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And... We're Off to the Races!Greg B.

January 7, 2008

By Greg B.

After months of anticipation, and few weeks of puzzling over game clues, the 2008FIRST Robotics Competition Season finally kicked off Saturday January 5th with the unveiling of the new game challenge: FIRST Overdrive. In Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota’s Coffman Union, more than 60 teams and 700 people were on hand to view the live NASA TV broadcast from Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, N.H., home of FIRST’s headquarters.

Prior to the morning’s feature segment though, there were a number of proceedings that took place. After team check-in and registration, attendees gathered for the videotaping of a special “Greetings from Minnesota!” message, which was promptly emailed to FIRST for airing during the broadcast (the kickoff was also available via webcast). Joe Passafaro, head mentor for Team 2169, KING TEC, Prior Lake, Minn., then officially opened the gathering with a few words, then handed off to Steven L. Crouch, Dean of the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Technology, which houses the school’s engineering, mathematics and physical sciences departments. Dean Crouch expressed his pleasure at having the opportunity to host the FIRSTMinnesota kickoff, and welcome attendees onto the campus of the university.

Next up was Tim Jump, science teacher and the head of Benilde-St. Margaret’s Robotics Team. Mr. Jump delivered his riveting “Keep It Simple” speech, in which he claimed that rookies, most of all, are best-positioned for a great season. “You rookies have a great advantage because no one expects anything of you,” he said. :”If you have a box on wheels and all you can do is run around and annoy people, you’re having a great time!” Second and third-year teams, he says “are doooooomed” unless they continue to keep their robots focused on accomplishing one task really well. Mr. Jump also recommended a number of good safety practices, including a reminder to mentors to “have a fire extinguisher handy” at all times and to stock up on Band-Aids.

Then, at the stroke of 9 AM (Central Standard Time), the webcast began. At last, it was time for the game to be revealed. Well, almost time. First, many of the FIRST notables, including Dean Kamen, the founder of FIRST, and Dr. Woodie Flowers, FIRST advisor, made presentations. Mr. Kamen, as per tradition, gave out his yearly homework assignment. The task this year is to attract as much good media coverage as possible, in order to fulfill the goal of filling the regional venues  -- including the new FIRST Minnesota Regional -- with more people that don’t already have a family connection with FIRST. 

After those words and more, the actual game explanation commenced. This year’s game, FIRST Overdrive, places alliances of three robots apiece around a circular track. These alliances will race around the track as fast as they can while knocking down ten-pound, 40” inflated “Trackballs” and moving them around the track as well. These Trackballs can be passed either over or under the 6’6” overpass. Robots can knock these Trackballs down, herd them around the track, and raise them back up to the overpass to score additional bonus points if the balls are back on the overpass before the end of the two minute 15-second match period.

A new development this year is the concept of a supervised autonomy period to start each match. Replacing the true autonomous mode of previous years competitions, this fifteen-second “hybrid” period allows teams to use a purely autonomous approach or mix in several preprogrammed routines that allows remote control of the robot during the phase. Directly after this hybrid period, is a two-minute period during which human players drive the robot using joysticks or other controllers.

At the Minnesota kickoff, as well as the other 48 local kickoff sites, all teams present could view this year’s game field for the first time and received a common kit of parts made up of motors, batteries, a control system, and a mix of automation components. No manual, of course, was included. It’s up to each team, working with mentors, to design, build and test their robots to meet this year’s engineering challenge.

This year’s FIRST Overdrive looks to be original and exciting, and we can’t wait to see it played out during the regionals!