1996

Archive tag	1996
Game Information
Game name	Hexagon Havoc
Number of teams	93
Number of official events	2
Chairman's Award winner	144
Winner	73
Finalist	-114
← 1995 1997 →

The 1996 FIRST Robotics Competition season formally began on February 10, 1996 at the kickoff event in Nashua, New Hampshire. Attendees were introduced to Hexagon Havoc, the kit of parts materials, some of the rules, and the playing field. Competition season consisted of the 1996 New England Tournament in Nashua, New Hampshire and the National Championship at the EPCOT Center at Disney World. Teams did not need to qualify for the Championship and could participate in the New Hampshire Tournament, Nationals, or both.

During the 1996 season, FIRST dropped the "U.S." in the U.S. FIRST name that they had operated under since being founded in 1989.

The Woodie Flowers Award was introduced in 1996 and was first awarded to Woodie Flowers himself. 1996 also saw the introduction of the modern black and clear acrylic trophies with FIRST logo on top and round medals for the event winners, while other awards were an acrylic plate in a wooden frame.

Playing field and scoring

• 

  The playing field and starting positions in one-on-one-on-one rounds [1]

• 

  Side view of the goal [2]

• 

  Top-down view of the goal [3]

• 

  Rear view of the human player station [4]

The field is a carpeted hexagon with 16 foot long sides rimmed with 4 by 4 lumber. As in 1995, a plastic-covered cable fence surrounded the field.

The central goal is hexagonal with 25-3/4 inch long sides with an upper and lower section surrounded by wooden posts. A triangular frame forms three overhanging triangles where three of the large balls begin the match. A 24 inch wide circular hole in the top surface of the goal allows access to the lower area of the goal, as does the exposed portion of the lower goal itself. The goal is constructed from 2 by 4 lumber, 3/4 inch plywood, and 1-1/2 inch dowels. Other than the downwards force from the weight of the goal, the goal was not affixed to the carpet and could be pushed around the field or even tipped over by a strong enough machine.

The human player area consisted of a 3 foot 7 inch wide by 3 foot long 3/4 inch thick plywood ramp angled away from the playing field where it meets the base plate. The base plate is another 3 foot 7 inch wide by 3 foot deep piece of 3/4 inch plywood sitting flat on the carpet. The boarder lumber and fence extend along the sides of the ramp and base plates. Two vertical 2 inch diameter PVC pipes extend upwards from the bottom corners of the ramp with an 8 foot long horizontal pipe located so that the top of the pipe sits 60-3/4 inches off the carpet across them.

• 

  Team 141 ready for a match in the red position at the National championship [5]

Three robots in the red, yellow, and blue positions play simultaneously in the seeding rounds and earlier rounds of playoffs, with two on two matches later on. Each team has two large and twelve small matching color balls. One of each color of large ball starts scored on the triangular corners of the goal directly in front of the robot in its colored position. The second large ball of each color begins the match 1/3rd of a clockwise rotation around the hexagon away from the robot in that position. A large ball that ends the match on or above the triangles is worth five points, while a large ball inside or above the main portion of the goal is worth ten points. Eight small balls start in a somewhat diamond-like configuration on the field 1/6th of a counterclockwise rotation from the robot in their colored position and four more start at the bottom of their matching ramp. Small balls scored inside or above the goal are worth three points. The scoring area is defined as the extension of the hexagonal profile of the goal (or the triangles, for scoring large balls on the triangles). The maximum possible score is 56 points.

1996 also marked the introduction of the human player. Human players were seatbelted down in the base plate and could remove balls from the field from under the horizontal PVC bar between the base plate and ramp or around the upright supports but could only get them back into play on the field by throwing them up and over the horizontal bar. Human players could not make contact with robots.

Each match lasts two minutes. The control system is automatically enabled and disabled when matches begin and end. At the end of the match, referees score the balls in the goal. In seeding matches, winners receive three seeding points, runners-up receive one seeding point, and losers receive no seeding points. At the end of seeding rounds, teams are ranked and play in a double-elimination tournament until eight teams remain, at which point a one-on-one best-two-out-of-three series begins with quarterfinals.

