1992

Archive tag	1992
Game Information
Game name	Maize Craze
Number of teams	28
Number of official events	1
Chairman's Award winner	191
Winner	126
Finalist	45, 111, 190
← 1991 1993 →

The inaugural 1992 FIRST Robotics Competition season formally began on January 3rd, 1992 with a kickoff event in New Hampshire where sponsors were given a kit of parts and the rules for the game. Sponsors partnered with local schools to build a robot to compete at the 1992 FIRST Robotics Competition on February 13 and 14th.

Before becoming known as the FIRST Robotics Competition, Maize Craze was billed as part of "FIRST Encounters," somewhat similar to previous FIRST programs like FIRST Points.

After the competition, the machines were to become property of FIRST. Extra kit components and the dot-matrix printer were also supposed to be returned to FIRST. The kit of parts included t-shirts from Russel Athletics to be worn at the competition, which teams customized with their school and sponsor names and logos.

Documentation

Other documentation

Post event letter

Playing field and scoring

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  The playing field (not to scale)[1]

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  Field drawing with dimensions, locations of posts and balls, and home bases [2]

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  Tennis balls being set up before the beginning of a match [3]

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  Late 1991 test game setup where the balls started in pyramids around the field [4]

The playing field is comprised of a 16 foot square plywood surface 2 1/2 feet off the ground and covered in 1 to 2 inches of whole kernel corn. An 8 inch tall Plexiglass rim forms the perimeter of the field, and the plywood and Plexiglass are marked with each team's 20 inch square home base centered on each side of the field. Five 2 inch diameter PVC pipes are located around the field, with one 12 inch tall section in the middle of the field and four more located nine inches in from adjacent walls of the field.

155 tennis balls representing "treasure" are spread around the field. 150 one-point balls begin in the center of the field centered around a 12 inch post with one of the orange 25 point balls on top. Two more orange 25 point balls start on the two taller 36 inch posts in opposite corners of the playing field, with two two-tone 10 point balls starting on the top of 24 inch posts in the other opposing corners.

Matches last for two minutes in which four robots attempt to pick up and transport balls back to their own home base. Robots must start the match inside the home base and within the maximum size limitation, but can expand outwards after the start of the match. Tennis balls located within a team's home base at the end of the match are counted and scored. Teams played in the red, white, blue, and green starting positions. The control system umbilicals were color-coded to ensure teams plugged their robots into the controls for their position.

Although the manual originally outlined a 25 foot tall structure around the field to support the control system umbilicals, in practice the umbilicals were dropped down from the gym ceiling at the competition.

An early version of Maize Craze tested in late 1991 had the treasure starting in several pyramids around the field, with no central 25 point ball.

Game strategy

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  Team 190 and team 126's robots at BattleCry 2004 [5]

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  Team 45's robot in front of its static home base structure loaded with a delivery of "treasure" [6]

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  Team -5's robot extended outward into the middle of the field [7]

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  Team 111's robot with a front scoop and a basket that extended up the PVC poles to collect the colored balls from below [8]

In general, teams had to decide whether to focus on collecting as many of the central balls as possible or go for the outer balls. The central 25 point ball could be knocked off its post and picked up like the one point balls. Scoops that lifted into a large open ball collection area in the robot were fairly common and effective. Mechanisms for picking up the balls from the PVC pipes often located themselves further down the PVC pipe and then extended upwards to collect the ball from below.

Because balls needed to be in a team's home base at the end of the match, robots would at some point make a "mad dash" back to their base. Some machines included a static base or unmoving component of their robot that could securely hold balls in their home bases. Machines that could deposit balls could do so early and then focus on preventing an opponent from making it back to their base as a defensive maneuver. Tipping an opponent's robot was allowed, but mechanisms designed to intentionally damage other robots were not allowed.

Team 126's winning robot had a drivetrain consisting of twelve thin discs, six on each of two axles at the front and rear of the machine. As the robot ran over balls, the discs would flex and allow tennis balls to accumulate between the discs in round cutouts. The more balls collected, the more additional traction they provided for the machine. An extendable cage could ride up the PVC pipes and collect the higher-point balls. Team 45's finalist robot was the most effective "home base" runner and could spend the end of the match trying to push opponent robots away from their home bases with their own treasure safely scored. Teams 111 and 190 both had effective scoopers with large ball catchment areas and extending devices to collect the raised colored treasure. In the second and final match of the finals, teams 111 and 45 both attempted to push 126's NY-alator out of scoring position during the last 30 seconds.

Robot construction

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  The 1992 kit of parts [9]

Robots were primarily constructed from materials in the kit of parts as well as up to $200 worth of materials from Small Parts. Additional fasteners, lubricants, and nonfunctional decorations were also allowed. Robots had to fit unconstrained in a 38 cm by 50 cm by 34 cm starting configuration. These are the dimensions for the largest rectangular solid that can fit inside the Rubbermaid container the kit of parts came in. Robots could not weigh more than 11 kg (24.2 lbs) and needed to clearly display their sponsor and school names to be identifiable during a match.

