Aim High

Infobox_FRC_Game
game_title = Aim High

year = 2006
number_teams = 1133 [ [http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Who/Annual_Report-Financials/FirstAnnual06(1).pdf first inside spreads ] ]
number_regionals = 33
championship_location = Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
chairman_winner = Team 111 - "Wildstang"
wf_winner = Rob Mainieri [ [http://www2.usfirst.org/2006comp/events/EINSTEIN/awards.html Championship - Einstein ] ]
founders_winner = United Technologies Corporation
champions = Team 296 - "Northern Knights"
Team 217 - "ThunderChickens"
Team 522 - "Robo Wizards"

Aim High was the 2006 game for the FIRST Robotics Competition.

Game Description

Aim High is played by two alliances, red and blue, each consisting of three robots. During a 10 second autonomous mode, robots will be programmed to score into any of the three goals: one raised center goal marked by a green vision target and two corner goals at floor level. At the end of the autonomous period, the alliance with the most points will gain a 10 point bonus and will be placed on defense for round two. Rounds two, three, and four, which are each 40 seconds long, are human-controlled rounds. Between rounds two and three, the alliances will switch from offense to defense, or from defense to offense accordingly. At the start of round 4, any alliance can score into their corresponding goals. At the end of the match, an alliance can receive bonus points by placing its three robots on a platform below the center goal. The alliance with the most points wins. Scoring will be as follows: 3 points for any ball scored in the center goal, 1 point for any ball scored in the corner goals; 10 bonus points for scoring the highest in the autonomous round; and 25 points for placing all 3 robots on the platform at the end (10 points for 2 robots and 5 points for 1 robot).

Field Layout

The Aim High field has 6 goals and 2 platforms. Unlike previous years, an alliance's goals are on the far side of the field. The field is flat, measuring convert|54|ft|m long by convert|26|ft|m wide.

Alliance Station

The alliance station wall is convert|26|ft|0|abbr=on long and stretches the width of the field. In the middle convert|18|ft|0|abbr=on of the alliance station wall exists diamond plate aluminum from the floor to convert|3|ft|0|abbr=on high, with clear acrylic filling the rest of the convert|3.5|ft|1|abbr=on. The outer edges of the wall consist of transparent polycarbonate. Above each alliance station, there is a circular goal (the center goal), with a green light above it. The green light is used so that the CMUcam can lock onto it. On the bottom left and right of each alliance station, there are two rectangular holes (the corner goals) through which balls can be scored. In front of each alliance station there is a raised platform.

Tournament Structure

The tournament structure of this competition is the same as in previous years. In the regional comptitions, teams will be given access to their robots on the Thursday of the competition weekend. It is a day dedicated to practice, giving each team a number of practice rounds on the regulation playing field. Friday and the morning of Saturday is dedicated to a series of qualification rounds. Each team will compete in around seven to ten matches. The number of wins by a team in these matches determines the team's ranking.

Before the lunch break on Saturday, the top eight teams after the qualification rounds are asked to select an alliance of three robots. The order to this selection process goes in order from the top-seeded team to the eight seed. In contrast to previous years, the order reverses for the second selection round; the eighth seed picks first and then backwards in order to the first seed. This was instituted to make the finals more competitive and balanced compared to previous years.

After the lunch break, the finals take place. This is a standard-elimination tournament bracket, starting with alliance 1 facing alliance 8, alliance 2 facing alliance 7, and so on. At the end of the finals, the last remaining alliance is declared the winner and all three teams are given the right to attend the national competition.

