"Happy Fun Ball" Burgy was tasked with playing a game called "Happy Fun Ball" - a nod to an SNL parody ad from the 90's. Go ahead, YouTube search that shiznit. In our class' version of HFB, two robots play simultaneously on identical but mirrored courts, A and B. Smack in the middle of the whole field is a ball dispenser, and on the other three walls for each A and B court are goals 1, 2, and 3. The robots compete against each other (without physically contacting one another) to score the most
points in 2 minutes. Scoring points is accomplished by placing a ball into one of the three goals. Goal 1 is the easiest goal and is worth 2 pts/ball. Goal 2 is slightly harder and is worth 3 pts/ball. Goal 3 is the hardest and will reward you with 4 pts/ball, unless the ball happens to be one of 4 black balls randomly distributed amongst the rest of the balls. A black ball in goal 3 will win you 8 pts/ball! The game starts with each robot in a corner, waiting for a camera flash. When the camera flashes, each robot goes off in search of the ball dispenser. The dispenser is home to 20 balls for each robot (16 yellow, 4 black). Each robot is allowed to carry up to 10 balls at once, and the frequency with which the robot is allowed to refill/get more balls is restricted. Once the robots get all the balls they want/can carry, it's time to go score some points! Burgy only goes to goal 3 because goal 3 holds the highest point potential.
Burgy Burgy sets out to play HFB with just the essentials: a funnel for collecting balls from the dispenser, a mechanism to let the balls out (Burgy's just happens to be a mechanical moustache... no big deal), super sweet motors/wheels to zip us around the court, and a front bumper to tell us when we've hit something. There's plenty of other stuff too, but it's all pretty boring. Read the broccoli report if you're really into enginerding like us. Burgy picks up 5 balls at a time and zips off to goal 3 to deposit them. He's got a secret weapon we like to call the TURBO BOOST, which basically means that we rev up the motors to way higher than they should ever go for a very short period of time, to attain massively ridiculous speeds across the playing field. Over the course of a game, burgy will make 4 trips back and forth between ball dispenser and goal. And, if he's having a good day, ALL 20 balls will end up in goal 3 for MAX POINTS and utter destruction of the poor, 'stacheless opponent.
