Breakaway (FIRST)


Breakaway is the game for the 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition, announced on January 9, 2010. Robots direct soccer balls into goals, traverse "bumps" in the field, suspend themselves and each other on towers, and/or go through a tunnel located in the center of the field.
In 2010, a new driver station was introduced, the Classmate PC, replacing the previous Kwikbyte driver station.

Game overview

Scoring

Balls are kicked or herded into goals located in the corners of the fields. There are two goals for each alliance, adding up to 4 goals total.
At the end of the match, bonus points are awarded for robots that cling onto either of the two towers in the center of the field. More bonus points are awarded if alliance robots can suspend themselves from the robot clinging onto the tower.
Robots play Breakaway on a 27 by 54-foot rectangular field known as the field. The field is bordered by a set of guardrails and alliance walls. There are two "bumps" in the field that divide it into three zones. During matches, the robots are controlled from alliance stations located outside the field at both ends. These rectangular zones consist of three-team player stations that provide connectivity between the controls used by the robot operators and the arena. Goals are located at the corners of the field, and extend behind the alliance wall and adjacent to the player stations. After goals are scored, human players must pick up the balls and pass them to the center of the alliance station to be placed on a ball return rack, after which they will re-enter play at midfield. Teams are penalized if balls are not re-entered within a set time limit.

Starting Positions

Each round lasts two minutes and fifteen seconds. In the first fifteen seconds of a round, the robots run in autonomous mode, then there are two minutes of game play during which robots are user-controlled. The game is played by two three-robot alliances with each team starting one robot in each of the three sections of the field. At the beginning of a match, every robot must be touching either one of the bisecting bumps or an alliance wall. Also, at the start of the match each of the 12 balls in play must be placed at one vertex of a six foot by six foot grid. There are two grids marked at either ends of each of the three zones.

Competition schedule

Seven different fields were built and played on.

Events

Regionals

The following regional events were held in 2010:
District events were held only in Michigan and led up to the Michigan State Championship in Ypsilanti.
The World Championships were held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. Attendance was estimated to be around 20,000 at that all-seater stadium.

Final round at Einstein Field