rec.autos.simulators

rars-digest 19950813

Dave Gym

rars-digest 19950813

by Dave Gym » Tue, 15 Aug 1995 04:00:00

Robot Auto Racing Simulation (RARS) Mailing List Digest 19950813

The rars-digest is a compilation of choice cuts from the RARS mailing list.
It's published once a week to comp.ai.games, rec.autos.simulators, and to
individual subscribers. Send mail to dgy...@gdcarc.co.uk with a subject of
'subscribe rars-digest' to subscribe, or 'unsubscribe rars-digest' to
unsubscribe.

Contents

  August 6 Race Report
  stock car races
  Practice lap bug
  RARS Architectural Review Commitee
  New track - Mont Tremblant (Canada)
  ARC (Architecture Review Commitee)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:             "Mitchell E. Timin" <m...@cac.psu.edu>
Subject:          August 6 Race Report
To:               rars-l...@netcom.com (Rars- List)
Date sent:        Mon, 7 Aug 1995 20:21:24 -0400 (EDT)

RARS Bi-weekly Race Report
& News About Upcoming Races
August 7, 1995

RARS is the Robot Auto Racing Simulation, a competition for
programmers and an on-going challenge for practicioners of Artificial
Intelligence and real-time adaptive optimal control.  It consists of
a simulation of the physics of cars racing on a track, a graphic
display of the race, and a separate control program (robot "driver")
for each car.  All RARS software and activities are free and open to
the public.  For more information e-mail to m...@cac.psu.edu.

Contents

Authors Point Standings
Upcoming Races
August 6 Competitors
August 6 Race Commentary
August 6 Race Report
solo speeds
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Expert Class Point standings
Randy Saint         39 pts         (U.S.A.)       Ramdu
Jussi Pajala        31 pts         (Finland)      WappuCar & Bubble
Safai Ma            25 pts         (Canada)       Burns
Mike Inman          20 pts         (U.S.A.)       Indretti
Jeremy Weatherford  13 pts         (U.S.A.)       JXBot
Nicole Greiber      11 pts         (Germany)      Marvin
Bill Benedict       10 pts         (U.S.A.)       Rusty
Tim Battersby       10 pts         (Canada)       Emily
Oscar Gustafsson    10 pts         (Sweden)       OscCar2
Muir Lee Harding     6 pts         (U.S.A.)       racer_X
George Doster        2 pts         (U.S.A.)       JayMan1
Nathaniel Thurston   2 pts         (U.S.A.)       Phase

Novice Class Points:
Tristrom Cooke      13 pt          (Australia)    Bingo1
Grant Reeve         11 pts         (New Zealand)  Piranha
Carl Burke           8 pts         (U.S.A.)       Blender2
Tony Cabe            6 pts         (U.S.A.)       Bacon
Patrick Tierney      5 pts         (Canada)       Heath2
Daniel Ash           4 pts         (U.S.A.)       Sarah
Robert Skupinski     3 pts         (U.S.A.)       Carski
Thomas Rooney        2 pts         (U.S.A.)       goCART
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Next Four RARS Race Meets

August 20:
No. of races: 6 novice and 6 expert
Track: oval2
Laps: 10 each race
Software version:   0.63b (or latest variant of 0.60)
Surface type:       0
no practice on race day, practice at home all you want!
The default starting order system will be used, i.e. alternating
random and reversed.

September 3:
No. of races        2 novice and 2 expert
Tracks:             S1.TRK and S2.TRK, one race on each
Laps: 80 each race
Software version:   0.63b (or latest variant of 0.60)
Surface Type:       1
no practice, random starting order.

