Field

The playing field

Playing field

A playing field is a field used for playing sports or games. They are generally outdoors, but many large structures exist to enclose playing fields from bad weather. Generally, playing fields are wide expanses of grass, dirt or sand without many obstructions...

 is a carpet

Carpet

A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of "pile" attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a manmade fibre such as polypropylene,nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their...

ed, rectangular

Rectangle

In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is any quadrilateral with four right angles. The term "oblong" is occasionally used to refer to a non-square rectangle...

 area. Dividing the field in half is an 18 in (46 cm) high railing with a central bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

, which can tilt to either side of the field or remain level. Two 7 ft (2 m) high movable goals

Goal (sport)

Goal refers to a method of scoring in many sports. It can also refer to the physical structure or area of the playing surface where scoring occurs....

 begin on opposite sides of the field. Around the perimeter

Perimeter

A perimeter is a path that surrounds an area. The word comes from the Greek peri and meter . The term may be used either for the path or its length - it can be thought of as the length of the outline of a shape. The perimeter of a circular area is called circumference.- Practical uses :Calculating...

 of the field are two stations for human players, who work with remote controlled robot

Robot

A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...

s on the field to score points. At the start of each match, the alliance station contains twenty small balls. An additional twenty small balls and four large balls are located at the far end of the playing field.

Robots

Each robot can weigh up to 130 lb (59 kg), and must start each match small enough to fit inside a 30" x 36" x 5' space (0.76 m x 0.91 m x 1.52 m).

Scoring

Each match is a maximum of two minutes long. Alliances can end the match at any time. Alliances score one point for each small ball in the goal, ten points for each large ball in the goal, ten points for each robot in the End Zone, and ten points if the stretcher is in the End Zone. The alliance doubles its score for each goal that is on the bridge if the bridge is balanced, and multiplies its score by a factor of up to three by ending the match before the two minute time limit. Each team receives the alliance score. A team multiplies its score by 1.1 if its large ball is on top of a goal. Scores are rounded up to the nearest whole point after applying all multipliers.

Reception

While some participants did not like the lack of "red versus blue" competition within matches, others praised the game for its inventiveness and emphasis on cooperation. Many consider it one of the best FIRST games yet designed.

Events

The following regional events were held in 2001:

• Kennedy Space Center Southeast Regional - Kennedy Space Center, FL
• UTC New England Regional - Meadows Music Theater, Hartford, CT
• SBPLI Long Island Regional - Suffolk County Community College, Long Island, NY
• NASA Langley/VCU/School of Engineering FIRST Robotics Competition - Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
• West Michigan Regional - Grand Rapids Community college, Grand Rapids, MI
• Johnson & Johnson Mid-Atlantic Regional - Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
• Lone Star Regional - Reliant Arena, Houston
• New York City FIRST! Regional - Columbia University, New York City
• Southern California Regional - Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles
• Great Lakes Regional - Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI
• Motorola Midwest Regional - Northwestern University, Evanston, Il
• Philadelphia Alliance Regional - Drexel University, Philadelphia
• Silicon Valley Regional - San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

The national championship was held at Epcot Center, Disney World, Orlando.