View source for 1994

{{Infobox Year
| bodystyle  = width:25em;
| year = 1994
| image  = [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/44955 https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=thumb/44955/thumb.jpg]

| tag = [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/list/1994/1 1994]

| header20 = Game Information

| game_name = Tower Power

| number_teams = 44

| number_events = 1

| header70 = {{#if:{{{winners|}}}|Awards}}

| chairman_winner       = [[frc191|191]]
| champions             = [[frc144|144]]
| finalists             = [[frc-105|-105]]

| prevyear = [[1993]]
| nextyear = [[1995]]

| image2     = {{{altlogo|}}}
| caption2   = {{{altlogocaption|}}}

}}

The 1994 FIRST Robotics Competition season formally began on January 7th, 1994 at the [[kickoff]] event in Nashua, New Hampshire.  The only official event was the [[1994cmp|1994 FIRST Robotics Competition]], also held in Nashua, New Hampshire.

FIRST did not have direct access to the internet during this period, and communicated with teams through fax and a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system BBS]. The first international team, [[frc-61|team -61]], from Kingston, Jamaica, competed in 1994. [[Canada FIRST]] also began in 1994 and played the 1994 FIRST (then U.S. FIRST) game.

==Kickoff==
Kickoff was held at FIRST headquarters in Nashua, New Hampshire on January 7th, 1994. Attendees were introduced to Tower Power, the [[kit of parts]] materials, some of the rules, and the playing field. A presentation about the 1993 [[Texas BEST]] (then NT BEST) competition "PVC Insanity" and the Sherman High team was also shown and lunch was provided.

==Documentation==
===Team updates===
<pdf>https://www.frcarchive.com/frcwiki/images/8/89/1994_Team_Updates.pdf</pdf>{{TKHref}}<br>
The 1994 game manual is currently unavailable. If you have a copy, or know someone who does, let the Archive know.

===Other official documents===
[https://www.frcarchive.com/frcwiki/index.php/File:1993_December_17_pre-kickoff_letter.pdf December 17, 1993 pre-kickoff letter]<ref name=tkh /><br>
[https://www.frcarchive.com/frcwiki/index.php/File:1994_Yearbook.pdf 1994 Yearbook]<ref name=tkh /><br>

==Playing field and scoring==
<gallery perrow=4 heights=270px widths=300px>
File:45926 - 1994 game materials.png|The playing field and starting positions [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/45926]
File:45930 - 1994 dean kamen kickoff.png|[[Dean Kamen]] on the playing field at [[kickoff]] [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/45930]
</gallery>

The field is a carpeted 12-sided regular polygon measuring 34 feet across. The border of the field is a 4 by 4 inch lumber curb with a wire fence surrounding the field. In the center of the field is a wooden goal structure surrounded by an 8 foot wide hexagon with a raised border that also forms part of the goal. The base of the goal has a series of 12 wooden dowels extending upwards to form a small cage, six of which extend upwards to support the upper portion of the goal 5 feet 2-1/2 inches off the ground.

Three robots in the pink/black, purple/yellow, and pink/green positions play one-on-one-on-one matches in the seeding rounds, with one-on-one semifinal and final matches. Robots start in three starting positions 120 degrees away from one another up against the field's curb. Each team has twelve matching color balls that start the match in two triangular formations of six balls each centered halfway between the center of the field and the curb. The two triangles of balls start rotated 90 degrees around the field away from the starting position of the team they score for.

Driver stations are against the side of the field with two black pipes extending upwards with soccer balls corresponding to the position of the station mounted on top.

<gallery perrow=3 heights=250px widths=300px>
File:45575 - 1994 demo match robot.jpg|Getting ready for a match at the first [[Canada FIRST]] event, which used the Tower Power game [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/45575]
</gallery>

Balls that end the match anywhere in the 8 foot wide hexagonal area in the center of the field are worth one point. Balls in the bottom of the goal are also worth one point. Balls in the top of the goal are worth three points, meaning the maximum score was 36 points.

Each match lasts two minutes. The control system is automatically enabled and disabled when matches begin and end.

===Game strategy===

Scoring first was almost always advantageous and nearly every team focused on scoring balls in the high goal because of the point differential and potential abilities of the robots. Successful robots were able to intake and then score six balls at a time, allowing a theoretical perfect score after two cycles, one for each cluster of balls. Bucket dumper robots would collect as many of their balls as possible into a large bin which would then be lifted and tipped into the high portion of the goal. Catapults were also a fairly effective method of scoring high, especially consistent ones like National champion [[frc144|team 144]]'s Sunny Delight. Intake systems varied with rolling grabber intakes being fairly common as well as a track or tunnel directing balls to the shooter, dumper, or lifter.

Robots also had to contend with hopping the short curb surrounding the 8 foot wide hexagon in the center of the field. Some robots scored from right against the curb while others had large wheels to drive right over it. Other robots bounced over the curb, occasionally dislodging balls from their machine.