Kit of Parts

There were several changes in the kit of parts this year,
* The inclusion of the National Instruments LabVIEW program
* CMUcam II, including a pan/tilt assembly with servos, designed to follow an illuminated target
* A new robot controller, based on the PIC18F8722, instead of the PIC18F8520
* New EasyC programming tool
* New, wider CIM motors with drive belts
* New, smaller Window motors
* A new, smaller and lighter backup battery charger
* An IR transmitter and receiver (for broken beam detection)
* Digital camera and "Picasa" software supplied by Google

Rules

Major Rules include:
*Intentionally damaging another robot or the playing field is not allowed.
*No balls may exit the robot at a velocity greater than convert|12|m/s|0|abbr=on|lk=on.
*The shooter mechanism must remain within the original starting dimensions of convert|28|in|0|abbr=on by convert|38|in|0|abbr=on by convert|60|in|0|abbr=on tall. (Intentionally "flopping" to drive or score with the convert|60|in|0|abbr=on dimension on the ground is prohibited.)
*No part of the robot may ever extend more than convert|60|in|0|abbr=on above the floor. If a robot is more than convert|60|in|0|abbr=on high, and it shoots a ball or blocks a ball from being shot, a 5 point penalty per ball will be assessed.
*Power supplies are limited to compressed air, a 12-volt motorcycle battery, and a 7.2-volt RC battery

Robots

There were many viable tactics in Aim High. There were ball dumpers, floor shooters, ramp shooters, and defensive robots.

Ball Dumpers

The primary aim of a ball dumper is to collect balls that are either loaded into it via the human players or that it collects off of the floor. The ball dumper then moves to one of the lower goals and dumps all the balls into the lower goal for a significant amount of 1-point goals. Ball dumpers can be made to be very reliable in autonomous, as they don't depend on aiming and are difficult to block with an opposing ramming robot from across the field. Ball dumping teams must deal with defensive robots attempting to block their transit to and from the human loading zone, as well as teams that may simply block the lower goals to prevent them from dumping.

Floor Shooters

Floor shooters are the more common of the two shooter varieties. A majority fire mainly from a few feet in front of the ramp. Some (often referred to as ranged shooters, perimeter shooters, or distant shooters) can fire from half court or more. Floor shooters, especially those that fire from near the ramp, must contend with great amounts of defense to block their shots and dislocate them from shooting positions. A wide variety of shooting mechanisms can be found on floor shooters, including two horizontally mounted spinnind discs, two vertically mounted (for the allowance of backspin), and singular mount spinning discs with a curved output track. Many use the CMUCam to some extent while shooting, and a few even have automated turrets that automatically lock onto the target.

Ramp Shooters

Ramp shooters are robots that use the height of the ramp to greatly reduce the distance that they must propel the ball. Ramp shooters will drive up to the driver's wall and fire balls through a high-mounted shooting mechanism that is statically aimed directly at the goal. Ramp shooters have a disadvantage from floor shooters in that they must traverse the ramp and risk tipping, and also usually can only shoot from one location directly in front of the goal. Defense against a ramp shooter is simply to sit in the position on top of the ramp, or keep them from getting up the ramp.

Defense

Since scoring in the high goal in Aim High is very difficult and because there are specific offense and defense periods, defense plays a very large role. An effective defense tries to prevent their opponents from gathering balls, dumping balls, and shooting balls. A defensive robot is involved in a great deal of ramming and pushing, and must have a very strong and durable drivetrain. A low centre of mass is a key asset so that the robot may play up and down the ramp without worry of tipping. In order to prevent robots from scoring, a robot playing defense will attempt to pick the corners of the shooting robot, causing it to spin. A few defensive bots had nets, walls or other defensive mechanisms to block shots.

Competitions

Regional WinnersThe top three teams in each of the 33 Regional events will be invited to attend the Championship event at Atlanta GA.

[http://www.newenglandregional.org/ UTC New England Regional] Winners:
*Team 176 - Aces High - UTC Hamilton Sundstrand & Suffield High School & Windsor Locks High School - [http://www.aceshigh176.org/ Website]
*Team 1124 - UberBots - UTC Fire and Security & Avon High School - [http://uberbots.org/ Website]
*Team 177 - Bobcats - UTC Power & South Windsor High School - [http://bobcatrobotics.org/ Website]

[http://www.floridafirstregional.com/ Florida Regional] Winners:
*Team 180 - S.P.A.M. Robotics - UTC/Pratt & Whitney LSP/ & Manufacturers Round Table & South Fork High School & Martin County High School & Jensen Beach High School & Clark Advanced Learning Center - [http://spamrobotics.com/ Website]
*Team 79 - Krunch - Honeywell Inc & East Lake High School - Clearwarer, FL - [http://krunch79.com/ Website]
*Team 1649 - Lockheed Martin & Windermere Preparatory School & WPVA

