Glow in the dark tape measure (2014 game hint)

[Longrange97]

So one of my team mates accidently walked in on the deans list ceremony while they were going over what the teams will get in their totes and at one point Blaine (the MC for Galileo) and he said "the next item will help you in the 2014 game...a glow in the dark tape measure"
I believe that this is a very important clue. the following is my theory on the meaning of the clue

ok so i have been thinking. in the early 20th century people used the element radium to make things like watches glow in the dark. radium is the element directly preceding the actinides. and a element called americium is in the actinides (named after america, the home country of FIRST ROBOTICS)... americium is used as an ionizer in home fire alarms (why they put radiation warnings on fire alarms). so this obviously has to do with fire.
and this brings me to my next point. "why would you need a glow in the dark tape measure?". you may have bad vision in the dark... what helps night vision... carrots. and what else is orange? THAT'S RIGHT, FIRE!!! and you know what else is orange? the sun! what is the sun made of? hydrogen. thus i conclude that our robots will need to be powered by (orange?) hydrogen fuel cells. also the waste from hydrogen fulel cells is water... it has to be a water game... and where there's water there is fire, and where there's fire there is hot air, and where there's hot air there is hot air balloons. so the only explanation is there is a secondary challenge where we need a flying mini bot(ftc?). also sandbags are used to weigh down sand bags. so that must mean there is a sand field in the middle of the field.

back to americium... if you add up the values for all the letters in "Orange" (ascii) and subtract that value (604)from 610 (team number for 2013 champions) you get 6. the 6th element in the actinides is plutonium. the half life of plutonium 241 is 14 years. if you take half the half life of plutonium 241 you get 7. americium is the 7th element in the actinides. confirming my fire theory thus confirming the flying ftc bots.

and plutonium is used as the core of a fusion bomb. besides plutonium or uranium a fusion bomb contains deuterium and tritium... isotopes of hydrogen. again confirming my theory of a water game, and being powered by hydrogen. speaking of uranium they also used uranium to color glass in the early 20th century... bringing us all of the way back to radium.

also if you take the atomic numbers for americium, plutonium and uranium. add them, then divide that value by 610 it is 46% multiply 46 by 2... what does that equal that's right 92 the atomic number of uranium. so we will also be able to use depleted uranium parts on our robots next year

im sure that this is just the beginning of all we will discover with this amazing hint. tell me if you have anything to add on to this

[connor.worley]

An FLL theme about tackling the challenge of nuclear waste actually seems possible. It also has nothing to do with the original hint, but still. :P

[fb39ca4]

Anyone else think the measuring tape game at the power tools booth could be expanded into an FRC game?

[Gigakaiser]

92 minus 30 is 62. If you turn that number upside-down, invert it, break it apart into 5000 segments and rearrange those segments into the first three characters that came to your mind five days ago you will see a slightly deformed and upside-down H2O. Water game for sure.

[Mike Marandola]

This has to be it! There is no other explanation.:)

[Iaquinto.Joe]

Anyone else think the measuring tape game at the power tools booth could be expanded into an FRC game?

Can you explain the game?

[coalhot]

I call red herring

[Andrew Lawrence]

OH MY GOD. MAYBE....JUST MAYBE.....We'll have to measure our parts twice, and then cut them once while machining them! It's a BREAKTHROUGH!

[Nick Lawrence]

Stop. It's sleeping season. :P

-Nick

[Flimsor]

I'm not saying that all of this is actually hinting at next year's game, because it's much too early to speculate, but the wristbands from the team social thing glow in the dark.

[Mr V]

Blair Hundertmark was just being Blair and making things interesting. He like everyone else who is not on the GDC, except Dean and maybe Frank, do not know anything about next year's game. The GDC works in their secret bunker, behind locked doors and keeps their lips sealed.

[Roger]

I'd actually like to have a glow-in-the-dark tape measure for work. I've measured entire buildings in the dark with only a flashlight. Seeing the tape would help.

The only thing -- don't you first have to leave the tape out in the sun for a while so it would glow?

I suspect this is a variant (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50JbiZEWq1Y&t=1m50s) of the tape-measure game. :p

Oh, right -- game hint. Yeah, 2014 will be here soon enough.

[bardd]

Dear god... It has begun.

[2789_B_Garcia]

Stop. It's sleeping season. :P

-Nick

AMEN! Why am I even on here?!?!?

[kristinweiss]

just to clarify the tape measures are not actually glow in the dark but instead have a flashlight on them

[Sir Legit]

What I'm getting from this is that we will have to shoot tape measures into goals in the dark.

Or it's a water game.

[Mike Marandola]

Can you explain the game?

At the Dewalt/Stanley booth there was a table, about 2' x 6' with a hole at each end. There was a player at both ends of the table and had to use a tape measure to pull all of the rings from the far side of the table into the hole on their side. Whoever finished this first won. I think it was to show how strong Stanley tape measures are.

