FIRST Challenges

Rebound Rumble is the 2012 FIRST Robotics Competition game. It is styled similarly to basketball where robots manipulate and shoot 8″ foam baskeballs into four hoops on each side of the field. Alliances battle it out to score the most basketballs. At the end of the match, robots must balance on bridges to gain bonus points. During qualification matches, a special Coopertition bridge can be used to gain extra qualification points. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

Logo Motion is the 2011 FIRST Robotics Competition game. Playing pieces are inner tubes shaped like the components of the FIRST logo. The primary objective of the game is to place them on racks to gain points. In the endgame, robots deploy smaller robots (“minibots”) to climb a tower. Minibots must be made from the FIRST Tech Challenge kit of parts. The game celebrates the 20th season of the FRC and is also meant to commemorate the artist Jack Kamen, who designed the original FIRST logo. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

Breakaway is the game for the 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition, announced on January 9, 2010. Robots direct soccer balls into goals, traverse “bumps” in the field, suspend themselves and each other on towers, and/or go through a tunnel located in the center of the field. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

Lunacy is the game for the 2009 FIRST Robotics Competition. The name and some of the features of the game honor the 40th anniversary of the first manned mission to the Moon (Latin: Luna). The goal of the game is to score as many of the game pieces in the opposing side’s trailers as possible. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

FIRST Overdrive was the 2008 game for the FIRST Robotics Competition, announced on January 5, 2008. In it, teams competed to complete counterclockwise laps around a central barrier while manipulating large 40 in (1 m) diameter “Trackballs” over and under overpasses to score additional points. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

Rack ‘n Roll is the game for the 2007 FIRST Robotics Competition season, announced on January 6, 2007. In it, two alliances of three teams each compete to arrange toroidal game pieces on a central arena element known as ‘The Rack’. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

Aim High was the 2006 game for the FIRST Robotics Competition. The competition involved teams competing to gain points by delivering balls into goals and positioning their robots in certain positions on the playing field. The teams took it in turn to provide defence and attack. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

This game was the first to feature three robots per alliance. The primary game pieces 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. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar was the 2004 game for the FIRST Robotics Competition. 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. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

Stack Attack is the game for the 2003 FIRST Robotics Competition. In Stack Attack, two teams of two robots each attempt to win by moving large Sterilite bins into their zone and arranging them into stacks. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

Zone Zeal was the 2002 game for the FIRST Robotics Competition. In it, robots playing in alliances of 2 competed to move goals and balls into various zones within the playing field. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

Diabolical Dynamics was the 2001 game for the FIRST Robotics Competition. The playing field is a carpeted, rectangular area. Dividing the field in half is an 18 in (457 mm) high railing with a central bridge, which can tilt to either side of the field or remain level. Two 7 ft (2 m) high movable goals begin on opposite sides of the field. Around the perimeter of the field are two stations for human players, who work with remote controlled robots on the field to score points. At the start of each match, the alliance station contains twenty small balls. An additional twenty small balls and four large balls are located at the far end of the playing field. Each match is a maximum of two minutes long. Alliances can end the match at any time. Alliances score one point for each small ball in the goal, ten points for each large ball in the goal, ten points for each robot in the End Zone, and ten points if the stretcher is in the End Zone. The alliance doubles its score for each goal that is on the bridge if the bridge is balanced, and multiplies its score by a factor of up to three by ending the match before the two minute time limit. Each team receives the alliance score. A team multiplies its score by 1.1 if its large ball is on top of a goal. Scores are rounded up to the nearest whole point after applying all multipliers. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

Co-Opertition FIRST was the 2000 game for the FIRST Robotics Competition. The playing field was a carpeted, rectangular area with two 6 ft (2 m) high goals located midfield, one goal for each alliance. There is a 30 in (762 mm) clearance bar under each goal. Between the goals is an 8 ft (2 m) wide ramp with a 5 ft (2 m) clearance bar, which robots may hang on to score points. Around the perimeter of the field are four stations for human players, who work with remote controlled robots on the field to score points. At the start of each match, each alliance station contains seven yellow balls and one black ball. Fifteen yellow balls and two black balls are located at the far end of the playing field. Each match is two minutes long. Alliances receive one point for each yellow ball and five points for each black ball in their goal, and not in contact with their robot. Robots that are completely on the ramp each earn five points for their alliance. A robot hanging from the horizontal bar connecting the two goals earns ten points for its alliance. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.

Double Trouble was the 1999 game for the FIRST Robotics Competition. The playing field is a carpeted, rectangular area. Alliances score points by positioning “floppies,” their robots, and a “puck” on the playing field. “Floppies” are light-weight, pillow-like objects with Velcro-loop material located in its centre and around its perimeter. The “puck” is a short, octagonal platform that rolls freely on castor wheels. Around the perimeter of the field are four stations for human players, who may throw floppies to each other or onto the playing field. Two additional areas around the field are for the human players who control the robots. At the start of each match, each human player station contains three of the alliance’s floppies. Four floppies per alliance are located on the playing field. The floppies are color-coded to identify alliance ownership. More Information can be found on Wikipedia.