Dear ZRASCC Teams,

 

Welcome! You are receiving this e-mail because you are part of a team competing in the Zero Robotics Space Capture Challenge.  From time to time throughout the tournament I'll be e-mailing the teams to highlight updates or bring your attention to important issues.  There are several things to bring up right now, so let's get to it.

 

== ZRASCC Game manual and API Released ==

 

As you all hopefully know by now the ZRASCC game manual and API were released Wednesday and are available on the website.  For quick reference you can find all documents for the challenge on the tournament page:

 

http://www.zerorobotics.org/web/zero-robotics/tournament-details?tournamentId=6&tab=i_Documents

 

Please read the rules thoroughly and review the example code provided in the API.  There are functions provided to get you up to speed quickly with the basic parts of maneuvering so you can focus on the difficult parts of the challenge.  If you have any questions, please make use of our forums (see next).

 

== Forums ==

 

We recommend subscribing (click 'watch forum' at the top of the page) to two of the forums on the ZR discussion page.

 

* ZRASCC Challenge Discussion at http://www.zerorobotics.org/web/zero-robotics/forum/-/message_boards?_19_mbCategoryId=220974

Post to this forum for general questions about the game rules, API, or just general discussion about the challenge.  This location will be where we post the finalist code from each week.  I have started a thread here:

 

http://www.zerorobotics.org/web/zero-robotics/forum/-/message_boards/view_message/246586

 

for short announcements. Any major announcements will also be on the front page in the ZRASCC box.

 

* Support Forum at http://www.zerorobotics.org/web/zero-robotics/forum/-/message_boards?_19_mbCategoryId=16932

While we are in the process of deploying a ticket-based support system and knowledge base, this support forum is our temporary place for reporting bugs and asking general website questions.

 

Both forums are actively monitored, and we try to have very fast turnarounds for support questions.  If a question is not answered in a timely manner or you would prefer to ask a question directly to the ZR staff, please e-mail zerorobotics@mit.edu.

 

== Leaderboard ==

 

The competition leaderboard for Week 1 opened at the launch of the competition.  You are free to make as many submissions to the leaderboard as you would like leading up to the first submission deadline at 13:00 EDT Wednesday, April 04. The top ranked team at the end of this week will be our first finalist.  You must make a submission before the deadline for your code to be scored.  As a warning, server loads may be very high near to the deadline, so we encourage you to submit your project early.

 

To review, here's how you make a submission:

1) Go to Resources->Team Management

2) Select your ZRASCC team

3) Click submissions from the left hand menu

4) Click the 'Submit Project' or 'Update Project' button

 

To view the leaderboard (we're working on a direct link)

1) Go to the ZRASCC tournament page: http://www.zerorobotics.org/web/zero-robotics/tournament-details?tournamentId=6 or click Tournaments from a ZR page

2) Click 'Week 1 Leaderboard'

3) Details of all the matches contributing to a ranked player's current score are available by clicking on the team name

 

One last note on the leaderboard: we are updating the ranking system slightly to remove the case where your team can simulate against a previous submission if it is ranked in the top teams on the leaderboard.  This will prevent a team from sequentially submitting a poor performing project then a high performing project to boost their ratings.

 

=============================

 

That's it for now. Good luck with your first week of programming.

 

Best regards,

 

Jake and the ZR Team