11 Tournaments

Each 2022 FIRST® Robotics Competition event is played in a tournament format. Each tournament consists of 3 sets of

called Practice (not played at Single-Day Events and not necessarily played at all District Events), Qualification , and Playoff .

Practice

provide each team with an opportunity to operate its on the prior to the start of the Qualification .

Qualification

allow each team to earn Ranking Points which determine their seeding position and may qualify them for participation in the Playoff .

Playoff

determine the event Champions.

11.1

MATCH

Schedules

A

schedule is used to coordinate at an Event. Figure 11‑1 details information shown on each schedule.

11.2

REFEREE

Interaction

The Head

has the ultimate authority in the during the event, but may receive input from additional sources, e.g. Game Designers, FIRST personnel, , and technical staff. The Head rulings are final. No event personnel, including the Head , will review video, photos, artistic renderings, etc. of any , from any source, under any circumstances.

If a

needs clarification on a ruling or score, per H202, 1 from that should address the Head after the Reset Signal (e.g. lights turn green). A member signals their desire to speak with the Head by standing in the corresponding red or blue Question Box, which are located on the floor near each end of the scoring table. Depending on timing, the Head may postpone any requested discussion until the end of the subsequent as necessary.

While

tracks quantities of , FIRST instructs to not self-track details about and ; as a result, we don’t expect to recall details about what and were made, when they occurred, and against whom.

Any reasonable question is fair game in the Question Box, and Head

will make good faith efforts to provide helpful feedback (e.g. how/why certain are being called, why a particular may be susceptible to certain based on its design or game play, how specific rules are being called or interpreted), but please know that they will likely not be able to supply specific details.

11.2.1 YELLOW and

RED CARDS

In addition to rule violations explicitly listed throughout the 2022 Game Manual,

and are used in FIRST Robotics Competition to address team and behavior that does not align with the mission, values, and culture of FIRST.

As noted in Section 6.5 Rule Violations and H201, the Head

may assign a as a warning, or a for DISQUALIFICATION in for egregious behavior inappropriate at a FIRST Robotics Competition event.

A YELLOW or

is indicated by the Head standing in front of the team’s and holding a YELLOW and/or in the air.

Per Section 6.5 Rule Violations,

are additive, meaning that a second is automatically converted to a . A team is issued a for any subsequent incident in which they receive an additional , including earning a second during a single . A second is indicated by the Head standing in front of the team’s and holding a and in the air simultaneously after the completion of the . A team that has received either a or a carries a into subsequent , except as noted below.

Once a team receives a YELLOW or

, its team number is presented with a yellow background on the audience screen at the beginning of all subsequent , including any replays, as a reminder to the team, the , and the audience that they carry a .

All

are cleared in at the conclusion of Practice, Qualification, and division Playoff . Verbal warnings are cleared after Practice and persist from Qualification through subsequent tournament phases. The Head may opt to perpetuate a verbal warning or earned during Practice through to Qualification for particularly egregious behavior.

During the Playoff

, a team receives a YELLOW or for their entire . If 2 are accrued by an , the entire is issued a . A results in DISQUALIFICATION and the loses the . If both receive , the which committed the action earning the first chronologically is and loses the .

YELLOW and

are applied based on the following:

Time YELLOW or RED CARDS earned:	MATCH to which CARD is applied:
prior to the start of Qualification MATCHES	Team’s first Qualification MATCH
during the Qualification MATCHES	Team’s current (or just-completed) MATCH . In the case where the team participated as a SURROGATE in the current (or just completed) MATCH , the card is applied to the team’s previous MATCH (i.e. the team’s second Qualification MATCH )
between the end of Qualification MATCHES and the start of Playoff MATCHES	ALLIANCE ’S first Playoff MATCH
during the Playoff MATCHES	ALLIANCE ’S current (or just-completed) MATCH

Please see examples of the application of YELLOW and

as shown in Section 6.5.1 Violation Details.

11.3

MATCH

Replays

Over the course of the tournament, it may be necessary for a

to be replayed. Typical causes for replays are that end in a tie during the Playoffs, that are stopped because anticipated damage or personal injury, or if there is an . An is an error in operation that includes, but is not limited to:

• A. broken
  FIELD
  elements due to
• a. normal, expected game play or
• b.
  ROBOT
  abuse of
  FIELD
  elements that affects the outcome of the
  MATCH
  for their opponents, A broken
  FIELD
  element caused by
  ROBOT
  abuse that affects the outcome of the
  MATCH
  for their
  ALLIANCE
  is not an
  ARENA FAULT
  .
• B. power failure to a portion of the
  FIELD
  (tripping the circuit breaker in the
  DRIVER STATION
  is not considered a power failure),
• C. improper activation by the
  FMS
  , and
• D. errors by
  FIELD STAFF
  (except those listed in Section 6.7 Other Logistics). If, in the judgment of the Head
  REFEREE
  , an
  ARENA FAULT
  occurs that affects the outcome of the
  MATCH
  and any team on the affected
  ALLIANCE
  desires a replay, the
  MATCH
  will be replayed. FIRST Headquarters reserves the right to, with consultation of the Head
  REFEREE
  and the
  FTA
  , replay a
  MATCH
  in which an
  ARENA FAULT
  impacts the outcome of an event.