[http://www.baesystemsfirst.org/regional/ Granite State Regional] Winners:
*Team 1276 - Midcoast School of Technology - Rockland, ME. [http://www.mcstrobotics.org Website]
*Team 133 - Eagle Industries Inc. & Bonny Eagle High School - Standish, ME. [http://bert133.org/ Website]
*Team 1519 - Mechanical Mayhem - BAE Systems & Milford Area Youth Homeschoolers Enriching Minds - Milford, NH. [http://www.mechanicalmayhem.org/ Website]

[http://www.virginiafirst.org NASA/VCU Regional] Winners:
*Team 1610 of Franklin High School in Franklin, VA. [http://teams.fnsnet.net/FRC/1610 Website]
*Team 343 of F. P. Hamilton Career Center in Seneca, SC. [http://www.metalinmotion.com Website]
*Team 1598 of George Washington High School in Danville, VA. [http://web.dps.k12.va.us/gwhs/first/homepage.htm Website]

[http://first.purdue.org/boilermakerregional Boilermaker Regional] Winners:
*Team 1272 - Tyrannical Mechanical - Hoosier Hills Career Center in Bloomington, IN. [http://www.bloomingtonrobotics.com Website]
*Team 85 - B.O.B. (Built On Brains) - Zeeland East & West High School in Zeeland, MI. [http://www.zeeland.k12.mi.us/zhs/firstteam/index.html Website]
*Team 1319 - Golden Strip Robotics - Greenville County Schools in Mauldin, SC. [http://www.gsr1319.com Website]

[http://www.mitc.org/first/ Chesapeake Regional] Winners:
*Team 1629 - Garrett Coalition - NASA/Beitzel Corporation & Garrett County Public Schools [http://www.team1629.com Website]
*Team 175 - Buzz Robotics - UTC Hamilton Sundstrand Space, Land & Sea & Enrico Fermi HS [http://www.buzzrobotics.org Website]
*Team 1184 - Cobra Robotics - DeWALT/JE JACOBS & Harford Technical HS [http://www.cobrarobotics.com/website/Robot.htm Website]

[http://www.midwestfirst.org Midwest Regional] Winners:
*Team 1756 - Team Argos - Caterpillar Inc/NASA & Manual High School & Peoria High School & Peoria Notre Dame High School & Richwoods High School
*Team 111 - Wildstang - Motorola & Rolling Meadows High School & Wheeling High School [http://www.wildstang.org/ Website]
*Team 1810 - - Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation & Mill Valley High School

[http://www.msoe.edu/wisconsinfrcregional/ Wisconsin Regional] Winners:
*Team 111 - Wildstang - Motorola & Rolling Meadows High School & Wheeling High School [http://www.wildstang.org/ Website]
*Team 1625 - Winnovation - NASA Marshall Space Flight Center/Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Foundation/Exelon Nuclear-Byron Generating Station & Winnebago High School
*Team 1816 - The Green Machine - NASA/Big Image Corporation & Edina High School [http://www.edinarobotics.com Website]

[http://www.peachtreeregional.org/ Peachtree Regional] Winners:
*Team 1261 - RoboLions - Gwinnett County / Cognex / Peachtree Ridge High School - [http://www.prhsrobotics.com Website]
*Team 1414 - iHot - Kimberly-Clark Corporation/Siemens/BellSouth Foundation/Microsoft/IBM/Patillo Construction Co./John Whitehead/Cisco/Alcatel/Weatherly Inc./MIKON & Atlanta International School - [http://www.ihotrobotics.org Website]
*Team 1057 - Burgess Pigment/Imerys/J. M. Huber/Sandersville Railroad/Sandersville Technical College/Thiele Kaolin & Brentwood School

[http://palmettofirst.engr.sc.edu/ Palmetto Regional] Winners:
*Team 11 - Mount Olive Robotics Team - [http://users.nac.net/morobot/ Website]
*Team 247 - Da'Bears - [http://www.dabears247.com/ Website]
*Team 1251 - Tech Tigers - [http://www.techtigers.com Website]