Game strategy

Most simply, matches involved collecting balls and scoring them as quickly as possible. Because of the positioning of the balls at the beginning of a match, some teams would scatter an opponent's cluster of small balls on the way to pick up their own. Generally, small balls were scored by aligning a portion of the robot with the wooden support structure of the upper goal and ejecting balls over the lower fence structure. Some robots collected the small balls into a box which could be pushed into the bottom of the goal and take up space, potentially blocking other teams from scoring. Covering or blocking the top of the goal with netting was also somewhat effective, assuming your robot could get into position and block before another robot began to score (and ideally be able to also score your own balls at some point as well). Because balls are considered scored when their geometric center is inside or above the goal, blockers were more ineffective against robots which could lift the large balls particularly high above the goal. The goal filling up with small and large balls (and lower goal blockers) was very possible and being able to hold on to a ball high above the goal was advantageous in general, especially because the first match tiebreaker was decided by the large ball in the highest position.

Because of the way that the scoring area was defined, and the overall construction of the goal, a completely legal strategy was to tip over the goal and score balls in the now closer-to-horizontal scoring area. Teams like team 42 used a small flipper to tip the goal over and either sit the robot in front of the opening or aim it towards the human player station which could be loaded up with balls inside the scoring area.

With a well-controlled machine, knocking the opponent five-point balls off their starting position was fairly easy, especially with another large ball already in the machine's grabber to make it easier to hit them off. Against machines that could not manipulate the large balls this was very effective, but against machines that could score large balls in the middle of the goal this potentially saves them some of the trouble of trying to pick up (or knock off and then pick up) the five point ball from the corner to score it for ten points instead.

• 

  Team 73 pins 141 in quarterfinals four match two of the National championship after scoring all their balls [6]

• 

  Team 121 descores both opponent balls from the triangles before scoring their own ten point ball. Their three-point balls were previously scored low in the silver box [7]

• 

  Team 42 flips the goal at the National championship [8]

• 

  Team -116's human player descores a large ball at the National Championship [9]

Human players could assist the robot in picking up balls or could take opponent balls from the robot and keep them to prevent them from being scored. Human players could also attempt to score in the goal or try to knock opponent five point balls off by throwing balls above the horizontal bar. Throwing a ball to scatter the starting configuration of the small balls on the field was also a common move.

During the later one-on-one playoff rounds, robots that could score either the maximum score or a very high score quickly could shift into playing defense for more of the round. With only one opponent to worry about, and no penalties for pinning indefinitely, some matches saw fast-scoring robots pinning their opponent for thirty seconds or more. Team 73 scored several perfect rounds in a row at the 1996 National Championship where they would pin their opponent for the rest of the match after scoring all their points.

Robot construction

• 

  Some of the materials available in the kit of parts [10]

• 

  Teams inspecting kits of parts at the 1996 kickoff [11]

Similar to previous years, robots were primarily constructed from items included in the kit of parts and $425 worth of materials from the Small Parts catalog with a handful of outside allowances. Fasteners did not count against the price limit as long as they were actually being used as fasteners. Like in 1995, no more than four pulleys and/or sprockets and 10 feet of belt and/or chain from outside sources could be used, and these components had to be used in the drivetrain. Building custom "suction cup" devices to hold onto balls was allowed in the rules, although all other pneumatic components had to come from the kit and could not be modified.

The kit included a variety of raw materials and components such as several types of shaft, aluminum, wood, polycarbonate and rubber sheets, four small wheelchair wheels, a selection of hinges, pivots, and magnetic catches, ball bearings, and springs. Allowed outside materials included some additional sheets of aluminum, polycarbonate, and a few varieties of pipe.

Robots had to display their sponsor and school name so that judges and referees could identify them during a match. Canonical team numbers were assigned, but were only used to order from Small Parts and pick up kits of parts.

