FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar

First Frenzy: Raising the Bar is the game for the 2004 FIRST Robotics competition.

Description

The 2004 game was played on a gamefield measuring 48' by 24' for a total time of 2 minutes. Four robots are divided into two alliances — the red and the blue. Friendly robots begin on the same side of the field. When the buzzer rings to indicate the start of the match, the robots turn on and enter autonomous mode. During autonomous mode, humans do not control the robot; instead, the robots have to determine their own paths. Some robots will follow a line on the floor made of white tape; others will attempt to detect and track an infrared signal transmitted from a special post on the playing field. Still other robots will attempt to use dead reckoning, a method by which the robot tries to correctly guess how far to drive in each direction. The robots will be aiming to knock the "bonus ball" off of its stand, which is located on the side of the center of the field. Once either member of an alliance knocks its bonus ball off of the tee, a flurry of small rubber balls (13" diameter) will be unleashed from a corral about each driver station. If a team fails to knock the ball off during autonomous mode, the balls are not released until 1:15 is left in the match. Autonomous mode ends after 15 seconds, with 1:45 remaining for the robots to be driven by their human master, using wireless radio joystick control.

For the rest of the game, humans will guide their robots such that as many small balls as possible are herded through holes in each corner and into a ball hutch. Waiting in this hutch will be a human player who will pick up the balls and attempt to hurl them into one of the two goals for each alliance. One goal is fixed in place on the center platform, and the other can freely move on a set of caster wheels. The human players will attempt to hurl balls into the goals; each small ball which lands in a goal will count for points toward the total alliance score. The bonus ball (from the tee in the beginning of the match) may also be thrown into the goal for extra points.

At the end, the team has a couple ways of achieving bonus points. They may direct their robot to maneuever a large ball (34" diameter, underinflated to 30") to cap one of their goals. Successfully capping a goal thusly results in a doubling of the point value of the small balls inside the goal. Robots may also attach themselves to a bar in the middle of the field and lift themselves off of the ground; this will score 50 points. It is important to note that robots are not permitted to toss small balls into either goal. Likewise, human players are prohibited from interacting with the large ball at all. This ensures that bot and brain must collaborate to achieve maximum success.

At the end of the match, the points are tallied for each alliance. The alliance gets 5 points for each normal small ball in a goal and 10 for each bonus ball in a goal. The points for a single goal are doubled if the goal is capped by a large yellow multiplier ball. The alliance gets fifty points for each robot which is hanging from the horizontal ball at the end of the match.

External links

• Official FIRST Website (http://www.usfirst.org/)
• 2004 Official Game Video (http://robotics.nasa.gov/archive/video.htm)
• 2004 Kickoff Telecast (http://robotics.nasa.gov/first/2004/kickoff.htm)
• FIRST Robotics (http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/)
• FirstWiki article (http://www.firstwiki.org/index.php/FIRST_Frenzy:_Raising_the_Bar).