Maize Craze was the game in the inaugural year, 1992, of the FIRST Robotics Competition. This game was played by four individual robots trying to collect tennis balls into their starting base. An impediment to the robots was that the entire playing field was covered in a layer of corn 1-2 inches thick.

Maize Craze
Year1992
Season Information
Number of teams28[1]
Number of regionals1
Championship locationManchester, New Hampshire
FIRST Championship Awards
Chairman's Award winnerTeam 191 - "X-Cats”[4]
ChampionsTeam 126 - "Gael Force"[2][3]

Game overview

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Field

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Team 190 and others competing in Maize Craze.

The field was a 16-foot by 16-foot square piece of plywood, 2.5 feet above the floor, covered in a 1-2-inch-thick layer of corn.[5] The field's perimeter was rimmed with 8-inch-high Plexiglas walls. The four home bases measured 20 inches square and were centered on each side of the field at its edge.

There were five posts on the field, one in each corner and one in the center. The center post was 12 inches tall and was capped by a 25-point tennis ball. Two diagonally opposed corner posts were 24 inches tall and capped by 10-point tennis balls. The remaining two posts were 36 inches tall and capped by 25-point tennis balls. 150 1-point tennis balls surround the center post.

25 feet above the floor was a structure to support the electrical umbilicals for the robots.[5]

Scoring

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In each match, four robots played individually to earn the highest score, starting on the four home bases. Each robot had 2 minutes to shepherd tennis balls into their home base. The robot with the highest score of balls in base at the end won. In the event of a tie, the robot that finished earlier won.[5]

Robots

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Robots were powered through 'umbilicals' hanging from the overhead beams and a 9-volt on-board "transistor radio" battery. The robots had to fit within a 38 cm by 50 cm by 34 cm box and weigh no more than 11 kg.[5] The robots were each piloted by two high school student team members.

References

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  1. ^ "2003 Annual Report" (PDF). FIRST. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  2. ^ 92_bracket_comp
  3. ^ "List of Teams in The Competition-1992" (PDF). technokats.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  4. ^ "FIRST History". FIRST. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d "Maize Craze" (PDF). FIRST-A-HOLICS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2011.