FIRST Robotic Competition

Pine Tree Regionals

April 5-6

Androscoggin Bank Colisee, Lewiston, Maine

Admission is free and open to the public

Schedule

Friday, April 5

Opening ceremonies: 8:30-9 a.m.
Qualification matches: 9 a.m. to noon; 1-5:45 p.m.
Awards ceremony: 5:45-6:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 6

Opening ceremonies: 8:30-9 a.m.
Qualification matches: 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Alliance drafts: 12:15-12:30 p.m.
Final rounds: 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Awards ceremony: 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Ultimate Ascent rules

Robots earn points by doing two things: throwing Frisbee disks into targets and scaling one of two metal pyramids at the center of the 27- by 54-foot playing field. Goals are on the field opposite the driver.

Matches last two minutes and 15 seconds. Each robot must operate in autonomous mode — with no driver control — for the first 15 seconds. Frisbee disk points scored during the autonomous round count for double.

Once the autonomous round ends, drivers take control of the robots via remote control.

The Frisbees thrown in the highest goal are worth three points, or six points during the autonomous play. Frisbees thrown in the middle goal are worth two points, or four during autonomous play, and the lowest goal is worth one point, or two points in autonomous play.

Frisbees thrown into a special goal on top of the pyramid are worth five points for the entire match. There is no bonus for landing a Frisbee in the pyramid goal during autonomous rounds.

Robots can maneuver around the field, blocking opponents, shooting Frisbees and collecting disks off the ground. Frisbees can also be loaded manually at stations at either end of the field.

After a warning bell sounds near the end of the match, teams try to climb their assigned pyramids and then power down. Robots that make it to the first level earn 10 points. Robots that make it to the middle level earn 20 points and robots that reach the top earn 30 points.

Qualification, Alliances and Drafts

All matches are three on three — three red alliance teams versus three blue alliance teams.

Teams are randomly assigned alliance colors for all qualification matches and they must score Frisbees in their alliance-colored goals and must climb their alliance-colored pyramid. They can be blue in one match and red in a second match minutes later.

The eight teams with the highest cumulative scores during the qualifying rounds become the alliance leaders during the finals. Alliance leaders can draft any two teams to join their alliances for the finals.

Final matches are eliminations. The three teams in the final winning alliance qualify to go to the national championships April 23-26 in St. Louis, Mo.

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