[ros-users] [Ros-kinect] ROS 3D Contest (Kinect/PrimeSense/RGB-D)

[Ken Conley]

On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 12:41 PM, Patrick Bouffard
<bouffard at eecs.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> Thanks for sponsoring the contest, it will be fun to see what people
> come up with! I have a few questions on the rules:

Looking forward to your entry!

> "All entries must be open source using an OSI-approved license and be
> hosted on a publicly accessible server." -- Does all the code used on
> the entire robot have to be open sourced in this manner or can it be
> just the subset that relates directly to the entry itself. E.g.
> suppose my robot has some closed-source code for running one of its
> sensors, but that sensor is not critical to the capabilities being
> shown off in the demo.

You should release the code necessary for reproducing what is shown in
the demo.  If someone else has an astec quadrotor with a Kinect
mounted on it, they should be able to reproduce your results after
some integration effort on their part (e.g. adjusting offsets for the
mounting location, etc...).  You may use as much additional hardware
as you choose (e.g. Vicon), though the "Iron Chef" rules apply -- the
less relevant the Kinect is to the entry, the less the score.

Obviously, there are some gray areas on code.  If, for example, you
have to use a closed-source thirdparty library for the demo (e.g.
NITE), you won't be penalized -- assuming that the library is
available to others with similar setups.

> Also, "For the "originality" score, credit will go to the first entry
> (by date) to demonstrate a particular idea" -- I haven't clicked
> "Submit an Entry" yet but I presume it creates a new wiki page.
> Probably some of the parts of the entry would be input immediately,
> while others might take a bit longer (esp depending on the answer to
> the above question). Will the date of the creation of that page be the
> date that is used, or the date when everything is finalized, or will
> it just be a judgment call?

It will be a judgment call, but as criteria, we will consider the
first date that both the video and code are made available.  You will
not be penalized for improving the code and documentation after that
date, but the final entry shouldn't be something completely different.
 You're allowed to enter multiple times, so this shouldn't be an
issue.

In the end, consider the spirit of the rules.  Our hope with this
contest is to encourage sharing of cool demos.  We were concerned that
the contest would have an opposite effect -- i.e. getting people to
close up their code until the end of the contest, so we are rewarding
those who share during the contest.

> Are there any rules regarding entries by groups or institutions vs. individuals?

Groups may enter. It's up to them to decide how to split the prize.

> When will the results be decided and announced?

As soon as possible after the close of the contest.  If there are 10
entries, it might be the next day.  If there are 1000 entries, it will
take longer.  We wish to provide a fair evaluation of every entry.

> Finally, does entering the contest prevent using the entry in another
> way down the road, e.g. a submission to a video session at a
> conference?

You can enter to conferences, other contests, etc...  You retain
copyright on your code and video -- the only restriction is that the
code is open source and that we have Creative-Commons-based rights to
the video so that we can produce a montage.

cheers,
Ken