Robots must fit unconstrained in a 36 inch cube at the start of a match and weigh no more than 120 pounds including batteries, almost doubling the 70 pound weight limit from 1995.

Control system

• 

  The receiver and relay box (center), with RNET radio (above), drill motor and cooling fan (upper right) and Tekin speed controller (right), batteries and battery holders (below), pneumatic pump (lower left), and Delco seat motors (upper left) [12]

• 

  The receiver and relay box, Tekin speed controllers, and drill motors on team 171's 1996 robot [13]

Two off-the-shelf PC flight sticks from CH Products were included in the kit of parts. These plugged into the bespoke Transmit Box and allowed for three axis of proportional control from each joystick (two for the joystick itself and a third for a thumb wheel) with two digital buttons on each joystick. An additional port on the transmit box could be used to wire in an additional custom controller at the expense of some of the controls on the joysticks.

The receiver and relay box functioned similar to the individual receive and relay boxes used in 1995, with relays being used to control the Delco seat motors and air pumps and PWM outputs driving the Tekin speed controllers.

The transmit and receive boxes contained no software-programmable hardware, with joystick and button inputs just passing directly to the robot where the signals could be wired to speed controllers or relays. As in previous years, DIP switches allowed different buttons to control different outputs from the receive/relay box and limit switches could be wired in to automatically turn a motor on or off when hit or released.

The transmit and receive boxes could communicate wirelessly using a pair of RNET radios or a tether cable and adaptor plugged directly between the two boxes. RNETs would be surrendered before competition began and operating in the pits required use of the tether and tether adaptor.

Four Delco seat motors and two Milwaukee drill motors with gearboxes were included as well as two Tekin reversing speed controllers. Two Textron pneumatic pumps and a selection of pneumatic hardware including two pistons and two solenoid valves were also included. A computer-style muffin fan was provided to blow cool air over, typically, the drivetrain drill motors.

If used, drill motors had to be paired with a Tekin speed controller. Drills could not be plugged directly into the receiver or relay box and the seat motors, air pumps and valves, and muffin fan could not be plugged into the speed controllers.

