Infinite Recharge
Year2020
Season Information
Number of teams3,898[1]
Number of regionals17 played, 49 cancelled
Number of district events35 played, 81 cancelled
Championship locationBoth championships cancelled
FIRST Championship Awards
Chairman's Award winnerNone (championships cancelled)
Woodie Flowers Award winnerLucien Junkin - Team 118
Founder's Award winnerFIRST Community
ChampionsNone (championships cancelled)
Links
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Infinite Recharge (stylized in all caps) is the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) game for the 2020 season.[2] The season is in partnership with Lucasfilm as part of its Star Wars: Force for Change initiative.

The Infinite Recharge game involves two alliances of three teams each, with each team controlling a robot and performing specific tasks on a field to score points. The game centers around a futuristic city theme involving two alliances consisting of three teams each competing to perform various tasks, including shooting foam balls known as Power Cells into high and low goals to activate a Shield Generator, manipulating a Control Panel to activate this shield, and returning to the Shield Generator to park or climb at the end of the match. The objective is to energize and activate the shield before the match ends and asteroids strike FIRST City, a futuristic city modeled after Star Wars.

The 2020 season was the first season without an enforced six-week build period, with teams able to work on their robot at any time after kickoff.[3] However, teams are in general not permitted to work on their robot outside of pit hours during an event the team in question is competing at.

The 2020 season was suspended on March 12, 2020, and all remaining events were cancelled on May 13, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] On the same day, it was announced that Infinite Recharge would also be played in 2021, with possible "changes" to be revealed at that season's kickoff.

Kickoff

The season's kickoff event took place on January 4, 2020, at 10:00 AM Eastern Time and was centered around an impending asteroid impact threatening the FIRST City. The event was broadcast from Manchester, New Hampshire over Twitch.[5]

Field

The Infinite Recharge playing field

Infinite Recharge is played on a 26 ft 11 1/4 in (~821 cm) by 52 ft 5 1/4 in(~1598 cm) field covered in grey low-pile carpet. The field is bounded by short transparent polycarbonate guardrails on the longer sides and the taller Alliance Station walls on the shorter side. The field features two sectors, with each containing one end for each alliance combined with the rendezvous point (center area). The sector contains robots at the start of each match, while drivers control their robots at the alliance station. The rendezvous point contains the Shield Generator and the Trenches.

Alliance Station

Each team has their own Alliance Station that is positioned at one of the ends of the field. The Alliance Station is where drivers control their robots, human players deliver game pieces to robots, and opposing alliance robots shoot game pieces. Alliance Stations contain three driver's stations, one for each participating team in the alliance. The center player station is flanked on one side by the loading bay, and on the other side by the opposing alliance's power port.

Loading Bay

Loading Bays are located in the alliance stations, with one per alliance. The Loading Bays are used by the human player to give game pieces to the robots on the field. There are five places that game pieces can be put into the Loading Bay, with two upper ports, and three ground ports.

Power Cell

Power Cells are the main game piece in Infinite Recharge. The Power Cell is a yellow, 7 in (~18 cm) diameter Medium Bounce Dino-Skin foam ball. The FIRST logo is printed in black ink on each Power Cell.

Shield Generator

The Shield Generator is a large box-shaped structure located in the center of the field. It contains both alliances Rendezvous Points, as well as the two Generator Switches.

Trench Run

The Trench Run is an approximately 4 ft by 18 ft rectangular area on each side of the field bounded by alliance-colored tape that contains the alliance's Control Panel. It is located in the middle of the field, directly adjacent to the Shield Generator.

Scoring Areas

Power Port

There are two Power Ports on the field, with one at each Alliance Station. An alliance's Power Port is located at the opposing alliance's Alliance Station, requiring robots that intake from the Loading Bays to drive across the field in order to score Power Cells. There are three levels of scoring on a Power Port. The rectangular Bottom Port is worth two points in autonomous, or one in the teleoperated (or teleop) period. The hexagonal Outer Port is located above the Bottom Port, and is worth four points during the autonomous period, and two points in teleop. The Inner Port is located inside of the Outer Port, and is a much smaller circular hole set in the back of the Outer Port. It is worth six points in autonomous, and three during teleop.