The outcome of the

is affected if an error occurs that, in the judgement of the Head , changes which would have won the and/or the assignment of Ranking Points.

The outcome of an event is affected if an error occurs that, in the judgement of FIRST Headquarters, changes the assignment of Ranking Points or has a dramatic effect on points used for ranking criteria.

All reasonable effort is made to create the same conditions when replaying a

caused by an or damage. This means, for example, that a team that was prior to the start of the which is to be replayed is for the replay . and starting locations do not need to be replicated when replaying a .

Note that an

that does not affect outcome, in the judgement of the Head , does not lead to a replay. Examples include, but are not limited to:

a. a piece of

plastic falls into the , far away from any human or activity, and in such a way that it does not affect outcome,

b. delay in the playing of an

sound,

c. mismatch between the timer on the audience screen and the

timer, and

d. any adjustment or delay in assignment of a penalty (including those made after the

).

11.4 Measurement

At each event, the

will be open for at least 30 minutes prior to the start of Qualification , during which time teams may survey and/or measure the and bring on the to perform sensor calibration. The specific time that the is open will be communicated to teams at the event. Teams may bring specific questions or comments to the .

11.5 Practice

MATCHES

Practice

are played before Qualification . The Practice schedule is available as soon as possible, but no later than the start of Practice . For Regional events, it will also be published and available online at the FIRST Robotics Event Results site, except during exceptional circumstances. Practice are randomly assigned, and teams may not switch scheduled Practice . Each team is assigned an equal number of Practice unless the number of teams multiplied by number of Practice is not divisible by 6. In this case, the randomly selects some teams to play an extra Practice .

Practice

are not part of Single-Day Events and are not guaranteed at District Events due to event schedule constraints.

11.5.1 Filler Line

A Filler Line is used to fill open slots at events that employ scheduled Practice

or all slots at events with an open Practice schedule. Teams from the Filler Line are used on a first come, first served basis to fill empty spots in Practice left by other teams that do not report to Queueing. The number of teams in the Filler Line is dependent upon space at venues.

Only teams that meet all criteria below qualify for the Filler Line:

• A.
  ROBOTS
  in the Filler Line must have passed inspection (this requirement may be waived for events with open Practice
  MATCH
  schedules),
• B.
  DRIVE TEAMS
  must join the Filler Line with their
  ROBOT
  ,
• C. teams may not work on their
  ROBOT
  while in the Filler Line,
• D. teams may not occupy more than 1 spot in the Filler Line, and
• E. if a team is queued for their Practice
  MATCH
  , they may not also join the Filler Line.

11.6 Qualification

MATCHES

11.6.1 Schedule

The Qualification

schedule is made available as soon as possible, but no later than 1 hour before Qualification are scheduled to begin (for Single-Day Events, the schedule is provided no later than 30 minutes before Qualification are scheduled to begin). Teams receive 1 hard copy and it is also available at the FIRST Robotics Competition Event Results site, except during exceptional circumstances. Each Qualification schedule consists of a series of rounds in which each team plays 1 per round.

11.6.2

MATCH

Assignment

assigns each team 2 partners for each Qualification using a predefined algorithm, and teams may not switch Qualification assignments. The algorithm employs the following criteria, listed in order of priority:

1. maximize time between each
   MATCH
   played for all teams
2. minimize the number of times a team plays opposite any team
3. minimize the number of times a team is allied with any team
4. minimize the use of
   SURROGATES
   (teams randomly assigned by the
   FMS
   to play an extra Qualification
   MATCH
   )
5. provide even distribution of
   MATCHES
   played on blue and red
   ALLIANCE
6. provide even distribution of
   MATCHES
   played in each
   DRIVER STATION
   number

At events with fewer than 24 participating teams, the criteria are similar, however criterion 5 is changed to minimize the number of times a team swaps between the blue and red

rather than an even distribution.

All teams are assigned the same number of Qualification

, equal to the number of rounds, unless the number of teams multiplied by number of is not divisible by 6. In this case, the randomly selects some teams to play an extra . For the purpose of seeding calculations, those teams are designated as for the extra . If a team plays a as a , it is indicated on the schedule, it is always their third Qualification , and the outcome of the has no effect on the team’s ranking. YELLOW and assigned to , however, do carry forward to subsequent .

