[FRC Blog] 2014 Game Hint

[tickspe15]

Game has to do with Space. Not necessarily outer space, but maybe reduced size/space on playing field, definitely reduced size chassis.

They have already hinted at the size of the chasis being larger than last year with the release of the size of the box the KOP Drive comes in. Last years box was 30inches long this years is 33in(33in>30in)

[Anthony4004]

They have already hinted at the size of the chasis being larger than last year with the release of the size of the box the KOP Drive comes in. Last years box was 30inches long this years is 33in(33in>30in)

So? thats simply the box it comes in, not the size of the pieces. If anything, we can say how the box is two pounds lighter.

[DohertyBilly]

I took the hint in a completely different direction. Perhaps my thoughts can take this discussion into different areas.
The three sets of numbers represent the three phases of the game: AM, Teleop, End game. The first number describes the action, the second in the set describes a rule or limitation.
To briefly take you down the path of my thoughts, I initially noticed that the larger numbers were fairly close to the total number minutes for the build season. From there, I wanted to see if any event was taking place in the 2014 Olympics in that minute - starting the clock at midnight, January 1st and counting from there.
This is what comes up:

1823 - converts to 2:17:14 - which I then converted to 2/17/14. The main event that day is the Free Dance competition. Sounds like AM to me.
57 represents the length of the field. Including the driver's station area - so thought it indicates that there is no limit how you far you can go in AM.

61126 converts to 2/12/14 at 10:45 - the beginning of the pairs free skate in figure skating. Sounds like two alliances.
1963 is the area of a circle with a radius of 25 inches. Perhaps the max size the bot can be.

62326 coverts to 2/13/14 at 6:45 - just before the beginning of the short track speed skating. While it isn't the exact minute, perhaps the use of a palindrome here represents having to go back and forth. This would be the end game.
Still trying to figure out what the last number, 15806 would represent in this case.

Just some different thoughts on this hint.

Have fun - Geekmas is almost here! :)

Also, across the street from the post office in Rockford (61126/1963 into google maps), there is a building with a company called "Security First" on Mariposa drive. Put Mariposa into Wikipedia, and there is a Canadian figure skating school that goes by that name...coincidence? I'm calling a figure skating game..or something related. Like hockey.

[schreiberbj]

I took the hint in a completely different direction. Perhaps my thoughts can take this discussion into different areas.
The three sets of numbers represent the three phases of the game: AM, Teleop, End game. The first number describes the action, the second in the set describes a rule or limitation.
To briefly take you down the path of my thoughts, I initially noticed that the larger numbers were fairly close to the total number minutes for the build season. From there, I wanted to see if any event was taking place in the 2014 Olympics in that minute - starting the clock at midnight, January 1st and counting from there.
This is what comes up:

1823 - converts to 2:17:14 - which I then converted to 2/17/14. The main event that day is the Free Dance competition. Sounds like AM to me.
57 represents the length of the field. Including the driver's station area - so thought it indicates that there is no limit how you far you can go in AM.

61126 converts to 2/12/14 at 10:45 - the beginning of the pairs free skate in figure skating. Sounds like two alliances.
1963 is the area of a circle with a radius of 25 inches. Perhaps the max size the bot can be.

62326 coverts to 2/13/14 at 6:45 - just before the beginning of the short track speed skating. While it isn't the exact minute, perhaps the use of a palindrome here represents having to go back and forth. This would be the end game.
Still trying to figure out what the last number, 15806 would represent in this case.

Just some different thoughts on this hint.

Have fun - Geekmas is almost here! :)

I have further information that reinforces this theory!

The second pair of numbers, 61126/1963, shows a location near Rockford, Illinois when put into Google Maps. Immediately next to this location is a road called Mariposa Drive. Mariposa is also the name of a world renowned skating school! http://www.skatemariposa.com I'm not sure what this means, but it is very interesting.