Scoring Power Cells into the Power Port also contributes towards reaching Capacity, which is a count of the number of power cells scored, regardless of port. Certain levels of Capacity require additional tasks to be completed. Lights around the Power Cell indicate progression towards reaching a stage's Capacity, lighting up in a chase pattern when Capacity is reached but the extra condition is yet to be fulfilled. Upon reaching Capacity and completing the stage's additional task, the stage is said to be Activated.

The following table describes how the three Shield Generator Activation thresholds are reached.
Stage Power Cell Capacity Additional Conditions Activating Grants
1 9 The teleoperated phase

must have begun.

 Unlocks Rotation Control.
2 20 Rotation Control must be complete. Unlocks Position Control.
3 20 Position Control must be complete. One Ranking Point.

Control Panel

There are two Control Panels placed on either side of the middle of the field, in each alliance's Trench. They are large discs, with eight colored wedges (red, yellow, blue, and green, repeated once) printed on both the top and bottom. There is a glass panel on the bottom of the Control Panel, however, its wedges are still visible from underneath. After activating Stage 1 and reaching Stage 2's capacity, an alliance may score 10 points by performing Rotation Control on the Control Panel. This entails spinning the Control Panel at least 3 times, but not more than 5. Rotating past a fifth rotation resets this task, and the rotations must be completed again. After activating Stage 2 and reaching Stage 3's capacity, the alliance may score 20 points by performing Position Control. This entails rotating the Control Panel to a certain color specified by the Field Management System through a message sent to each team's driver's station. When complete, this energizes the Shield Generator, gaining the alliance one ranking point.

Rendezvous Point

An alliance's Rendezvous Point is located underneath the Shield generator, and is marked with each alliance's color on three sides, with the fourth side being a black line separating the two Rendezvous Points. Alliances gain 5 points for each robot parked there when the game ends or 25 for each robot hanging, which will be explained below.

Generator Switch

A Generator Switch is located above each alliance's Rendezvous Point, and is attached to the Shield Generator. During the final 30 seconds of a match, robots may extend up and attach to the bar on the bottom of the switch. Each robot attached to the switch and off the ground at the end of the match is worth 25 extra points. The switch is able to swing back and forth when robots attach to it, and there is an additional 15-point bonus for balancing the switch within ~8 degrees of level. An additional ranking point will also be given to an alliance if their endgame score (i.e., that of climbing and parking) is 65 points or more, which makes the Shield Generator operational.

Scoring Summary

Action Autonomous Teleop Ranking Points

(in Qualification)

Initiation Line Cross 5 points
Power Cells in Bottom Port 2 points 1 point
Power Cells in Outer Port 4 points 2 points
Power Cells in Inner Port 6 points 3 points
Control Panel Rotation Control 10 points
Control Panel Position Control 20 points
Hang on Shield Generator 25 Points
Park below Shield Generator 5 Points
Generator Switch Level 15 Points
Shield Generator Operational 1 RP
Shield Generator Energized 1 RP
Foul 3 points to opposing alliance 3 points to opposing alliance
Tech Foul 15 points to opposing alliance 15 points to opposing alliance
Win 2 RP
Tie 1 RP

[6]

In qualification rounds, teams are ranked by their Ranking Score, or their average number of Ranking Points (RP) per match. To ensure high placement, it is not only important to win matches, but to complete the secondary objectives as well, to amass as many Ranking Points as possible.

Events

The competition season for Infinite Recharge was planned to be divided into seven weeks, with many events occurring simultaneously during each week. After Week 7, teams that had qualified were scheduled to compete in the FIRST Championship, held over two weeks in Houston and Detroit. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, a majority of these events including both championships were eventually cancelled. As a result, the final season covered only three weeks.

