About the Game

Team Groupings
Four robots are on the playing field in each heat, and are grouped into a single team. These robots must work together to score as many points as they can.

Playing Pieces
A total of 40 tennis balls, yellow and blue in colour, will be in each of the 2 loaders. One loader is found at each end of the floor, at the center line. Each robot is permitted to start the heat with 4 pre-loaded balls (2 blue and 2 yellow).

Playing Field
The playing field is rectangular in shape. Robots begin each heat in one of the 4 determined starting areas. At either end of the field, there are 3 garages. The two outer garages have doors that must be opened by the robot, while the middle garage has no door. A crease extends in a rectangular shape in the area directly in front of the garages.


Gameplay
Starting Play
The drivers and spotters for each team must remain SEATED in their designated area once the heat has begun. They cannot interfere with any items on the field: no contact with the robots or balls is permitted.

Actual Play
Robots are not allowed to damage the playing field or the balls. Robots can pick up and use any ball on the playing field. BUT, if a ball leaves the playing field, it is out of play and can no longer be used. It is important to remember that robots may NOT enter the crease surrounding the garages, or enter the air space above it.
ECS Engineers' Note: Since we cannot enter the airspace above the crease, we cannot have an arm that extends long enough overtop of the crease to open the garage doors. We must open the doors from the side.

End of Play
Each heat is 5:00 minutes long. At the end of the heat, the buzzer sounds and all robots must STOP. But, if the robot fired a ball just before the buzzer sounded, the ball will remain in play until the motion of the ball has stopped.

Scoring Points

Conditions
A robot must be able to move completely out of its starting area and launch a tennis ball towards a garage to score points. For a ball to be worth points, it must be completely inside a garage when the heat ends. Points are counted at the end of the round.

How Points are Counted
  • Each ball in middle garage: 1 point
  • Each ball in outer garages, NOT matching the colour of the garage: 2 points
  • Each ball the outer garage, MATCHING the colour of the garage: 4 points
  • One ball in each garage at one end of the floor: DOUBLE YOUR POINTS

    If a team gets 1 ball into all 6 garages on the playing field, the heat ends right away. If the heat ends in under 2 minutes, the total score is TRIPLED, and if the heat ends in under 4 minutes but over 2 minutes, the total score ends up being DOUBLED. If a heat is longer than 4 minutes, it cannot be ended early.

    ECS Engineers' Note: Speed is very important. We want to be able to shoot balls as quickly as possible so that we can double or even triple our points.
    • Skills Competition

    Skill One: Speed and Power
    The robot starts in the middle of the floor, and must then open all four garage doors (a door must be at least half way open, according to a marker on the floor, for it to be considered open). Once the robot completes this task, it must return to the middle of the floor in the shortest possible time.

    ECS Engineers' Note: The faster we can drive for this, the better, since we must move from the center to each garage door, and then back to the middle again.

    Skill Two: Shooting Accuracy
    The robot is placed 10 feet from the garage. The doors for the two end garages will be held open, and the robot most shoot as many balls as it can into the garages in a 2:00 minute period. A team is allowed to MANUALLY load balls into their robot for this competition. If the balls are all in one garage: each ball is worth 1 point. If there are balls in 2 of the 3 garages: each ball is worth 2 points. If there is a ball in each garage: each ball is worth 3 points.

    ECS Engineers' Note: We have to be able to shoot our tennis balls from close and from far (from the crease would be close and from 10 feet is far). So, we need to be able to alter the force with which we shoot the balls. We could use a spring and tighten it to different amounts so that we can control this.
    Skill Three: Load and Shoot
    Robots begin in the center of the field with no pre-loaded balls (they must get the balls from the loaders for this competition). They have 3:00 minutes to shoot as many balls into the garages as they can. The doors of the outer garages will be held open for this skill competition. If all the balls are in 1 garage: each ball is worth 1 point. If there are balls in 2 of the 3 garages: each ball is worth 2 points. If there are balls in all of the garages: each ball is worth 3 points.

    Skill Four: Load and Sort
    Robots have 2:00 minutes to load and sort as many balls as they can. The balls will be placed in the loader alternately by colour: blue, yellow, blue, yellow, etc. The robot must get the blue balls to one end of the floor and the yellow balls to the other, but does not have to shoot them into the garages. Each ball on the correct side: 2 points. Each ball on the wrong side: PENALIZED 1 point.

    ECS Engineers' Note: We need to be able to shoot 1 ball at a time for this competition. We also need to be able to see the colour of the ball that is falling into the loader, so we need to build the body of our robot with a clear material like plexiglass.

    Final Scoring

    After Heats are Played
    When all the heats are over, each team gets rid of their 2 lowest scores. The total of all the other rounds that they played will be added together to determine their rank.

    First place team - 38 points; second place team - 34 points; third place team - 32 points; fourth place team - 30 points, etc.

