User:Architech4176/sandbox

Ring It Up!, released on 8 September 2012, is the 2012-13 robotics competition for FIRST Tech Challenge. Two alliances compete to score plastic rings into a central three-by-three, tic-tac-toe peg matrix scoring goal. The name refers to rings used for scoring points.

Alliances
In each match, the four teams competing are randomly placed on the red and blue alliances, two on each. The members of an alliance compete together to earn points.

Field
The field the robots play on is 12 ft by 12 ft in a diamond orientation with respect to the audience and judges. The robots starts anywhere on the walls on their sides (left and right with respect to the audience). On each sie is a ring d. In the corners without the platforms (front and back with respect to the audience) are the front and back parking zones. The two parking lot corners contain infrared beacons, which may guide the robots during the autonomous period. Between each home zone and the front parking zone is a protected area for each alliance.

Near the center of the field are 12 inverted ball crates that hold four containers of racquetballs (called ball tubes). There are 100 racquetballs, 12 of which contain a magnet. There are also two bowling balls, one of each color, near the field's center.

One highly effective method of scoring involved scissor lifts. As there was no upper-end cap on the crate stacking bonus (see below) several teams built 10-18 foot scissor lifts that would lift a crate, scoring 200-400 points. This score was virtually impossible to beat without the use of another scissor lift.

Line bonuses
Line bonuses are a remix on tic tac toe. Which ever alliance has more rings on a given peg "owns" that peg. In other words, has an X or an O on that peg as it would be in normal tic tact toe. However autonomous rings can grant ownership of a peg no matter how many rings the other alliance puts on. Points are still granted for those rings, the alliance just never gains ownership of the peg. However if the alliance puts another autonomous ring on top of yours, the two cancel each other out.

In tic tac toe, you win if you get a row of three. In Ring It Up, you get 30 points for each tic tac toe row you get. If you own three pegs on any row, column, or diagonal, you are awarded the line bonus or 30 points.

Pre-match
The Field is divided diagonally, marking where each robot can be placed. Where each alliance can place their robot before the match is defined by the outer walls and the diagonal division line. The robots of the respective alliance colors cannot place their robot in the other team's territory and must be touching an outer wall. Robots of the same alliance may be in contact with each other, and cannot be in contact with any field elements (id est dispensers, weighted ring goal). Autonomous rings can be placed anywhere on the robot by the team. After that the IR beacons are hung on a randomly selected column. Soon after, the match begins.

Autonomous period
The first thirty seconds of play is the autonomous period, in which the robot acts autonomously. Points can be earned in this period in the following ways:

Driver-controlled period
The Driver-controlled period is a 2 minute period following the autonomous period in which the robot is controlled by human drivers. Points can be earned in the driver-controlled period in the following ways:

End game
The last thirty seconds of the driver-controlled period is called the End Game. Additional points can be earned in this period if an alliance can push their bowling ball into their home zone.

Advancement Criteria
During tournaments and championships, match wins are not the largest part of the advancement criteria. For example, the winner of the top judged award (the Inspire Award) ranks higher than the winner of the competition-based component (Winning Alliance Captain). Winning lesser judged awards (Think Award, Connect Award, etc.) also plays a part in the advancement order. The criteria for the Inspire Award are "...match performance, observations made during interviews and in the pit area, and the team’s Engineering Notebook as equal factors...". Criteria for the other awards also include robot design, creativity, innovation, team performance, outreach and enthusiasm.