Logo Motion is the 2011 FIRST Robotics Competition

FIRST Robotics Competition

The FIRST Robotics Competition is an international high school robotics competition organized by FIRST. Each year, teams of high school students compete to build robots weighing up to , not including battery and bumpers, that can complete a task, which changes every year...

 game. Playing pieces are inner tubes shaped like the components of the FIRST

First

First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one.First or 1st may also refer to:* First , minor summit below the Schwarzhorn in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland* First , mountain in Bernese Alps in Switzerland...

 logo. The primary objective of the game is to place them on racks to gain points. In the endgame, robots deploy smaller robots ("minibots") to climb a tower. Minibots must be made from the FIRST Tech Challenge

FIRST Tech Challenge

The FIRST Tech Challenge , formerly the FIRST Vex Challenge , is a mid-level robotics competition targeted toward high-school aged students. It offers the traditional challenge of a FIRST Robotics competition but with a more accessible and affordable robotics kit...

 kit of parts. The game celebrates the 20th season of the FRC and is also meant to commemorate the artist Jack Kamen

Jack Kamen

Jack Kamen was an illustrator from Brooklyn, New York. His first professional job was as an assistant to a sculptor working for the Texas Centennial. He studied sculpture with Agop Agopoff and was a student of Harvey Dunn, George Brandt Bridgman and William C. McNulty...

, who designed the original FIRST logo.

Kickoff

The kickoff, the first event of the 2011 FRC season, was held on January 8 at the Southern New Hampshire University

Southern New Hampshire University

Southern New Hampshire University, also known as SNHU, is a private university in Manchester and Hooksett, New Hampshire. The university is accredited by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, and also has numerous specialized...

 and simulcast to numerous regional kickoffs throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Speakers included Walt Havenstein

Walt Havenstein

Walter P. "Walt" Havenstein is an American businessman, engineer and former United States Marine. Since September 21, 2009 he has been president & CEO of Science Applications International Corporation...

, Jon Dudas

Jon Dudas

Jonathan W. Dudas served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office until January 18, 2009. He was nominated to the position by former President George W. Bush in March 2004 and appointed in July 2004...

, Dean Kamen

Dean Kamen

Dean L. Kamen is an American entrepreneur and inventor from New Hampshire.Born in Rockville Centre, New York, he attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, but dropped out before graduating after five years of private advanced research for drug infusion pump AutoSyringe...

, Neal Bascomb

Neal Bascomb

Neal Bascomb is an American journalist and author. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Miami University with a B.A. in Economics and English Literature . After graduation, he worked as a journalist in London, Paris, and Dublin. He was an editor for St. Martin's Press, and in 2000, he began writing...

, Amir Abo-Shaeer

Amir Abo-Shaeer

Amir Abo-Shaeer is an educator. In 2001, during his first year of teaching, he established the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy on the Dos Pueblos High School campus. In addition to being the Director of the DPEA, he teaches physics, engineering, robotics, machining and manufacturing...

, Dave Lavery

Dave Lavery

Dave Lavery is the Program Executive for Solar System Exploration at NASA Headquarters. He is also well-known amongst participants of the FIRST Robotics Competition as a mentor of Team 116 and was a member of the FRC Game Design Committee...

 and will.i.am

Will.i.am

William James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...

. It was broadcast live on NASA TV

NASA TV

NASA TV is the television service of the United States government agency NASA. NASA TV is broadcast by satellite with a simulcast over the Internet. Local cable television systems across the U.S. and amateur television repeaters may carry NASA TV at their discretion, as NASA-created content is...

 starting at 1030 EST

Eastern Standard Time

Eastern Standard Time may refer to:*North American Eastern Time Zone, UTC-5*Australian Eastern Standard Time, UTC+10*An album by Hip Hop group Kooley High...

.

As per previous years' competitions, Dave Lavery produced and narrated the official game animation video. New Hampshire businessman and FIRST official Blair Hundertmark assisted in the production of the video.

Match periods

A match is 135 seconds long.