<gallery perrow=4 heights=250px widths=270px>
File:45942 - 1994 1994cmp frc144 match robot.gif|[[frc144|Team 144]] launching balls in finals match one at the [[1994 FIRST Robotics Competition]] [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/45942]
File:45939 - 1994 1994cmp frc-105 match robot.gif|[[frc-105|Team -105]] picks up a cluster of balls in finals match one at the [[1994 FIRST Robotics Competition]] [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/45942]
File:46013 - 1994 1994cmp frc191 match robot tagme.gif|[[frc191|Team 191]] extends upwards and scores [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/46013]
File:2682 - 1994 1994cmp frc-51 frc-98 frc213 frc811 match robot.jpg|[[frc-51|Team -51]] extending to score from the goal curb while [[frc-98|team -98]] scores from within  [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/2682]
</gallery>

==Robot construction==
As was the norm for the era, the majority of robot components came from the [[kit of parts]] or [[Small Parts]] catalog. The Small Parts allowance for 1994 was $300. In addition to kit components, up to eight pulleys and/or sprockets and 15 feet of timing belts and/or chain could be purchased off the shelf from other sources. A printer was also included in the kit of parts, although its electrical components could not be connected to the robot's control system.

Robots must fit unconstrained in any orientation inside a 30 inch tall cylinder that is 36 inches in diameter at the start of a match and weigh no more than 65 pounds. Hydraulics were actually ruled legal this year in a team update, although any compression had to come from legal kit motors or springs.

Drill motors were typically used in the drivetrain of machines, while mechanisms were typically run by the Delco seat motors. Chassis were commonly wood and many robots took up much of the cylindrical maximum starting dimensions with round chassis.

===Control system===

Due to the lack of surviving documentation, many of the specifics of the 1994 control system are currently lost to time.

The kit of parts included an eight-way joystick similar to [[1993]] which was wired by default so that it would control two channels on the robot controller. If the drivetrain motors were wired into these outputs, the joystick could be rotated 45 degrees and used to drive the robot in a tank drive style.

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 a tether cable. The kit included project boxes and a variety of switches to construct a custom button box. 

As was common for the time, the available motors were drill motors and Delco seat motors.

==Team list==
{{TeamListHeader
|lowerCaption = More information about pre-1998 team numbers is available [[Old team numbers|here]].
}}
{{1994frc-61}}
{{1994frc83}}
{{1994frc6}}
{{1994frc-77}}
{{1994frc157}}
{{1994frc45}}
{{1994frc73}}
{{1994frc-99}}
{{1994frc148}}
{{1994frc-109}}
{{1994frc99}}
{{1994frc131}}
{{1994frc129}}
{{1994frc80}}
{{1994frc-110}}
{{1994frc81}}
{{1994frc-98}}
{{1994frc90}}
{{1994frc151}}
{{1994frc-35}}
{{1994frc-51}}
{{1994frc-39}}
{{1994frc-111}}
{{1994frc-97}}
{{1994frc-74}}
{{1994frc-90}}
{{1994frc69}}
{{1994frc-33}}
{{1994frc126}}
{{1994frc-89}}
{{1994frc-53}}
{{1994frc144}}
{{1994frc146}}
{{1994frc20}}
{{1994frc-115}}
{{1994frc98}}
{{1994frc155}}
{{1994frc-94}}
{{1994frc-102}}
{{1994frc-105}}
{{1994frc-108}}
{{1994frc-78}}
{{1994frc190}}
{{1994frc191}}

{{TeamListFooter}}

==Official events==
[[1994cmp|1994 FIRST Robotics Competition]]

==Official media==

Several different official shirts were produced in 1994. Teams were sent blue Tower Power shirts with the program cover logo on the back that were to be decorated and worn as team shirts at the competition. Volunteers and staff at the [[1994cmp|1994 Championship]] wore aqua shirts with the logo in the front and "STAFF" written in large letters on the back. Attendees at the championship could purchase a black shirt with the logo on the front. A purple shirt with the logo on the front was worn by some speakers.

<gallery  perrow=5 heights=150px widths=200px>
File:46054 - 1994 1994cmp frc191 robot shirt team.png| Multiple teams wearing customized blue Tower Power shirts [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/30315]
File:30315 - 1994 logo shirt.jpg| The 1994 staff shirt [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/30315]
File:45936 - 1994 1994cmp woodie flowers.png| [[Woodie Flowers]] starting a match in the staff shirt [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/45936]
File:3022 - 1994 1995 chicago museum of science and industry scrimmage scrimmage.jpg| A child wearing the black Tower Power shirt at the 1995 [[Chicago Museum of Science and Industry demo]] [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/3022]
File:46053 - 1994 1994cmp shirt.png| The 1994 [[Chairmen's Award]] being presented in the purple shirt [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/46053]

</gallery>

==News and unofficial media==

==Notes==
<references />