Team list

Team number	Team name	Team location	Robot	Archive link	Events attended
-65	3-Dimensional Services & Brandon High School	Rochester Hills, MI		1996 frc-65	1996nh, 1997cmp
-116	Aavid Thermal Technologies & Gilford High School	Laconia, NH	MCΔT	1996 frc-116	1996nh, 1996cmp
98	A.C. Horn Precision Metal Fabrication Company & St. Mark's School of Texas	Dallas, TX		1996 frc98	1996cmp
6	Alliant Techsystems Inc. & Washburn High School Millers	Hopkins/Minneapolis, MN		1996 frc6	1996cmp
83	Alliant Techsystems Inc. & Kamiak High School	Mukilteo, WA		1996 frc83	1996cmp
8	Applied Materials & Palo Alto High School	Santa Clara, CA		1996 frc8	1996cmp
-43	Lockheed Fort Worth/Azle High School	Ft. Worth, TX		1996 frc-43	1996cmp
12	Bath Iron Works/Wright Pierce Engineers & Bath Regional Vocational Center/Morse High School	Bath, ME		1996 frc12	1996nh
13	Baxter Healthcare Corporation & Johnsburg High School The Bio-Hawk Team	Round Lake, IL	Biohawk	1996 frc13	1996cmp
16	Baxter Healthcare & Mountain Home High School Baxter Bomb Squad	Mountain Home, AR	2 Minute Warning	1996 frc16	1996cmp
71	Beatty Machine and Manufacturing & Clark/Gavit/Hammond/Morton High School	Hammond, IN	Beattyjuice	1996 frc71	1996cmp
-108	Boeing Commercial Airplane Group & Lindbergh High School	Seattle, WA		1996 frc-108	1996cmp
23	Boston Edison Company & Plymouth North High School	Plymouth, MA		1996 frc23	1996nh, 1996cmp, 1996ratr
33	Chrysler Corporation & Avondale High School The Turbo Chuckers	Auburn Hills, MI		1996 frc33	1996cmp
36	Codem Systems, Inc./High Speed Technologies & The Derryfield School Codem CyberCats	Hollis/Manchester, NH		1996 frc36	1996nh, 1996cmp
42	Daniel Webster College/Lockheed Martin Commercial/Premier Industries/Highland Tool & Alvirne High School Alvirne P.L.A.D.	Hudson, NH		1996 frc42	1996nh, 1996cmp
43	Dart Container Corporation/Dart Foundation & Mason High School The FOAMIN' BullDAWGS	Mason, MI	Dart Vader II	1996 frc43	1996cmp
45	Delco Electronics Corporation & Kokomo High School KHS FIRST	Kokomo, IN	Sabre Kat	1996 frc45	1996cmp
-14	Delphi Energy & Engine Management & Rider High School/Witchita Falls High School/Hirschi High School/Carrigan Center	Wichita Falls, TX		1996 frc-14	1996cmp
47	Delphi Interior & Lighting & Pontiac Central High School Chief Delphi	Troy/Pontiac, MI		1996 frc47	1996cmp
85	Drawform, Inc. & Zeeland High School	Zeeland, MI		1996 frc85	1996cmp
148	E-Systems, Inc. & Greenville High School	Greenville, TX	The Big Red Slammer	1996 frc148	1996cmp
-114	E-Systems-ECI Division & Lakewood High School	St. Petersburg, FL	Too ESY II	1996 frc-114	1996nh, 1996cmp
28	Eco Sales/Degraphics/Hertz Rent-A-Car & Pierson Middle & High School	Sag Harbor, NY		1996 frc28	1996nh, 1996cmp
-96	Emerson Electric Company & Cardinal Ritter College Preparatory High School/Normandy High School Arch Rivals	St. Louis, MO		1996 frc-96	1996cmp
-71	Ensign-Bickford Company/Peter Shapiro & Associates & Simsbury High School	Simsbury, CT		1996 frc-71	1996cmp
75	Ethicon, Inc. & Hillsborough High School	Hillsborough, NJ		1996 frc75	1996cmp
166	Ferrofluidics/Unitrode/Conolly Crowns Laboratory & Merrimack High School Merrimack Tomahawks	Merrimack, NH	Nu-Clear-Blue	1996 frc166	1996nh, 1996cmp
61	Foster Miller Corporation & Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School	Upton, MA		1996 frc61	1996nh
-84	General Electric Corporation/IMO Industries, Inc. - Gems Sensors Division/Northeast Utilities/Elizabeth H. Norton Trust/Plainville Board of Education & Middle School of Plainville RoboDevils	Plainville, CT		1996 frc-84	1996nh
86	H.K. Smith Charitable Fund/Amu Pro, Inc./Jacksonville Electric Authority & Stanton College Preparatory School	Jacksonville, FL		1996 frc86	1996cmp
