SurroRTG

Key takeaways

SurroRTG belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SurroRTG to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SurroRTG from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SurroRTG is a low-latency streaming technology developed by Surrogate.tv. The company was located in Espoo, Finland, was founded in 2018, and ceased operation in 2022. The company raised $2M from four investors in its initial seed funding in July 2019. A further $2.5M was raised with the second funding round in December 2020.

Technology SurroRTG is a low-latency streaming technology, used for fast responsiveness to control inputs to create a series of games, and is primarily based on Web RTC. This software uses one or more Raspberry Pi's to control physical hardware, along with camera(s) or a capture card to send a video stream to players and viewers. In addition to Surrogate.tv first party games in Espoo, it was made available along with examples of types of games for third-parties to create games to play on the Surrogate.tv website and app. The streamer captures, encodes and sends the video stream to the client device. It uses a C++ program based on Google's libwebrtc, using Linux video capture API Video for Linux 2 (V4L2). The quality of the output steam is dynamically adjusted based on the available bandwidth. The H.264 encoder is used which can support a 720p 30fps stream. The client device uses a web application built using the React.js front-end library. This web client can send inputs from keyboard, mouse, or gamepad. The controller which interfaces with physical items where the game is located uses Python-based software, and can use wireless technologies to interface with hardware or can interface with it directly. For multi-player games a selective forwarding unit is used, which sends the same stream to all players with the quality determined by the lowest bandwidth to the client devices. A detailed study of the system found mean latency to vary between 120ms and 225ms depending on the setup used. It noted that this could likely be improved using faster CODECs such as H.265 or by improving the jitter buffer as this buffer was optimized for the typical use of WebRTC for video conferencing rather than for remote control.

Games

Real Race Cars The first game released in August 2019 was Real Race Cars, using 1:43 scale cars. This used image recognition to track the cars, and included leaderboards of race times.

Pinball The second game released was a Stern Batman '66 pinball machine. The same technology was later used for further pinball machines, including Oktoberfest.

Sumobots Battle Royale

Sumobots Battle Royale launched in December 2019, the third game released by Surrogate, after Real Race Cars, and Batman '66. It was inspired by Robot Wars and BattleBots to allow players to remotely control battling robots. Each robot was themed on a partnership with six esport teams: Alliance, Excel Esports, Team Heretics, ENCE, Team Empire, and mousesports. The robots are based on JSumo sumobots, but modified with a 3D-printed shell, electronics, and other components. The top of each robot has a servo-motor controlled self-righting mechanism. Two cameras are located above the octagonal arena which track the symbol on top of each sumobot, and are used to identify when a robot has been eliminated. The game takes place with six sumobots in an octagonal arena which has sixteen sections which drop as the game progresses, and a central section which doesn't drop. The objective for players is to remain on the raised sections until all other sumobots have been eliminated. Viewers could vote on the order the panels would drop. The number of wins using each robot was counted.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit

An unofficial remote play version of Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit was released in October 2020. This allowed four players at a time to race, with each player seeing the feed with the augmented reality (AR) overlay for the kart they were driving. The game uses a custom designed track, including numerous Mario and Nintendo items. It was available to play in various blocks of time during the week, due to the requirement of needing a host to help run the game. The game used three sets of four karts to enable continuous operation; each kart could last between 60 and 90 minutes, with charging taking up to three hours. Fifteen Nintendo Switches were required to run the game.

Other games As an April fool project, toilet paper claw machine ran on April 1, 2020 partly in response to the toilet paper shortages near the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic. The game ran until 1,000 rolls had been given away. As part of the promotion for the November 2020 video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla, a non-public game racing Viking ships against Hafþór Björnsson was created. In December 2020, the first in a series of "we play" games running on a Nintendo Switch was Pokémon Sword. Players queued, with each getting 60 seconds at a time to collaboratively play the game. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond was also released as a "we play" game. Prize Bot used Rokenbok components, balls, and vehicles to create a game where players had to attempt to drop and manoeuvre the "prize" into a depot to win.

References

External links Build Videos playlist on YouTube Game creation videos playlist on YouTube Driving A Tiny RC Car Over The Internet Using ESP8266

Illustrations

SurroRTG: Sumobots arena — Sumobots arena

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SurroRTG

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SurroRTG claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SurroRTG before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SurroRTG ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SurroRTG

In research: SurroRTG appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SurroRTG in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SurroRTG is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Online games, Pinball video games, Robot combat video games, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SurroRTG outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study SurroRTG in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SurroRTG means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SurroRTG out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SurroRTG in simple terms?

SurroRTG is a low-latency streaming technology developed by Surrogate.tv. The company was located in Espoo, Finland, was founded in 2018, and ceased operation in 2022.

Why does SurroRTG matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SurroRTG?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SurroRTG.