[http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1451 Arizona Regional] Winners:
*Team 1006 - Port Perry High School & GM of Canada (Engineering) - [http://www.team1006.ca Website]
*Team 60 - Ford Motor Company/Laron Incorporated/Southwire/Westcoast Netting & Kingman High School - [http://www.team60.com Website]
*Team 1897 - NASA & South Valley Academy [http://www.team1897.com/ Website]

Silicon Valley Regional Winners:
*Team 254 - NASA Ames & Bellarmine College Prep - [http://team254.bcp.org Website]
*Team 581 - BAE Systems & San Jose High Academy - [http://www.sjharobotics.org/ Website]
*Team 766 - Menlo-Atherton School - [http://www.marobotics.com/ Website]

Lone Star Regional Winners:
*Team 231- High Voltage - United Space Alliance & Pasadena ISD, Pasadena, TX- [http://www.team231.com/ Website]
* Team 1421- Team Chaos - Nasa, Picayune High School & Pearl River Central High School, Picayune, MS- [http://picayunerobotics.datastar.net/ Website]
*Team 418- Purple Haze - LASA Robotics Association/National Instruments & Liberal Arts & Science Academy of Austin, Austin, TX- [http://www.lasarobotics.org/ Website]

[http://www.firstrobotics.uwaterloo.ca/ Waterloo Regional] Winners:
*Team 1114 - Simbotics - General Motors - St. Catharines Powertrain & Governor Simcoe Secondary School [http://www.niagarafirst.org/ Website]
*Team 1503 - Spartonics - General Motors - St. Catharines Powertrain & OPG & Westlane Secondary School [http://www.spartonics.org Website]
*Team 1281 - Mustang Robotics - Town of Richmond Hill & Alexander Mackenzie High School - [http://www.mustangrobotics.ca Website]

Greater Toronto Regional Winners:
*Team 1114 - Simbotics - General Motors - St. Catharines Powertrain & Governor Simcoe Secondary School [http://www.niagarafirst.org/ Website]
*Team 1503 - Spartonics - General Motors - St. Catharines Powertrain & OPG & Westlane Secondary School [http://www.spartonics.org Website]
*Team 865 - Warp 7 - Toronto District School Board & Western Technical-Commercial School [http://www.warp7.ca Website]

Great Lakes Regional Winners:
*Team 1503 - Spartonics - General Motors - St. Catharines Powertrain & OPG & Westlane Secondary School [http://www.spartonics.org Website]
*Team 1114 - Simbotics - General Motors - St. Catharines Powertrain & Governor Simcoe Secondary School [http://www.niagarafirst.org/ Website]
*Team 67 - Heroes of Tomorrow - General Motors - GM Proving Grounds & Milford High School [http://www2.huronvalley.k12.mi.us/schools/mhs/activity/hot_team/index1.html Website]

Las Vegas Regional Winners:
*Team 25 - Raider Robotix - North Brunswick Township High School [http://www.raiderrobotix.org/ Website]
*Team 987 - HighRollers - Cimarron Memorial High School
*Team 8 - Paly Robotics - Palo Alto High School [http://robotics.engr.paly.net/ Website]

Buckeye Regional Winners:
*Team 272 - Lansdale Catholic Robotics - Visteon Automotive Systems/TPS Golf -- AimPoint Technologies/Montgomery County Community College & Lansdale Catholic High School [http://www.frc272.com/ Website]
*Team 494 - Goodrich Martians - DaimlerChrysler/General Motors/Textron Fastening Systems & Goodrich High School [http://www.494martians.com/ website]
*Team 174 - The Arctic Warriors - UTC Carrier & Liverpool High School [http://snobot.org/ Website]

New Jersey Regional Winners:
*Team 25 - Radier Robotix - North Brunswick Township High School [http://www.raiderrobotix.org/ Website]
*Team 103 - Cybersonics
*Team 1279 - Cold Fusion

Davis/Sacramento Regional Winners:
*Team 1726 - The N.E.R.D.S. (Nifty Engineering Robotics Design Squad) [http://www.project1726.org/ Website]
*Team 852 - Athenian Robotics Collective [http://www.athenianrobotics.org/ Website]
*Team 1662 - Raptor Force Engineering