11.6.3 Qualification Ranking

Ranking Points are units credited to a team based on their

’S performance in Qualification . Ranking Points are awarded to each eligible team at the completion of each Qualification per Table 6‑1.

Exceptions to Ranking Point assignment are as follows:

• A. A
  SURROGATE
  receives 0 Ranking Points.
• B. A
  DISQUALIFIED
  team, as determined by the Head
  REFEREE
  , receives 0 Ranking Points in a Qualification
  MATCH
  or causes their
  ALLIANCE
  to receive 0
  MATCH
  points in a Playoff
  MATCH
  .
• C. A “no-show” team is either
  DISQUALIFIED
  from or issued a
  RED CARD
  for that
  MATCH
  (see H305). A team is declared a no-show if no member of the
  DRIVE TEAM
  is in the
  ALLIANCE AREA
  at the start of the
  MATCH
  . The total number of Ranking Points earned by a team throughout their Qualification
  MATCHES
  divided by the number of
  MATCHES
  they’ve been scheduled to play (minus any
  SURROGATE
  MATCH
  ), then truncated to 2 decimal places, is their Ranking Score (
  RS
  ).

All teams participating in Qualification

are ranked by Ranking Score. If the number of teams in attendance is ‘n’, they are ranked ‘1’ through ‘n’, with ‘1’ being the team with the highest Ranking Score and ‘n’ being the team with the lowest Ranking Score.

Teams are ranked in order, using the sorting criteria defined in Table 11‑2.

Order Sort	Criteria
1st	Ranking Score
2nd	Average Alliance MATCH points, not including FOULS
3rd	Average ALLIANCE HANGAR points
4th	Average ALLIANCE TAXI + AUTO CARGO points
5th	Random sorting by the FMS

11.7 Playoff

MATCHES

In Playoff

, teams do not earn Ranking Points; they earn a Win, Loss or Tie. Within each series of the Playoff Bracket, the first to win 2 advances.

In the case where the Quarterfinal or Semifinal

scores for both are equal, the win is awarded to the per criteria listed in Table 11‑3. A team, as determined by the Head , causes their to receive 0 points in a Playoff .

In Finals

, the Champion is the first to win 2 . In the case where an hasn’t won 2 after 3 have been played (because of tied ), the Playoffs proceed with up to 3 additional Finals , called Overtime , until an has won 2 Finals . In the case where the Overtime scores for both are equal, the win for that Overtime is awarded based on the criteria listed in Table 11‑3.

Order Sort	Criteria
1st	Cumulative FOUL and TECH FOUL points due to opponent rule violations
2nd	ALLIANCE HANGAR points
3rd	ALLIANCE TAXI + AUTO CARGO points
4th	MATCH is replayed

11.7.1

ALLIANCE

Selection Process

At the end of the Qualification

, the top 8 seeded teams become the Leads. The seeded are designated, in order, 1, 2, etc., down to 8. Using the selection process described in this section, each Lead chooses 2 other teams to join their .

If a team declines the

Lead position or doesn’t send a representative for selection, they are ineligible to participate in the Playoff Tournament. If the declining/absent team would have been an Lead, all lower ranked Leads are promoted 1 spot. The next highest-ranked team moves up to become the 8 Lead.

Each team chooses a

team representative who proceeds to the at the designated time (typically before the lunch break on the final day of the event) to represent their team. The designated representative from each in a Playoff is called the .

The

selection process consists of 2 rounds during which each invites a team seeded below them in the standings to join their . The invited team must not already have declined an invitation.

Round 1: In descending order (

1 to 8), each invites a single team. The invited team’s representative steps forward and either accepts or declines the invitation.

If the team accepts, it becomes a member of that

. If an invitation from a top 8 to another Lead is accepted, all lower Leads are promoted 1 spot. The next highest-seeded, unselected team moves up to become the 8 Lead.

If the team declines, that team is not eligible to be picked again or to be a

(see Playoff Bracket), and the extends another invitation to a different team. If an invitation from a top 8 to another Lead is declined, the declining team may still invite teams to join their ; however, it cannot accept invitations from other .

The process continues until

8 makes a successful invitation.

Round 2: The same method is used for each

’S second choice except the selection order is reversed, with 8 picking first and 1 picking last. This process results in 8 of 3 teams each.

Of the remaining eligible teams, the highest seeded teams must either accept or decline to be included in a pool of available teams until there are up to 8 teams that accept to be added into the pool.

will coordinate the assembly of this BACKUP pool immediately after the top ranked has made their final pick. If a team is not available to accept inclusion in the BACKUP pool, it will be assumed they have declined the invitation.

