The FIRST game for 2008 is called FIRST Overdrive.
This year, the game is similar to racing. Each alliance has three teams. The alliances start in opposite
corners of an octagonal racetrack. The object of the game is to score more points than your opponents by moving
around the track in a counter-clockwise direction and moving large balls called Trackballs across the finish
line or over the Overpass which is located over the finish lines.
THE GAME PIECES
The game pieces for FIRST Overdrive are called Trackballs. They are 4' tall balls that weigh about ten pounds when
inflated. They are made of rubber with a fabric covering on them. In FIRST Overdrive, they are used to score points whenever they cross the finish line or "hurdle" the Overpass. They are also scored whenever they are taken off the
Overpass at the beginning of the game, and when they are on the Overpass at the end of the game.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Each match is 2 minutes and 15 seconds long. The match starts with an autonomous mode called Hybrid Mode in which
the robots move on their own, with the only control being given them by remotes telling them to do different
actions. In this mode, the robots score 4 points every time they cross the finish lines, 4 points every time they
cross on of the lane markers dividing the track in half, 8 points for removing the Trackballs placed on top of the
overpass at the beginning of the match, 2 points for pushing their Alliance-coloured Trackball across the finish
line, and a 6-point bonus (for a total of 8 points recieved) if they can hurdle the Trackball over the overpass.
After hybrid mode ends, the teleoperated period begins for the remaining 2 minutes of the match. Each alliance
gets 2 points every time one of their robots crosses their finish line, 2 points for pushing the ball across the
finish line, and 6 more points (for 8 points) if they hurdled the ball over the Overpass. At the end of the game,
the alliances can attempt to put their Trackballs on top of the Overpass for the end of the game, to get 12 bonus
points.
THE ALLIANCES
In each game, there are two competing alliances of 3 teams each. They begin in opposite corners of the track. Each
team on the alliance has up to 4 members on it. There is 1 coach, who can be either a mentor or a student member
of the team. They are in charge of strategy and work with the other members of their team and their alliance to
plan a winning strategy in the match. There is also a person named the robocoach, who uses a remote control to
send certain instructions to their robots during the hybrid mode. Lastly, there is the driver, who operates the
robot during the teleoperated period. The teams can have another member who can be either another robocoach, to
give extra instructions to the robots during the hybrid mode, or another operator, to help with controlling the
robot during the teleoperated period.