Week 1

Event Location Date
Israel District 1 Haifa, Israel February 24–25
Israel District 2 Haifa, Israel February 26–27
Palmetto Myrtle Beach, South Carolina February 26 – 29
Miami Valley Dayton, Ohio February 26 – 29
Great Northern Grand Forks, North Dakota February 26 – 29
Monterrey Monterrey, Nuevo León February 26 – 29
Kettering University Flint, Michigan February 27 – 29
Southfield Southfield, Michigan February 27 – 29
Traverse City Traverse City, Michigan February 27 – 29
Granite State Salem, New Hampshire February 27 – 29
Clackamas Academy Oregon City, Oregon February 27 – 29
Greater Kansas City Lee's Summit, Missouri February 27 – March 1
Los Angeles North Thousand Oaks, California February 27 – March 1
Northern CT Woodstock, Connecticut February 28 – March 1
Gainesville Gainesville, Georgia February 28 – March 1
Wake County Holly Springs, North Carolina February 28 – March 1
Durham College Oshawa, Ontario February 28 – March 1
Hatboro-Horsham Horsham, Pennsylvania February 28 – March 1
Haymarket VA Haymarket, Virginia February 28 – March 1
Dripping Springs Dripping Springs, Texas February 28 – March 1
Greenville Greenville, Texas February 28 – March 1
Glacier Peak Snohomish, Washington February 28 – March 1

[7]

Week 2

Event Location Date
Festival de Robotique Sherbrooke, Quebec March 4 – 7
Arkansas Little Rock, Arkansas March 4 – 7
Midwest Chicago, Illinois March 4 – 7
Lake Superior Duluth, Minnesota March 4 – 7
Northern Lights Duluth, Minnesota March 4 – 7
Utah West Valley City, Utah March 4 – 7
Canadian Pacific Victoria, British Columbia March 4 – 7
Dalton Dalton, Georgia March 5–7
Jackson Spring Arbor, Michigan March 5–7
Kettering University Flint, Michigan March 5–7
Milford Highland, Michigan March 5–7
St. Joseph St. Joseph, Michigan March 5–7
Kingsford Kingsford, Michigan March 5–7
West Valley Spokane Valley, Washington March 5–7
Istanbul Istanbul, Turkey March 5 – 8
Del Mar Del Mar, California March 5 – 8
Los Angeles El Segundo, California March 5 – 8
Waterbury Waterbury, Connecticut March 6–8
Bloomington Bloomington, Indiana March 6–8
SE Mass Bridgewater, Massachusetts March 6–8
Bethesda Bethesda, Maryland March 6–8
UNC Pembroke Pembroke, North Carolina March 6–8
Georgian College Barrie, Ontario March 6–8
Humber College Toronto, Ontario March 6–8
Richmond Richmond, Virginia March 6–8
Channelview Channelview, Texas March 6–8
Del Rio Del Rio, Texas March 6–8
Plano Plano, Texas March 6–8

[7]

Week 3

Event Location Date
Bosphorus Istanbul, Turkey March 9–11

[7]

Postponed and Cancelled Events

On January 30, 2020, FIRST announced that the two Beijing Cultural Exchange regional events that were scheduled for Weeks 3 and 4 would be postponed until after the FIRST Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] As teams will not have an opportunity to qualify for the 2020 Championship through these events, teams that win Championship-qualifying awards at these two events will qualify for the 2021 Championship instead.

The Taichung Science Park regional, scheduled for Week 2, was postponed for the same reason.[9]

On March 5, FIRST Washington announced that the Auburn Mountainview district event, scheduled for Week 2, was cancelled due to the coronavirus.[10] This was the first event cancellation or postponement in the United States as a result of the outbreak.

On March 6, the Central New York regional, scheduled for Week 4, was postponed due to the coronavirus.[11] The Mount Olive district event, scheduled for Week 2, was cancelled for the same reason.