26	Hadco Corporation/PolyVac, Inc. & Pinkerton Academy	Salem, NH		1996 frc26	1996nh
176	Hamilton Standard & Windsor Locks High School	Windsor Locks, CT	Hook	1996 frc176	1996nh, 1996cmp
175	Hamilton Standard Space Systems Intl. & Enrico Fermi High School	Windsor Locks/Enfield, CT	Buzz	1996 frc175	1996nh, 1996cmp
73	Harris Corporation/Rochester Institute of Technology & Edison Technical School	Rochester, NY	Tigerbolt	1996 frc73	1996nh, 1996cmp
74	Haworth, Inc. & Holland High School	Holland, MI		1996 frc74	1996nh, 1996cmp
80	Honeywell, Inc. & Cortez High School RoboColt	Phoenix, AZ		1996 frc80	1996nh, 1996cmp
-110	Honeywell, Inc. & North Community High School	Minneapolis, MN	The Claw	1996 frc-110	1996cmp
81	Honeywell's MICRO SWITCH Division & Freeport Senior High School	Freeport, IL		1996 frc81	1996cmp
177	International Fuel Cells & South Windsor High School	South Windsor, CT	The Hexorcist	1996 frc177	1996nh, 1996cmp
88	Johnson & Johnson Professional, Inc. & Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School TJ^2	Raynham, MA		1996 frc88	1996nh
90	Johnson & Johnston Associates/Digital Equipment Corporation & Salem High School J.A.B.S.	Salem, NH	Revolution	1996 frc90	1996nh, 1996cmp
99	Light Machines Corporation & Memorial High School	Manchester, NH	Dark Horse	1996 frc99	1996nh, 1996cmp
-68	Lockheed Martin Manned Space Systems/University of New Orleans & Benjamin Franklin High School	New Orleans, LA		1996 frc-68	1996cmp
-97	Marathon Electric Manufacturing Corporation/Navi Dowty & Associates, Inc./Intercity State Bank/Auto Glass Specialists/Etco/M&I; Bank & D.C. Everest High School	Wausau, WI		1996 frc-97	1996cmp
105	Massachusetts Electric/New England Electric & Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School	Worcester, MA		1996 frc105	1996nh
97	Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School	Cambridge, MA		1996 frc97	1996cmp
-83	McDonnell Douglas Corp. & Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School	St. Louis, MO		1996 frc-83	1996cmp
110	Motorola, Inc. & Richland High School Rebels	Fort Worth, TX		1996 frc110	1996cmp
111	Motorola, Inc. & Rolling Meadows High School/Wheeling High School Wild Stang	Schaumburg, IL		1996 frc111	1996nh, 1996cmp
108	Motorola, RPG/Florida Atlantic University & Dillard Computer/High Tech Magnet Technocrates	Plantation, FL		1996 frc108	1996cmp
116	NASA Headquarters/America On Line/University of Maryland Space Systems Laboratory & South Lakes High School Gresenators	Reston, VA		1996 frc116	1996cmp
120	NASA Lewis Research Center/Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority & East Technical High School	Cleveland, OH		1996 frc120	1996cmp
58	National Semiconductor & South Portland High School	South Portland, ME		1996 frc58	1996nh
121	Naval Undersea Warfare Center & Middletown High School	Newport, RI	Ragnarok	1996 frc121	1996nh, 1996cmp
-36	New Hampshire Ball Bearing & Laconia High School	Laconia, NH		1996 frc-36	1996nh
124	Northeast Utilities Company/U.S. Coast Guard Academy & Montville High School/Williams School	Waterford, CT		1996 frc124	1996nh
69	NYNEX & Quincy Public Schools	Quincy, MA	Spectrum	1996 frc69	1996nh, 1996cmp
126	NYPRO Inc. & Clinton High School Gael Force	Clinton, MA		1996 frc126	1996nh, 1996cmp
-67	O.S.D. & Alton High School	Alton, NH		1996 frc-67	1996nh
129	Oscar Mayer Foods & Sherman High School	Sherman, TX	Oscar	1996 frc129	1996cmp
131	Osram Sylvania & Manchester Central High School	Manchester, NH		1996 frc131	1996nh, 1996cmp
130	Osram Sylvania, Inc. & Hillsboro Deering High School	Hillsboro, NH		1996 frc130	1996nh
138	Parker-Hannafin & Souhegan High School	Hollis, NH		1996 frc138	1996nh, 1996cmp
