rec.autos.simulators

rars-digest 19950730

Dave Gym

rars-digest 19950730

by Dave Gym » Tue, 01 Aug 1995 04:00:00

Robot Auto Racing Simulation (RARS) Mailing List Digest 19950730

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
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Contents

  WinRARS 06b is on the ftp site
  jly23bot.zip
  Race Report
  comp.progamming.contests

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date sent:        Fri, 21 Jul 95 11:33:30 PDT
From:             Muir Lee Harding <l...@autodesk.com>
Subject:          WinRARS 06b is on the ftp site
To:               rars-l...@netcom.com

Hello All,

I have updated winrars with the RARS 63b code fixes, and uploaded it to
ftp.best.com\pub\ijs\uploads. Included are some minor bug fixes, the
addition of drag-and-drop driver loading (pretty cool!), and the 'options'
menu now includes and couple of functional items (I've 'greyed out' what
isn't implemented yet).

I have also uploaded new versions of the standard driver dlls. These
versions don't use the static init_flag, so they can be run multiple times
in one session. WappuCar and Indretti have been left out due to thier
size.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:             "Mitchell E. Timin" <m...@cac.psu.edu>
Subject:          jly23bot.zip
To:               ji...@magdanoz.mcafee.com (Jivko Koltchev),
rars-l...@netcom.com (Rars- List)
Date sent:        Mon, 24 Jul 1995 17:22:20 -0400 (EDT)

Hello,

The file jly23bot.zip, now in uploads, should be placed in the
robots subdirectory.  It has the robots from yesterdays races, plus
the CARZ.CPP file and the race report.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:             "Mitchell E. Timin" <m...@cac.psu.edu>
Subject:          Race Report
To:               rars-l...@netcom.com (Rars- List)
Date sent:        Mon, 24 Jul 1995 17:14:47 -0400 (EDT)

RARS Bi-weekly Race Report
& News About Upcoming Races
July 24, 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
July 23 Competitors
July 23 Race Commentary
July 23 Race Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Expert Class Point standings
Randy Saint         37 pts         (U.S.A.)       Ramdu
Jussi Pajala        25 pts         (Finland)      WappuCar & Bubble
Safai Ma            22 pts         (Canada)       Burns
Mike Inman          20 pts         (U.S.A.)       Indretti
Jeremy Weatherford  12 pts         (U.S.A.)       JXBot
Bill Benedict       10 pts         (U.S.A.)       Rusty
Tim Battersby       10 pts         (Canada)       Emily
Nicole Greiber       7 pts         (Germany)      Marvin
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:
Oscar Gustafsson    22 pts         (Sweden)       OscCar2
Tristrom Cooke      13 pt          (Australia)    Bingo1
Grant Reeve         11 pts         (New Zealand)  Piranha
Carl Burke           8 pts         (U.S.A.)       Blender2
Patrick Tierney      5 pts         (Canada)       Heath2
Thomas Rooney        2 pts         (U.S.A.)       goCART
Daniel Ash        (not yet raced)  (U.S.A.)       Sarah
Robert Skupinski  (not yet raced)  (U.S.A.)       Carski
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Next Four RARS Race Meets

August 6, and again on 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.

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 17:
To Be Announced.....
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Competitors, July 23, Novice Class:
Daniel Ash          U.S.A.       Sarah
Robert Skupinski    U.S.A.       Carski
(no novice races were run due to insufficient entries)

Competitors, July 23, Expert Class:
Safai Ma            Canada         Burns
Jussi Pajala        Finland        Bubble
Randy Saint         U.S.A.         Ramdu
Mike Inman          U.S.A.         Indretti
Nicole Greiber      Germany        Marvin
Jeremy Weatherford  U.S.A.         JXBot3
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Race Commentary by M. Timin

The expert races were dominated by Randy Saint's Ramdu robot.  When
luck gave him a favored starting position he could not be caught.
When he didn't start in front he was usually able to catch and pass
the slower cars without serious damage.  In fact Ramdu took first
place in 5 out of the 6 races.

There was a lot of passing and re-passing during all of the races,
and many duels for a spot near the front.  These mostly did not
involve Ramdu, who was usually well out in front.  In one race,
however, Burns was ahead with Ramdu on his tail.  Three times Ramdu
dove for the inside at the start of the curve, momentarily gaining
the lead, but each time Ramdu would go wide leaving the turn and
Burns would re-pass on the inside.  Ramdu persisted however, and
eventually wrested the lead from Burns.

Most of the cars were able to handle the traffic well enough that raw
speed was the dominant factor.  Here are the speed capabilities of all of
today's entrants, as measured for 7 laps on an empty track:
Ramdu  -  75.25
Burns  -  72.56
Bubble  -  72.00
Indretti  -  70.41
JXBot3  -  70.3
Sarah  -  70.12  (novice, did not compete)
Marvin  -  69.84
Carski  -  66.71  (novice, did not compete)

Ramdu was surpisingly faster than the others.  Observing the cars it
was clear that Ramdu's technique was unique.  He appears to keep to
the extreme outside on the straights, then throw the car into a wild
skid when nearing the curve, diving toward the inner rail.  He would stay
close to the inner rail for a large part of the curve, but then drift to
the outside when nearing the straight.