On March 8, both Australian regionals were postponed due to the coronavirus. All FIRST in Michigan district events after Week 3 were also postponed.[12]

At 10 AM on March 12, the Finger Lakes regional was cancelled due to the coronavirus following an announcement from the Monroe County health department, which restricted events over a size of 50 persons.[13] The FIRST Chesapeake district also cancelled all remaining events, and rescheduled their district championship to June 17–20.[14] Additionally, FIRST Mid-Atlantic has postponed all of its remaining events, including the district championship.[15]

On March 12, 2020, FIRST announced that the 2020 season was suspended effective immediately. It was also announced that both FIRST Championship events would be cancelled.[4]

On May 13, all suspended events were cancelled by FIRST. Additionally, it was announced that Infinite Recharge will be replayed in 2021 "with adjustments".[4]

Events Postponed or Cancelled Before March 12

Event Week Location
Taichung Science Park 2 Taichung, Taiwan
Mount Olive 2 Mount Olive, New Jersey
Beijing Cultural Exchange #1 3 Beijing, China
New York Tech Valley 3 Troy, New York
Southern Cross 3 Sydney Olympic Park, Australia
Arizona North 3 Flagstaff, Arizona
North Shore 3 Reading, Massachusetts
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy 3 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Robbinsville 3 Trenton, New Jersey
St. Joseph 3 Mishawaka, Indiana
Eastern Carolina University 3 Greenville, North Carolina
Finger Lakes Regional 3 Rochester, New York
Orlando 3 Orlando, Florida
St. Louis 3 St. Louis, Missouri
Oklahoma 3 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Central Valley 3 Fresno, California
San Diego 3 Del Mar, California
Ryerson University 3 Toronto, Ontario
Amarillo 3 Amarillo, Texas
Fort Worth 3 Fort Worth, Texas
New Braunfels 3 New Braunfels, Texas
Carleton University 3 Ottawa, Ontario
Beijing Cultural Exchange #2 4 Beijing, China
Central New York 4 Utica, New York
South Pacific 4 Sydney Olympic Park, Australia
Greater Pittsburgh 4 California, Pennsylvania
San Francisco 4 San Francisco, California
SBPLI Long Island #1 4 Hempstead, New York
Huson Valley 4 Suffern, New York
Western New England 4 Springfield, Massachusetts
WPI 4 Worcester, Massachusetts
SBPLI Long Island #2 5 Hempstead, New York
UNC Asheville 5 Asheville, North Carolina
Silicon Valley 6 San Jose, California
Districts Postponed Before March 12
District Location Number of events affected
Pacific Northwest Oregon, Washington, and Alaska 7
Michigan Michigan 21
Israel Israel 3
Peachtree Georgia 4
Chesapeake Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia 5
Mid-Atlantic Delaware, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania 7