September 17 and October 1:
Stock Car Races!
All entries will be variations of the file STOCKER.CPP which
will be on the ftp site within 24 hrs.  The only permissible
variations are changes to the value of any numbers appearing in
the source file, both integers and floating point.  The driver is
essentially the Arelys robot with the passing code from JackBot.
(Carski in the Aug. 6 race was like that.)  The present set of
experts will continue as the expert class.
No. of races: 4 novice and 4 expert
Track:  V03.TRK and TIMIN.TRK, 2 races each
Laps: 25 each race
Software version:   0.63b (or latest variant of 0.60)
Surface type:       0
default starting order system.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Competitors, August 6, Novice Class:
Daniel Ash          U.S.A.       Sarah
Oscar Gustavsson    Sweden       OscCar2
Robert Skupinski    U.S.A.       Carski
Tony Cabe           U.S.A.       Bacon

Competitors, August 6, Expert Class:
Safai Ma            Canada         Burns
Jussi Pajala        Finland        WappuCar
Randy Saint         U.S.A.         Ramdu
Mike Inman          U.S.A.         Indretti
Nicole Greiber      Germany        Marvin
Jeremy Weatherford  U.S.A.         JXBot3
Oscar Gustavsson    Sweden         OscCar2   (made expert today)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Race Commentary by M. Timin

First Novice Race, on S1

There was Carski, Sarah, Bacon and OscCar2 starting in the single
row.  Bacon took the lead entering the third turn and from then on
was never seriously challenged; he drove more like an expert than a
novice.  During the long race he repeatedly passed all of the other
cars, seemingly without difficulty.  The more interesting race was
for 2nd place, with OscCar2 hot on Sarah's heels during most of the
race.  OscCar couldn't pass, but Sarah couldn't pull away.  Sarah
turned out to be a gas guzzler, however.  She ran out on lap 39,
allowing OscCar to pass during refueling.  OscCar stayed ahead for
several laps, but Sarah regained second place while OscCar refueled.
It looked like Sarah would keep the second spot, but she again ran
out of fuel halfway around the last lap!  This was very unusual,
since the other drivers only need one refuel for 80 laps on S1.

Second Novice Race, on S2

The race started off just like the previous race.  After several laps
Bacon was way out in front while OscCar nipped Sarah's heels.  This
time however, OscCar's efforts paid off.  After a dozen laps of trying
he succeded in passing her.  He remained in 2nd place till near the
end of the race, when the unexpected happened.  After lap 77 Bacon went
out with too much damage!  OscCar2 and Sarah finished the race, in
that order, leaving Bacon in third.  Carski only lasted 4 laps, since
once each lap he was biting the dirt on a particular turn.  This was
tough luck for Bacon, since it left OscCar2 as the point leader for
the novice class, and the only one to join the experts.  Undoubtedly,
Bacon's damage was the result of many small bumps sustained while
repeatedly passing the slower drivers.

First Expert Race, on S1

In the front row it's WappuCar Indretti and JXBot3.  In the second row
we have Ramdu, OscCar, Burns and Marvin.  Wappucar and Indretti
tangle at the start giving JXBot the jump on everyone else.
(Indretti is an older design and doesn't go straight at the start;
this caused the tangle.)  Ramdu, although starting in the second row, had
the spot with no one in front.  This lets him slip by into second
place.  Marvin started right behind JXbot and this enabled him to get
into 3rd place as they came out of the s-curve after the start,
followed by WappuCar in 4th.  JX hangs onto the lead with Ramdu
biting his heels.  Marvin and Wappucar continue dueling for 3rd as
the pack traverses the upper straightaway.  Marvin brakes too much
for the sharp right, forcing WappuCar also to slow, and the rest of
the pack almost catches them.  WappuCar pulls ahead of Marvin into
3rd as they head for the upper left of the screen.  JXBot grimly
hangs onto his lead with Ramdu dogging him agressively as the
progress around the first lap.  WappuCar is back about 200 feet.
Marvin is falling farther back, with Burns threatening to pass him.
Ramdu cannot pass JXBot, who hugs the inside rail.  Wappucar gains on
them.  As the begin the 3rd lap those 3 have a half mile lead on the
rest of the pack, still lead by marvin.  OscCar and Burns are now
dueling for the 5th spot.  In the third lap OscCar slips by Burns who
was passing Marvin.  Marvin seemed confused by this and loses speed,
falling to last place.  As the leaders finish their third lap its
JXBot3, Ramdu, WappuCar, OscCar2, Burns, Indretti and Marvin.