11.7.2 Playoff

MATCH

Bracket

The Playoff

take place following the completion of the Qualification and the selection process. Playoff are played in a bracket format as shown in Figure 11‑3.

Leads are assigned to 2, the first picks are assigned to their left in 1, and second picks are assigned to the Lead’s right in 3. If a is in play, they will be assigned to the that was assigned to the they’re replacing. Teams cannot change assignments.

For Quarterfinal

, the higher seeded is assigned to the red . Beyond the Quarterfinal , the on the top of each in Figure 11‑3 is assigned to the red , regardless of whether they are the higher seeded in that particular .

In order to allow time between

for all , the order of play is as follows:

Quarterfinal Round 1	Quarterfinal Round 2	Quarterfinal Round 3	Semifinals	Finals
Quarterfinal 1 (1 vs. 8)	Quarterfinal 5 (1 vs. 8)	Quarterfinal Tiebreaker 11	Semifinal 1	Final 1
Quarterfinal 2 (4 vs. 5)	Quarterfinal 6 (4 vs. 5)	Quarterfinal Tiebreaker 21	Semifinal 2	FIELD TIMEOUT
Quarterfinal 3 (2 vs. 7)	Quarterfinal 7 (2 vs. 7)	Quarterfinal Tiebreaker 31	Semifinal 3	Final 2
Quarterfinal 4 (3 vs. 6)	Quarterfinal 8 (3 vs. 6)	Quarterfinal Tiebreaker 41	Semifinal 4	FIELD TIMEOUT
	FIELD TIMEOUT1	FIELD TIMEOUT1	Semifinal Tiebreaker 11	Final Tiebreakers (Overtime) 1
		Any Replays due to ties1	Semifinal Tiebreaker 21	Any Replays due to ties1
			FIELD TIMEOUT1
			Any Replays due to ties1

1 - if required

11.7.3 Pit Crews

During the Playoff

, extra team members may be needed to maintain the between because of the distance between the and the pit area. Each team is permitted to have 3 additional pit crew members who can also help with needed repairs/maintenance.

11.7.4

TIMEOUTS

A

is a period of up to 8 minutes between which is used to pause Playoff progression.

During a

, the timer displays the time remaining in the . Both enjoy the complete 8-minute window. If an completes their repairs before the timer expires, the is encouraged to inform the Head that they are ready to play. If both are ready to play before the expires, the next will start.

There are no

for Practice or Qualification .

If circumstances require an

to play in back-to-back during the Playoff , the Head will issue a to allow teams to prepare for the next . are the same time duration as and begin once the are clear of and the results have been posted.

Each

in the Playoff tournament is issued 1 .

Teams are expected to have their

staged on the by the end of the . Teams that cause a delay to the start of a after a are at risk of being in violation of H301.

A request presented outside the defined parameters in this rule will be denied.

There are no cascading

. If an calls a during a , the will expire 2 minutes after the are clear and results are posted, and the ’S will begin.

If an

wishes to call a during a , it must still do so within 2 minutes of the being clear and the results being posted preceding their .

are not transferrable between , meaning an cannot hand their designated coupon to another to use, however an may use their own coupon for any purpose they wish.

If a Playoff

is replayed because of an which rendered a inoperable, the Head has the option of calling a .

11.7.5

BACKUP TEAMS

In the Playoff

, it may be necessary for an to replace 1 of its members due to a faulty . Examples of faults include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. mechanical damage,
2. electrical issues, and
3. software problems.

In this situation, the

has the option to bring in only the highest seeded team from the pool of available teams to join its . The team whose and replaces another and on an during the Playoff is called the .

The resulting

is then composed of 4 teams. The replaced team remains a member of the for awards, but cannot return to play, even if their is repaired.

Each

is allotted 1 coupon during the Playoff . If a second from the becomes inoperable, then the must play the following with only 2 (or even 1) .

Example: 3 teams, A, B and C, form an

going into the Playoff . The highest seeded team not on 1 of the 8 is Team D. During 1 of the Playoff , Team C’s suffers damage to its mechanical arm. The decides to bring in Team D to replace Team C. Team C and their are not eligible to play in any subsequent Playoff . The new of Teams A, B, and D are successful in advancing to the Finals and win the event. Teams A, B, C, and D are all recognized as members of the Winning and receive awards.

In the case where a

is part of the Winning or Finalist , there will be a 4-team Winning or Finalist .

If during a

an determines that they need to call up a , they must submit their coupon to the Head while there are still at least 2 minutes remaining on the timer. After that point, they will not be allowed to utilize the .

