2012 FRC Game - Rebound Rumble

The Rebound Rumble^SM is played by two competing alliances on a flat 27' x 54' field. Each alliance consists of three robots. They compete to shoot basketballs into hoops. The top hoop is worth three points, the middle two hoops are worth two points, and the bottom hoop is worth one point. They only have two minutes and fifteen seconds a match so you have to shoot quick and fast. Along with the hoops there are three bridges, one blue, one red, and one shared. Once your robot crosses the bridge on your side, you enter your alley where you are safe if the other team touches you. Last but not least, there is a 4'' by 6'' smooth steel barrier across the middle of the field. In the last thirty seconds, robots try to balance on the bridges, the more robots balancing the more points they get.

A Match

The match is two minutes and fifteen seconds long. The first fifteen seconds is a Hybrid period where a human player can control the robot by using a Kinect. After that begins the tele-op period of the match, the robot can be controlled by a human player using their controllers. The ultimate goal is to get as many points as possible by scoring baskets, and balance on the bridges in the middle of the field.

For the last thirty seconds of the match the teams can move to the three bridges in the middle of the field and attempt to balance. Teams have the opportunity to balance on the cooperation bridge with an opposing alliance for more points; or they could try to balance all three of their alliance robots on one ramp for a total of 40 points. Whichever alliance has the most points total the end of the match wins. To see the game animation, visit the FRC YouTube channel.

Scoring

Alliances

Three teams form an alliance for each match. Two alliances, one red and one blue, compete in a match. Since each robot is unique, the teams in an alliance need to collectively strategize on how best to play the game. They assess the strengths and weaknesses of their robots versus the robots in the opposing alliance. Complicating matters, the make up of the alliances changes with each match until the finals, so teams are very busy scouting each other's robots.

The Kinect

A new addition this year, the Microsoft Kinect, is intended to be used in the first fifteen seconds of the match to help control the robot in Hybrid Mode. Teams can program their robot to respond to commands through the Kinect's motion sensor. This makes it so teams do not always have to rely on pre-programmed commands as they would in a traditional Autonomous Mode. However, only one team per alliance is able to use the Kinect per match.

Rebound Rumble playing field