Co-Opertition FIRST

The playing field was a carpeted, rectangular area with two 6 ft (2 m) high goals located midfield, one goal for each alliance. There is a 30 in (762 mm) clearance bar under each goal. Between the goals is an 8 ft (2 m) wide ramp with a 5 ft (2 m) clearance bar, which robots may hang on to score points. Around the perimeter of the field are four stations for human players, who work with remote controlled robots on the field to score points. At the start of each match, each alliance station contains seven yellow balls and one black ball. Fifteen yellow balls and two black balls are located at the far end of the playing field.[5]

Each robot can weigh up to 130 lb (59 kg), and must start each match small enough to fit inside a 30" x 36" x 5' space. The robots are powered by a sealed lead-acid battery from Yuasa Exide, Inc. and use motors from S-B Power Tool Company, ITT Automotive, Keyang, Globe Motor, and Delphi Interior and Lighting. They also use speed controllers and a programmable control system supplied by FIRST. Drivers use joysticks from CH Products and switches from Honeywell to remotely control the robots via a radio link which uses RNet wireless modems from Motorola.

Each match is two minutes long. Alliances receive one point for each yellow ball and five points for each black ball in their goal, and not in contact with their robot. Robots that are completely on the ramp each earn five points for their alliance. A robot hanging from the horizontal bar connecting the two goals earns ten points for its alliance.

The idea of Co-opertition stems from the games scoring for the qualifying matches. The winning alliance receives 3x the loser's score as their qualifying points. Thus, it is more beneficial to win a match 10-9 than 20–0.

All events. Legend:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Championship

The following regional events were held in 2000:[6]

Week 1

• Kennedy Space Center Southeast Regional - Kennedy Space Center, FL
• Great Lakes Regional - Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI

Week 2

• Johnson & Johnson Mid-Atlantic Regional - Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
• NASA Langley/VCU Regional - Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
• Lone Star Regional - Astro Arena Complex, Houston

Week 3

• Philadelphia Alliance Regional - Drexel University, Philadelphia
• Motorola Midwest Regional - Northwestern University, Evanston, Il
• Long Island Regional - Suffolk County Community College, Long Island, NY

Week 4

• UTC New England Regional - Meadows Music Theater, Hartford, CT
• NASA Ames Regional - San Jose State University, San Jose, CA