• Autonomous - first 15 seconds. Code on the robots is remotely activated, and robots may react to sensor inputs and commands programmed into the robot's onboard control system. The robot tries to score Ubertubes onto pegs on the scoring grid.
• Teleoperated - 105 seconds after the Autonomous Period. Humans using a console drive their robots around the field, trying to score points using any game piece except for Ubertubes.
• Minibot Race - final 15 seconds. Minibots may be deployed onto the towers in the final 10 seconds to score extra points. They may only be deployed during this period. The robots can still score the game tubes.

Alliances

As per previous years' competitions, three teams are on each alliance, red and blue. Each team may have one robot on the field. That robot may be remotely controlled by a driver after the autonomous period.

Field

As per previous years' competitions, the playing field is 27-feet wide by 54-feet long. The floor consists of gray carpet. On each end of the field, there are scoring grids immediately in front of the alliance stations, where robots are remotely controlled by drivers. Each alliance station is protected by a wall, known as the alliance wall. On each alliance wall, there are two scoring grids. Each scoring grid has 9 pegs arranged like a square. Each row is 37 inches above the next, except on the outside columns in each grid, where the bottom peg is only 30 inches above the ground.

There are openings in the alliance wall, called feeding slots, in every corner, where an alliance member may enter playing pieces into play. However, to get from the scoring grid to your alliance's feeding slot, you must transverse the field. Thus, many teams elect to throw tubes onto the field and have their alliance's robots pick them from the ground.

Four towers with cylindrical bases are in the middle of the field. The towers are used in the endgame for alliances to earn up to 30 or more points. To assist teams in driving and programming a robot through an almost completely open field, there is colored tape on the floor to allow for sensor calibration and to create visual reference points. Furthermore, the tape delineates areas where certain robots may or may not traverse.

Playing pieces

• Ubertube - a yellow, circular inner tube. It may only be used during the autonomous period.
• Minibot - an FTC
  FIRST Tech Challenge
  The FIRST Tech Challenge , formerly the FIRST Vex Challenge , is a mid-level robotics competition targeted toward high-school aged students. It offers the traditional challenge of a FIRST Robotics competition but with a more accessible and affordable robotics kit...
  
   robot or a normal small robot

The following make up the FIRST Logo.

• Triangle - a red, triangular inner tube
• Circle - a white, circular inner tube
• Square - a blue, square inner tube

Scoring

The following is a scoring chart for the Ubertube as they are hung on the end field walls, during the autonomous period.

On bottom row	2 Points
On middle row	4 Points
On top row	6 Points

The following is a scoring chart for the game pieces as they are hung on the end field walls, during tele-operated mode (human remote controlled period). Any tube that is part of a non-Ubertube triangle-circle-square group (depicting the FIRST logo) is worth double of the listed points.

Logo Piece	Alone	Over Ubertube
NOT Hanging	0 Points	0 Points
Hanging on Bottom Row	1 Point	2 Points
Hanging on Middle Row	2 Points	4 Points
Hanging on Top Row	3 Points	6 Points

The following is a scoring chart for the mini-bot, a smaller FTC

FIRST Tech Challenge

The FIRST Tech Challenge , formerly the FIRST Vex Challenge , is a mid-level robotics competition targeted toward high-school aged students. It offers the traditional challenge of a FIRST Robotics competition but with a more accessible and affordable robotics kit...

 robot deployed during the end game period. The end game is a race between four mini bots to reach the top of tower pole on the field.

1st mini-bot to reach the top	30 Points
2nd mini-bot to reach the top	20 Points
3rd mini-bot to reach the top	15 Points
4th mini-bot to reach the top	10 Points

Based on the information above, the number of points an alliance may score is capped at 158, as game pieces may not be de-scored.

Source:

Robots

Robot rules are similar to other years with the exception of the minibot. A notable difference is that while a robot must start the match within 38"x28"x60", it may expand to a 84" diameter cylinder with no height constraints. Minibot has to be 12"x12"x12" and it can't be used during the match before the Minbot race.

World Championships

The World Championships for Logo Motion was held at the Edward Jones Dome

Edward Jones Dome

The Edward Jones Dome The Edward Jones Dome The Edward Jones Dome (more formally known as the Edward Jones Dome at America's Center, and previously known as The Trans World Dome (from 1995–2001) is a multi-purpose stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, and home of the St. Louis Rams of the NFL. It was...

 in St Louis, Missouri.

Final Round at Einstein Field