[Official 2008 Game Design] OK, so YOU design the 2008 game...

[thefro526]

Field Layout:

The field size is 54 ft long and 27ft wide. The field is divided into 3 zones. Each zone is approximately 18 feet long by 27ft wide and is colored red, blue, or gray. The red alliance zone belongs to the red alliance and the blue zone belongs to the blue alliance. The grey zone is referred to as the neutral zone. In the center of the field are three goals one 10ft tall and two 6ft tall from the floor, both are 3 feet in diameter. The goals are hexagon shaped and are 3 feet from point to point. These goals are recessed in to a 1 foot tall platform that is 12 ft deep and 20 feet wide. The goals are made of lexan and are transparent and have a door on the bottom where the platform and goal meet. These doors will remain shut during the match and are used only to empty the goals after the match. Within each of the goals approximately 1 foot from the top is and 1 foot long cylindrical vision target. These targets are visible from any angle. There are two 15 degree ramps that lead up to the platform from both alliance zones. In each of the alliance walls are two human load chutes. These chutes are 4 feet off the ground and 1 foot from either side of driver station and there dimensions are 1 foot tall by 3ft wide. Between the platform and the side wall there is a 3.5 ft wide causeway where robots may travel freely. In each causeway there are 10 red balls and 10 blue balls placed into rows of 5 the red balls being closest to the blue alliance zone and the blue balls being closest to red zone. Also lined up on the alliance wall are 30 balls of the opposing alliance’s color. There are also 30 balls in the human player station.

The Game:

There will be two alliances on the field with three teams each. The primary objective of this game is to place regulation size 5 soccer balls into any goal on the field or merely have them on your side of the field. In the final minutes of the match the robots will race back to the neutral zone and attempt to get on the platform to score points. There will be a 20 second autonomous period where the robots operate using only onboard sensors and programming. In the 2 minute Operator control period.
In the Autonomous Mode robots must start in their alliance zone at most 2 feet away from the wall. There will be a white line on the field to show this. The robots may load up to 5 of the autonomous balls of there color and score these balls in any of the high goals or take them to there opponents side of the field. Any autonomous balls in the 10 foot goal is worth 5 points for that alliance, any autonomous ball in the 6 foot goal is worth 3 points and any autonomous ball on the opposing side of the field is worth 1 point. These balls may still be in the robot or on the floor. The autonomous score is the tallied at the end of autonomous mode and is added to the alliance score. Any alliance that scores at least one point in autonomous gets a five point bonus and the winner of autonomous will get another 10 point bonus. In the event of a tie both alliances will get the bonus even of no points are scored.
Operator Control then begins. The robots receive commands from the human controllers and may also use on board programming. The scoring is simple a ball in the 10 ft goal is worth 5 points, any ball in the 6 foot goal is worth 3 points, any of an alliance’s balls on that alliance’s side of the field is worth 1 point. At the end of the match any robot on the platform is worth 10 points. Human players may introduce any of the balls in their station into the field, either through the chute or over the wall. The chute is two way and robots may feed the human players any balls on the field and they also may be introduced over the wall. The human players may also score in any goal on the field.
The penalties are simple, no tipping or intentional destruction; these will result in a disable. Pins may not last more than 10 seconds and robots and human players may not break the plane of the chute. Either of these will result in a 10 point penalty. These lax rules are to promote good defense and robust robot construction.

Robot Rules:

Same as rack and roll but only no 6 foot class this is replaced with a 3 foot 130 pound class. Also there are no rules that apply to the Operator Interface except COTS requirement, so external power sources may be used as long as the IO gets its power from the field.