2021 Competition

With the unique situation this year, ARC has evolved in the following ways:

• We will be postponing the usual competition til a tentative January 2021 start. This allows us to assess the COVID situation as it evolves. .
• This year's competition will happen in some form, whether virtual or in-person. We have revamped the rulebook and competition structure such that some form of a competition will occur, whether it is within the safe confines of everyone's community or together. Safety of all people involved is our primary priority, and all decision-making will be made with that as our priority. Teams that have paid to participate last year will be able to participate free of charge. New teams are welcome to join the competition through the usual financial plan.
• Despite the delay, we will be holding different virtual activities that will be both safe and fun for all participating. We will be using DroneBlocks to give students the opportunity to program and learn how to use drones safely. Furthermore, we will be holding different talks with different speakers who work in the aerospace industry.

Below is a tentative schedule for this year:

• November 1st: DroneBlocks material released
• mid-November: Virtual ARC talks
• December 20th: Submission for DroneBlocks material is due/results shortly after
• December 20th: Registration Deadline for the 2021 competition
• By the end of December: Teams that are competing this year are announced, and rulebook finalized
• Apr/May 2021 2021 Competition

During this fall, we will be holding a fun and exciting virtual activity that will allow students to still participate in drone activities from the safety of their homes! ARC has procured access to DroneBlocks which offers students some lectures and virtual simulations on drone programming and flying! Teams that have already registered have free access to this curriculum. In conjunction with the free access to DroneBlocks, the ARC staff will be coming up with a series of challenges that students can complete. Students that successfully complete these tasks will be able to earn points for their teams that will count towards the actual ARC competition starting in January 2021.

Kickoff Presentation:

Meeting Recording:
Kickoff Presentation

Access Passcode: 89Rhq6?*

Slides can be found here: Kickoff Slides

Virtual Engagement Competition Rules:

• All participants must register here: https://forms.gle/WH5No6duxwyQnKVs7 to get to lecture/simulation access 
• No teams of students are allowed
• Students must register to be able to receive prizes.
• Duplicate/similar submissions will result in disqualification at the judge's discretion.

• If students are participating in ARC, their submission may count towards the actual main competition scoring.

• Competition Procedures

• Create a login account in the simulation (click the middle 3 bar button, and login)
• Go to the Mission Board, and load up the mission you’d like to accomplish
• Program the mission
• Save the mission using the instructions given in the challenge descriptions.
• Make sure the mision board is not public and only private
• Send the link to your mission to arc.virtual.submissions@gmail.com with your high school and student name
• Judges will reply within 2 days with whether your submission was successful enough
• Divisions:
• Team
• Schools whose students finish each mission will earn points based on how quickly they finish the challenges. These points apply to each challenge separately (i.e. if you finish 1st in the Challenge 1, 4th in Challenge 2, and 3rd in Challenge 3, you get 20 + 4 + 8 = 32 pts):
• 1st place: 20 points
• 2nd place: 10 points
• 3rd place: 8 points
• 4th place: 4 points
• 5th place: 2 point
• These points will be applied to the main ARC competition as bonus points in the end.
• If multiple members from a team high school team submits an entry, only the highest will count. This will apply to both Florida and California regions separately. 
• Individual
• The first 3 teams that finish all 3 challenges will win prizes:
• 1st place: DJI Tello EDU Drone ($130 value)
• 2nd place: Potensic Drone ($30 value)
• 3rd place: $10 amazon giftcard
• If no student finishes all 3 challenges, the student with the most completions will 
• The placement of students in rankings is independent of region (i.e. only one 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prize will be awarded)
• Students are allowed to participate in both team and individual divisions. 
• Lessons that are useful:
• Drone Simulation Lesson
• Introduction to Tello Drone Programming
• Advanced Tello Drone Programming
• Tello Challenges from Italy
• Challenges:
  • Challenge 1: Fly a complex route
  • Challenge 2: Acrobatics
  • Challenge 3: Implement an algorithm
  • Challenge Descriptions
• Lecture series points activites:
  • AI Talk: Dr. Madiha Jafri, Senior Scientist at Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems: Presentation Recording
  Questionnaire Link
  • Autonomy: Ben Marchionna, Vice President of Global Operations at Skyspecs Presentation Recording

Last modified Dec. 12th

 

 

The ARC staff understands the turbulent times that we are currently in, and we hope that these activities will help alleviate some of the pain. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any ideas on what we can do better (aero.robotics.comp@gmail.com).