[dubiousSwain]

At the Dewalt/Stanley booth there was a table, about 2' x 6' with a hole at each end. There was a player at both ends of the table and had to use a tape measure to pull all of the rings from the far side of the table into the hole on their side. Whoever finished this first won. I think it was to show how strong Stanley tape measures are.
So, reverse logomotion?

[kristinweiss]

I just thought I'd point ou that every 16 inches on the tape measures there is a little red box around the number

[dubiousSwain]

I just thought I'd point ou that every 16 inches on the tape measures there is a little red box around the number
PUSHING GAME
16 boxes filled with (you guessed it) water!

[Jay O'Donnell]

Would someone mind taking a picture of this tape measure? Also, have there been any hints from the deans lost ceremony in the past that corresponded with the game?

[kristinweiss]

Here is a side view and a picture of the numbers...

[Christopher149]

Everybody, it's clearly a hint that the game will be Zone Zeal (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1216317&postcount=62), all over again.

[Samwaldo]

Is it my DREAM game? a game in the dark, where the field or field outline and all game pieces are glow in the dark! All robots put flashlights on themselves to see better.

It could also lead to climbing. Team 2064 used tape measure to climb to level 3.

And my final conclusion is...Forget about it. its close to impossible to guess a game especially this far ahead of time

[dubiousSwain]

Everybody, it's clearly a hint that the game will be Zone Zeal (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1216317&postcount=62), all over again.

Zone Zeal. IN THE DARK. ON BOATS

[coalhot]

Here is a side view and a picture of the numbers...

Hmmmmm. Metric on the tape measure...

[dubiousSwain]

Hmmmmm. Metric on the tape measure...

Championships will be held in Europe.

[Mike Marandola]

Here is a side view and a picture of the numbers...

The 16 is in red because the standard distance apart to put studs in a wall is 16 inches. On most tape measures the numbers are in red every 16 inches.

[Alex2614]

The 16 is in red because the standard distance apart to put studs in a wall is 16 inches. On most tape measures the numbers are in red every 16 inches.

The robots will have to build the field with wood studs before they can score.


...It's possible.

[Carl C]

I actually really want to see a game with backlight. Something like laser tag would be really fun!

[Mykey]

Water is obviously and important part of this clue. However, the waterproof cRIO has not been released by our sponsors. Thus only ice will be allowed. The OP is completely correct about the fire aspect. Tape measures are blade-like and have a hook on the end similar to a hockey stick. Put all of this together and you come to the inescapable conclusion that next year will be an ice hockey game with flaming pucks.

[NickTosta]

Then again, when he said "you'll need it for next year's game" he might have meant "you'll need it to build your robot for next year's game."

Probably a red herring.

[dubiousSwain]

Water is obviously and important part of this clue. However, the waterproof cRIO has not been released by our sponsors.
NI's new CRIO will be waterproof.

[Qcom]

A nuclear game? Marie Curie was a nuclear scientist... maybe they are going to somehow scew the game to favour the curie divison. I can see the rules now:

G35: All FOULS and TECHNICAL FOULS caused by the CURIE divison during the einstien playoffs will be negated compeletey.:eek:

[Roger]

The 16 is in red because the standard distance apart to put studs in a wall is 16 inches. On most tape measures the numbers are in red every 16 inches.Betcha didn't even notice the black diamonds every 19.2" (it's not quite 19-3/16" (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1686/on-tape-measures-why-is-there-a-special-symbol-every-19-3-16-inches)). :)

That does sound like an interesting tape measure game.

[sarah_storer]

I actually really want to see a game with backlight. Something like laser tag would be really fun!

Laser tag with robots! This could be awesome!!

[evanperryg]

I think we may be going in completely the wrong direction. Maybe we will use the tape measures for some kind of extending thing (My team almost did this to make a level 2 climber) and the light might be used for the retroreflective tape that they use on the vision targets. Perhaps this game is similar to 2011 with the whole forklift thing.

[pyroslev]

What color does the tape measure glow? Anyone know?

[fb39ca4]

I think we may be going in completely the wrong direction. Maybe we will use the tape measures for some kind of extending thing (My team almost did this to make a level 2 climber) and the light might be used for the retroreflective tape that they use on the vision targets. Perhaps this game is similar to 2011 with the whole forklift thing.

Exactly what I was getting at. Maybe the game will make use of tape measures to extend and hook onto objects like the game at the power tools booth at championships.

[Iaquinto.Joe]

What color does the tape measure glow? Anyone know?

I believe it was noted that they had flashlights built in, not actually glow in the dark.

[gchen694]

Glow-in-the-dark air hockey! Idk how I just thought of that but perhaps the tape measurers could be used as pucks?

