Erebus

Erebus is a simulation competition environment for a sub-league of RoboCupJunior(RCJ) Rescue, that was first introduced as a demonstration in 2021. Since 2022, simulation (Erebus) has been an integral part of RCJ Rescue. The challenge is designed for semi-experienced to highly experienced programmers. The aim of the competition is to program a customizable robot to autonomously navigate and map a complex maze environment whilst detecting victims and avoiding obstacles.

Erebus is under constant development and will continue to serve as the basis for future RCJ Rescue international events. The competitions will be conducted under the official rules.

Erebus Official Website

Quick Start

1. Download and install Python 3.9+. Don't forget to add a path to the "Python".
2. Download and install Webots 2023b.
3. Download our latest release and extract the zip file. Old releases can be found here.
4. Open world1.wbt in the /game/worlds folder. Load the example program in the /player_controllers folders.

Documentation

Documentation for the platform can be accessed through this link.
However, some pages are currently under construction.

Robot Customization

The robot customizer can be accessed through this link.

Map Generator

The map generator can be accessed through this link.

Communication

Announcements

Announcements will be made in a number of different locations.

• Community Discord server
• RCJ official forum
• RCJ Rescue mailing list

For discussions and questions

• For technical and platform specific questions and discussions please use the community Discord server
• For other RCJ related questions and discussions please use the RCJ official forum

Known issues

• The robot customization wheel rotations are off by 0.5*pi in the y axis compared to the sensor values. However, what you see in the 3d output in the webpage is still what Erebus generates.

Reporting bugs and fixes

Please report bugs and potential fixes either through:

• Raising issues on this repository
  • Erebus issues page
  • Robot Customization issue page
• Pull requests
• Through the community Discord server

Changelog

Latest Release v25.0.0 - 2025-04-12

Changed

• Fixed scoring and mapping to allow for rotated victims/hazards (as updated in the 2025 rules).

Fixed

• Fixed bug with mapping solution placing victims/hazards signs in the wrong cell when they appear in the middle of the wall (see #6).
• Fixed bug with the mapping of victims/hazards placed on opposites sides of the wall (see #7).
• Fixed encoding bug when trying to pip install requirements inside the dockerfile (see #8)