On January 9, 2010, FIRST unveiled its annual challenge to thousands of teams worldwide.
The goal of the game is simply to score as many soccer balls (or game pieces) into your goals
as possible in two minutes and fifteen-seconds, along with an added game-play twist at the end.
Balls are not allowed to be possessed (carried or held), so each robot will need to push,
kick, or corral the balls across the field. Each game will be played with two alliances of
three robots each, so competition and cooperation will both be crucial on the field. This
cooperation is most evident in the finale of each match, where bonus points can be scored for either
hanging off of your teams tower, worth two goals, or off of an allied robot who is already hanging off
of the tower, worth three (game periods). This years 27 by 54 field, made of carpet, has two sharply inclined
speed bumps, dividing the field into thirds, with tunnels in the center of each speed bump. This means
that each robot will need to be able to either climb the bumps or fit through the 18 tall tunnel if
they want to move to different sections of the field. A hanging guardrail system is also part of the
field, allowing balls to be returned to play after they are scored. A human player uses a device
called a trident to lift the ball onto the guardrail system.
The twelve soccer balls are placed by the teams in each "third" of the playing field. During Autonomous mode, robots are pre-programmed to move around the field and even score goals (by using a camera to detect the targets above the goals).
Teleoperated
During teleoperated mode, humans may take control of their robots. In this period, robots and human players will try to score soccer balls into their goals. Once scored, human players return the balls back onto the field. During the last twenty seconds, or end game, robots may climb onto the platform and/or hang for bonus points.
Pictured above are normal soccer balls, this year's game pieces. Also pictured is the simple scoring system. Each goal scored is one point; a robot on or hanging off of the platform rail is worth two points; and a robot hanging off of another robot is worth three points.