On the 230 degree right hairpin OscCar goes a little wide.  Burns
hugs the inside and passes him as they enter the straight.  The lead
trio stay close together, widening their lead over the rest of the
field.  Ramdu finally passes JXBot as they go into the last curve of
the 4th lap.  One wonders about the damage suffered by Ramdu in his
many agressive passing attempts.  It is now WappuCar trying to pass
JXBot for 2nd.  This allows Ramdu to widen his lead.  By the sixth
lap the field is well separated except for WappuCar trying carefully
to pass JXBot, and Marvin staying close behind Indretti.

Ramdu laps Marvin and Indretti easily on lap 9.  By lap 11 he passes
Oscar.  On lap 12 JXBot and WappuCar have to lap Marvin and Indretti.
In the confusion WappuCar pulls ahead of JXBot and Marvin passes
Indretti.  It's now Ramdu, Wappucar, JXBot3, Burns, OscCar2, Marvin
and Indretti.  They stay this way for may laps.  Now the faster
drivers must repeatedly pass the slower ones.  Ramdu has averaged a
blistering 76.28 mph as he completes lap 22, and has lapped all
except the 2nd and third place cars.  On his 23rd lap he passes
JXBot3, giving him a bump that puts JX out of the race!  We wonder
how damaged is Ramdu, and can he complete the 80 laps?

The order stays at Ramdu, WappuCar, Burns, OscCar2, Marvin, Indretti
and JXBot3 until lap 31.  Ramdu bumps Burns several times attempting
to lap him, and in the upper left hand corner his car finally can't
take any more, and he parks it in the grass.  WappuCar soon has the
lead, followed by Burns and OscCar2.  These are separated by a lap or
more.  All of the passing and bumping continues to take its toll.
The next go go out is Burns, who leaves his car close to that of
JXBot3.  Wappucar, on his 35th lap, attempting to pass OscCar2, also
goes over the damage limit, leaving only Marvin and OscCar contending
for the lead.  (Indretti went out after completing 29 laps.)
WappuCar has 3rd place sewn up by having completed 34 laps.  OscCar2
has a one lap lead on Marvin, so 2nd place should be in that order if
they can both finish.  Lapping is infrequent now, since Marvin and
OscCar2 are not so different in speed.  They both complete the 80
laps, and so the finishing order is OscCar2, Marvin, WappuCar, Burns,
Ramdu, Indretti and JXBot3.

Second Expert Race, on S2

(This will be brief)  Although Ramdu took the lead after the first
lap, WappuCar proved to be the faster driver and was able to pass
Ramdu after several laps.  Wappucar then stayed in the lead for most
of the race.  During this period everyone else dropped out save for
Marvin and OscCar3.  WappuCar was unable to lap OscCar and stayed
right on his tail for many laps.  When they both were about to lap
Marvin, OscCar got by and WappuCar didn't!  That left WappuCar trying
to pass Marvin while OscCar made up the lap he was down, eventually
catching up to WappuCar, who was limited to Marvin's speed by his
inability to pass.  The three of them stayed together for several
laps, but finally OscCar3 was able to pass both in a sudden maneuver!
This was near the end of the race.  WappuCar was never able to pass
Marvin, and so it ended OscCar3, WappuCar, Marvin, Burns, JXBot3,
Ramdu, Indretti.

