vrx_2023 phase1_hello_world

Phase 1: Hello World

This simple check encourages teams to start early and is a means to identify technical issues with the simulation environment. The goal of this phase is for teams to demonstrate that they can run the VRX simulation environment locally, on their own computers, and to demonstrate early prototype solutions to the VRX tasks.

New: To encourage teams to familiarize themselves with the submission process for later phases, we are now requesting that teams also submit a minimal Docker image and WAM-V configuration along with your video. See below for details.

Deliverables

The deliverables in this phase consist of a video and a minimal competitor image with WAM-V configuration files.

Video Deliverable

The primary deliverable for this stage of the VRX challenge is an online video. The content of the video is intentionally open-ended. We encourage you to think creatively about how you present your current status. The only requirement is that your video demonstrates that your team has been able to setup the VRX environment locally. To take it to the next level, we suggest teams consider including more information about their status and to show off what they have been able to achieve. Consider the submission a highlight video of your team's status.

Videos should be limited to no more than 5 minutes in length.

Competitor Image Deliverable

In addition to the video, teams should also create and submit a minimal working system, packaged as a Docker image with two WAM-V configuration files. Note that the system does not have to solve any of the tasks yet; the sole purpose of this exercise is to take an early look at the process of packaging your submission for phases two and three. The files needed for this deliverable can be produced by walking through the following tutorials (no customization required):

Resources for preparing your system

Teams have access to the VRX code, documentation and tutorials to support setting up their local development environment.
The VRX 2023 Task Descriptions document, available on the VRX website, has all the details about the tasks and about the environmental envelope expected in the unseen competition scenarios.
For technical support, teams are encouraged to submit to the VRX issue tracker.

Submission process

To submit an entry, you must do the following:

Create the required files described in the submission format section (below);
Follow the instructions in the submission process tutorial to submit these files.

Submission format

We expect to receive four files from each competitor prior to this event:

video_link.txt: Contains only the URL to the team's online video submission
dockerhub_image.txt: Contains the name of the image to be pulled from DockerHub.
thruster_config.yaml: Defines the WAM-V thruster configuration (see tutorial for examples).
component_config.yaml: Defines the WAM-V component configuration (see tutorial for examples).

Important:

If you're using a private DockerHub repository, please grant access to the virtualrobotx DockerHub user. Otherwise we will not be able to evaluate your submission.
Follow the WAMV Compliance Tutorial to ensure your WAM-V configuration complies with the competition guidelines.

Submission testing

Before submitting your pull request we recommend that you validate your submission to verify that it complies with the submission requirements. The following tutorial will guide you through this process:

How to validate your submission.

Once you submit the pull request, the VRX technical team will do two things before merging (accepting) the submission:

Check that the WAM-V thruster and component configuration complies with the configuration constraints described in the VRX Technical Guide.
Check that the DockerHub image is accessible by the virtualrobotx DockerHub user.

Once those two requirements are met, the pull request will be merged and your submission is accepted. All submissions that pass the validation checks above will be accepted, and the submitting teams will advance to the next phase regardless of whether the system is in a working state.

Additional testing

Teams are also encouraged to verify that the submission runs properly and is able to communicate with the VRX server that will eventually be used to score the competition. The tutorial below provides instructions for testing whether this is the case:

How to run a trial and score yourself.

If working properly, you should see the WAM-V move in response to whatever commands you have sent from your competitor image.

Important dates

Date	Description
2023, September 5, 23:59 PST	Deadline for submitting your files
2023, September 6, 23:59 PST	Deadline for submitting a correction
2023, September 7	Results published

Note on submitting a correction: We allocate an extra day in the schedule for fixing any problems related with the content of the submission files (e.g.: A typo in the URL of the video in video_link.txt, a noncompliant component or thruster configuration, a typo pointing to the DockerHub image, a problem with DockerHub permissions not letting us to download your solution image, etc.). Teams are not allowed to modify the video or Docker image after the initial submission deadline.