1996 National Championship

1996 National Championship

Archive tag	1996cmp
Event Information
Number of teams	74
Location	Orlando, Florida
Venue	EPCOT Center
Date	April 18-20, 1996
Awards
Chairman's Award winner	144
Winner	73
Finalist	-114
← 1995cmp 1997cmp →

The 1996 National Championship was the second and final official competition of the 1996 FIRST Robotics Competition season. The championship took place at the American Gardens Theatre at the EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World from April 18th to 20th, 1996. The pit area was in a large tent. Two fields were set up on the stage of the American Gardens Theatre and matches would be played back and forth between the two fields to cut down on match turnaround time. A large screen showed live match video and scores as well as team animations between matches. More than 3,500 people attended the championship.

Driver stations at the championship were large color-coded platforms with the period U.S. FIRST logo on the front. Similar driver stations would be used up through 1999, being replaced by a full driver station wall in 2000. The blue position's driver station and goal triangle were painted in a very light shade of almost off-white with a little bit of bluish-purple instead of the deeper blue of the balls as was used at the 1996 New Hampshire Tournament.

Team list and rankings

Seed	Team number	Team name	Team location	Robot	Archive link
31	-65	3-Dimensional Services & Brandon High School	Rochester Hills, MI		1996 frc-65
44	-116	Aavid Thermal Technologies & Gilford High School	Laconia, NH	MCΔT	1996 frc-116
73	98	A.C. Horn Precision Metal Fabrication Company & St. Mark's School of Texas	Dallas, TX		1996 frc98
41	83	Alliant Techsystems Inc. & Kamiak High School	Mukilteo, WA		1996 frc83
61	6	Alliant Techsystems Inc. & Washburn High School Millers	Hopkins/Minneapolis, MN		1996 frc6
71	8	Applied Materials & Palo Alto High School	Santa Clara, CA		1996 frc8
11	13	Baxter Healthcare Corporation & Johnsburg High School The Bio-Hawk Team	Round Lake, IL	Biohawk	1996 frc13
3	16	Baxter Healthcare & Mountain Home High School Baxter Bomb Squad	Mountain Home, AR	2 Minute Warning	1996 frc16
1	71	Beatty Machine and Manufacturing & Clark/Gavit/Hammond/Morton High School	Hammond, IN	Beattyjuice	1996 frc71
65	-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
60	-108	Boeing Commercial Airplane Group & Lindbergh High School	Seattle, WA		1996 frc-108
5	23	Boston Edison Company & Plymouth North High School	Plymouth, MA		1996 frc23
50	37	University of Miami & M.A.S.T. Academy/Coral Park High School	Coral Gables, FL		1996 frc37
28	33	Chrysler Corporation & Avondale High School The Turbo Chuckers	Auburn Hills, MI		1996 frc33
27	36	Codem Systems, Inc./High Speed Technologies & The Derryfield School Codem CyberCats	Hollis/Manchester, NH		1996 frc36
53	42	Daniel Webster College/Lockheed Martin Commercial/Premier Industries/Highland Tool & Alvirne High School Alvirne P.L.A.D.	Hudson, NH		1996 frc42
2	43	Dart Container Corporation/Dart Foundation & Mason High School The FOAMIN' BullDAWGS	Mason, MI	Dart Vader II	1996 frc43
7	45	Delco Electronics Corporation & Kokomo High School KHS FIRST	Kokomo, IN	Sabre Kat	1996 frc45
51	-14	Delphi Energy & Engine Management & Rider High School/Witchita Falls High School/Hirschi High School/Carrigan Center	Wichita Falls, TX		1996 frc-14
18	47	Delphi Interior & Lighting & Pontiac Central High School Chief Delphi	Troy/Pontiac, MI		1996 frc47
56	85	Drawform, Inc. & Zeeland High School	Zeeland, MI		1996 frc85
13	-114	E-Systems-ECI Division & Lakewood High School	St. Petersburg, FL	Too ESY II	1996 frc-114
33	148	E-Systems, Inc. & Greenville High School	Greenville, TX	The Big Red Slammer	1996 frc148
66	28	Eco Sales/Degraphics/Hertz Rent-A-Car & Pierson Middle & High School	Sag Harbor, NY		1996 frc28
42	-96	Emerson Electric Company & Cardinal Ritter College Preparatory High School/Normandy High School Arch Rivals	St. Louis, MO		1996 frc-96
35	-71	Ensign-Bickford Company/Peter Shapiro & Associates & Simsbury High School	Simsbury, CT		1996 frc-71
45	75	Ethicon, Inc. & Hillsborough High School	Hillsborough, NJ		1996 frc75
16	166	Ferrofluidics/Unitrode/Conolly Crowns Laboratory & Merrimack High School Merrimack Tomahawks	Merrimack, NH	Nu-Clear-Blue	1996 frc166
68	86	H.K. Smith Charitable Fund/Amu Pro, Inc./Jacksonville Electric Authority & Stanton College Preparatory School	Jacksonville, FL		1996 frc86
6	176	Hamilton Standard & Windsor Locks High School	Windsor Locks, CT	Hook	1996 frc176
