FIRST Res-Q

FIRST Res-Q

Season Information
Year	2015–2016
Number of teams	4500[1]
Championship location	St. Louis, Missouri
Awards
Inspire Award winner	Winner - 7013: Hot Wired Portland, Oregon Finalist - 6081: i^2robotics Westport, Connecticut Finalist - 7655: The Q is Silqent
Think Award winner	3415: Lancers Livingston, New Jersey
Rockwell Collins Innovate Award winner	7350: Watts NXT? Edison, New Jersey
Motivate Award winner	4855: Batteries in Black Portland, Oregon
Connect Award Winner	9205: The Iron Maidens Apple Valley , Minnesota
PTC Design Award Winner	6299: Viperbots QuadX Austin, Texas
Control Award Winner	6022: To Be Determined Aurora, Ohio
Promote Award Winner	4924: Tuxedo Pandas Christiansburg, Virginia
Champions	5916: BoBots 8221: CUBIX^3 6022: To Be Determined
← Cascade Effect

FIRST Res-Q, released on September 8, 2015, is the 2015–2016 robotics competition for FIRST Tech Challenge. In the competition, two alliances, each consisting of two teams of high school students, compete to climb a mountain and score debris in alliance specific goals.^[2] FIRST Res-Q is the eleventh FTC challenge.

Alliances

In each Match, the four teams competing are organized into red and blue alliances. The members of an alliance compete together to earn points. A Match consists of a thirty second Autonomous Period followed by a two minute Driver-Controlled Period for a total time of two minutes and thirty seconds. Alliances are selected randomly prior to the start of each competition.^[2]

Field

The field for the competition is a square measuring 12 feet by 12 feet, which can be constructed by teams for practising prior to competitions.^[1] Mountains consisting of alliance-specific climbing areas and goals are located in two corners of the playing field. Alliance-designated Zip Lines extend from the top of the Mountains to the playing field wall. Two alliance specific Rescue Beacons in need of “repair” by autonomous robots are located on the playing field perimeter wall.^[3] At the beginning of each Match, debris, fifty 2-inch gold-colored plastic cubes and thirty 2.8-inch diameter white plastic spheres, is dumped onto the field.

Scoring

There are three sections to the game: the Autonomous Period, the Driver-Controlled (or Tele-Operated) Period, and the End Game. The criteria for scoring is different during each segment.

Autonomous Period

In the Autonomous Period, robots run autonomously for thirty seconds. Robots gain points by: “resetting” Rescue Beacons, delivering Climbers to a Shelter, parking on the Mountain, and parking in the Rescue Beacon Repair Zone or Floor Goal.^[3]

Method	Points
Robot Parked in a Rescue Beacon Repair Zone	5 points
Robot Parked in a Floor Goal	5 points
Robot on the Mountain and Touching the Floor	5 points
Robot Parked on the Mountain Low Zone	10 points
Robot Parked on the Mountain Mid Zone	20 points
Robot Parked on the Mountain High Zone	40 points
Rescue Beacon Illuminated for an Alliance	20 points per side
Climber in a Shelter	10 points per Climber

Driver-Controlled Period

During the two-minute Driver-Controlled Period, teams can use standard gamepad controllers, each with two joysticks to operate their robots.^[2]

Method	Points
Debris Scored in a Floor Goal	1 point each
Debris Scored in a Mountain Low Zone Goal	5 points each
Debris Scored in a Mountain Mid Zone Goal	10 points each
Debris Scored in a Mountain High Zone Goal	15 points each
Robot on the Mountain and Touching the Floor	5 points
Parked on the Mountain Low Zone	10 points
Robot Parked on the Mountain Mid Zone	20 points
Robot Parked on the Mountain High Zone	40 points
Climber Released/Slid Down the Zip Line	20 points each
Climber in a Shelter	10 points per Climber

End Game

The final 30-seconds of the Driver-Controlled period is called the End Game. In addition to the Driver-Controlled period tasks, robots earn bonus points in the End Game by hanging from the Pull-up Bar on the topmost vertical section of the Mountain and claiming an All Clear Signal for their alliance..^[2]

Method	Points
Robot Completely Supported by the Pull-up Bar	80 points
Claim an All Clear Signal	20 points per Signal

Advancement criteria

During tournaments and championships, Match wins are not the largest part of the advancement criteria. For example, the winner of the top judged award (the Inspire Award) ranks higher than the winner of the competition-based component (Winning Alliance Captain).^[2] Winning lesser judged awards (Think Award, Connect Award, etc.) also plays a part in the advancement order.

After qualifying at a regional competition, teams advance to a "Super-Regional", consisting of teams from many different states. There are four regions in the United States, and each region has a "Host Location" where the actual competition will be held.^[2]

Notes

1. . Game Manual Part 1. Retrieved 2016-5-12.
2. . Game Manual Part 2. Retrieved 2016-5-12.
3. .One Page Game Description. Retrieved 2016-5-12.