Finger Lakes Regional
*Team 1126 - Xerox Corporation & Webster High Schools
*Team 229 - Division by Zero - Clarkson SPEED Program & Massena Central High School & Salmon River High School
*Team 1567 - Bausch&Lomb/M&T Bank & East High School & School Without Walls

[http://www.sbpli-lifirst.org/ SBPLI Long Island Regional] Winners:
*Team 358 Festo & Hauppauge H.S.
*Team 271 - Bad Boys of Bayshore - BAE Systems/Verizion & Bay Shore High School
*Team 870 - Miller Environmental/Sea Tow International/RJN Tool and Automation/FESTO Corporation/Westhampton Glass and Metal/Lewis Marine Supply of Greenport/Westhampton True Value Hardware/Southold Rotary/Southold Kiwanis/Hart's True Value Hardware/Speonk Lumber/Lucas Ford/unlimited technologies & Southold Junior Senior High School
*Chairman's Award: Team 514 - RPM - G&L Precision Corp./Miller Place PTO/MP Robotics Boosters & Miller Place Schools [http://www.millerplacerobotics.com/ Website]
*Woodie Flowers Award: Mr. Pat Hughes/Team 514 [http://www.millerplacerobotics.com/ Website]
*Autodesk Visualization Award Team 564 Longwood High School & Gershow Recycling [http://www.longwoodrobotics.org/ Website]

[http://www.westmichiganregional.com/ West Michigan Regional] Winners:
*Team 503 - Frog Force - Intier Automotive & Novi High School
*Team 451 - The Cat Attack - Dana Corporation & Sylvania City Schools - [http://www.thecatattack.org/ Website]
*Team 70 - More Martians - General Motors/Chrysler Foundation/Kettering University & Goodrich High School

The Championship

Winners

Einstein Finals: Archimedes Division
*Team 296 - Northern Knights - Arial Foundation/Nortel Networks & Loyola High School
*Team 217 - ThunderChickens - Ford Motor Company/FANUC Robotics Inc./B&K Corporation & Utica Community Schools
*Team 522 - Robo Wizards - New York Container Terminal/SI Bank & Trust Foundation/Consolidated Edison/Richmond County Savings Foundation/Northfield Savings Bank & Mckee Vocational High School

Finalists

Einstein Finals: Newton Division
* Team 25 - Raider Robotix - Bristol-Myers Squibb & North Brunswick Twp. High School
* Team 968 - RAWC - West Covina High School
* Team 195 - Cyber Knights - Smiths Medical & Southington High School

Division Winners

Archimedes Division:
*Team 296 - Northern Knights - Arial Foundation/Nortel Networks & Loyola High School
*Team 217 - ThunderChickens - Ford Motor Company/FANUC Robotics Inc./B&K Corporation & Utica Community Schools
*Team 522 - Robo Wizards - New York Container Terminal/SI Bank & Trust Foundation/Consolidated Edison/Richmond County Savings Foundation/Northfield Savings Bank & Mckee Vocational High School

Curie Division:
*Team 503 - Frog Force - Intier Automotive & Novi High School
*Team 451 - The Cat Attack - Dana Corporation & Sylvania City Schools - [http://www.thecatattack.org/ Website]
*Team 1139 - The Chamblee Gear Grinders - Chamblee Charter High School

Galileo Division:
*Team 177 - Bobcat Robotics - UTC Power & South Windsor High School
*Team 1126 - SPARX - Xerox Corporation & Webster High Schools
*Team 201 - The FEDS - GM & Rochester High School

Newton Division:
* Team 25 - Raider Robotix - Bristol-Myers Squibb & North Brunswick Twp. High School
* Team 968 - RAWC - West Covina High School
* Team 195 - Cyber Knights - Smiths Medical & Southington High School

National Chairman's Award Winner

Team 111 - Wildstang

References

* [http://robotics.nasa.gov/events/2006_kickoff.php Kickoff movie] hosted by NASA.
* [http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/doc_updt.htm 2006 game manual]