FRC 2010 Kickoff: Breakaway

On January 9, 2010, our Robotics team gathered bright and early at Beverly High for Kick-Off. We watched the Kick-Off video, which informed us about this year's game, Breakaway! This year's game is played with standard sized soccer balls, modeling after the classic spectator sport. The objective is to score as many soccer balls into two of four goals, with one point being rewarded for each goal. In the last 20 seconds of the game, a team may also hang their robot on one of two towers, which will gain them two points. An additional 3 points is rewarded if a robot hangs off another robot. There are two alliances, each composed of three teams working together to compete against the opposing alliance. To stay awake and avoid grumpiness, our team then had a MorTorq breakfast. After breakfast, the team members discussed the rules of the game and possible strategies, as well as beginning the design process. It was a productive day, but we called it quits early enough to rest up and prepare for the six difficult weeks ahead.