The type 0 surface that we use for the oval track is supposed to
simulate a loose surface.  It is interesting to note that real drivers who
compete on loose surfaces use a similar driving technique.

Mostly the drivers did about as one would expect after observing the
above speed capabilities.  There were two exceptions, however.
Bubble was a bit timid in traffic, and would often lose speed when
near other cars.  This led him to do less well than his 72 mph
capability would indicate.  JXBot3 on the other hand seemed to thrive in
the traffic, and managed a third place overall although his speed was
fifth among the competing experts.

There were no novice races held, due to a lack of competitors.  This
was probably due to the re-submission requirement that was recently
announced.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The July 23 Results:

There were six expert races on the oval2 track.  All races were ten
laps.  The output files were lost for the first two races, due to
human and computer screw-ups.  However, two IRC observers and
myself agreed that these were the results of the first two races:

1    Ramdu   10 pts
2 Indretti    6 pts
3   JXBot3    4 pts
4   Bubble    3 pts
5    Burns    2 pts
6   Marvin    1 pts

1    Ramdu   10 pts
2    Burns    6 pts
3   Bubble    4 pts
4   Marvin    3 pts
5 Indretti    2 pts
6   JXBot3    1 pts

We do have the computer output for the last four races:

6 cars for 10 laps.  The track was oval2.trk.  The drivers were:
Marvin, Bubble, Ramdu, Burns, JXBot3, and Indretti.

The initial RVG seed was 59447.

results of race 1:  (note: actually race 4)
starting positions:
JXBot3, Ramdu, Indretti, Marvin, Bubble, and Burns.

1    Ramdu  avg spd 74.67    10 laps   1766 damage  136 fuel   10 pts
accum 2    Burns  avg spd 71.64    10 laps   8953 damage  140 fuel    6
pts accum 3   JXBot3  avg spd 69.65     9 laps   9592 damage  140 fuel
4 pts accum 4   Bubble  avg spd 69.28     9 laps   4024 damage  139 fuel
3 pts accum 5 Indretti  avg spd 69.13     9 laps   8327 damage  137
fuel    2 pts accum 6   Marvin  avg spd 68.99     9 laps   3250 damage
139 fuel    1 pts accum

results of race 2:
starting positions:
Burns, Bubble, Marvin, Indretti, Ramdu, and JXBot3.

1    Ramdu  avg spd 70.88    10 laps   9500 damage  136 fuel   20 pts
accum 2   JXBot3  avg spd 69.57    10 laps  10251 damage  139 fuel   10
pts accum 3   Marvin  avg spd 68.84     9 laps   7756 damage  139 fuel
5 pts accum 4 Indretti  avg spd 67.92     9 laps   5124 damage  137 fuel
5 pts accum 5    Burns  avg spd 67.65     9 laps  22266 damage  140
fuel    8 pts accum 6   Bubble  avg spd 67.44     9 laps   6113 damage
139 fuel    4 pts accum

results of race 3:
starting positions:
Ramdu, Marvin, Indretti, JXBot3, Bubble, and Burns.

1    Burns  avg spd 72.56    10 laps      0 damage  140 fuel   18 pts
accum 2   Bubble  avg spd 71.81    10 laps    527 damage  139 fuel   10
pts accum 3 Indretti  avg spd 70        9 laps   3044 damage  137 fuel
9 pts accum 4    Ramdu  avg spd 69.74     9 laps  18254 damage  136 fuel
23 pts accum 5   JXBot3  avg spd 69.38     9 laps  27017 damage  140
fuel   12 pts accum 6   Marvin  avg spd 69.2      9 laps   1393 damage
139 fuel    6 pts accum

results of race 4:
starting positions:
Burns, Bubble, JXBot3, Indretti, Marvin, and Ramdu.

1    Ramdu  avg spd 73.47    10 laps   4562 damage  135 fuel   33 pts
accum 2   Marvin  avg spd 67.29    10 laps   4944 damage  139 fuel   12
pts accum 3   JXBot3  avg spd 66.39     9 laps  29976 damage  139 fuel
16 pts accum 4 Indretti  avg spd 65.98     9 laps   9458 damage  136 fuel
12 pts accum 5    Burns  avg spd 65.84     9 laps  29795 damage  140
fuel   20 pts accum 6   Bubble  avg spd 66.02     9 laps   7147 damage
139 fuel   11 pts accum

Adding the points for the first two races, we get these point totals:

season pts
1    Ramdu    53 pts       10
2    Burns    28 pts        6
3   JXBot3    21 pts        4
4 Indretti    20 pts        3
5   Bubble    19 pts        2
6   Marvin    16 pts        1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:             "Mitchell E. Timin" <m...@cac.psu.edu>
Subject:          comp.progamming.contests
To:               rars-l...@netcom.com (Rars- List)
Date sent:        Wed, 26 Jul 1995 17:44:49 -0400 (EDT)

comp.programming.contests exists now, and I put our race report there. It
looks like a lot of people are reading it, because I am getting maybe 20
requests per day for RARS info from it.

m
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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/
/*  */


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