stop attempting one task to pass to another one. In this case the vehicle is recovered and deployed to a starting point close to the area assigned to the next task. Also in this case, the final scoring of the team is the highest score obtained in the different runs executed by the team during its time slot. Only teams scoring points in on-field Trials/Sub-Challenges/Grand Challenge are eligible to be awarded with a podium position (only the first position for each scenario is awarded with a prize). Please refer to the Scoring and Benchmarking document for detailed information about the evaluation measures. The document is available on eurathlon website. 44

45 7 Awards for Participants The non-refundable registration fee paid by the participants and donations from sponsors build the budget for prizes. This budget will be the only source for the eurathlon prizes. 7.1 eurathlon 2015 Competition Prizes The best performance in each scenario is clearly governed through the Evaluation Measures. The exact amount of cash money prizes will be confirmed before the competition. Table 2 shows an example of the possible distribution of prizes Scenarios Configuration Number of scenarios Prizes (1 st winner in each scenario) Larger cash prize or in-kind Grand Challenge Combined Three Domain Scenario 1 prize + trophy. In this case, there will be 1 st, 2 nd and 3 rd prizes. Sub-Challenges Combined Two Domain Scenarios 3 Cash prize or in-kind prize + nameplate, per sub-challenge Trials Single Domain Scenarios 6 Nameplate, per trial* Table 2. eurathlon 2015 scenarios prizes (draft) NOTE*: In addition to the general eurathlon ranking and prizes, in the single domain marine trials, a secondary ranking will be adopted: the student classification. Only marine teams which include more than 75% students can participate in this classification. Special prizes will be given to the first ranking student teams in the two marine trials. All participants in the competition will receive a diploma. There will be nominations also for special in-kind prizes for special categories, such as: Texas Instruments special prize to Innovation 45

46 These special prizes categories will be elected by the Chief Judge Team and the respective sponsor s representative. All results ( Evaluation Measures, votes etc.) and awards will be published on the website. 8 Contact information. Official information concerning rules, interpretations, and information about the competition can be found on eurathlon website ( or you can contact eurathlon@uwe.ac.uk. For further technical questions contact: Gabriele Ferri Research Scientist, Research Department NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation Viale S. Bartolomeo 400, La Spezia, Italy Gabriele.Ferri@cmre.nato.int Appendix A: Objects of Potential Interest (OPI) This appendix describes the Objects of Potential Interest (OPI) that have to be found in the eurathlon 2015 scenarios. It also includes a summary of the OPIs as help. The list of OPIs regarding to the Scenarios document are: 46

47 1. Blocked and unblocked entrances Cards of different colours (similar to those shown in Figure 9) will be used as markers for the blocked and unblocked entrances to the reactor building. They will be A3 in size and will be located close to the entrance they refer to. In order to find the blocked and unblocked entrances to the reactor building, robots will have to find these markers and provide evidence to the judges. The green marker includes an Augmented Reality code. The code represented in the figure is only representative. The exact code will be given prior to the competition. Figure 9. Markers for unblocked (left) and blocked (right) entrances. 2. Damages on land pipes and building Red markers cards similar to those shown in Figure 10 will be used to represent structural damages in the building (if found inside the building). And also will be used to represent damages on the land pipes (if found in the land pipe area). They will be A3 in size and can be located both outside and inside the building. Figure 10. Marker for damages on the pipes and also structural damages in the building. 47

48 3. Damages on the sea bed This OPIs will be only used in the Sea Trials. The markers will be orange buoys with numbers, as the ones used for indicating the plume (see Figure 13). 4. Machine room A card sign similar to that shown in Figure 11 will be used to indicate the teams which is the machine room. This card will be located close to the machine room entrance and will be at least 40 x 40 cm in size. In order to find the machine room, robots will have to find this marker and provide evidence to the judges. Figure 11. Machine room sign. 5. Missing worker Mannequins wearing bright-colour work clothes will be used to represent the missing workers. An example is shown in Figure

49 Figure 12. Mannequin representing a missing worker, used at the Outback UAV Challenge. 6. Plume and Gate The marine OPIs will be soft reflective (both acoustically and optically) approximately spherical objects (see Figure 13) and they will be located at mid-water (between 0.5 m and 1.5 m altitude from the bottom). They will be tethered to the ground by a light rope. For what concerns the dimensions, they will fit in spheres with OD between 0.25 m to 0.5 m. OPIs will be orange in colour with a black distinctive number (with a height between 100 mm and 150 mm, reproduced twice or thrice along the equatorial plane). The number of the OPIs will be provided to the teams before the Competition (~ 5 OPIs will be placed in the area for simulating the plume and mapping tasks). The gate will be constituted by two of these OPIs without any number. We suggest that teams assume that the buoys will be visible only from a close (1-2 m) distance but these conditions constantly change according to the weather (lighting conditions, sea state, water turbidity ). 49

