1993

Archive tag	1993
Game Information
Game name	Rug Rage
Number of teams	25
Number of official events	1
Chairman's Award winner	-7
Winner	148
Finalist	-78
← 1992 1994 →

The 1993 FIRST Robotics Competition season formally began on January 8th, 1993 with a kickoff event in New Hampshire. Sponsors and team representatives were given a kit of parts and the rules for the game. Teams competed at the 1993 FIRST Robotics Competition on February 25th to 27th.

After the competition, the machines were to become property of FIRST. Extra parts from the printer in the kit of parts were also supposed to be returned to FIRST.

Playing field and scoring

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  Isometric view of the field and kick balls [1]

• 

  The playing field with dimensions [2]

• 

  Goal dimensions [3]

The main playing field is comprised of a 12 foot by 40 foot carpeted playing field. Four 6 foot square goal areas are positioned 6 feet in from the edges of the longer sides of the main playing field. The field perimeter is defined by 4 inch diameter PVC pipe connected with fittings with Velcro strips holding the rim to the carpet every few feet. The 3 foot square staring location was marked on the rim in the corners of the main playing field. The goals are defined by 2 inch diameter PVC mounted to cast iron flanged attached to the goal carpet. The goal has a cross pipe centered 12 inches off the carpet and has a rim centered 5 inches off the carpet around the sides and rear of the goal. Teams controlled robots from five foot square boxes diagonal to the corners of the playing field.

Five 13 inch diameter red kick balls worth five points each begin the match in the approximate middle of the field and are randomly surrounded by twenty 6 inch diameter balls filled with water worth one point each. Smaller balls could be rolled into goals while large balls needed to be picked up and lifted over the goal's cross pipe.

Matches last for two minutes in which robots attempt to score balls into their goal. Like in 1992, robots play in the red, yellow, blue, and green positions. Robots must start the match inside the starting area in the corner of the field nearest their goal and within the maximum size limitation, but can expand outwards after the start of the match. Balls are counted as in the goal when their center is within the goal area as bounded by the vertical plane passing through the center of the pipes that form the rim of the goal. Balls may be inside a competing device and still count.

Game strategy

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  Team 126 scores two red balls in a detachable net [4]

• 

  Team 157's robot blocks off team 20's goal [5]

• 

  Teams 148 and -78 rushing to collect balls in the finals [6]

In general, robots that could pick up and transport a large number of either ball but especially the larger red five-point balls put up higher scores than robots that only scored a few balls at a time. Being able to effectively intake and score multiple red balls was important to getting a high score.

A number of teams including 151 and 45 built detachable ball "cages" that began the match on the robot's drive base, would be filled up during the match, and then at some point be deployed over the cross pipe and into the goal, offering more protection and potentially easier scoring. Some robots could fit under the goal and potentially try to descore opponent's balls or hold their own balls more securely in the goal. Robots would often sit and guard their goals after scoring. Team 157 built a deployable goal blocker that would close off the bottom of an opponent's goal and prevent them from scoring small balls unless it was dislodged.

Robot construction

Robots were constructed from materials in the kit of parts as well as up to $300 worth of materials from Small Parts catalog 14 and a list of additional components including 10 feet each of several diameters of PVC and other pipe, 4 feet by 8 feet of 1/4 inch plywood, and two thicknesses of 4 foot square Lexan or Plexiglass. Additional fasteners, lubricants, and nonfunctional decorations were also allowed, as well as a 9-volt battery as in 1992. Robots had to fit unconstrained in a 3 foot cube starting configuration, could not weigh more than 50 pounds, 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. The dot-matrix printer could be disassembled and used but no electrical components except for scavenged wire could be plugged into the control system. Unless purchased from Small Parts, any wheels or mechanism components had to be machined from the raw kit components.

Control system

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  The Termiflex controller. Note that the the first footnote says channels 1 and 2 but means channels 3 and 4 [7]

• 

  The eight position joystick and Motorola Micro Controller channel assignments [8]

• 

  The development, pit area, and match setups of the control system [9]

• 

  The switch box harness [10]

The 1993 control system was the first wireless control system and utilized a pair of RNet radios to communicate. Controllers included a Motorola Termiflex controller with four sets of buttons and an "emergency off" button and an eight-position joystick. Channels three and four controlled full-power reversible outputs on the Motorola microcontroller box while five and six offered seven-step proportional and reversible control with a "STOP" button to reset the channels to zero. The eight-position joystick was not analog and only offered full speed forward and reverse on channels one and two of the microcontroller. By rotating the joystick 45 degrees and wiring the drivetrain into channel one and two, the joystick could be used for a tank-style drivetrain.