30	175	Hamilton Standard Space Systems Intl. & Enrico Fermi High School	Windsor Locks/Enfield, CT	Buzz	1996 frc175
22	73	Harris Corporation/Rochester Institute of Technology & Edison Technical School	Rochester, NY	Tigerbolt	1996 frc73
17	74	Haworth, Inc. & Holland High School	Holland, MI		1996 frc74
59	80	Honeywell, Inc. & Cortez High School RoboColt	Phoenix, AZ		1996 frc80
48	-110	Honeywell, Inc. & North Community High School	Minneapolis, MN	The Claw	1996 frc-110
55	81	Honeywell's MICRO SWITCH Division & Freeport Senior High School	Freeport, IL		1996 frc81
14	177	International Fuel Cells & South Windsor High School	South Windsor, CT	The Hexorcist	1996 frc177
29	90	Johnson & Johnston Associates/Digital Equipment Corporation & Salem High School J.A.B.S.	Salem, NH	Revolution	1996 frc90
38	99	Light Machines Corporation & Memorial High School	Manchester, NH	Dark Horse	1996 frc99
70	-43	Lockheed Fort Worth/Azle High School	Ft. Worth, TX		1996 frc-43
57	-68	Lockheed Martin Manned Space Systems/University of New Orleans & Benjamin Franklin High School	New Orleans, LA		1996 frc-68
63	-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
74	97	Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School	Cambridge, MA		1996 frc97
40	-83	McDonnell Douglas Corp. & Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School	St. Louis, MO		1996 frc-83
49	110	Motorola, Inc. & Richland High School Rebels	Fort Worth, TX		1996 frc110
58	111	Motorola, Inc. & Rolling Meadows High School/Wheeling High School Wild Stang	Schaumburg, IL		1996 frc111
10	108	Motorola, RPG/Florida Atlantic University & Dillard Computer/High Tech Magnet Technocrates	Plantation, FL		1996 frc108
67	116	NASA Headquarters/America On Line/University of Maryland Space Systems Laboratory & South Lakes High School Gresenators	Reston, VA		1996 frc116
26	120	NASA Lewis Research Center/Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority & East Technical High School	Cleveland, OH		1996 frc120
46	121	Naval Undersea Warfare Center & Middletown High School	Newport, RI	Ragnarok	1996 frc121
25	69	NYNEX & Quincy Public Schools	Quincy, MA	Spectrum	1996 frc69
12	126	NYPRO Inc. & Clinton High School Gael Force	Clinton, MA		1996 frc126
47	129	Oscar Mayer Foods & Sherman High School	Sherman, TX	Oscar	1996 frc129
23	131	Osram Sylvania & Manchester Central High School	Manchester, NH		1996 frc131
32	138	Parker-Hannafin & Souhegan High School	Hollis, NH		1996 frc138
24	141	Prince Corporation & West Ottawa High School	Holland, MI	The Panther Robot	1996 frc141
4	144	Procter & Gamble Company & Walnut Hills High School	Cincinnati, OH	Operation Orange	1996 frc144
43	146	Public Service of New Hampshire & Manchester West High School Blue Lightening	Manchester, NH	Hexcalibur	1996 frc146
34	100	Raychem Corporation & Woodside High School	Menlo Park, CA	Stealth II	1996 frc100
62	-70	Regal Research/Karlee Company/A&A; Manufacturing & Garland High School	Garland, TX		1996 frc-70
39	20	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute & Shenendehowa High School River Rats	Troy, NY		1996 frc20
8	151	Sanders, A Lockheed Martin Company & Nashua High School	Nashua, NH	Veloc-a-Raptor (The Nor'East Beast)	1996 frc151
54	72	Semiconductor Research Corp. & Harding University High School	Research Triangle Park, NC	Rambot	1996 frc72
64	155	Stanley Hardware/Stanley Manufacturing/Sherwood Tools/Camm, Inc./Automotive Controls Corporation/Canberra & Berlin High School	New Britain, CT	The Viper	1996frc74
9	157	Stratus Computer/Water Instrument Operations & Assabet Valley Regional Vocational High School	Marlboro, MA	Scorpion	1996 frc157
52	158	Structural Dynamics Research Corp. & Great Oaks/Live Oaks Campus	Milford, OH		1996 frc158
21	55	Texas Instruments & Austin Academy for Excellence	Dallas, TX		1996 frc55
20	-112	Texas Instruments & Gunter High School Terminoodles Intensified	Dallas, TX		1996 frc-112
37	161	Textron Automotive Company & Cass Technical High School Hurricane XT	Troy, MI		1996 frc161
69	-30	University of Idaho & Moscow Senior and Junior High Schools	Moscow, ID		1996 frc-30
36	171	University of Wisconsin-Platteville & Platteville High School Mozzarella Madness	Platteville, WI		1996 frc171
72	-76	Washington State University/Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. & Pullman High School	Pullman, WA		1996 frc-76
15	190	Worcester Polytechnic Institute & Mass Academy of Math & Science	Worcester, MA	The Phoenix	1996 frc190
19	191	Xerox Corporation & Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School X-Cats	Webster/Rochester, NY	Hexcat	1996 frc191