The kit contained a variety of aluminum, plastic, and wood sheets, rods, PVC, springs, fasteners, and other raw materials. A series of prefabricated sprockets and gears were also included. The dot-matrix printer could be disassembled and used but it's electrical components could not be wired into the control system. Unless purchased from Small Parts, any wheels or mechanism components had to be machined from the raw kit components. Many robots used large, spindley wheels to maneuver the corn, with traction being a major issue for some machines.

Control system

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  The two controller boxes with the wiring diagram for the umbilical [10]

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  Diagram showing the length of the umbilical [11]

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  The umbilical connector on the right side of team 20's 1992 robot [12]

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  Power being turned on at the beginning of a match [13]

Unlike every year since, the 1992 control system was not wireless and offered no proportional control of motors. Four thick "umbilicals" were suspended above the field and connected the driver's controls to the robot.

Two controllers with two double pole, double throw switches allowed the two driver-operators to control full-speed forward and reverse control of two motors each. 12 volt power supplies rated for 10 amps were wired directly into the two controllers and then up and back down the umbilical cords to the machines. Each switch would connect power from the power supplies directly to the motor wired to it's matching pins on the machine. Robots needed the matching connector for the umbilical in a position where it could be easily plugged and unplugged, and motors needed to be wired to specific pins to tie motor movement to the controller switches. Umbilical cables measured 23' 10" from the point at which they are suspended, meaning they would go taut towards the edges of the field while falling slack towards the center as well as tangling with the robots and each other. Controllers and tether connectors were color-coded with tape to keep track of which controllers controlled which tether.

Available motors included two larger Delco motors, typically used in the drivetrain, and smaller Portescap gearmotors typically used in mechanisms. A 9-volt battery could also be used to power components of the robot as long as they did not cause tennis balls to move after the end of a match.

Team list

More information about pre-1998 team numbers is available here.

Team number	Team name	Team location	Robot	Archive link
-3	Advanced Animations & Rochester High School	Rochester, VT		1992 frc-3
-4	Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. & Dieruff High School	Allentown, PA		1992 frc-4
-5	Alcoa & Plum High School	Pittsburgh, PA		1992 frc-5
-8	AT&T & Piscataway High School	Piscataway, NJ		1992 frc-8
-11	Baxter Healthcare Corporation & Whitney Young High School	Chicago, IL		1992 frc-11
-108	Boeing Corporation & Lindbergh High School	Renton, WA		1992 frc-108
157	Bose Corporation & Framingham High School	Framingham, MA		1992 frc157
-13	Case Western Reserve University & West Geauga High School	Chesterland, OH		1992 frc-13
45	Delco Electronics Corporation & Kokomo High School ScienceKats	Kokomo, IN	Cornvette	1992 frc45
-99 (148)	E-Systems, Inc. & Dallas Christian School	Mesquite, TX		1992 frc-99
151	Ferrofluidics & Nashua High School Purple Panthers	Nashua, NH		1992 frc151
-16	GE Elfun Society & Hartford Public High School	Hartford, CT		1992 frc-16
97	Harvard University & Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School	Cambridge, MA		1992 frc97
-20	IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center & Fox Lane High School	Bedford, NY	IBM (Incredible Ball Machine)	1992 frc-20
-21	IMED Corporation & University City High School	San Diego, CA		1992 frc-21
146	Manchester Kiwanis & Manchester West High School	Manchester, NH	I.T. (In... Theory)	1992 frc146
-51 (213)	Markem Corporation & Keene High School	Keene, NH		1992 frc-51
-89	Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Boston Latin High School	Boston, MA		1992 frc-89
111	Motorola, Inc. & Wheeling High School	Wheeling, IL		1992 frc111
-25	New England Telephone Company & Don Bosco Technical High School	Boston, MA		1992 frc-25
131	New Hampshire Technical College/General Electric Aircraft Engines & Manchester Central High School	Manchester, NH	The Little Green Machine	1992 frc131
126	NYPRO, Inc. & Clinton High School Gael Force	Clinton, MA	NY-alator	1992 frc126
99	Raytheon Corporation & Memorial High School	Manchester. NH	Terminator III	1992 frc99
20	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute & Shenendehowa High School	Clifton Park, NY		1992 frc20
-115	SMC Pneumatics, Inc. & Ipswich High School	Ipswich, MA		1992 frc-115
-78	University of New Hampshire & Winnacunnet Regional High School	Hampton, NH		1992 frc-78
190	Worcester Polytechnic Institute & Doherty High School	Worcester, MA		1992 frc190
191	Xerox Corporation & Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School	Rochester, NY	Tech-No-Nerd	1992 frc191

News and unofficial media

FIRST-compiled news articles
Design News (April 20, 1992)
Circuit (March 1992)
WPI Journal (Spring 1992)
Electron Magazine (Summer 1992)
The Boston Globe (December 13, 1992)
MIT Technology Review (February/March 1993)