Overdrive was the 2008 challenge for the FIRST Robotics Competition. It involves both a red and a blue alliance with three robots each. The game takes place on a 54’ by 27’ game field that is crossed by an overpass separating the home stretches of both alliances. Above the game field are four trackballs elevated on an overpass, two trackballs per alliance. Each alliance must work together in two scoring periods: a hybrid period and a teleoperated period. The hybrid period lasts 15 seconds and allows autonomous robots to be signaled by Robocoaches, who can direct robots to acquire points by traveling counterclockwise to knock off trackballs from the overpass, pass balls over the overpass, cross robots over lines, and cross trackballs over lines. The teleoperated period lasts an additional 2 minutes. During this period, the robot is controlled by team operators who direct the robot to score points by crossing the robot or trackball over the finish line and by passing the trackball over the overpass. An additional score can be awarded to alliances that have their trackballs positioned on the overpass at the end of the match.
