FIRST Robotics explained
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Our team participates in the FIRST Robotics Competition every year during the spring. The game is revealed at competition kickoff in January. After a 6-12 week build season, teams compete in a number of regional events and try to earn a qualifying spot at the world championship. Unlike the others competitions, teams are allowed to use whatever materials they desire (within regulations). |
Mad Rockers Competition Videos
FIRST Game Play Explained
Qualification Matches
FRC matches are played on an alliance with 2 other teams. During a match, teams race to not only gain match points and win, but also ranking points, which are awarded to the entire alliance. During the qualification round, teams play a series of head-to-head matches in which they are randomly placed on an alliance. At the end, teams are ranked based on the average number of ranking points they have earned across all of their matches.
Alliance Selections
After the qualification matches, the top 8 teams, called alliance captains, have the opportunity to create their own permanent alliance for the playoffs. Going in order from the highest seed to the lowest seed, alliance captains take turns selecting a team to be on their alliance. A selected team may not already be on an alliance and can choose to either accept or decline the invitation. If the selected team declines, the alliance captain selects another team and the process repeats until a team accepts. Once a team has been selected, they cannot be selected again, regardless of whether they accepted or declined the invite. If a team that is set to be an alliance captain joins another alliance, the teams ranked below them move up to fill the empty spot. Once all 8 alliance captains have selected an alliance partner, the selection process repeats for the second alliance partners, this time going from the lowest seed to the highest seed. Once the 8 alliances for playoffs have been established, alliance selections conclude.
Playoff Matches
After alliance selections, playoff matches begin. Alliances compete in a single elimination bracket and advance by winning the best of 3 matches against the opposing alliance. There are no ranking points in the playoffs. At the end, we have awards. The winning alliance captain, winning alliance first pick, and other award winners advance to the championship.