Alternatively, an

may choose to call up a without using their by informing the Head directly within 2 minutes of the Head issuing the reset signal preceding their . If there is no preceding , the coupon must be submitted no later than 2 minutes before the scheduled time.

In the case where the

’S is replaced by a , the is allowed as a sixteenth member. This additional representative may only serve in an advisory role and is considered a (e.g. can’t be a )

The Head

will not accept the coupon unless it lists the number of the team whose is being replaced and is initialed by the . Once a coupon is submitted and accepted by the Head , the coupon may not be withdrawn by the .

If a Playoff

is replayed per this rule, the Head has the option of calling a .

11.7.6 Small Event Exceptions

The scheduling algorithm described in Section 11.6.2

Assignment works to minimize teams playing in back-to-back . However, at events with fewer than 24 teams, back-to-back plays may occur. If any team is scheduled to play in back-to-back , the Head issues a unless a longer break is already scheduled to occur (e.g. lunch.) See Section 11.7.4 for details.

Multi-day events with 24 teams or fewer employ a modified Playoff

format. Instead of 8 , these events proceed through SELECTION and the Playoff Tournament with the maximum number of complete 3-team that can be formed while leaving at least 1 (e.g. a 24-team event creates 7 , a 20-team event creates 6 ).

The Playoff Bracket remains as shown in Figure 11‑3, with any matchup against a non-existent

resulting in a bye (i.e. automatic advancement to the next round). An assigned a bye-MATCH is invited, though not required, to practice together in a null (i.e. it has no bearing on the Playoff tournament) before Playoff begin.

District points for Draft Order Acceptance (per Section 11.8.1.2

Selection Results) are awarded as if a full set of was selected (i.e. the second selection of the 3-seed still receive 3 points regardless of how many are formed). District points for Playoff performance consider an that has a bye to have achieved the typical 2 wins for advancing from that round (i.e. the members earn 10 district points).

11.7.7 Single-Day Event Exceptions

Some events are restricted to hosting teams 1 day at a time and are called Single-Day Events. Single-Day Events have a minimum of 13 and a maximum of 24 teams.

District points are modified as described in Section 11.8.1 District Events.

Single-Day Events employ a 4-ALLIANCE Playoff bracket as shown in Figure 11‑6 (and if the event is a District, points are not awarded for advancement through the Quarterfinal round). These

follow the same order as the Semifinal and Final rounds shown in Table 11‑4.

To create the 4

, selection proceeds in the same general fashion as described in Section 11.7.1, however with only 4 Leads instead of 8.

While each day is independent of the other days with regards to the

competition, judged awards span all days included in that event series (i.e. a team participating in the first day competes with teams participating in the second day for judged awards). All judging is conducted remotely, and full details are included in the 2022 Single-Day Event Plan.

11.8 Advancement Through the District Model

Teams advance through the season depending on the events at which they compete: Regional or District. This section details how District teams advance from District qualifying events, to their District Championship.

11.8.1 District Events

District teams are ranked throughout the season based on the points they earn at their first 2 home District events they attend, as well as at their District Championship. Points are awarded to teams as follows:

Category	Points
Qualification Round Performance	(For a typically sized District event, this will result in a minimum of 4 points being awarded for Qualification round performance. For events of all sizes, a maximum of 22 points will be awarded.)
ALLIANCE CAPTAINS	Equal to 17 minus the ALLIANCE CAPTAIN number (e.g. 14 points for ALLIANCE #3 Captain) For Single-Day Events, ALLIANCE CAPTAINS #1, 2, 3, and 4 receive 16, 14, 12, and 10 points respectively.
Draft Order Acceptance	Equal to 17 minus the Draft Order Acceptance Number (e.g. 12 points for the team that is fifth to accept an invitation) For Single-Day Events, first through eighth picks receive 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 points respectively.
Playoff Advancement	Points awarded based on team participation in individual playoff rounds, and whether or not the ALLIANCE advances. See Section 11.8.1.3 for details.
Judged Team Awards	10 points for Chairman’s Award 8 points each for Engineering Inspiration and Rookie All Star Awards 5 points each for all other judged team awards
Team Age	10 points for 2021 and 2022 rookie teams 5 points for 2020 rookie teams
Back-to-Back Play	2 points for teams playing 2 Single-Day Events on 1 weekend, provided the 2 events are the team’s first 2 events

Points earned at District Championships are multiplied by 3 and then added to points earned at District events, to determine the final season point total for the team.