The damage that the cars accumulate is not due only to bumping.  The
driver's behaviour is altered by collisions and near-misses, throwing
the car into a different trajectory.  This often causes the car to
leave the track and suffer damage.  Some of the drivers also damage
themselves by eating dirt, even when they are alone. (see solo results)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The August 6 Results:

4 cars for 80 laps.  The track was s1.trk.  The drivers were:
Carski, OscCar2, Sarah, and Bacon.
The initial RVG seed was 24803.
starting positions:
Bacon, Sarah, Carski, and OscCar2.

1    Bacon  avg spd 73.43    85 laps  16674 damage   30 fuel   10 pts
2  OscCar2  avg spd 68.83    80 laps   9303 damage   52 fuel    6 pts
3    Sarah  avg spd 68.92    79 laps  21372 damage  147 fuel    4 pts
4   Carski  avg spd 67.28    78 laps   6174 damage   75 fuel    3 pts

4 cars for 80 laps.  The track was s2.trk.  The drivers were:
Carski, OscCar2, Sarah, and Bacon.
The initial RVG seed was 10171.
starting positions:
OscCar2, Bacon, Carski, and Sarah.

1  OscCar2  avg spd 61.75    80 laps   7869 damage   12 fuel   10 pts
2    Sarah  avg spd 61.47    80 laps  10289 damage  142 fuel    6 pts
3    Bacon  avg spd 65.1     77 laps  30193 damage   25 fuel    4 pts
4   Carski  avg spd 57.53     4 laps  30321 damage  132 fuel    3 pts

7 cars for 80 laps.  The track was s1.trk.  The drivers were:
Indretti, OscCar2, Marvin, Burns, Ramdu, JXBot3, and WappuCar.
The initial RVG seed was 62138.
starting positions:
Marvin, Burns, OscCar2, Ramdu, JXBot3, Indretti, and WappuCar.

1  OscCar2  avg spd 68.9     82 laps  18407 damage   44 fuel   10 pts
2   Marvin  avg spd 66.89    80 laps  22655 damage   79 fuel    6 pts
3 WappuCar  avg spd 73.38    34 laps  30005 damage   52 fuel    4 pts
4    Burns  avg spd 71.27    32 laps  30336 damage   48 fuel    3 pts
5    Ramdu  avg spd 76.47    30 laps  30621 damage   55 fuel    2 pts
6 Indretti  avg spd 66.88    29 laps  30048 damage   62 fuel    1 pts
7   JXBot3  avg spd 72.89    21 laps  30191 damage   83 fuel    0 pts

7 cars for 80 laps.  The track was s2.trk.  The drivers were:
Indretti, OscCar2, Marvin, Burns, Ramdu, JXBot3, and WappuCar.
The initial RVG seed was 9447.
starting positions:
JXBot3, OscCar2, Indretti, Ramdu, WappuCar, Marvin, and Burns.

1  OscCar2  avg spd 61.64    80 laps  26808 damage   10 fuel   10 pts
2 WappuCar  avg spd 61.22    80 laps  26359 damage   22 fuel    6 pts
3   Marvin  avg spd 58.93    77 laps  18046 damage   62 fuel    4 pts
4    Burns  avg spd 64.96    18 laps  30405 damage   88 fuel    3 pts
5   JXBot3  avg spd 64.43    15 laps  30191 damage  101 fuel    2 pts
6    Ramdu  avg spd 66.24     9 laps  30261 damage  116 fuel    1 pts
7 Indretti  avg spd 59.84     6 laps  30026 damage  124 fuel    0 pts

Novice Points:
today     season pts
1   OscCar2   16 pts       10
2   Bacon     14 pts        6
3   Sarah     10 pts        4
4   Carski     6 pts        3

