Toroid Terror

From FIRSTwiki

Toroid Terror was the name of the 1997 season FIRST game. Toroid Terror was the first time that a FIRST game departed from balls.

Index of FRC Games
2008 FIRST Overdrive 2007 Rack 'n' Roll 2006 Aim High 2005 Triple Play 2004 FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar 2003 Stack Attack 2002 Zone Zeal 2001 Diabolical Dynamics 2000 Co-Opertition FIRST 1999 Double Trouble 1998 Ladder Logic 1997 Toroid Terror 1996 Hexagon Havoc 1995 Ramp n' Roll 1994 Tower Power 1993 Rug Rage 1992 Maize Craze

Contents 1 Field Layout 2 Game Description 3 Tournament Structure 4 Kit Of Parts 5 Rules 6 Strategies 7 Robots 8 Misc Info 9 Sources

Field Layout

The field was a carpeted hexagon. In the center was an 8 foot tall pyramid structure (made of Kee-Klamps and schedule 40 pipe) with 3 posts coming out of each vertical edge. The pyramid was fixed in the center of the field, but could rotate about its center point.

In each corner of the hexagon field, there was a stack of inner tubes, 1 each of red, white and blue, which were the colors of the team. Each human player also started with 3 innertubes, of the teams color.

Game Description

The goal was to score the inner tubes on the pyramid structure. You got one point for every inner tube on the scoring structure, and your score was doubled if it was directly over the center column (like the white tubes in the picture). You also doubled your score if you had 3 in a vertical column on the scoring posts.

Tournament Structure

The main tournament was double elimination, in which every team competed. The matches were 1v1v1 where the top scoring team was the winner and the other two lost. When it got down to the final 16 teams, the game switched to 1v1.

Kit Of Parts

• Robots were powered by 2 12v drill batteries

Rules

The robot size requirement was raised to 3'x3'x4' for Toroid Terror. This had the disadvantage that robots couldn't fit through a standard doorway, and there were rumors of robots being assembled in a room, and when they tried to take it out to ship, it wouldn't fit through a door. The size requirement was changed for the following years to 3'x30"x4'.

Strategies

The most popular strategy was to extend the height of the center column (which would only hold one inner tube). Teams would put a tube or similar structure on top of the center column, which would allow more inner tubes to fit centered above the column.

Robots

Team 121's robot, Aquatread intentionally tipped its opponents.

Team 47 would block the opponent's player's station in the finals, which were only 1v1. This stopped many teams from scoring and helped them to second place.

Beatty & Hammond 71 won the championship because they pulled off the center capping strategy faster and smoother then anyone else.

Misc Info

• The Placebo was called showbot and shot confetti into the crowd.

Sources

• firstrobotics.net 1997 gallery
• Team 140's description
• Team 177's description
• Team 45 History Compilation

This article is currently a stub (a short article without much content). Please add more content to make a significant article. If you'd like to add to more stubs, look at the list of short articles.