1. Introduction and motivation

The National Robotics Festival was the initiative of faculty members of the Universities of Minho, Aveiro and IST and had its first edition in 2001 in Guimarães.  The  objective of the Festival is the dissemination of Science and Technology to the general public and all levels of students, through competitions involving robots. The Festival is held every year in a different city and includes a Scientific Conference where researchers and entrepreneurs meet to present the most recent results of their activity.

The 7th Edition of the National Robotics Festival will be held in Paderne (Albufeira, Algarve) from 27 to 30 of April, and will be hosted by the Algarve Live Science Center and the Municipality of Albufeira. This event has had a continuous increase in the number of participants, competing teams and attending public since its first edition. Competitions of the different leagues include Autonomous Driving (since the beginning of the event),  Medium and Small Soccer and several junior leagues, Soccer, Dance and Search and Rescue, under official RoboCup rules.

2. Competition leagues

To cover the wide range of technical aspects involved in robotics there are several competition leagues with different requirements and levels of difficulty.

   • Soccer – Medium Size (FRM)
   • Soccer – Small Size (FRP)
   • Autonomous Driving (CA)
   • Junior Soccer (FRJ) (2x2), with two age brackets: 8-14 and 15-19
   • Junior Dance (DJ), with two age brackets: 8-14 and 15-19
   • Junior Search and Rescue (BSJ), with two age brackets: 8-14 and 15-19

For the FRM, FRP and CA leagues there are no affiliation restrictions and participants form teaching institutions, research units, companies, associations, electronics clubs or individual participants are welcome. For the junior leagues, FRJ, DJ and BSJ, there are also no restrictions provided the age brackets are respected.

3. Constitution of the teams

The same institution may have more than one team. In the case of teaching institutions, the majority of the team members must be registered students of that institution. Teachers of former students may also belong to the team. Junior teams may have up to 4 elements and senior teams up to 8 elements. In both cases the registration of 2 additional elements will be allowed, but an extra fee will be charged.

In the case of junior leagues, the ages of the student elements of the team must be within the designated age bracket by 21 June 2007. At present the age limits are:

• Junior Soccer:
      - Class 2x2: age brackets 8 to 14 and 15 to 19 years
      - Class 1x1: age brackets 8 to 14 and 15 to 19 years
• Junior Dance: age brackets 8 to 14 and 15 to 19 years
• Junior Search and Rescue: age brackets 8 to 14 and 15 to 19 years

4. Registration

Registration is done on-line by filling a form at the site of the Algarve Live Science Center, at the page of the National Robotics Festival, (www.ccvalg.pt/robotica2007). The name of all the elements of the team, the institution of affiliation, the competition league and the name of the robot are required.

For junior leagues the team must include a teacher or another adult. This person may have his/her name in more than one team and must accompany the team(s) at all times, in particular during the night, if the team(s) are lodged in the facilities provided by the Organization Committee. Junior team composed of junior elements of both sexes that want to benefit from lodging facilities provided by the Organization Committee must include two adults because male and female junior members will be spending the night in different areas. In this situation the registration of the second adult will be free.

The cost of the registration will be mentioned in the registration section of the site. The registration includes the access to the competitions according to the regulations of each league and a dedicated space in the area of the competitions with electrical sockets for installation of the team robot. Other services included will be publicized on the National Robotics Festival site.

The teams should pre-register until 28 February 2007 and pay 5 euros. This value will be deducted form the total cost of the registration and will not be refunded if the team decides not to participate in the Festival. The pre-registration is required for junior teams that want to benefit from free lodging provided by the organization. The final registration must be completed by March 31, 2007 and the total payment of the registration fee must be made by then. The registration fee is 75 euros for the junior teams and 200 euros for the senior teams. In the case of junior teams, one of the elements must be a teacher of adult. Up to 2 additional elements may integrate each team, in this case, each member over the number of 4 (junior) or 8 (senior) will result in an increase of 25 euros in the registration fee.

Registration can be canceled until 7 April 2007 and the registration fee will be returned (with exception of 5 euros). For  cancellations after 7 April 2005 the registration fee will not be refunded.

5. Date and Venue

The 2007 National Robotics Festival will be held from 27 to 30 April 2007 at the Sports Pavilion of Paderne (Pavilhão Desportivo de Paderne).

6. Competition rules and technical specifications

The rules and technical specifications for each league are included in the corresponding sections of the site.

7. Prizes

All the participating teams, i.e. presenting a robot that is in accordance with the competition rules, will receive a participation prize. Apart from this, each league and class will receive 3 completion prizes and a jury special prize. For the attribution of the jury special prize, the teams are invited to provide additional elements in writing regarding the technical solutions they implemented in the robot. All prizes will be advertised.

8. Jury / Program Commission

The jury will decide about any problem arising during the competition due to omissions in the present regulation or any other issue presented by a referee.  The jury will also be responsible by the verification of the classification of each team as well as the attribution of the prizes. The members of the juries of the different leagues are:

9. Technical and Scientific Commission

The Technical and Scientific Commission is responsible for: (1) the elaboration and updating of the rules and technical specifications of the competitions,  (2) the interaction with the Program Commission with respect to the reviews of articles presented in the Scientific Conference and (3) definition of the general format of the Festival. For the 2007 edition the members of this Commission are:

10. Local Organization Commission

The Local Organization Commission is responsible for the material and human infrastructures necessary to organize the Festival and its promotion, as well as the management of registrations and participations. For the 2007 edition the members of this Commission are:

11. Information requests

All official information relating to the Robotics 2007 – National Robotics Festival (ROBÓTICA 2007 – Festival Nacional de Robótica) is available in the website:

http://www.ccvalg.pt/robotica2007

Information requests can be sent to:

ROBOTICA 2007
Centro Ciência Viva do Algarve
Rua Comandante António Manuel
8000-250 Faro
Tel: (+351) 289 890 920
Fax: (+351) 289 890 929
e-mail: robotica2007@ccvalg.pt

For questions about the competitions:
robotica2007@ccvalg.pt

For questions about the scientific conference:
ecrobotica2007@ccvalg.pt