POLYTECHNIQUE MONTRÉAL
PolySTAR technical society takes third place at the North American RoboMaster competition

The RoboMaster component of the PolySTAR technical society aims to build seven different robots to participate in the RoboMaster robotics championship, organized by the Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) company and held every year in China. The Polytechnique team was able to enter its robots in the North American edition of the competition, which was held June 23-28 in Texas.

The PolySTAR team competed against representatives from New York University, University of Washington and University of California San Diego.

"We're very pleased with our performance in the competition!" says Ariane Boyczum-Auger, Director of PolySTAR and an undergraduate student in biomedical engineering. "We overcame challenges after delivery the robots to the United States and had to repair several breakages that occurred during transport. We're very proud of the work accomplished by our members throughout the year. Thanks to a lot of effort, time and energy, we had a successful first experience and we're all very excited for the coming year!"

Robots with various roles

During a RoboMaster match, each team has a base that it has to protect, while disabling the opponent's base by steering robots capable of launching projectiles (darts) at the targets arranged on the base. The first team to capture the opponent's base within a limited timeframe or the one that inflicts the most damage on the opposing team is the winner.

The PolySTAR team spent several months building four of the seven robots needed to enter the competition in China, as well as the three-on-three (3v3) competition in the United States. Several specifications had to be met for the design and construction of the robots, and team members had to pass an exam on the rules and regulations as well as produce an assessment video of the robot in order to qualify to take part in the competition.

The first robot developed by the team is Standard, three replicas of which will be built to travel to China. It has a four-wheeled chassis with shock-absorbing suspension and can roll quickly in all directions. It also has a turret that can aim in all directions to launch small 17-mm projectiles at high speeds to obtain strategic bonus points.

The second robot is Héros (hero), which projects 42-mm bullets to take out robots or the opponent's base faster than Standard's projectiles and thus earn more points when they hit their target.

The third robot sent to Texas was Sentinel (sentry), which is fully automatic and moves along a rail to protect the base. Part of the PolySTAR team developed a machine-learning program to be able to recognize and aim at targets on the opponent robots. This program is also used by the pilots of other robots to help them hit their targets.

The latest robot, which is only required for the competition in China, was started by a fourth-year integrator project team within PolySTAR in 2021-2022. It consists of an industrial-sized drone (about 1 x 1 metres) that also has a turret. It can be called up during the match to help with air reconnaissance or to start disabling the opponent's base.

PolySTAR, whose mission is to familiarize students at Polytechnique Montréal and elsewhere with the field of robotics, has about 60 active members from all Polytechnique engineering departments. Seven people took part in the competition in Texas.

PolySTAR's objectives for the RoboMaster component for next year are first to improve the three robots needed for the U.S. competition in anticipation of future participation, and second, to continue to develop the Drone robot, which will be indispensable for performing well at the competition in China, particularly because of its ability to carry projectiles while providing the team with an aerial view.

Congratulations to the student members of PolySTAR!

Learn more

• PolySTAR website (in French)
• RoboMaster competition website