Competition System

A comprehensive laser tag tournament system designed for autonomous robot competitions. This system provides real-time control, game management, IR-based hit detection, and live video streaming capabilities.

System Overview

The Competition System consists of three primary components:

1. Raspberry Pi (Robot) - Onboard control system running motor control, IR weapon/sensor systems, camera streaming, and game state management
2. Laptop (Operator Station) - Remote control interface with keyboard input, video feed display, and game status monitoring
3. Game Viewer (Tournament Management) - Centralized tournament server managing multiple teams, scoring, match scheduling, and referee controls

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐         ┌──────────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐
│   Raspberry Pi  │◄───────►│     Laptop       │◄───────►│  Game Viewer    │
│   (On Robot)    │  UDP    │  (Operator)      │  UDP    │  (Tournament)   │
└─────────────────┘         └──────────────────┘         └─────────────────┘
      │                            │                             │
      ├─ Motor Control             ├─ Keyboard Input            ├─ Scoring
      ├─ IR Weapon/Sensor          ├─ Video Display             ├─ Team Management
      ├─ Camera Streaming          ├─ Status Display            ├─ Match Control
      ├─ Servo Control             └─ Game Timer                ├─ Leaderboard
      └─ GPIO Control                                            └─ Referee Interface

Communication Protocol

• Pi ↔ Laptop: UDP on port 5005 (control commands) and 5000+ (video streams)
• Laptop ↔ Game Viewer: UDP on port 6000 (game viewer) and 6100+ (laptop listeners)
• Pi → Game Viewer: Direct UDP for hit reports and registration
• All messages use JSON encoding for structured data exchange

Quick Start

Detailed setup instructions are provided in component-specific README files:

• Laptop Setup Instructions - For operators controlling robots
• Raspberry Pi Setup Instructions - For robot onboard systems
• Game Viewer Setup - Requires Laptop setup plus running GameViewer/game_viewer.py

Features

Robot Control

• Mecanum drive control with keyboard input (WASD)
• Dual servo control for mechanisms
• GPIO control for accessories
• Emergency stop functionality
• Boost speed mode

IR Combat System

• IR transmitter for shooting (38kHz modulated)
• IR receiver for hit detection
• Team ID encoding in IR signals
• 10-second disable period after hits
• Automatic hit reporting to Game Viewer

Game Management

• Team registration and ready checking
• Configurable match duration
• Real-time scoring and leaderboard
• Kill/Death tracking
• Point awards (hits, objectives)
• Match history and statistics export

Video Streaming

• H.264 encoded video via GStreamer
• Low-latency UDP streaming
• Multi-camera support (up to 8 teams)
• Embedded camera viewer in Game Viewer

Configuration

Each component uses JSON configuration files:

• Pi: team_config.json - Team ID, robot name, network settings, hardware pins
• Laptop: laptop_controls.json - Keyboard mappings (auto-generated)
• Game Viewer: game_viewer_config.json - Match duration, scoring rules, network settings

System Requirements

Laptop

• Windows 10/11
• Python 3.9 or higher
• GStreamer runtime and development libraries
• Microsoft Visual Studio Build Tools 2022
• 8GB RAM minimum
• Network connectivity to robot and game viewer

Raspberry Pi

• Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB+ recommended)
• Raspbian OS (Bullseye or newer)
• Python 3.9 or higher
• pigpio daemon
• GStreamer libraries
• Camera module (optional for video streaming)

Game Viewer

• Same requirements as Laptop
• Additional: PyGObject for embedded video display

License

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Contributing

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Support

For technical support or questions, contact your team lead.