Award list

Awards

Team number	Team name	Team location		Archive link
Chairman's Award
144	Procter & Gamble Company & Walnut Hills High School	Cincinnati, OH	Operation Orange	1996 frc144
Chairman's Award Finalists
16	Baxter Healthcare & Mountain Home High School Baxter Bomb Squad	Mountain Home, AR	2 Minute Warning	1996 frc16
23	Boston Edison Company & Plymouth North High School	Plymouth, MA		1996 frc23
148	E-Systems, Inc. & Greenville High School	Greenville, TX	The Big Red Slammer	1996 frc148
-112	Texas Instruments & Gunter High School Terminoodles Intensified	Dallas, TX		1996 frc-112
191	Xerox Corporation & Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School X-Cats	Webster/Rochester, NY	Hexcat	1996 frc191
Championship Winner
73	Harris Corporation/Rochester Institute of Technology & Edison Technical School	Rochester, NY	Tigerbolt	1996 frc73
Championship Finalist
-114	E-Systems-ECI Division & Lakewood High School	St. Petersburg, FL	Too ESY II	1996 frc-114
Founder's Award
City of Manchester, New Hampshire
Best Offensive Round
175	Hamilton Standard Space Systems Intl. & Enrico Fermi High School	Windsor Locks/Enfield, CT	Buzz	1996 frc175
Outstanding Defense
69	NYNEX & Quincy Public Schools	Quincy, MA	Spectrum	1996 frc69
Best Play of the Day
20	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute & Shenendehowa High School River Rats	Troy, NY		1996 frc20
Most Photogenic
157	Stratus Computer/Water Instrument Operations & Assabet Valley Regional Vocational High School	Marlboro, MA	Scorpion	1996 frc157
Best Sportsmanship
146	Public Service of New Hampshire & Manchester West High School Blue Lightening	Manchester, NH	Hexcalibur	1996 frc146
Best Team Spirit
161	Textron Automotive Company & Cass Technical High School Hurricane XT	Troy, MI		1996 frc161
151	Sanders, A Lockheed Martin Company & Nashua High School	Nashua, NH	Veloc-a-Raptor (The Nor'East Beast)	1996 frc151
Number One Seed
71	Beatty Machine and Manufacturing & Clark/Gavit/Hammond/Morton High School	Hammond, IN	Beattyjuice	1996 frc71
Rookie All-Star
47	Delphi Interior & Lighting & Pontiac Central High School Chief Delphi	Troy/Pontiac, MI		1996 frc47
111	Motorola, Inc. & Rolling Meadows High School/Wheeling High School Wild Stang	Schaumburg, IL		1996 frc111
Procter & Gamble Creativity Award
16	Baxter Healthcare & Mountain Home High School Baxter Bomb Squad	Mountain Home, AR	2 Minute Warning	1996 frc16
Motorola Quality Award
-114	E-Systems-ECI Division & Lakewood High School	St. Petersburg, FL	Too ESY II	1996 frc-114
Honeywell Leadership in Control Award
126	NYPRO Inc. & Clinton High School Gael Force	Clinton, MA		1996 frc126
Autodesk Animation Competition Award
144	Procter & Gamble Company & Walnut Hills High School	Cincinnati, OH	Operation Orange	1996 frc144
Woodie Flowers Award presented by Small Parts, Inc
Dr. Woodie Flowers

Competition recap

Team 71, in their rookie outing, went undefeated in the seeding rounds and placed first, although they were eliminated in the last round of the double elimination tournament before the quarterfinals.

