Game Archive
2009 Game: Lunacy
Lunacy is played on a 27 ft (8.23 m) by 54 ft (16.46 m) field known as the "crater." Alliances of three teams each are positioned in bases at each end of the field, from which they control their robots. Additional player stations are located along the edge of the crater.
The crater is covered with a slick, polymer material known as the "Regolith", which provides a unique surface for the robots to drive upon. Special wheels are used on the robot to provide a low-friction interaction with the Regolith. This simulates the effects of driving in the 1/6 Earth gravity on the surface of the Moon.
Lunacy uses three types of game pieces known as "Moon Rocks", "Empty Cells", and "Super Cells". A trailer is attached to each robot. The trailers are the target of the opposing alliance. The objective of the game is to get as many game pieces into the opposing teams’ trailers as possible.
At the beginning of the game, human players known as "Payload Specialists" are positioned in the outpost stations at the midfield line the crater. Each robot is placed on its launch pad, with the trailer touching the edge of the crater. Robots are able to start the game with up to 7 game pieces in their possession.
During the autonomous period, humans in the corner fueling stations and center outposts attempt to throw game pieces into the opposing alliance's trailers. Each robot starts on a launch pad in front of an opposing player. As the robot tries to move away, the other alliance may try to block the robot's progress, and make it an easy target. Or, robots may use their own on-board cameras to track the targets on top of opposing robot’s trailers.
During the tele-operated period of the game, human players use the robots’ remote controls to attempt to either shoot or dump their game pieces into the opposing alliance's trailers. Teams will also have their human players attempt to throw additional game pieces into the opposing trailers as they drive by.
2008 Game: Overdrive
FIRST Overdrive is played on a 54 ft (16 m) by 27 ft (8 m) track divided lengthwise by a fence into a Red side and a Blue side. The fence is crossed by an overpass marking the red and blue finish lines. Two three-team alliances race around the track in a counter clockwise direction manipulating Trackballs.
The game is made up of two scoring periods. The first 15 seconds of play is the Hybrid period in which robots are autonomous, and may also respond to digital signals sent by team Robocoaches stationed at the corners of the track. The next two minutes of play is the Teleoperated period. At this time, robots are radio controlled by team operators standing at either end of the field.
2007 Game: Rack n Roll
In this year's game, "Rack 'N' Roll," students' robots are designed to hang inflated colored tubes on pegs configured in rows and columns on a 10-foot high center "rack" structure. Extra points are scored by robots being in their home zone and lifted more than 4" off the floor by another robot before the end of the 2 minute and 15 second match.
Rack 'N' Roll is played on a 54'x 26'8" field with a center structure Rack containing 24 "spider legs," by two (2) three-team alliances, using three different types of tubes called "Keepers," "Ringers" and "Spoilers." The game is made up of two scoring periods. The first period is "Autonomous" (the robots run without driver control) lasting 15 seconds. In the autonomous period, robots try to place a "Keeper" tube on one of the spider legs of the Rack using a color vision tracking system to find one of the four target lights at the top of the rack. Once placed, a "Keeper" tube may not be removed or "Spoiled."
During the second period (2 minutes) the robots are driver controlled. In this period, the teams will attempt to score more points by using the robots to add "Ringers" onto the spider legs or by "Spoiling" the opposing team's score by placing a black tube over their "Ringer." Points are earned and scored exponentially by the number of consecutive Ringers and Keepers in a column or row.
2006 Game: Aim High
Aim High is played by two alliances, red and blue, each consisting of three robots. During a 10 second autonomous mode, robots will be programmed to score into any of the three goals: one raised center goal marked by a green vision target and two corner goals at floor level. At the end of the autonomous period, the alliance with the most points will gain a 10 point bonus and will be placed on defense for round two. Rounds two, three, and four, which are each 40 seconds long, are human-controlled rounds. Between rounds two and three, the alliances will switch from offense to defense, or from defense to offense accordingly. At the start of round 4, any alliance can score into their corresponding goals. At the end of the match, an alliance can receive bonus points by placing its three robots on a platform below the center goal. The alliance with the most points wins. Scoring will be as follows: 3 points for any ball scored in the center goal, 1 point for any ball scored in the corner goals; 10 bonus points for scoring the highest in the autonomous round; and 25 points for placing all 3 robots on the platform at the end (10 points for 2 robots and 5 points for 1 robot).
2005 Game: Triple Play
Triple Play was the first to feature three robots per alliance. The primary game piece were called "Tetras" which are tetrahedra made from 1.25 in (31.8 mm) PVC pipe 30 in (762 mm) long. The game was played on a field set up like a tic-tac-toe board, with nine larger goals, also shaped as tetras in three rows of three. The object of the game was to place the scoring tetras on the larger goals, creating rows of three by having a tetra of your alliance’s color at the highest point on the goal. Triple Play was a strategically intensive game, requiring quick thinking on the part of the drivers and operators to optimize the field for their alliance.
Tetras scored on the top of a goal were worth 3 points, while tetras contained inside the goals were worth 1 point. A goal was "owned" by the alliance whose color tetra was capped on the highest point of the goal. Rows of three owned goals garnered the alliance an additional 10 points per at the end of regulation play. Ten points could also be scored if all three alliance robots were behind the alliance line at their end of the field at the end of the game.
The playing field consisted of nine goals placed at equal intervals across the field in rows of three. At the beginning of each match, the 4 corner goals had hanging tetras, and robots would be able to keep the tetras in the goals only if they knocked them down during the autonomous mode. On the side of the playing field were the automatic loading zones. These platforms were kept with a constant supply of a single tetra for a robot to pick up and bring into play. On the opposing side of the field was the Human Player Loading Zone, where human players could run out and hook a tetra on their robot. By doing this, however, a human player disabled their robot until such a time as they returned to their platform. In the spaces between the center row of goals and the home rows, four "Vision Tetras" were placed. A robot could locate these autonomously to score extra points, but were otherwise treated as regular tetras during regulation.
2004 Game: FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar
The game included elements from previous years' games, including mobile goals, "capping" goals with large inflatable balls, and others. In Raising the Bar, teams could score by having their human player score purple balls in any of the goals, capping the goals with a multiplier ball, or hanging their robot suspended from the 10-foot (3.0 m) high 'chin up bar'. In the qualifying matches, Teams competed in 2-member randomly generated alliances. In the elimination rounds, 3-member alliances competed against each other with one team sitting out each match. The alliance that won two matches advanced in the tournament.
The field was dominated by the large area surrounding the chin up bar. The raised area included two non-mobile goals at each end, and another 6 in (152 mm) raised area directly below the chin up bar. At the beginning of the match, two mobile goals were placed at each end of the field with the multiplier balls sitting on top of them. Above each player station were racks holding 18 purple balls. These racks would release during the game, showering the field with balls.
The game proceeded as both teams attempted to score as many points as possible. Teams needed to push balls into the ball chutes in the corner in order to deliver them to their human players. Once the human player received the balls, they would throw them, basketball style, into the mobile or stationary goals for 5 points each. As the end of the game neared, teams would begin capping the goals with the multiplier balls, then attempt to hang off the bar.