Events Suspended or Cancelled on March 12

Week 4
Event Location Scheduled Date
Central Illinois Peoria, Illinois March 18–21
Heartland Olathe, Kansas March 18–21
Regional Laguna Torreón, Mexico March 18–21
Memphis Collierville, Tennessee March 18–21
Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin March 18–21
Colorado Denver, Colorado March 18–21
Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii March 18–21
Columbus Columbus, Indiana March 19–21
University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario March 19–21
Austin Austin, Texas March 19–21
Dallas Dallas, Texas March 19–21
Houston Houston, Texas March 19–21
Ventura Ventura, California March 19–22
Guilford County Gibsonville, North Carolina March 20–22
York University Toronto, Ontario March 20–22
Week 5
Event Location Scheduled Date
Buckeye Cleveland, Ohio March 25–28
Smoky Mountains Knoxville, Tennessee March 25–28
Iowa Cedar Falls, Iowa March 25–28
Bayou Kenner, Louisiana March 25–28
10,000 Lakes Minneapolis, Minnesota March 25–28
North Star Minneapolis, Minnesota March 25–28
Idaho Nampa, Idaho March 25–28
Sacramento Davis, California March 25–28
Monterey Bay Seaside, California March 25–28
Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada March 25–28
Perry Meridian Indianapolis, Indiana March 26–28
Windsor Essex Windsor, Ontario March 26–28
Pasadena Pasadena, Texas March 26–28
Greater Boston Revere, Massachusetts March 27–29
Southern New Hampshire Bedford, New Hampshire March 27–29
North Bay North Bay, Ontario March 27–29
El Paso El Paso, Texas March 27–29
Week 6
Event Location Scheduled Date
Rocket City Huntsville, Alabama April 1 – 4
Seven Rivers La Crosse, Wisconsin April 1 – 4
Aerospace Valley Lancaster, California April 1 – 4
Arizona West Glendale, Arizona April 1 – 4
Canadian Rockies Calgary, Alberta April 1 – 4
Green Country Tulsa, Oklahoma April 1 – 4
Orange County Costa Mesa, California April 1 – 4
Mid-Atlantic District Championship Bethlehem, Pennsylvania April 1 – 4
Texas District Championship San Antonio, Texas April 1 – 4
Pine Tree Lewiston, Maine April 2 – 4
Central Missouri Sedalia, Missouri April 2 – 5
New York City New York City, New York April 2 – 5
South Florida West Palm Beach, Florida April 2 – 5
North Carolina District Championship Lillington, North Carolina April 3 – 5
Indiana District Championship Lafayette, Indiana April 3 – 5
Hartford Hartford, Connecticut April 3 – 5
McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario April 3 – 5
Western University London, Ontario April 3 – 5
Week 7
Event Location Scheduled Date
Montreal Montreal, Quebec April 8 – 11
New England District Championship West Springfield, Massachusetts April 8 – 11
Ontario District Championship Mississauga, Ontario April 8 – 11
FIRST Championship
Event Location Scheduled Date
FIRST Championship (Houston) Houston, Texas April 15 – 18
FIRST Championship (Detroit) Detroit, Michigan April 29 – May 2

[16][17]

FIRST Virtual Showcase

On May 2, FIRST held a showcase event over Twitch, where they presented several awards that would have been otherwise awarded at the FIRST Championship. This included the Woodie Flowers Award and the Founders Award, which was presented to the FIRST community "in recognition of our members’ use of science and technology to make the world better and stronger."[18] Additionally, it was announced that the championship would remain in Houston and Detroit for the 2021 season.

References

  1. ↑ "2020 Season Facts" (PDF). FIRST. 2 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "FIRST Robotics Competition Game and Season Info". FIRSTinspires. 2019-04-20. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
  3. ↑ "Stop Build Day Retirement -- Update and a new DLC pack!". FIRST. 2019-07-09. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  4. 1 2 3 "COVID-19 Impact on FIRST Events (Updated March 12, 2020)". FIRST. 2020-03-08. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  5. ↑ "Kickoff". FIRST. 2015-11-25. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
  6. ↑ "FIRST Robotics Competition 2020 Game Manual" (PDF). firstfrc.blob.core.windows.net. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  7. 1 2 3 "2020 FRC Event List". The Blue Alliance. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  8. ↑ "The Coronavirus". FIRST. 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  9. ↑ "Postpone Announcement". www.frctaichungregional.com.tw. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  10. ↑ "CANCELED – FRC Week 2 Auburn Mountainview". firstwa.org. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  11. ↑ "SUNY Poly FIRST Statement". sunypoly.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  12. ↑ "FRC – FIRST in Michigan". Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  13. ↑ "Upstate NY FIRST COVID-19 Update – Postponing". upstatenyfirst.org. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  14. ↑ "COVID-19 Update". www.firstchesapeake.org. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  15. ↑ "FIRST Mid-Atlantic 2020 Season Postponement" (PDF). FIRST Mid-Atlantic. 2020-03-12. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  16. ↑ "FIRST Event Updates". FIRST. 2020-03-08. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  17. ↑ "2020 FRC Events Affected by COVID-19". Chief Delphi. 2020-03-09. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  18. ↑ "FIRST Hosts Global Virtual Event to Recognize Robotics Community Achievements From the FIRST RISE, powered by Star Wars: Force for Change, Season". FIRST. 2020-05-02. Retrieved 2020-05-08.

Notes

  1. ↑ Game will be replayed in 2021 due to the cancellation of the season.
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