The Game
[click on the images for a larger version]

General Description

Rack ’n' Roll is a game played on a field as illustrated in the figure above. Two alliances, one red and one blue, composed of three teams each, compete in each match. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opponent alliance by placing game pieces on the central goal structure (the rack), and/or by having robots in their home zone and not in contact with the playing field at the end of the match.


Game Terms

• Home Zone - is a 26 ft. by 8 ft. section directly in front of the Alliance zone
• Ringers - Are 32 inch diameter pool tubes that are to be placed on the spider legs of the rack. These are either blue or red depending on the alliance they belong to, and only that color alliance can move them. These cannot be moved after being placed on the spider. There are 36 of these on the field. Nine of them start leaning against the opposite wall from where the alliance started.
• Spoilers - Are black 32 inch diameter pool tubes and can be placed on the spider legs. But instead these tubes cancel out ringers. This can be moved after being placed on the spider. There are a total of four of these on the field. There are two placed behind the Alliance zone and can be placed on the field be human players.
• Keepers - Are ringers that can only be placed in the autonomous period. However, they are unable to be changed by either another ringer of even by a spoiler. There are a total of six of these, 1 per robot. However, are unable to be used after Autonomous mode.
• The Rack - Is an octagon in the center of the field. It contains three spiders at 48in. 60in. and 96in. high. On 4 of the 8 sides above the spiders are green lights that can be traced by cameras on the robot.
• Spiders and Spider Legs - There are three spiders suspended in the rack at 48in. 60in. and 96in. high. Each spider has eight legs, one per side. These legs are where ringers, spoilers, and keepers are to be placed.

Robot Classes

Class 1:

• 28 x 38 inches
• 48 inches in height
• 120 pounds

Class 2:

• 28 x 38 inches
• 60 inches in height
• 110 pounds

Class 3:

• 28 x 38 inches
• 72 inches in height
• 100 pounds

These sizes refer to the size the robot has to be in starting position. During the game, the robot can expand. It has no limit on height but outside of the Home zone it can only expand to 72 x 72 inches. But while being in the home zone can expand with out limit except staying in the home zone.


Game play

• Each robot starts the match in possession of a keeper. The robot does not have to be holding the keeper; it just has to be touching it.
• Each alliance has two (2) spoilers. Prior to the start of the match, the spoilers are placed in the center stack of game pieces at the back edge of the alliance zone.
• Each alliance has a total of 18 ringers. Prior to the start of the match, 9 ringers are lined up along the width of the alliance station wall of the opposing alliance. These ringers are resting on the floor, and lean against the alliance zone wall. The rest of the ringers are behind the alliance zone, “Human Players” put these into play. They must either throw them over the top or put them through a hole in the wall.

During the game teams have to try to place ringers, spoilers and keepers in autonomous, on the rack. The object is to create rows of your teams color while stopping the other team from getting rows. How this is scored is shown below.


Scoring

Total point values of scored rows are as follows:

• SINGLETON (a stand alone ringer) - 2 points
• ROW of 2 SCORED SPIDER LEGS - 4 points
• ROW of 3 SCORED SPIDER LEGS - 8 points
• ROW of 4 SCORED SPIDER LEGS - 16 points
• ROW of 5 SCORED SPIDER LEGS - 32 points
• ROW of 6 SCORED SPIDER LEGS - 64 points
• ROW of 7 SCORED SPIDER LEGS - 128 points
• ROW of 8 SCORED SPIDER LEGS - 256 points

Robots can also score points by; at the end of the match if they are entirely in their home zone, not in contact with any element of the field (carpet, alliance station, goal etc.) in addition, the lowest point of the robot is higher than 4 inches or 12 inches above the carpeted field surface. The number of bonus points an alliance receives is based on the total number of robots satisfying these conditions. Each alliance robot entirely in their home zone at the end of the match is eligible to receive the following bonus points:

• Each robot between 4.0 and 11.9 inches above floor level - 15 bonus points
• Each robot 12.0 inches or more above floor level - 30 bonus points