On January 3, 2009, FIRST unveiled its annual challenge to thousands of teams worldwide. Drawing inspiration from the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, this game features aspects of space exploration, presenting new hurdles never faced before by FRC competitors! Whereas in years past the field was made of carpet, this game is played on a 54' x 27' low friction field made from special fiberglass termed "regolith". Robots must be driven on hardened plastic wheels that, when on the “crater”, simulate the driving of rovers on the moon in one-sixth gravity! The robots will also have scoring containers attached on the back of themselves called "trailers". Two three-team robot alliances collect and score Orbit Balls (or game pieces) in trailers attached to the opposing teams’ robots during the two-mintute and fifteen-second match, and human players are positioned around the perimeter of the arena to score from their stations. The object of the game is to score the most points, which would be the sum total of all game pieces in the opponents’ trailers.
Trailers begin empty each match, and robots may be loaded with up to 7 Moon Rocks by their team prior to the start of the match. Human players are equipped with 20 Moon Rocks, minus the number they load into their robot, and a quantity of Empty Cells and Super Cells. During the fifteen-second autonomous mode, robots may execute any strategy with a pre-programmed routine, meaning without any human interference. In addition, human players may score their available Moon Rocks.
Teleoperated
During teleoperated mode, humans may take control of their robots. In this two-minute period, robots and human players will try to score Moon Rocks and transport Empty Cells to a particular human player. This human player can exchange the Empty Cell for a Super Cell, which he can then score during the last twenty seconds of the match.
Pictured above are the Orbit Balls, or game pieces. They are the Moon Rock, Empty Cell, and Super Cell, respectively. When scored in the trailers, Moon Rocks and Empty Cells are worth two points each. Empty Cells can be taken from the outpost to a fueling station in exchange for a Super Cell, which is worth 15 points when scored.
