FIRST Overdrive
The 2008 game, FIRST Overdrive, is played on a circular playing field in which alliances comprised of three robots apiece compete for points. At its most basic level, the alliances race around the NASCAR-style track as fast as they can without causing serious damage to one another. Complicating matters, however, are four 40” inflated, ten pound “trackballs.” At the beginning of each match, these trackballs are suspended on a railroad-style “overpass” 6’6” above the track. Robots can knock these trackballs down, herd them around the track for points, hurdle or pass them over the overpass for points, as well as place them back on the overpass, thereby scoring extra points if the balls are back on the overpass before the end of the two minute 15-second match period.
A new development in game play 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, coming at the beginning of each round of play, allows teams to use either a purely autonomous approach or to mix in several preprogrammed routines to provide remote control of the robot during this phase. Directly after the hybrid period is a two-minute period during which human players step up to the controls to drive their robot using joysticks or other controllers. FIRST Overdrive promises a wide range of opportunities for both rookie and veteran teams to design around, and should be quite fun to watch!