CIRC 2021 Winter Competition Information

Notice Regarding COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak is having a significant impact on large events and gatherings, and will continue to do so for some time. We will be watching our government health agencies for advice, and recommend you do the same.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the 2021 Winter event was unfortunately cancelled. Please read our statement here.

Overview

CSTAG is introducing the first Winter Rover Challenge, coming February 2021. This special event will host a small number of teams in Paris, Ontario by invitation only. If you are interested in competing, please register your interest using the link below! If you don’t have a robot but are interested in helping out at the event, please email us at [email protected].

This is an outdoor event, and rovers must be able to operate in wintery conditions including snow, ice, mud, and sub-zero temperatures. We look forward to seeing how teams adapt their rovers to meet this new challenge.

Event Date

February 18-21, 2021

Location

Paris, Ontario, Canada

Rules and Regulations

Changes From The Summer Challenge

We’ve made some significant changes to the rules to accommodate the winter weather and location of this competition. The rules and tasks have been structured so a winterized version of the summer rover should be able to complete the tasks.

The competition will have no overnight tasks, and no guaranteed overnight access to CIRC central.

Instead of operator stations located outdoors near each task site, rover operators will be located inside the CIRC central building. Therefore, we’re providing a managed Ethernet network connecting CIRC central to each task site. Teams will use this network to connect their operator stations to their radio equipment deployed at each task site. Suitably dressed team members are still permitted to observe and repair their rovers at task sites, but this may prove difficult due to weather conditions. The density of the new competition location has caused us to reserve one additional radio communication channel. We’ve clarified that rovers must be able to operate in all weather, and that the only schedule changes will be due to unsafe weather.

We may make additional changes to these rules after the completion of the Summer 2020 challenge based on lessons learned at that competition. When those changes are made, they will be listed here.