Half-Pipe Hustle

Half-Pipe Hustle was the 2005-2006 FIRST Vex Challenge game. In this game, robotics teams built robots from the Vex design kit to compete in competitions across the United States and in other nations, in matches consisting of a 45-second autonomous period, followed by a 2-minute operator control period in which the robots are controlled by remote control.

The Game

The teams were put in two-team alliances, with two alliances competing against each other in each match. During the autonomous period, teams' robots competed for 45 seconds without operator control, relying only upon sensor input and programming to score points. During the game, the 8' x 12' competition field consisted of a wooden ramp at either end of the field, forming a rough half-pipe shape. The team members stood at either end of the field. The main playing elements were blue and red racquetballs. On the foam field floor, two lines of blue and two lines of red balls were arranged. Mounted on the walls closest to the teams' operators were four ball dispensers, each with 15 balls. Dispensers with like-colored balls were placed on opposite sides of the field, as were the lines of balls. Corner goals were placed at the corners of the field, with three-inch walls to hold racquetballs. In the operator control period, a triangular high goal is present at the center of the field. From the three sides, thin eighteen-inch square platforms extended. In the autonomous period, the platforms were not present and the center goal was square and divided into quadrants, with the walls at 45° angles to the field's walls. Also, the field was divided by wooden walls into quadrants.

Scoring

During the autonomous period, each racquetball in a side goal was worth one point. Each racquetball in the center goal was worth two points. With twenty-five balls available, fifty total points were possible. In the operator control period, each racquetball in any goal was worth one point. Having the most racquetballs in a corner goal, or owning the goal, was worth five points. Owning the high goal was worth ten points. Also, if a robot was parked on one of the three platforms at the end of a match, and not touching the field's foam floor, it would be worth ten points. This allowed a total of ninety possible points for an alliance, in the operator control period.