If there is a tie in the season point total between teams, those items are broken using the following sorting criteria:

Order Sort	Criteria
1st	Total Playoff Round Performance Points
2nd	Best Playoff Round Finish at a single event
3rd	Total ALLIANCE Selection Results Points
4th	Highest Qualification Round Seed or Draft Order Acceptance (i.e. Highest ALLIANCE Selection points at a single event)
5th	Total Qualification Round Performance Points
6th	Highest Individual MATCH Score, regardless of whether that score occurred in a Qualification or Playoff MATCH
7th	Second highest Individual MATCH Score, regardless of whether that score occurred in a Qualification or Playoff MATCH
8th	Third highest Individual MATCH Score, regardless of whether that score occurred in a Qualification or Playoff MATCH
9th	Random Selection

11.8.1.1 Qualification Round Performance

The calculation of Qualification performance points is done using the equation (an inverse error function) in Table 11‑5. The equation utilizes the following variables:

• R
  – the qualification rank of the team at the event at the conclusion of Qualification
  MATCHES
  (as reported by
  FMS
  )
• N – the number of FIRST Robotics Competition teams participating in the Qualification rounds at the event
• Alpha (α) – a static value (1.07) used to standardize the distribution of points at events This formula generates an approximately normal distribution of Qualification Round Performance points at an event, based on rank, with most teams getting a moderate number of points, and fewer teams getting the highest or lowest numbers of points available.

Table 11‑7 displays sample Qualification Round Performance points for variously ranked teams at a 40-team event. The system will automatically generate the appropriate points for each team based on their rank and the number of teams at the event.

Rank	1	2	3	4	…	19	20	21	…	37	38	39	40
Points	22	21	20	19	…	13	13	12	…	6	6	5	4

11.8.1.2

ALLIANCE

Selection Results

This attribute measures both individual team qualification round seeding performance and recognition by peers.

are recognized based on their qualification round seeding rank. This rank is a result of the rules of the game, which typically incorporate several team performance attributes, and are designed to eliminate ties in rank. Non-ALLIANCE CAPTAINS are rewarded based on peer recognition. To be invited to join an , a team’s peers have decided that the team has attributes that are desirable. Giving points for selection also supports come-from-behind teams. A team taking several to optimize their performance may be recognized as a late bloomer by a top seeded team, even if that performance isn’t reflected in the rankings because of poor performance in early . These points also have the potential to recognize teams employing a minority strategy with their . Teams with unique or divergent capabilities that complement the strengths of other members may be selected to fill a strategic niche.

Note also that

are given the same number of points as the team drafted in the same sequence. For example, the third gets the same number of points as the third draft. Numerical analysis supports the idea that are about as strong in performance as equivalently drafted teams. As an additional minor benefit, awarding the same points for and equivalent drafts lubricates the acceptance of draft offers between , which gives teams out of the top 8 (or 4, if a Single-Day Event) the chance to experience being themselves.

11.8.1.3 Playoff Round Performance

This attribute measures team performance as part of an

.

All teams on the

winning a particular playoff series, who participate in with their , receive 5 points per won. In most cases, teams receive 10 points at each of the Quarterfinal, Semifinal, and Final levels, unless a BACKUP is called in to play. For Single-Day Events, there is no Quarterfinal level so teams can receive up to 20 points for winning at the Semifinal and Final levels.

11.8.1.4 Awards

This attribute measures team performance with respect to team awards judged at the event.

The points earned for team awards in this system are not intended to capture the full value of the award to the team winning the award, or to represent the full value of the award to FIRST. In many ways, the team’s experience in being selected for awards, especially the Chairman’s Award, the Engineering Inspiration Award, and the Rookie All Star Award (which is optional for District Championship events), is beyond measure, and could not be fully captured in its entirety by any points-based system. Points are being assigned to awards in this system only to help teams recognize that FIRST continues to be “More than RobotsSM,” with the emphasis on our cultural awards, and to assist in elevating award-winning teams above non-award-winning teams in the ranking system.

Teams only get points for team awards judged at the event. If an award is not judged (e.g. Rookie Highest Seed), is not for a team (e.g. the Dean’s List Award) or is not judged at the event (e.g. Safety Animation Award, sponsored by UL), no points are earned.

11.8.1.5 Team Age

This attribute recognizes the difficulty in being a rookie or relatively new team.

Points are awarded to 2020, 2021, and 2022 rookie teams in recognition of the unique challenges teams face in those early years, and to increase the chance that they will make it to the District Championship to compete with their

. Like our dedicated Rookie awards, these additional points are intended to recognize and motivate newer participants in FIRST Robotics Competition. These points are awarded once at the beginning of the season. Rookie year is calculated based on the year in which FIRST recognizes the team as a rookie.

The assignment of Team Age points is different in 2022 from previous seasons. Please see this blog post for additional information.

11.8.1.6 Regional Participation

District teams do not earn points for their actions at any Regionals they may attend, nor are eligible for FIRST Championship qualifying judged awards at those events. However, if a District team does earn a slot at the FIRST Championship while attending a Regional event, that slot does count as part of the total Championship allocation the District is receiving for the season.

