BEST Concept

BEST Description

Capitol-BEST (Boosting Engineering Science and Technology) is a robotics competition for students held anually. The goal of the contest is to foster growth in students by exposing them to engineering and science at a young age. At the beginning of the contest, every school is given the same kit of unused materials and the same objective. Then, for six weeks, they must use their given resources as well as their collective brainpower to conceive, build and test a robot. Finally, on D-Day, teams enter their robots in a competition against their fellow engineers to see who's machine comes out on top. The local winners advance to regional competition held at Texas Tech.

The goal of the BEST Compitition is to encourage growth in the students competing in it. The goal of the competition is not to win. One way this is done is though the mentor program. Mentors share their wisdom in their areas of expertise with students, and while they do not do the student's work for them, they are a valuable asset to the students.In addition to developing the skills of the members of a specific team, BEST supports sportsmanship and spirit through friendly rivalries. The idea is not to create ill will between teams and, as previously stated, winning is secondary. Rather, the goal is to bring the students together with a common passion, and aid in the development of their skills.

Game Objectives

The challenge is set in the year 2021 on the planet Mars, where robots are required to drive onto and unload an Automated Supply Vehicle (ASV) and move the supplies back to the Martian base. The robot then must deposit them in a storage bin to help with the construction of the base. This all must be achieved within a time period of 3 minutes, due to Mars' extreme temperatures. The robot must stay within size and weight constraints in order to fit through the exit door of the base.

The robot must exit the doors and then maneuver up ramps, 66" by 27" with a 1 1/2" border to the ASV area and collect equipment boxes, food boxes, medical supply boxes, and fuel tanks. These need to be moved to the supply drop-off area, 3' by 2', located on the rims of the 27' by 27' area of the Martian surface. There are 20 orange equipment boxes, 20 silver food boxes, 4 gold medical supply boxes, and 12 cylindrical fuel tanks. The food and medical supply boxes, along with the fuel tanks are contained within a 2' x 2' cargo container on the surface of the cargo bay. However, the equipment boxes are kept at the corners of the ASV's cargo bay.