50 Figure 13. Image of the buoy without a number (gate) and with a number (plume). The OD of the sphere is 30 cm. 7. Pipes and Leaks During the competitions, there are several tasks related with pipe inspection The following pipes are located in the operation area: Figure 14. Pipes and valves locations (for land and for underwater robots). On land: On land, 2 pipes are positioned on the shore and 2 pipes coming out from the building (for a total of 4 pipes) as shown in Figure 14. Each pipe is associated to an ID number, from 1 to 4 and these numbers are painted in black colour on the pipe. For details about how these pipe sections look like see Figure 16 and Figure 17. The pipes will have red markers such as in 50

51 Figure 10 to represent damages and a blue marker with a symbol to represent a leak (see Figure 15). The symbol may vary and will be given prior to the competition. Figure 15. Marker representing a leak on a pipe. Underwater: There will be two piping assembly structures underwater. These piping assemblies consist of cylindrical shapes, yellow in colour, OD=0.5 m by LG=1.5 m (shown in Figure 16), arranged to form a 3D structure. The assembly will be placed on the bottom and will not be moved during the competition (but its position will be unknown until the time-slot of the first participant team). A map with the positions and IDs of the pipes and of the valves located underwater will be given to the teams. Departing from each of the piping assemblies, two pipes at least 3 m long will be present (see Figure 17). Each of these pipes will be identified by an ID number (from 1 to 4) painted in black colour on the pipe surface. This ID number indicates to which of the land pipes the underwater pipe is logically connected. A marker in orange colour and large at least 40 x 40 cm marks the leaking pipe as seen in Figure 18. Figure 16. Piping assembly structure. (Left) Frontal view. (Right) Lateral view. The structure, composed of yellow pipes, has the following dimensions: 2 m (front area) x 3 m x 1.8 m (height). 51

52 Figure 17. Pipe composed of yellow cylinders (OD=0.5 m). Two pipes will be positioned starting from the piping assembly. The pipes will be at least 3 m long. Figure 18. Orange marker to represent a leaking pipe. 8. Valves During the competitions, there are some tasks related to robotic manipulation of valves. The location of the valves in the operation area is shown in Figure 14 On land: As specified in the scenarios document, inside the machine room there are 4 valves and each of them corresponds to one of the 4 pipes on land. However, to allow some flexibility to the scenario each valve will be represented by a set of two different types of valves (one gate valve and one lever valve, as shown in Figure 19). So physically, there will be 4 sets of two valves (8 valves in total). Teams will be able to choose if they want to close the gate valve or the lever valve. The valves (gate and lever) might have different scores. 52

53 Figure 19. Set of valves. (Left) Gate valve, (Right) Lever valve The association between the pipe leaking underwater and the correct valve in the machine room will be indicated by ID numbers. The valves on the machine room will be identify by ERICards (similar to that shown in Figure 20) positioned on the wall behind the valves. Each one of the four ERICards will be associated with one underwater pipe (i.e. underwater pipe number 4 will be associated with an ERICard like the one shown in Figure 20 ). The association between underwater pipe numbers and ERICards images will be given to teams. This way the ID number on the pipe leaking underwater will indicate the valve in the machine room. For example, if the pipe leaking underwater is number 4, the land robot will have to look for the ERICard associated to number 4 and close the valve (the gate valve or the lever valve, as the team decides). Figure 20. Example of an ERICard that will be positioned on the wall behind each valve. Underwater: There will be two piping assembly structures underwater. These piping assemblies consist of cylindrical shapes, yellow in colour, OD=0.5 m by LG=1.5 m (shown in Figure 16), arranged to form a 3D structure. The assembly will be placed on the bottom and will not be moved during the competition (but its position will be unknown until the time-slot of the first 53

54 participant team). A map with the positions and IDs of the pipes and of the valves located underwater will be given to the teams. Departing from each of the piping assemblies, two pipes at least 3 m long will be present (see Figure 17). Each of these pipes will be identified by an ID number (from 1 to 4) painted in black colour on the pipe surface. This ID number indicates to which of the land pipes the underwater pipe is logically connected. The AUV will have to follow the correct pipe number indicated by the land robot and reach the correct valve (see Scenarios document for more details). The manipulation console where the cross-shaped underwater valve is placed is like the one shown in Figure 21 and Figure 22. (Note that the ring-shape device on the picture won t be used) Figure 21. Manipulation console with the cross-shaped lever. Figure 22. (Left) Front view of the cross-shaped lever. The lever is linked to a vertical shaft supported by the horizontal plane of the console. The horizontal plane is fixed to one pipe of the underwater piping assembly structure. (Right) Frontal view of the lever. The lever has to be rotated counterclockwise in the horizontal plane. 54

