Texas BEST: Difference between revisions

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Texas BEST (Boosting Engineering Science and Technology), originally NT (North Texas) BEST, is an annual robotics competition similar to the [[FIRST Robotics Competition]]. BEST began in 1993 when Texas Instruments engineers noticed student's interest in a video of [[Woodie Flower]]'s [[2.70]] class at a company engineering day<ref name="best">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160818213223/http://www.bestoftexasrobotics.org/history.html BEST Of Texas Robotics History]</ref>. TI held the first competition to determine which school it would sponsor in the [[1994]] FIRST Robotics Competition.


Some older BEST content is included in the FRC Archive under the [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/list/best/1 BEST tag].
==1993==
The 1993 NT BEST game was PVC Insanity. The contest was held by Texas Instruments' Sherman site and 13 schools and over 200 students from as far away as San Antonio competed. Robots had to fit inside a 24 inch cube and weigh no more than 24 pounds. In three minute matches teams aimed to collect their color of PVC ring from the perimeter of the field and score them on a central "cake" with seven posts. Any ring that ends the match on or over the cake but not inside a machine scores one point. Additional points are awarded for scoring the PVC rings on a post that matches the team's color, with the taller central pole being open to score for all teams<ref>[https://www.frcarchive.com/frcwiki/index.php/File:1994_Yearbook.pdf 1994 Yearbook]</ref>.
<gallery perrow=2 heights=270px widths=300px>
File:46017 - 1993 best logo.png|The PVC Insanity logo [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/46017]
File:41645 - 1993 best frc-112 robot.jpg|Gunter High's 1993 NT BEST robot "Eightball." [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/45926]
</gallery>
A presentation about the 1993 competition was given at the [[1994]] [[kickoff]] event. The winning team from Denison High School was sponsored by Texas Instruments to compete in the [[1994 FIRST Robotics Competition]] as [[frc-105|team -105]]. The finalist team from Sherman High School was sponsored by GTE to compete as [[frc129|team 129]] after seeing them compete in NT BEST, and Texas Instruments staff also assisted the Sherman High team in 1994.
==1994==
In 1994 the competition was called Bumble Rumble. The goal was to collect "bumble ball" dog toys and put them in goals or platforms on the side of the field<ref name="gunter">[https://web.archive.org/web/19970727104708/http://www.texoma.com/ghs/tbest.html Gunter High School NT/Texas Best]</ref>. Four teams played at once on the 12 foot by 24 foot field in two minute matches in a double-elimination tournament. Two humps towards the ends of the field kept the 24 bumble balls in the center of the field unless picked up and scored. Teams earned one point per ball in their home base or three points per ball on the platform. One tie-breaking "Bumble Buddy" was worth double the points. Machines could push, capture, and steal balls from other machines or scoring areas, block opponents from scoring, upset other machines, or do anything else that didn't damage the playing field or another machine<ref>[https://www.bestrobotics.org/site/b_year_1994.php Bumble Rumble]</ref>.
San Antonio BEST was also formed as the second "hub" of competition in 1994<ref name=best />.
<gallery perrow=2 heights=270px widths=300px>
File:41646 - 1994 best frc-112 robot.jpg|Gunter High's 1994 NT BEST robot "Thundersprags." [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/41646]
File:46038 - 1994 best button.jpg|A 1994 NT BEST Bumble Rumble button [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/46038]
</gallery>
==1995==
The competition for 1995 was named "TOTALly AweSUM." In this game each team had both a positive and negative scoring area. Teams collected long, foam "noodles" and placed them in their positive scoring area while trying to clear the noodles from the negative area. Collin County BEST in Frisco, West Texas BEST in Lubbock, and Chicago BEST hubs all began in 1995<ref name=best />.
In 1995 BEST expanded to include a state-level competition which was called Texas BEST. The top six teams from the NT BEST competition were sent to compete with teams from four other "hubs." Approximately 85 teams competed overall<ref name=gunter />.
<gallery perrow=3 heights=270px widths=300px>
File:42752 - 1996 best logo.gif|Texas BEST logo [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/42752]
File:15301 - 1996 best frc-112 team.jpg|Gunter High students show Jerry Junkins, Texas Instruments CEO and president, their winning 1995 BEST robot "Terminoodles." Gunter would be sponsored by Texas Instruments in [[1996]] to compete in FIRST as [[frc-112|team -112]] [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/45926]
File:46039 - 1995 best button.jpg|A 1995 NT BEST Totally Awesum button [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/46039]
</gallery>
==1996==
The 1996 BEST game was Block 'N Load and involved
<gallery perrow=3 heights=270px widths=300px>
File:46040 - 1996 best button.jpg|A 1996 NT BEST Block 'N Load button [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/46040]
</gallery>
==1997==
Dynamite Dual was the name of the 1997 competition.
In 1997 the "educational theme" of the game was also formally introduced. The theme this year was explosive recovery and disposal.
<gallery perrow=3 heights=270px widths=300px>
File:46041 - 1997 best button.jpg|A 1997 Brazos BEST Dynamite Dual button [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/46041]
</gallery>

Latest revision as of 13:33, 30 March 2025

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