DeviceGuru

Some 35,000 high school students from over 1500 high schools in eight countries today began competing in the annual US FIRST student robotics contest.

This year’s competition, dubbed “FIRST Overdrive,” challenges the student teams to build semi-autonomous robots that will move 40-inch diameter inflatable balls around a playing field and score the most points.

In this year’s game, two alliances of three teams work collaboratively to win each round.

The game is played on a 27 x 54 foot carpeted field. Each team is composed of drivers, a coach, and a “robo-coach” (a new position this year). The center of the playing area is spanned by an overpass, which is 6.5 feet above the floor, and a 6-foot tall lane divider runs down the middle of the field. There are finish lines on the red and blue ends of the field. There are two 40-inch, 10-pound balls for each alliance (two red balls and two blue balls).

One interesting addition to this year’s competition is a small infrared receiver board that can convert signals from four buttons of an ordinary TV remote control into 5V digital pulses that can be used as inputs to the robots.

The game includes two phases of play:

• Phase 1 — a 15-second “hybrid” period, during which the robots function in a “supervised autonomous” mode, with most operations running autonomously but “queues” provided by the teams using the IR remote links
• Phase 2 — a 120-second “tele-operated” period during which the robots function primarily as remote controlled devices (although some functions may be automated using an onboard microcomputer)

The object of the game is for each alliance to move its robots and balls counterclockwise around the track as rapidly as possible, and gain points each time they cross their finish line. Bonus points are earned every time a ball crosses over the overpass. Bonus points are also awarded for each ball that is removed from the overpass during the initial 15-second “hybrid” phase. During play, Robots can bump and herd their balls to move them around the track, or the balls can be grabbed and carried. Also, robots can “gently” bump other robots to signal their desire to pass.

Teams gain two points each time their balls pass under the overpass, and eight points when their balls are tossed over the overpass by their robots. A special 12-point bonus is awarded for each ball that is placed back on — and remains on — the overpass at the conclusion of the match. Further details on scoring appear in the following table.

An animated simulation of the game is available here, in various video resolutions and formats. Here are a few screenshots from the animation — click each thumbnail to enlarge…

Following the kickoff event, which was webcast live this morning, the teams gathered in their workshops to begin plotting strategies and designing their robots. The teams have just six weeks to design, build, and debug their robots — including all required hardware and software — prior to entering them in regional competitions and eventually in a national competition to be held in Atlanta.

Palo Alto, Calif.’s Gunn Robotics Team (GRT) gets ready to build its bot

Each team receives a kit of parts for incorporation into their bots, and all teams must adhere to a set of contest rules that govern both the robots and their use in the game.

The non-profit US FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) organization was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, renowned inventor of the Segway Human Transporter.