Moving robot base in Task 1+2

Hi guys,

so we were thinking whether it will be permitted to move the robot base in Task 1+2 already? The technical annex does not say anything about that, it is only stated on Task 3 that

Task 3 follows a similar format to Task 2, but the difference is that the arm base can move on the table [...]

It is indeed possible to move the robot base in Task 1+2, but is it stated anywhere that this is "illegal"?

The rationale behind this idea is that sampling grasping configurations is facilitated if the robot base is allowed to move, and we don't see a reason why we shouldn't be allowed to try this.

Cheers,
Tobi

you are right: in the current task-sets it is possible to move the robot base in task1 & 2. while this was not intended, it was also not clearly stated as "illegal". we will not change this behavior in the final eval - i.e. it will be possible to move the robot base in task 1&2 of the final eval and this is NOT considered "illegal".

EDIT: the consortium agreed to stay with the initial meaning of the technical annex: moving the base in task 1 & task 2 is not allowed and each try will return an error message.

Thanks a lot for the quick response and we'll be happy to "exploit" this "loophole".

you are right: in the current task-sets it is possible to move the robot base in task1 & 2. while this was not intended, it was also not clearly stated as "illegal". we will not change this behavior in the final eval - i.e. it will be possible to move the robot base in task 1&2 of the final eval and this is NOT considered "illegal".

From our point of view, this clearly contradicts the official Task description which should not be changed in the last official day of the challenge. In case teams do exploit this bug, this might distort the challenge since requirements on grasping are in fact much lower with a movable base.

[irony on] As teleoperation is not explicitely permitted, can we solve the task by teleoperation? [irony off]

We are also concerned about allowing base movements in tasks 1 and 2 since we spent a considerable amount of time in optimizing the grasping performance with the limitation of a fixed base. We did this according to the specification in the annex for task 3:

Task 3 follows a similar format to Task 2, but the difference is that the arm base can move on the table along the two additional axis.

This clearly states that the moving base is the difference between the tasks.

Permitting the robot to move around on the table in tasks one and two would be an obvious contradiction to the technical annex. It clearly states that the difference between the first two tasks and the third is the added mobility of the base. Therefore, I find allowing this loophole to be exploited would give teams that have not been able to fulfil task one and two the upper hand. Moving the robot base will evidently increase the number of possible solutions for the pick and place functionality, i.e. make it easier to score points in the tasks mentioned. Changing the original rules would simply be unfair to the teams that have complied with the technical annex as they would now need to change their code to benefit from the loophole.

Regards,
A

i've requested a project internal discussion about this issue.

the consortium has agreed to stay with the initial meaning of the technical annex: moving the base in task 1 & 2 is NOT allowed!

if you still try to move them in T1&2 you will get an error message and the robot will not move. (not an emergency stop)
error message format: """path step X (0-based) index Y (joint_index {0,1}) position is Z which is {above high,below low} stop of 0!"""

Ah, it's good this is now cleared up so nobody will have to have bad feelings about other people or teams. This restriction shouldn't be a big issue for anyone (including us), though. However, always expect people to bend the rules in their favor...
Anyways, once more it proves helpful to stay polite and fight with an open visor rather than sneakily trying to pull something off - thanks for your efforts!