The match one of the first quarterfinal saw the E-Systems/Lakewood pass one of Osram Sylvania/Manchester Central's large balls to their human player for safe keeping, with Too ESY II pinning Osram Sylvania during quarterfinal one match two. In quarterfinals two Procter & Gamble Company & Walnut Hills, 1994 champions, beat Hamilton Standard/Enrico Fermi 53 to 36 after Buzz's suction cup failed during the match. 175 tied the series after calling their time-out and both teams achieved perfect scores in the third match, with the Walnut Hills team winning by the height of their final large ball. Quarterfinal 3 saw NYNEX & Quincy score quickly and then pin the Xerox X-Cats for the rest of match one, advancing to the semifinals after the 191 popped a ball in match two. In quarterfinal four match one Harris Corporation/RIT & Edison Tech passed one of Prince and West Ottawa's large balls to their human player and then pinned 141 after scoring all their balls, also scoring around their goal blocker and pinning them in match two, scoring a perfect 56 points in both matches.

Semifinal one match one saw E-Systems and Lakewood, which split into teams 14, 147, and 312, beat Quincy 46 to 31. In match two Too ESY II gets stuck on a ball for part of the match, with the team calling their timeout afterwards and Quincy winning the match thanks to many scored small balls. Both robots score most of their small balls as well as a ten-pointer each in the third match but Quincy's large ball that began in the five point position was knocked off early in the match and E-Systems and Lakewood moved on to the finals.

In the first match of semifinal two Walnut Hills captures one of Tigerbolt's small balls but misses scoring one of their own large ten point balls and the Edison Tech machine pins Operation Orange for the rest of the match. In match two Tigerbolt scores all of their balls and then defends Walnut Hills' second large ball, advancing to the finals.

In finals match one E-Systems/Lakewood gets caught on the field perimeter and Edison Tech beats them 46 to 36. In match two Lakewood scores a perfect 56 points, holding their second large ball over the scoring area of the goal to keep Tigerbolt from scoring their large ball, earning 38 points - 33 from 11 scored small balls and one five-point large ball. In the final match both teams score all but one of their three-point balls as well as a 10 point ball and then grab each other's remaining large ball, with Tigerbolt then pinning Too ESY II and winning with the higher of the two 10-point balls.

Playoff bracket

Top ten

Ranking	Team number	Team name	Team location	Robot	Archive link
1	73	Harris Corporation/Rochester Institute of Technology & Edison Technical School	Rochester, NY	Tigerbolt	1996 frc73
2	-114	E-Systems-ECI Division & Lakewood High School	St. Petersburg, FL	Too ESY II	1996 frc-114
3	144	Procter & Gamble Company & Walnut Hills High School	Cincinnati, OH	Operation Orange	1996 frc144
4	69	NYNEX & Quincy Public Schools	Quincy, MA	Spectrum	1996 frc69
5	175	Hamilton Standard Space Systems Intl. & Enrico Fermi High School	Windsor Locks/Enfield, CT	Buzz	1996 frc175
6	131	Osram Sylvania & Manchester Central High School	Manchester, NH		1996 frc131
7	191	Xerox Corporation & Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School X-Cats	Webster/Rochester, NY	Hexcat	1996 frc191
8	141	Prince Corporation & West Ottawa High School	Holland, MI	The Panther Robot	1996 frc141
9	157	Stratus Computer/Water Instrument Operations & Assabet Valley Regional Vocational High School	Marlboro, MA	Scorpion	1996 frc157
10	71	Beatty Machine and Manufacturing & Clark/Gavit/Hammond/Morton High School	Hammond, IN	Beattyjuice	1996 frc71

ESPN Special

As had been done in several years prior, a special outlining the 1996 challenge and the 1996 National Championship was produced for ESPN entitled Hexagon Havoc '96. It aired on Sunday December 15, 1996, on ESPN2 and Thursday, December 19, 1996, on ESPN . One of the students that worked on team 144's winning video for the Autodesk Animation Competition Award helped to make the animated game explanation shown in the broadcast. Footage from the kickoff event, the 1996 New England Regional, and a Chicago-area scrimmage are also interspersed between matches. Biographies and interviews with several teams including E-Systems/Lakewood and Motorola & Dillard.

The special includes footage of match 40, match 48, and match 50 of the double elimination bracket (although they are shown in reverse order, with match 50 first), as well as match 46. All of the playoff matches are covered, with the quarter and semifinal rounds getting abbreviated coverage and most of the second and third finals played out in full.

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Gallery

• Additional photos on the FRC Archive
• 
  Team 146 going to score against the Placebo [1]
• 
  The crowd, multi-segment match display, and one of the fields[2]
• 
  The pit tent [3]