- Competition title
Offshore wind power refers to a way of using offshore wind energy by building wind farms in major areas such as Intertidal zone and offshore areas and converting wind energy into electric energy. Developing offshore wind power not only contributes to low-carbon energy transformation, but also strengthens energy supply security. The offshore wind power industry is ushering in a new era of large-scale and rapid development, while also posing challenges to the daily inspection, maintenance and operation of offshore wind power equipment.
This competition plans to use multiple unmanned boats for collaborative inspection and wireless communication. The unmanned boats will sail to the wind farm to receive fault signals from faulty equipment, thereby completing daily inspection and operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms, and achieving the goal of fast inspection with low economic costs and high operation and maintenance efficiency. The competition revolves around this theme and involves simulation competitions. Programming is carried out on the offshore wind power simulation platform (which needs to be downloaded from the competition website), and tasks such as maritime inspections and autonomous obstacle avoidance are completed by implementing specified actions within a specified time frame under different sea conditions.
- Competition format
Conduct virtual simulation navigation according to the requirements of the rules.
- Competition description
3.1 Participants
University group: graduate students, undergraduate students, and college students.
Each team members (including the captain) shall not exceed 5 people.
- Competition rules
The preliminary and final simulation competitions are different task scenarios. The preliminary form is to complete tasks within a limited time, and the final form adopts a point system, ranking based on the final score. The competition supports programming control in Python, C++, C #, and Java languages.
4.1 Preliminary rules
The preset scene range for the competition is 1,200 meters×800 meters. Within 4.5 minutes, the task is completed by patrolling the wind power piles, crossing multiple island waters, and reaching the finishing line as required. The schematic diagram (Figure 1) shows the preliminary scene. Please read the following rules carefully.
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of preliminary competition scene layout
Sea Area 1: Patrol of Wind Power Piles
Cross 3×3 wind power pile arrays, with a distance of 80 meters between adjacent wind power piles. It is known that the No. 2, No. 4, and No. 9 wind power piles are the ones that need to be inspected and operated for sending out fault signals. After receiving the fault signal, the three unmanned boats of the contestants set off from the starting point and sailed independently along the chosen route, completing a round trip of the inspection of No. 2, No. 4, and No. 9 wind power piles.
Sea Area 2: Passing through multi-island waters
The three unmanned boats of the contestants form a formation in the form of a long snake formation, using a self-selected route to sail from Sea Area 1 to the direction of the finishing line, avoiding islands and reefs in the sea according to the given map, and finally reaching the finishing line to complete the competition.
The competition requirements are as follows:
1）Contestants must complete the competition within 4.5 minutes, otherwise there will be no results.
2） The timing starts when the bow of the first unmanned boat passes the starting line, and stops when the stern of the last unmanned boat passes the finishing line.
3） When inspecting the array of wind power piles, it is necessary to conduct a round of inspection on No. 2, No. 4, and No. 9 wind power piles, otherwise it will be judged that the task has not been completed.
4）When passing through the wind power pile sea area, the distance between the unmanned boat and the wind power pile shall not be less than 1 meter. If the midpoint of the unmanned boat is not within this range, it is deemed that the task has not been completed.
5）The three unmanned boats of the contestants maintain the long snake formation throughout their passage through Sea Area 2. The relative distance d1 between the A unmanned boat and the B unmanned boat is required to be 30 meters, with an error of ± 5 meters allowed. The relative distance d2 between the B unmanned boat and the C unmanned boat is required to be 30 meters, with an error of ± 5 meters allowed. If the formation is not maintained according to the above requirements, it is determined that the task has not been completed, and the distance calculation is based on the center point (Figure 2).
5） The sea state has a wind speed of 0-3 levels and a flow velocity of 0-0.2 meters per second.
6） Each team has two competition opportunities, and completing the task on either occasion is sufficient.
Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the formation of the Long Snake Formation
3.2 Finals Rules
The preset scene range for the competition is 1,200 meters ×800 meters. It is considered completing a task to inspect the wind power piles, cross multi-island waters, and reach the destination as required within ten minutes. The final competition ranking is based on the scores, and if the scores are the same, the one with shorter time will win. The schematic diagram of the final scene is as follows (Figure 3). Please carefully read the following rules.
Figure 3. Schematic Diagram of Final Scenario Layout
Note: The technical parameters of the final scenario will be released after the preliminary competition, and the schematic diagram of the waterway area and the faulty wind power pile are not the final scenario.
Sea Area 1: Patrol Wind Power Piles
Cross 3×3 wind power pile arrays, with a distance of 80 meters between adjacent wind power piles. At 3×3 arrays of the competition site, the organizer randomly selects one wind power pile for each row to have a malfunction (a total of three) before the competition. After receiving the fault signal from the wind farm, the three unmanned boats inspect the wind power pile array. Participants choose their own route to find the three wind power piles with the malfunction. After a circle of inspection around the correct wind power pile, a text prompt appears on the screen indicating successful inspection.
Sea Area 2: Passing through multi-island waters
The three unmanned boats of the contestants pierced through the wind power pile array and continued to sail, maintaining the long snake formation through the narrow and multi-island sea area. They independently chose the route to sail, and finally reached the finishing line, which is considered as completion of the competition. During the voyage, it is necessary to avoid islands and reefs in the sea area (as shown in the schematic diagram, the waterway area is not a final scenario).
The scoring rules are as follows:
1）The timing starts when the bow of the first unmanned boat passes the starting line, and stops when the stern of the last unmanned boat passes the finishing line.
2）45 points will be given once the wind power pile inspection task is completed in Sea Area 1. This includes correctly identifying the three faulty wind power piles. 15 points will be given for each correctly found faulty wind power pile, otherwise no points will be given. During the completion of inspection tasks, if the distance between the unmanned boat and each wind power pile is less than 1 meter, 5 points will be deducted each time; If the wind power pile is hit, 10 points will be deducted each time, and the deduction will not exceed the total score of the section.
3）Maintaining the long snake formation in Sea Area 2 and successfully reaching the finishing line through the multi reef sea area will earn 45 points. The specific requirements for the standard long snake formation are that the relative distance d1 between A unmanned boat and B unmanned boat is 30 meters, with an error of ± 5 meters allowed; the relative distance d2 between B unmanned boat and C unmanned boat is 30 meters, with an error of ± 5 meters allowed. The distance calculation is based on the center point (Figure 4).
If three unmanned boats fail to maintain the long snake formation for more than 10 seconds while passing through Sea Area 2, 15 points will be deducted. If the unmanned boat collides with a reef or island, 5 points will be deducted each time, and the deduction will not exceed the total score of the voyage..
4）Completing the competition within the specified time will earn 10 points. The final time is 10 minutes, with 5 points deducted for every 1 minute overtime. If the total competition schedule exceeds 12 minutes, the competition will be automatically terminated.
5）The perfect score for the final is 100 points.
6）Each participating team has only one chance to compete.
Figure 4. Schematic diagram of the long snake formation
For details, please refer to "C Simulation category".
Note: The interpretation of these rules is vested in the organizing committee of the competition.