Expert Points:
1   OscCar2   20 pts       10
2  WappuCar   10 pts        6
3   Marvin    10 pts        4
4    Burns     6 pts        3
5    Ramdu     3 pts        2
6   JXBot3     2 pts        1
7  Indretti    1 pt         0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
7 laps solo on S1:
Ramdu  avg spd 77.02     7 laps   2964 damage  128 fuel
WappuCar  avg spd 75.98     7 laps      0 damage  131 fuel
Bacon  avg spd 73.85     7 laps      0 damage  127 fuel
JXBot3  avg spd 73.28     7 laps      0 damage  128 fuel
Burns  avg spd 71.56     7 laps      0 damage  127 fuel
OscCar2  avg spd 69.06     7 laps      0 damage  127 fuel
Sarah  avg spd 68.92     7 laps      0 damage  123 fuel
Carski  avg spd 67.42     7 laps      0 damage  129 fuel
Marvin  avg spd 67.09     7 laps      0 damage  130 fuel
Indretti  avg spd 67.04     7 laps      0 damage  129 fuel

7 laps solo on S2:
WappuCar  avg spd 71.91     7 laps      0 damage  128 fuel
Ramdu  avg spd 67.42     7 laps      0 damage  124 fuel
Burns  avg spd 65.62     7 laps      0 damage  126 fuel
Bacon  avg spd 65.23     7 laps      0 damage  124 fuel
JXBot3  avg spd 65.21     7 laps  10412 damage  127 fuel
OscCar2  avg spd 61.77     7 laps      0 damage  124 fuel
Sarah  avg spd 61.61     7 laps      0 damage  122 fuel
Indretti  avg spd 59.6      7 laps  29883 damage  124 fuel
Marvin  avg spd 59.02     7 laps      0 damage  127 fuel
Carski  avg spd 57.71     4 laps  30243 damage  132 fuel
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:             "Mitchell E. Timin" <m...@cac.psu.edu>
Subject:          stock car races
To:               rars-l...@netcom.com (Rars- List)
Date sent:        Tue, 8 Aug 1995 18:52:15 -0400 (EDT)

Hello All,

Maybe you noticed in the race report that we are going to have stock car
races.  I put on the ftp site, and also sent to the list, the file
STOCKER.CPP.  To enter the stock car races, start with the file STOCKER.CPP
and change the name of the function and the driver name from Stocker to
your "handle".  Then delete the first line, with the filename STOCKER.CPP,
and put in your "handle.cpp", and the other information about yourself, i.e.
your name and e-mail address, and which races to enter, and whether you want
your source confidential.  After that, you may alter the file by changing
the value of any numbers that appear anywhere in the file.  You may change
any integer or floating point value to whatever you please.  You may not
change anything else!  You many not remove any numbers nor insert any numbers.
(You may not say "this term has an implied coefficient of 1, and I will change
it to an actual coefficient of 1.19" for example.)

That's all there is to it, I hope!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date sent:        Wed, 9 Aug 95 09:36:47 MDT
From:             r...@bigb.stortek.com (Rob Creager x2365)
To:               rars-l...@netcom.com
Subject:          Practice lap bug

Hello RARS world,

There is a bug in 0.63b (in carz.cpp) which limits the number of practice
laps run to the number of race laps specified + 10.  This can be found
on/about line 1153 of carz.cpp.  The line currently reads

if(pcar[order[0]]->where_is_it(&dum1, &dum2) >= lap_count + 10)

but it should read

if(pcar[order[0]]->where_is_it(&dum1, &dum2) >=
(stage == PRACTICE ? practice : lap_count) + 10)

Thank you for your time,

BTW:  Since I a voluntered to maintain a bug list, if anyone has any
bugs/annomalies to report, please feel free to send away to me.
The bug list starts here, and will be mailed out when bugs are found
and verified.  If you do have an undocumented feature to report, and
can't find the actual source that's in error, please specify the
version used, any modifications you've made, the car which causes
the problem (unless it can be seen with any car), and as detailed
description as possible.  Of course the bug listed here (above or
below) is an exemplary model of how the bug report should be sent... ;-)

