Designing Robot Competitions that Promote AI Solutions: Lessons Learned Competing and Designing.
Jeffrey R. Croxell, Ross Mead, Jerry B. Weinberg · 2007
Robotics competitions are an educational tool at the middle school, high school, and university levels. The layout, rules, and reward systems of these competitions galvanize students to a specific solution space. From our experiences competing-in and designing such competitions, open-loop, low feedback strategies tend to dominate the winner's circle. If we want competitions to emphasize solutions spaces that include AI-type robot control, contest designs need to favor closed-loop, high feedback strategies. Game elements that encourage such designs are discussed.