55 9. Canister and Barrel The canister and the Barrel will be only present in the land Trial of manipulation. The canister used is a 15L canister similar to the one shown in Figure 23. It may be filled with water or partially filled. The 120L barrel (see Figure 23) will be empty and the canister will fit inside it. The lid of the barrel will be resting next to it, so the barrel will be open. For closing the barrel the robot will have to lift the lid and put it back (resting) on the top of the barrel. Figure 23. Example of a 15L canister and a 120L barrel 10. Obstacles Obstacles representing debris in the land area of the competition will be created by grouping objects already present in the area (e.g. rocks, trunks) and/or wooden /cardboard boxes. 55

56 SUMMARY OF OPIs OPI Scenario Description Picture Blocked entrance GC L+A L1 A1 An A3 blue card with black border will be attached to a wall close to an entrance to indicate that it is blocked. Unblocked entrance GC L+A L1 A1 An A3 green card with black border and an AR code will be attached to a wall close to an entrance to indicate that it is unblocked. Damages on a land pipe or the building GC L+A (1) S+A (2) L+S (2) L1 (1) An A3 red card with black border will be attached to: 1) The outer and inner walls of the building to represent damages. 2) A land pipe to represent damages. Machine room entrance GC L+A L+S L1 L2 A2 A card sign will be used to indicate the machine room. This card will be located close to the machine room entrance and will be at least 40 x 40 cm in size. 56

57 GC L+A Missing worker S+A Missing workers will be represented by mannequins wearing bright-colour work clothes. Source: Outback UAV Challenge Leak on an underwater pipe GC S+A L+S S2 A marker in orange colour and large at least 40 x 40 cm marks the leaking pipe underwater. Leak on a land pipe GC S+A L+S An A3 blue card with black border and a sign will be attached to a pipe to indicate that a land pipe is leaking. Plume GC S+A L+S S2 The plume will be marked using several approximately spherical buoys. Their diameter will be between 0.25 m to 0.5 m. They will be located at midwater (between 0.5 m and 1.5 m altitude from the bottom). They will be tethered to the ground by a light rope. 57

58 Numbers written on the buoy will distinguish them. The number of the buoys that constitutes the plume will be provided to the teams before the competition (~ 5 buoys can be expected). S1 S2 The sea gate will be marked using two (both acoustically and optically) approximately spherical buoys. Their diameter will be between 0.25 m to 0.5 m. Gates They will be located at midwater (between 0.5 m and 1.5 m altitude from the bottom). They will be tethered to the ground by a light rope. The sea gate buoys will not have numbers and are located in a different area than the plume ones. Valves underwater GC L+S S2 One valve will be attached to the piping assembly structure. It will be a crossshape valve whose dimensions are shown in Figure

59 Pipe assembly GC S+A L+S S2 The piping assembly structures that will be located underwater will consist of yellow cylindrical pipe sections arranged to form a 3D structure. They will have a diameter about 0.5 m and a length of about 1.5 m. The assemblies will be placed on the bottom and will not be moved during the competition. The dimensions of the whole structure are: 2 m (front area) x 3 m x 1.8 m (height). Underwater pipes GC S+A L+S S2 The underwater pipes will have a diameter about 0.5 m and a length of at least 3 m. They will be connected to the piping assembly structure. Valves in the machine room GC L+S At the machine room, 4 sets of two valves (1 lever valve + 1 gate valve) represent the 4 valves in the machine room. Teams will be able to choose if they want to close the gate valve or the lever valve. 59

60 GC ID number of the valves in the machine room L+S The ID number of the valves in the machine room will be identified by ERICards positioned on the wall behind the valves. S1 Several approximately spherical buoys with a number. Their diameter will be between 0.25 m to 0.5 m. Damages on the seabed They will be located at midwater (between 0.5 m and 1.5 m altitude from the bottom). They will be tethered to the ground by a light rope. Numbers written on the buoy will distinguish them. The number of the buoys that need to be found will be provided to the teams before the competition (~ 5 buoys can be expected). L2 Canister A 15L canister similar to this will be used. 60

61 L2 Barrel A 120L blue barrel similar to the one on the right will be used. Obstacles GC L+A L+S L1 L2 A1 A2 Obstacles representing debris in the land area of the competition will be created by grouping objects already present in the area (e.g. rocks, trunks) and/or wooden /cardboard boxes. 61