Scoring

FAA RULES AND NAVIGATION (PRIOR TO AND DAY OF COMPETITION) - 20 POINTS

Teams will be assessed on their knowledge of FAA regulations and their ability to navigate the drone through a variety of tasks. These will include:

Points and Task

• 4 Points:  FAA knowledge test (answering FAA regulation question in the "pit" area right before flight)
• 4 Points: Fly to 3 m, hover, and return to ground within target area
• 4 Points: Fly to 3 m, move horizontally to target and return to launch area
• 8 Points: Fly through an obstacle and return safely to launch site
• -3 Points: Drone crash that requires human assistance to correct (applied only once)
   

FAA knowledge will be tested both by the submission of the FAA TRUST Certificates and a knowledge test administers in the “pit” area right before each team’s flight time. Teams will be asked four questions and given 1 point for each correct answer. These questions will be derived from the FAA’s Rules for Recreational Flyers (see https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_fliers/). 

Multiple attempts can be made to successfully complete each navigation tasks, but each task can only be completed once. A judge will notify a team when a task is successfully completed.

A “crash” is any situation, e.g. caught in arena net, flipped drone, broken propeller, that requires human assistance to return drone into a state where it can fly again. Rough landings in arena space that do not require human intervention to regain controlled flight do not count as a crash. Repeated crashes may count against a team if controlled flight is regained in between crashes.

RECONNAISSANCE: OBSERVATIONS AND MEASUREMENTS (DAY OF COMPETITION) - 60 POINTS

Teams will be assessed on the number of successful reconnaissance tasks that are completed within the allotted time. Multiple tasks can be completed during any individual flight. These include:

Points and Task

• 5 Points: Successful communication from sensor microcontroller to base
• 5 Points: Successful demonstration of three operating sensors (reporting valid values to the ground control station)
• 10 Points: Measure Seismic movement
• 10 Points: Measure heights/distances of target objects using Lidar sensor
• 20 Points: Determine platform color using color spectrometer

All measurements must be reported on the “Mission Reconnaissance” form and turned in within the allotted time after flight time. Judges may award partial credit for measurements that are close to correct values.

If a drone crashes and becomes inoperable, teams may elect to cancel the rest of their flight time and “walk” the drone around the competition arena to make their measurements for half credit. All measurements must still be sent to the operator in the base area via Bluetooth. Note that not all measurements are eligible for “walked” drone credit.
 

MISSION PLANNING (SUBMITTED PRIOR TO COMPETITION DAY) - 20 POINTS

This is a written component of the competition (submitted by 5pm April 1, 2024). Points would be awarded in several areas:

• Identifying drone mission objectives (what are reasonable expectations for the information that a drone could provide).
• Technical challenges in achieving these objectives.
• Assessment of current technology in meeting these challenges.

Titan Navigation, Communication, and Propulsion

• High Score: 6 Points
  • Thorough assessment of propulsion options and control/navigation systems; feasibility on Mars surface.
• Medium Score: 4 Points
  • Most areas addressed; some gaps
• Low Score: 2 Points
  • Some areas addressed but moderate gaps in technologies assessed
    ​

• High Score: 6 Points
  • Thorough assessment of possible sensor array and how it may be useful on the Mars surface
• Medium Score: 4 Points
  • Most areas addressed; some gaps
• Low Score: 2 Points
  • Some areas addressed but moderate gaps in technologies assessed

• High Score: 4 Points
  • Effective overall assessment of using UAV systems as part of the Mars mission
• Medium Score: 3 Points
  • Some overall assessment of UAV feasibility; gaps in coverage
• Low Score: 2 Points
  • Lack of overall assessment of UAV feasibility on Mars surface
     

Sources and Bibliography

• High Score: 4 Points
  • At least 10 sources, used appropriately in text, correctly formatted bibliography
• Medium Scorre: 3 Points
  • At least 7 sources, mostly used appropriately in text, bibliography has some formatting mistakes
• Low Score: 2 Points
• At least 4 sources, only some used appropriately in text, bibliography incomplete or substantial formatting issues