Robot Name: Talon

Power struggle...tug of war. These are the basic concepts of the Zone Zeal games for 2002. This year's game has dramatically decreased in complexity as compared to 2001's game. No ramp, no fences, not balancing act....just three big octagonal goals, each weighing a whopping 180 pounds, and a flat playing field. The hard part is not in playing the game, but in scoring and game strategy. Alliances are comprised of 2 teams competing against another alliance of 2 teams. The playing field is broken up into 5 zones. At the start of each 2 minute match, alliances are positioned opposite each other on the playing field (Zone 1 and Zone 5) in their respective "home zone". The three goals are placed in Zone 3. In addition, 40 outdoor soccer balls of size 5 are lined long the lengthwise side of the playing field. Each player station has 10 balls for the human player. Scoring is done by placing the balls in the goals (1 point each) and by placing a goal in Zones 2 or 4 (10 points per goal). In addition, if the robot can get back to their "home zone" at the end of the match, each robot is then worth 10 points. The key is how the scoring is done. The winning alliance gets 3 times the losing alliance's points.