    After Skills Competitions
    After all the skills competitions are completed, teams will be ranked in each skill. First place in each skill: 19 points; second place in each skill: 17 points; third place in each skill: 16 points; fourth place in each skill: 15 points, etc.

    A team’s total skills points that it earns will be the SUM of the points they earn from each skills competition. Teams will be ranked according to their total skills scores. The same number of points that were assigned to each team after each individual skills competition (as shown above) will be assigned to the first place team after the total number of points is tallied, second place team, third place team, and so on.

    Total Scores
    A team’s final score will be their final heat score, added to their final skills competition score. The top 4 teams go directly to the semi-finals. Teams that placed between 5th and 8th will go directly to the quarter-finals. Teams that placed between 9th and 18th place will go into the repechage.

    Advanced Rounds

    Repechage
    Teams are placed into 2 groups of 5 robots each. Each group plays 5 heats, and each team must sit out on one of these heats. The top three teams from each group of 5 robots advances to the next round: the quarter-finals! Final scores are counted just like they are in regular rounds, but the lowest scores are not dropped.

    Groupings: Group A – teams 9, 12, 13, 16, 17; Group B – teams 10, 11, 14, 15, 18

    Quarter-Finals
    Teams are put into 2 groups of 5 robots each. Each group plays 5 heats and each team must sit out on one of these heats, like the repechage rounds. The top three teams from each group advance to the next round: the semi-finals! Final scores are counted just like they are in regular rounds, but the lowest scores are also not dropped.

    Groupings: Group C – teams 5, 8, plus with the winner from group A, 2nd place from group B and 3rd place from group A; Group D – teams 6, 7, plus the winner from group B, 2nd place of group A and 3rd place from group B

    Semi-Finals
    Teams will also be put into 2 groups of 5 robots each. Once again, each group plays a total of 5 heats and each team sits out on one of these heats. The top threes coring teams from this round will move to the FINALS. Final scores are counted just like they are in the regular rounds, but the lowest scores, once again, are not dropped.

    Groupings: Group E – teams 1, 4, plus winner from group C, 2nd place from group D, 3rd place from group C; Group F – teams 2, 3, plus winner from group D, 2nd place from group C, 3rd place from group D

    The FINALS!!! The six robots will play 6 heats. Each robot will sit out for 2 heats. If there are any ties at the end of a given round, the tied robots will go face to face in a one-on-one skills competition. The winner advances.

    Penalties

    Contact
    Bumping or blocking another robot is permitted, as long as there is no DELIBERATE attempt to harm another robot. Also, remember to never argue with the referee: they have the final word at all times when it comes to penalties.

    Junk
    Various objects may be placed on the playing field by a robot to help them in the game as long as they are removed from the field before the heat ends. If these objects are left touching the floor, the robot that dropped them will be penalized 10 points for each item on the floor. A rule to remember: “If you can’t clean it up, don’t use it!”

    Unsportsmanlike Conduct
    Always act courteously towards other teams. Never deliberately attempt to disable or bump another team’s robot, and never act inappropriately towards another competitor or official. Penalties will be given for intolerable behaviour.

    Robot Specifications

    Size
    There are no restrictions for size or mass.

    ECS Engineers' Note: The smaller the robot is, the faster it will move! We need to make sure not to make it too big, so that we can get the speed that we want with the motors that we have.

    Power
    The energy used by the robot must come from the exact same models of batteries that are provided in the kit. Any battery can be used to power the transmitter. If springs are used, they must begin the heat in a relaxed state, or they must be compressed or stretched out by the batteries and motors of the robot before the heat starts. Springs are NOT allowed if they start in a compressed or stretched state and are used during the heat, and then the robot cannot recoil them.

    ECS Engineers' Note: This is not a problem for us, since we NEED to be able to recoil the spring so that we can shoot balls from our shooting device more than once.

    Gravitational energy cannot be used to move parts of the robot, unless the batteries and motors of the robot can lift the part of the robot that will be moved by gravitational energy before the heat begins. If any other systems are to be powered (like flashlights, or other appliances), they must be altered to draw their energy from the batteries provided, as well. Handle your batteries properly! You may play several heats in each round and you do not want to be left powerless. Keep in mind that the robot cannot be touched or modified during a heat, so you absolutely cannot change the batteries of your robot in the middle of a heat.

    ECS Engineers' Note: We must be careful not to use too many extra systems in our robot, so that we can use the maximum amount of power to move the robot quickly and to coil the spring in our shooter.

    Motors
    Drive and auxiliary motors must be chosen from the motors supplied in the kit. You are allowed to buy new motors if something goes wrong with the motors you have. You must always use the same TYPE of motor provided in the kit, but there is no MAXIUMUM number of motors that you can have on your robot.

    ECS Engineers' Note: We should be careful not to use too many motors, since our batteries aren’t too powerful this year and they may drain quickly.
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