Bug list

Bug #1
--------------------
Version:       0.63b
Version Fixed: N/A
Keywords:      practice laps
Date:          8/9/95
Description:   The number of practice laps run is actually the number of race
laps specified + 10.
Fix Desc:      on/about line 1153 of carz.cpp.  The line currently reads

if(pcar[order[0]]->where_is_it(&dum1, &dum2) >= lap_count + 10)

but it should read

if(pcar[order[0]]->where_is_it(&dum1, &dum2) >=
(stage == PRACTICE ? practice : lap_count) + 10)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:             "Mitchell E. Timin" <m...@cac.psu.edu>
Subject:          RARS Architectural Review Commitee
To:               rars-l...@netcom.com (Rars- List)
Date sent:        Wed, 9 Aug 1995 14:31:58 -0400 (EDT)

Hello All,

I would like to find five people to join me in forming the RARS
Architecture Review Board or some such pompous name.  The six of us
could begin by choosing a name we all like.

The principal purpose of the group would be to decide which new
software versions should be released.  When individuals propose
changes this group would study them and decide if the changes
should go into the next RARS release.

For example, Dan Ash has submitted some revisions that allow all cars
to finish the race, instead of just the two leaders.  Reviewing this
software and deciding whether to go that way could be our second task.
We not only need to determine if the software works, but also are the
changes desirable, when many aspects are considered.

I want five people who are quite knowledgeable about software, and also
into RARS rather seriously, including being robot authors.  It is not
essential that they have submitted robots for competition, although they
should have done something on their own with a RARS 'bot.

Let me know, whoever wants to volunteer for this.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date sent:        Tue, 8 Aug 1995 12:14:50 -0400
From:             ao...@freenet.carleton.ca (Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff)
To:               rars-l...@netcom.com
Subject:          New track - Mont Tremblant (Canada)
Send reply to:    ao...@freenet.carleton.ca

The files TREMBLNT.TXT and TREMBLNT.TRK have been placed in the upload
directory.  The TXT file contains a short description as follows:

This describes TREMBLNT.TRK,
by Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff <ao...@freenet.carleton.ca>,
August 8, 1995.

The track file is nearly to scale and the length is accurate.
The circuit at MONT-TREMBLANT, near St.Jovite north of Montreal, was built
in 1965 and was the home of the Canadian Grand Prix before the event was
moved to Mosport near Toronto, and later to Montreal.  Because of its
challenging layout with steep elevation changes, MONT-TREMBLANT has been
referred to as a "mini-Nurburgring".

MONT-TREMBLANT is still in use and is the Canadian home to the Jim Russell
Racing School.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:             "Mitchell E. Timin" <m...@cac.psu.edu>
Subject:          ARC (Architecture Review Commitee)
To:               rars-l...@netcom.com (Rars- List)
Date sent:        Fri, 11 Aug 1995 07:42:36 -0400 (EDT)

These are the members of our new Architecture Review Commitee:

Muir Lee Harding <l...@autodesk.com>
r...@bigb.stortek.com (Rob Creager x2365)
bc...@usa.pipeline.com (Tony Cabe)
JXi...@aol.com <Jeremy Weatherford>
Daniel Ash <d...@hpbs669.boi.hp.com>
Mitchell Timin <m...@cac.psu.edu>

The name of the commitee is still subject to revision.  Is this a good
name or is there a suggestion?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rars-digest is compiled and published by (Dave `Gizmo' Gymer)
                  dgy...@gdcarc.co.uk  http://www.mal.com/~dgymer

# Dave "Gizmo" Gymer  dgy...@gdcarc.co.uk  http://www.mal.com/~dgymer/
/* Plug and Play? More like Plug and Pray! */


rec.autos.simulators is a usenet newsgroup formed in December, 1993. As this group was always unmoderated there may be some spam or off topic articles included. Some links do point back to racesimcentral.net as we could not validate the original address. Please report any pages that you believe warrant deletion from this archive (include the link in your email). RaceSimCentral.net is in no way responsible and does not endorse any of the content herein.