11.8.2 District Championship Eligibility

A team competing in a District qualifies for their District Championship by meeting 1 of the following criteria:

• A. District Chairman’s Award Winner,
• B. District Ranking (based on total points earned at their first 2 home District events as detailed in District Events), Teams do not earn points at third or subsequent District events, nor at any inter-district or Regional events at which they compete during the season.

If a team declines an invitation to the District Championship, the next highest uninvited team on the list is invited, and so on, until the event capacity is filled.

• C. District Engineering Inspiration winner (qualifies to compete for the award only), and
• D. District Rookie All Star winner (qualifies to compete for the award only). The capacity of each District Championship is shown in Table 11‑8. Each District determines the number of teams that qualify for their District Championship. These limits are based on factors including but not limited to the total number of teams in the District, available venue capacity, etc.

District Championship	Capacity
FIRST Chesapeake District Championship	60
FIRST Israel District Championship	40
FIRST Mid-Atlantic District Championship	60
FIRST North Carolina State Championship	32
FIRST Ontario Provincial Championship	80
FIRST in Texas District Championship	80
Indiana State Championship	32
Michigan State Championship	160
New England District Championship	80
Pacific Northwest District Championship	50
Peachtree District State Championship	32

11.8.3 District Championships with Multiple Divisions

Some District Championships have a sufficient number of teams to justify using more than 1 division. Teams are assigned divisions by FIRST using a process developed by FIRST in Michigan.

The process employs a “brute force iterative randomizer” and is executed as follows:

1. The district team list is sorted in order of cumulative district points earned as described in District Events.
2. The list is divided into quartiles based on rank (e.g. the first quartile has the top 25% ranked teams).
3. Division assignments are randomly generated using equal contribution from each quartile.
4. 3 criteria are calculated for each division:

a. average strength: the arithmetic mean of the district point values of teams in a division

b. distribution of strength: the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of the district point values of teams in a division. SNR is calculated as follows:

= arithmetic mean of the district points in a division

σ = standard deviation of the district points in a division

c. distribution of strength for “top” teams: The SNR of the district point values of teams in the first quartile of a division

5. The 3 criteria for each division are compared to the other division(s). If the difference between the division’s value and any other division’s value exceeds the limits in Table 11‑9, the criteria is not met.

	2 divisions	4 divisions
Average strength	1	2
Distribution of strength	1	2.5
Distribution of strength for “top” teams	1.5	2

6. If all 3 criteria met, event organizers publish the assignments. If any of the 3 criteria are not met, assignments are rejected, and the process returns to Step 3.

In these cases:

• Division winning
  ALLIANCES
  play each other in District Championship Playoffs, employing the bracket below that corresponds to their District, until a winning
  ALLIANCE
  for the event is determined.

• Teams participating in District Championship Playoffs earn Playoff round performance District points as described in Playoff Round Performance.
• If an
  ALLIANCE
  in a District Championship Playoff has not yet adopted a BACKUP
  ROBOT
  per
  BACKUP TEAMS
  , the
  ALLIANCE CAPTAIN
  may bring in only the highest seeded team from their division’s pool of available teams to join its
  ALLIANCE
  .

11.9 FIRST Championship: Additions and Exceptions

At the 2022 FIRST Championship, teams are split into 6 divisions. The process used to assign teams to their division is as follows:

1. Rookies are assigned randomly, team by team, sequentially to divisions (i.e. a team in Division 1, a team in Division 2, a team in Division 3, a team in Division 4, a team in Division 5, a team in Division 6, then back to Division 1 again, until Rookies are all assigned to a division).
2. Step 1 is
   repeated
   with veteran teams.

Each division plays a standard tournament as described in Qualification

and Playoff to produce the division Champions. Those 6 division Champions proceed to the Championship Playoffs, on the Einstein , to determine the 2022 FIRST Robotics Competition Championship Winners, per FIRST Championship Playoffs.

11.9.1 Advancement to the FIRST Championship

Details on how teams earn eligibility to attend the FIRST Championship are posted on the FIRST Championship eligibility webpage.

11.9.2 4

ROBOT

ALLIANCES

There is no provision for

at the FIRST Championship.

Instead, before each division Playoff Tournament,

are selected per the process as described in Section 11.7.1 Selection Process, however the process continues with a third round of selection as follows.

Round 3: The same method is used for each

’S third choice except the selection order is reversed again, with 1 picking first and 8 picking last. This process results in 8 of 4 teams each.

may start with any 3 of the 4 on their during division Playoff and during the Championship Playoffs. The list of 3 teams participating in the and their selected is called the . A single representative from the team not on the is allowed as a sixteenth member. This additional representative may only serve in an advisory role and will be considered a (e.g. can’t be a ).