141	Prince Corporation & West Ottawa High School	Holland, MI	The Panther Robot	1996 frc141	1996cmp
144	Procter & Gamble Company & Walnut Hills High School	Cincinnati, OH	Operation Orange	1996 frc144	1996cmp
146	Public Service of New Hampshire & Manchester West High School Blue Lightening	Manchester, NH	Hexcalibur	1996 frc146	1996nh, 1996cmp
100	Raychem Corporation & Woodside High School	Menlo Park, CA	Stealth II	1996 frc100	1996cmp
-70	Regal Research/Karlee Company/A&A; Manufacturing & Garland High School	Garland, TX		1996 frc-70	1996cmp
20	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute & Shenendehowa High School River Rats	Troy, NY		1996 frc20	1996nh, 1996cmp
151	Sanders, A Lockheed Martin Company & Nashua High School	Nashua, NH	Veloc-a-Raptor (The Nor'East Beast)	1996 frc151	1996nh, 1996cmp
72	Semiconductor Research Corp. & Harding University High School	Research Triangle Park, NC	Rambot	1996 frc72	1996cmp
-115	SMC Pneumatics, Inc. & Ipswich High School	Topsfield, MA		1996 frc-115	1996nh
155	Stanley Hardware/Stanley Manufacturing/Sherwood Tools/Camm, Inc./Automotive Controls Corporation/Canberra & Berlin High School	New Britain, CT	The Viper	1996frc74	1996cmp
155	Stanley Works & C.M. McGee Middle School Berlin Bashers	New Britain, CT	The Basher	1996frc75	1996nh
157	Stratus Computer/Water Instrument Operations & Assabet Valley Regional Vocational High School	Marlboro, MA	Scorpion	1996 frc157	1996nh, 1996cmp
158	Structural Dynamics Research Corp. & Great Oaks/Live Oaks Campus	Milford, OH		1996 frc158	1996cmp
55	Texas Instruments & Austin Academy for Excellence	Dallas, TX		1996 frc55	1996cmp
-112	Texas Instruments & Gunter High School Terminoodles Intensified	Dallas, TX		1996 frc-112	1996cmp
161	Textron Automotive Company & Cass Technical High School Hurricane XT	Troy, MI		1996 frc161	1996cmp
-82	Textron Systems Division & Wilmington High School	Wilmington, MA		1996 frc-82	1996nh
173	United Technologies Research Center & East Hartford/Hartford Public/Rockville/Bloomfield/Weaver High Schools	East Hartford, CT		1996 frc173	1996nh
-30	University of Idaho & Moscow Senior and Junior High Schools	Moscow, ID		1996 frc-30	1996cmp
140	University of Massachusetts Lowell & Tyngsboro Junior and Senior High Schools	Lowell, MA		1996 frc140	1996nh
37	University of Miami & M.A.S.T. Academy/Coral Park High School	Coral Gables, FL		1996 frc37	1996cmp
-54	University of Texas at Arlington - Engineering Division/Automation & Robotics Research Institute/Bell Helicopter Textron/Rainwater Foundation & Bluebonnet Applied Learning Academy	Fort Worth, TX		1996 frc-54	1996cmp
171	University of Wisconsin-Platteville & Platteville High School Mozzarella Madness	Platteville, WI		1996 frc171	1996cmp
172	UNUM/Corning Co-Star/Nichols Portland & Kennebunk High School/Gorham High School/Old Orchard Beach High School	Portland, ME		1996 frc172	1996nh
153	Visual Inspection Technologies, Inc./Rutgers University & Somerset County Vocational & Technical School	Flanders, NJ		1996 frc153	1996nh
-76	Washington State University/Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. & Pullman High School	Pullman, WA		1996 frc-76	1996cmp
200	West Irondequoit High School	Rochester, NY		1996 frc200	1996nh
190	Worcester Polytechnic Institute & Mass Academy of Math & Science	Worcester, MA	The Phoenix	1996 frc190	1996nh, 1996cmp
191	Xerox Corporation & Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School X-Cats	Webster/Rochester, NY	Hexcat	1996 frc191	1996nh, 1996cmp

News and unofficial media

Kokomo Tribune (March 11 1996)
ASME News (June 1996)
https://www.frcarchive.com/frcwiki/index.php/File:1996_June_Circuit.pdf Circuit (June 1996)]
Boys Life (December 1996)
Forbes (1996)