[Michael Hill]

AMEN! Why am I even on here?!?!?

For some reason, I've found myself on here more in the past few weeks than I have all build season.

[akoscielski3]

As a deans list finalist who was closely listening to this, all he meant was that you can use it when you are at kick off measuring the field. Cause for some reason everyone seems to have the need to measure every little thing on the field. He wasn't referencing the game at all. Im pretty sure Blaire doesnt have any clue what the game is as he isn't on the GDC.

[NanoCollins]

Did anybody else think that they may just turn off the lights on the field, or block the vision of the drivers making us rely on our vision systems. They wouldn't have to do it for the whole field either, just make us go through a maze tunnel or something that you can't see but have reflective tape on the floor making your robot follow the tape to get through. (just a thought, but it would be cool). :)

[Roger]

2008 had a Pepper's Ghost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper%27s_ghost) setup where robots disappear (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=710555&postcount=52). Probably unintentional, but still maddening to the drivers. Now you know why the robots had trouble turning at the far end.

[Invictus3593]

WE HAVE TO BUILD OUR ROBOTS IN THE COMPLETE DARK.

only possible explanation

[Alex2614]

WE HAVE TO BUILD OUR ROBOTS IN THE COMPLETE DARK.

only possible explanation

If the government stays shut down long enough, we may have to :ahh: :rolleyes:

[Kaite1211]

If the government stays shut down long enough, we may have to :ahh: :rolleyes:

I doubt it.

This game seems to be pretty interesting no matter what may happen... I can hardly wait until the kickoff :)

[Alex2614]

I doubt it.

This game seems to be pretty interesting no matter what may happen... I can hardly wait until the kickoff :)

I was trying to insert an arbitrary "no government = no power" joke. :P

[who716]

This game seems to be pretty interesting no matter what may happen... I can hardly wait until the kickoff :)[/QUOTE]

You are beating me I cant wait for my final kickoff as a student!!!!!!!!

[Brandon_L]

This, but with robots and in the dark (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y63OV_E7M-4)

[Alex2614]

O.o I can't tell what I'm more fascinated by... These guys and their awesome skills or the thought of doing them on an FRC field with robots in the dark.

On a side note, I love how much is obviously getting done on that site though.

[Chadfrom308]

Guys, Obviously its a glow in the dark, underwater, tape measure game

[|DELTA|]

I feel like a game done completely in the dark with night vision cameras or something would be pretty awesome. Except for the audience. Maybe it's a mapping game?

[JB987]

Coincidence?
http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2623.htm

[RedLeader342]

you need light to see at the bottom of the ocean and to help measure how far down you are. water game. in the dark.

[MichelB]

Well as for your whole theory...not so sure. But glow in the dark/lighted tapemeasure is most likely a game hint. Possibly a game in the dark? or with blacklights?

[yash101]

It may be some object placement game, maybe like logomotion. We have had these types of competitions before, and if you notice, FRC really just makes a few modifications to their game every year, so it is a possible game!

[Chadfrom308]

I at least dont think its a shooting game... our team is bad if anything leaves the robot

[Akeronym]

What if its Ice
100% coolness facture
http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2414.htm

[Andy4627]

Another new part...

http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2414.htm

[SuperDave777]

I recently watched a bowling game where they draped a curtain about 5 feet from the start of the lane down to about 12 inches off the lane. The spectators could watch but the bowler was playing in the 'dark'. The bowlers had to rely on just the arrows on the lane. hmmmm..... just a thought

[wilhitern1]

I recently watched a bowling game where they draped a curtain about 5 feet from the start of the lane down to about 12 inches off the lane. The spectators could watch but the bowler was playing in the 'dark'. The bowlers had to rely on just the arrows on the lane. hmmmm..... just a thought

IMO [Very much OIMO], effective use of cameras for guiding robots is one of the hardest things that we do. On top of that, half of the teams don't seem to get their cameras up, and still camera use seems to over tax the available WiFi for the field on many occasions. Can you imagine the chaos if we were only allowed to drive the robots via the camera view!

Neal

[mabell]

THAT'S RIGHT, FIRE!!! and you know what else is orange? the sun! what is the sun made of? hydrogen. thus i conclude that our robots will need to be powered by (orange?) hydrogen fuel cells. also the waste from hydrogen fulel cells is water... it has to be a water game..
Vwinrc (http://www.rctopshop.com/vwinrc-1)

[mechanica]

just throwing it out there,

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31973107/Kickoff-Filming.jpg

in the background, the numbers 4 and three are visible. any relevance?

also one of the red curtains, I guess you would call them, in the normal picture is hanging from whatever it is attached to, while the others are not. again, any relevance?

[SquishyIce]

Half-Life 3 confirmed.

[dubiousSwain]

Obviously, the game is going to involve large exercise balls, passing, and a truss.