FIRST Robotics is in OVERDRIVE for 2008!

Have you ever watched a NASCAR race? Well take everything you know about caution flags, crashes and pit stops, throw in a hint of volleyball, and a couple of robots, and you now have FIRST's 2008 game Overdrive. In the typical FIRST fashion, they have made the game too hard to explain in a few short sentences.

OVERDRIVE:

Two alliances of 3 robots each race around a track as if in the Daytona 500, (except with fewer miles, and no pit stops) trying to score the most points possible by crossing the finish line as many times as possible. Additional points are awarded for throwing a 40" diameter, 10 pound trackball over a 6.5 foot tall overpass similar to a jungle gym. Propelling this ball around the track and under the overpass also scores points. Forward, counter-clockwise motion is all that's allowed; like in life, you can't go backwards. In this game, you're penalized 10 points if you try.

The Clues:

A past Team 250 blog mentioned three clues that FIRST gave. The first clue was an IR receiver board as we determined. Its use was a surprise. Instead of a fully autonomous period this year, we have a hybrid period in the first fifteen seconds of the game. Robots can operate autonomously or have input from a robocoach, who would use that IR board to issue up to four different commands to their robot in the hybrid period.

The second clue consisted of a series of numbers. It turns out that these are the latitude and longitude coordinates for Copley Square in Boston. Our game this year is a race and the coordinates point to the finish line for the Boston Marathon. The last number is speculated to relate to where a tortoise and hare statue is in Boston.

The third clue was the phrase: Vet hurdling FIRST tetra. We'll be hurdling balls over the overpass, and four balls are in play. But FIRST is clever, and the clue is an anagram for: drive straight turn left, which is exactly what we'll be doing to play this game.

Now the Fun Begins…

We are trying to figure out how to play the game. The rules are complex, but there are many options for play. To view the complete manual, including game and rules, you can visit the FIRST website at: http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc/content.aspx?id=452.

Right now, we are testing, researching, and prototyping as part of our conceptualization. We are trying to determine how to knock the trackball from the overpass, and how to deal with the bounce. We're also looking at how best to herd the ball with some level of control.

We are looking out to the GlobalSpec CR4 community to help us through the challenges that arise. If anyone has a little bit of time, please take a look at the game manual, and propose some suggestions for game strategy. We'd also love your ideas about robot components we might build to manipulate the ball. The link provided above also has robot building information.