The

is kept confidential until the is set for the , at which point each ’S appears on the Team Signs.

If an

does not submit a for their first of the division Playoffs or the Championship Playoffs within 2 minutes before the scheduled time, the is the Lead, first selection, and second selection. If any of these 3 are unable to play, the must play the with only 2 (or even 1) (S).

If an

would like to change their after their first division Playoff or Championship Playoff , the must report the to the Head , or their designee, in writing prior to end of the preceding (e.g. the for Quarterfinal 2 must be submitted before the end of Quarterfinal 1). If the Head is busy and there is no designee defined, the waits in the question box to report the .

Once the

is declared, it cannot be changed unless there is a team or . If there is a , the may submit a different , but must do so while there are still more than 2 minutes remaining in the .

Example: 4 teams, A, B, C and D, form an

going into the Playoff on their division . During 1 of the Playoff , Team C’s becomes inoperable. The decides to bring in Team D to replace Team C. Team C repairs their and may play in any subsequent Playoff replacing Team A, B, or D. All 4 members are also eligible to play during the Championship Playoffs should the win the division Tournament.

If a

must be replayed due to an , the for the replayed is the same as the original . The sole exception is if the rendered a inoperable, in which case the can be changed.

11.9.3 FIRST Championship Pit Crews

FIRST distributes buttons to the

during the meeting, which takes place on the division . These buttons provide the necessary access to the for pit crew members.

Teams should assume they may be chosen for an

and think about the logistics of button distribution and set a plan prior to the selection process. It is each ’S responsibility to distribute buttons to their pit crew members.

11.9.4 FIRST Championship Playoffs

The 6 division Champions play a round-robin style tournament to determine the 2022 FIRST Robotics Competition Champions. In this format, each division Champion plays 1

against each of the other division Champions. The order of is shown in Table 11‑10.

| Round |

| Mass | Mass | Energy | Energy | | | | ------ | ------ | ------ | ------ | | Red | Blue | Red | Blue | | 1 | 1 | Carver | Turing | | | | 2 | | | Galileo | Roebling | | 3 | Hopper | Newton | | | | 2 | 4 | | | Carver | Roebling | | 5 | Turing | Newton | | | | 6 | | | Galileo | Hopper | | 3 | 7 | Carver | Newton | | | | 8 | | | Roebling | Hopper | | 9 | Turing | Galileo | | | | 4 | 10 | | | Hopper | Carver | | 11 | Newton | Galileo | | | | 12 | | | Roebling | Turing | | 5 | 13 | Galileo | Carver | | | | 14 | | | Hopper | Turing | | 15 | Newton | Roebling | | |

In the Championship Playoffs,

do not earn Ranking Points; they earn Championship Points. Championship Points are units credited to an based on their performance in each and are awarded at the completion of each Round Robin tournament .

• A. The winning
  ALLIANCE
  receives 2 Championship Points.
• B. The losing
  ALLIANCE
  receives 0 Championship Points.
• C. In the event of a tied score, each
  ALLIANCE
  receives 1 Championship Point. Exceptions to A-C are as follows:
• D. A
  DISQUALIFIED
  team, as determined by the Head
  REFEREE
  , causes their
  ALLIANCE
  to receive 0 Championship points. The total number of Championship Points earned by a team throughout the round robin
  MATCHES
  divided by the number of round robin
  MATCHES
  in which they’ve been scheduled is their Championship Score (CS).

All teams participating in round robin

are ranked by Championship Score. If the number of teams in attendance is ‘n’, they are ranked ‘1’ through ‘n’, with ‘1’ being the team with the highest Championship Score and ‘n’ being the team with the lowest Championship Score.

Order Sort	Criteria
1st	Championship Score
2nd	Average ALLIANCE HANGAR points
3rd	Average ALLIANCE TAXI + AUTO CARGO points
4th	Average ALLIANCE MATCH points, including FOULS
5th	If tie affects which ALLIANCES advance to Playoffs, a tiebreaker MATCH is played between the affected ALLIANCES . If tie is between ALLIANCES advancing to Playoffs, FMS randomly seeds tied ALLIANCES to determine ALLIANCE color.

The 2

with the highest Championship Scores at the conclusion of the round robin tournament advance to the Einstein Finals. In the Einstein Finals, do not earn points, they earn a Win, Loss or Tie. The first to win 2 is declared the 2022 FIRST Robotics Competition Champions.

During the Einstein Finals, if the

score of each is equal, the is replayed. In this circumstance, the may be changed.

11.9.5 FIRST Championship

TIMEOUTS

There are no

for teams in the Einstein tournament.