Controllers would be plugged into a 7.5 volt power supply and the transmitter RNet for normal wireless operation. Before unpacking the robot at competition, the transmitter RNet had to be surrendered. For testing in the pits, the receive RNet would be unplugged and a tether cable would connect the controllers to the microcontroller. During matches, controllers would be plugged in to official competition transmitters that would also supply the power to the controllers and connect with the receive RNet.

For prototyping and testing, the kit of parts also included a switch box harness that functioned similar to the 1992 control system and allowed one to easily control two motors at full speed forward and backward. It was recommended to use this harness to cut down on stress on the microcontroller and relays of the normal control system.

Robots were powered by a single drill battery that fit into a shell normally used to charge the batteries. The battery holders were wired directly to the microcontroller box. All motors and other electrical devices must be wired into the Motorola microcontroller box with the supplied connectors. Relays in the microcontroller box would allow the microcontroller to trigger motor outputs based on the signals being received from the RNet.

Available motors included two larger Delco motors, typically used in the drivetrain, and smaller ECM gearmotors and a Portescap motor 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 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
-7	AT&T; Bell Laboratories & Newark High School The Labsters	Murray Hill, NJ		1993 frc-7
-10	Baxter Healthcare Corporation & Warren High School	McGaw Park, IL		1993 frc-10
-108	The Boeing Company & Lindbergh High School	Seattle, WA		1993 frc-108
157	Bose Corporation & Framingham High School	Framingham, MA		1993 frc157
-12	Brown University & Moses Brown High School	Providence, RI		1993 frc-12
45	Delco Electronics Corporation & Kokomo High School ScienceKats	Kokomo, IN	Rug Kat	1993 frc45
-99 (148)	E-Systems, Inc. & Dallas Christian School	Greenville, TX	Dallas Road Runner	1993 frc-99
73	Eastman Kodak Company & Edison Technical School	Rochester, NY		1993 frc73
-109	Ford Motor Company & Fordson High School The Tractors	Dearborn, MI		1993 frc-109
-19	Hitchiner Manufacturing Company & Milford High School	Milford, NH	K.I.S.S.	1993 frc-19
-110	Honeywell, Inc. & North Community High School	Minneapolis, MN		1993 frc-110
-98 (811)	Ingersoll-Rand Company/Ferrofluidics Corporation & Bishop Guertin High School Cardinals	Nashua, NH	The Guertin Grabber	1993 frc-98
151	Lockheed Sanders & Nashua High School Purple Panthers	Nashua, NH		1993 frc151
-51 (213)	Markem Technologies & Keene High School	Keene, NH	B.E.A.S.T. (Ball-Eating Applied Science and Technology)	1993 frc-51
-25	New England Telephone & Don Bosco Technical High School	Boston, MA		1993 frc-25
126	NYPRO, Inc. & Clinton High School Gael Force	Clinton, MA	Black Beauty	1993 frc126
20	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute & Shenendehowa High School	Troy, NY		1993 frc20
-115	SMC Pneumatics, Inc./UMASS Lowell & Ipswich High School	Topsfield, MA		1993 frc-115
-27	Stevens Institute of Technology & Columbia High School	Hoboken, NJ		1993 frc-27
-105	Texas Instruments, Inc. & Denison High School	Sherman, TX		1993 frc-105
129	Texas Instruments, Inc. & Sherman High School	Sherman, TX		1993 frc129
-78	University of New Hampshire/Mitre Corporation & Winnacunnet High School	Durham, NH	The Walrus	1993 frc-78
190	Worcester Polytechnic Institute & Doherty High School / Mass Academy of Math & Science	Worcester, MA	WILDTHANG	1993 frc190
191	Xerox Corporation & Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School X-Cats	Webster, NY		1993 frc191
-89	York International Corporation/Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Boston Latin High School	York, PA		1993 frc-89

News and unofficial media

The Connector (February 18, 1993)
ABC's 20/20
MIT Technology Review (November 1993)