Mining Site Remote Operations

Description

A mining site beyond a steep hill at a distant outpost has gone silent. A recent radio equipment failure means it is no longer reachable and the ore cannot be loaded by the standard transport robot. A group of rover teams has been assembled to restore the link and collect the waiting backlog of ore before the equipment is damaged and the material is lost.

The site lies outside the normal operating area for a rover, so the rover must be operated over the mining site’s command and control network via a CIRC-provided network link.

The ore dispenser and ore loading site are separated by a steep grade. A LIDAR point cloud recorded in 2018 can be downloaded in Potree 2.0 format for mission planning. Changes to the terrain in 2027 should be anticipated.

To complete the task, teams must restore the control link, bring an ore trailer to the CIRC ore dispenser, load it with ore at the dispenser, and unload ore at the weigh scale site.

Requirements

1. Operate the rover over the CIRC network link:
   1. All operator command, control, and video traffic must traverse the CIRC-provided link (see Link Information). Rovers must demonstrate Minimum Operating Capability as defined by the Communications rules.
   2. Rover operators must be located at CIRC Central.
   3. Crew at the task site are permitted for repair and recovery only, per the Interventions Guide. Normal intervention scoring applies.
   4. Communication with the field crew by cell phone or other personal device is permitted only during set-up and takedown, and from the starting area during an intervention. A basic cell phone will be provided by CIRC. Displays, indicators, and other devices carried on the rover are permitted at any time.
2. Place the provided relay beacon in the vicinity of the ore dispenser:
   1. Dispenser controls will be provided by CIRC to operators at the base station, and remain locked until the beacon’s received signal strength at the dispenser clears a minimum threshold provided at the start of the task.
   2. The beacon must be placed by the rover for full points. If the threshold cannot be achieved, judges may enable the dispenser as a modification intervention.
   3. Documentation regarding the size and mass of the beacon will be provided in advance.
3. Operate the remote ore dispenser:
   1. The dispenser is a remote operated conveyor (screw auger); it loads ore for as long as it is run.
   2. Any amount of ore may be loaded over multiple trips.
   3. Spilled ore is not worth any points but may reduce the maximum achievable points.
4. Haul ore:
   1. Ore will be Washed Pea Rock sized 3-10mm.
   2. If a trailer is used (see Ore Trailer below), the trailer must be returned to the starting area at the end of the task; it may not be left in the field.
   3. Ore will be weighed at the weigh scale site. The ore may be delivered in a trailer or on the rover, but only the net ore weight is scored.
   4. Multiple runs are permitted between unloading ore at the weigh scale site. If this can not be done automatically or by the rover, teams may manually unload the ore as a modification intervention.
   5. Up to 100kg of ore will be scored for maximum points.
   6. Documentation regarding the weigh scale site will be provided in advance.

Ore Trailer

• Teams are encouraged to field a trailer in addition to their rover. The trailer is not counted as part of the rover’s scored mass, but can not exceed 15 kg as weighed during setup.
• The trailer must be approved according to the Rover Safety Requirements and be included in the submitted safety report.
• The trailer may not have onboard batteries. It may be unpowered, or powered by the rover with a non-latching connector which disconnects when pulled.
• The trailer must be permanently latched to the rover during the task. The suggested attachment point for the trailer is a DIN 580 M10 eye bolt (25 mm eye diameter), however custom attachments are permitted.
• Teams may alternatively operate without a trailer, or integrate carrying capacity into the rover.

Link Information

• This task uses the CIRC Backhaul, per the Communications rules. The team provides the Last-Hop from the rover to the antenna site. The antenna site is not at the starting point.
• A bandwidth limit of at most 100Mbit/s and at least 50Mbit/s will be applied, announced at the start of the event. The bandwidth limit will be applied by CIRC equally for all teams.
• CIRC provides a test endpoint at the task site. Basic information such as performance counters (packet counts, data rate, throughput) will be available to verify link readiness throughout each attempt.
• The shared live video feed of the task site may be used as a fallback driving view. It is a shared, coarse view visible to all participants and spectators.

Multiple Teams

• During the task, two teams may be operating at the same time at the same site. Team pairings will be announced at the start of the event.
• Each team will have their own ore dispenser and weigh scale site and may only use these as assigned.
• CIRC will not coordinate frequency spectrum use at the task site, the use of interference-tolerating protocols and cooperation between teams is strongly encouraged.
• Teams must not intentionally interfere with other teams during tasks, such as blocking or damaging an opponent’s rover. Competitor Conduct Penalties apply.