Rack 'n' Roll
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The 2007 FRC game is called Rack 'n' Roll. The game involved manipulating various rings to make rows on a large central rack.
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Game Description
Note: this section is heavily paraphrased and/or directly copied from the 2007 Game Manual. Until someone writes up a better description, this will have to do.
Rack ‘n’ Roll is played by two three-team alliances on a large field with a center structure (Rack) containing 24 “spider legs.” To score, teams use three different types of tubes called “Keepers,” “Ringers,” and “Spoilers.”
The game is made up of two scoring periods. In autonomous mode, which lasts 15 seconds, robots try to place a Keeper on one of the spider legs of the Rack using a color vision tracking system to find one of the four target lights at the top of the rack. Once placed, a Keeper tube may not be removed or “Spoiled.”
During the second period (2 minutes), the robots are driver controlled. In this period the teams will attempt to score more points by using the robots to add “Ringers” onto the spider legs or by “Spoiling” the opposing teams score by placing a black tube over the “Ringer.” Points are earned and scored exponentially by the number of consecutive Ringers and Keepers in a column or row. Only the tube on the front of the spider leg will count toward the overall score.
Number tubes in row or column: 1 - 2 points 2 - 4 points 3 - 8 points 4 - 16 points 5 - 32 points 6 - 64 points 7 - 128 points 8 - 256 points
Alliances may score additional points if, by the end of the match, their robots are in their home zone and have been lifted off the floor 4” or more (15 points each) or 12" and above (30 points each) by another robot before the final buzzer sounds.
Explanation of Game Pieces:
Strategy Discussion
New Features
Besides the obvious new features associated with the new Game Objects, several new ideas were incorporated into the 2007 game:
- Teams now have a Weight Class. Basically, the lower your weight, the higher your potential Starting Configuration.
4 feet=120 pounds 5 feet=110 pounds 6 feet=100 pounds
- Teams can now expand to a 6' * 6' * ceiling height Playing Configuration, as opposed to 5' * 5' * 5' in previous years.
Robots
Due to the simple scoring nature of Rack n' Roll, there were three main types of robots that played, and one of those types is simply a hybrid of the first two.
- Offensive/Scoring:These robots primarily used an arm or suction device to hold onto the ringers and place them on the rack. Many of these robots played defensive roles if necessary during a match. Within this class of robot, there were those who could score on all or only select levels of the rack. Many offensive robots could only score on the bottom section of the rack.
- Defensive/Rampbots:These robots were more focused on the specific task of defense. Many of these robots had powerful drive trains which allowed them to push other robots and prevent them from scoring. In addition to defense, many of these robots also had a ramp or lift system built into their design. At the end of a match these robots proved to contribute many more points in addition to the points scored on the rack.
- Hybrid Bots:These robots tended to have the characteristics of both defensive and offensive robots. Many of them had arms with which they could score, and a ramp or lift system to receive the bonus points at the end of a match. These robots tended to me the most successful of the competition season because they were more versatile as long as they could do both defensive and offensive tasks well.