[coollint]

http://i.imgur.com/7b8aipE.png

Is this common practice for the images they release, or are they lying to us?


Not sure if everyone saw this, however it seems waaaay to obvious to ignore. If this was true, I believe that many of the triangle observations with the water bottles (btw one is not lifted they are just separated by a vent of some sort), the coordinates with the triangle, and the staircase cad picture seem like extremely plausible guesses and seem as though they can all be linked together. I am also interested with the 25% weight reduction sign as that seems to be way to obvious to ignore also.

[Hallry]

If it says that there are no game hints in the photo...why are we thinking that there are game hints in the photo?

[coollint]

If it says that there are no game hints in the photo...why are we thinking that there are game hints in the photo?

Why would they say there are no game clues in one specific photo?

[cadandcookies]

Just a request, but would anybody who posts "somebody might have seen this already" style, messages involving 3, or messages involving triangles please at the very least skim the first 34 pages of this thread?

On another note, there are no game hints in THAT photo, but maybe there are in the others? That fits with the appearance of a staircase that was posted earlier...

[Anthony4004]

i like how i have this page and my scholarship essay page open......should probably actually start them....nah they're not due till March. :D :p

[Anthony4004]

Just a request, but would anybody who posts "somebody might have seen this already" style, messages involving 3, or messages involving triangles please at the very least skim the first 34 pages of this thread?

On another note, there are no game hints in THAT photo, but maybe there are in the others? That fits with the appearance of a staircase that was posted earlier...

i would agree with this, it can simply be GDC saying "hey don't bother with this photo, go look at the others we posted"

[Hallry]

Why would they say there are no game clues in one specific photo?

Because they knew people would over analyze it since it has to do with Kickoff.

[Kevin Thorp]

I think I may have figured it out, the challenge has to do with wind.
so yah thats what I think

Like Dean Kamen, Sir James Dyson is an inventor (cyclone vacuum cleaners & bladeless fans), entrepreneur & philanthropist. Maybe Dean did some of his legendary persuading & got James to donate "Air Multiplier" fans to the Kit of Parts? Check out this fun video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WNcjkZ6d0w).
http://larryfire.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/7341_dyson_air-multiplier-with-james-dyson.jpg

[mechanical_robot]

The zip codes are Rockford IL, Zossen Germany, and Colchester IL where there was a place in England where it was named after. All three have had a civil war to be related to it and in 1963 that was the year MLK have his I give a dream speech about anti slavery. Also if you put 8234 on the map three cities come up. One in Lexumburg, Austria, and Switzerland which were all neutral countries in WWII as well as Zossens colors being blue white and green. And green has been a popular topic on chief Delphi. Therefore I believe in a war based game. Also as some one pointed out before 42 was Jackie Robinsons number, as he broke the color barrier for baseball, which is another hint at a war game.

This isn't battlebots this is FRC FIRST no war here. Hope there will never be a full out battlebots. I hate it when the people at my school whenever I tell them I do FIRST robotics team competition and they assume they I do battlebots :mad: I say "no" and then they say that our competition is not cool.

Anyways based on knowledge of past FRC games just drop the idea there is going to be a war game.

The most of generation of students in FIRST now probably will be creating robots for war though, at least that is my prediction. But you know what military technology pretty much always makes it way into civilian life for peaceful purposes. So I guess good can come from it. Like the Xb-47
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_X-47B">Like the X-47b (click me)</a>. The x-47b was the first unmanned aircraft to land on the a aircraft carrier, anyways that technology will probably make it's way into self-driving cars. Anyways you get my point.

But I hope it is not Battlebots. In my opinion FIRST FRC is more challenging than Battlebots because Battlebots are basically the same every year (just destroying the other robot) while FRC robots change every year and there is a tough task every year and only have 6 weeks to build the robot.

Sorry for any typos on a mobile.

[chris_odonnell]

I think I may have figured it out, the challenge has to do with wind.

The first numbers are area codes, to Vilnius Lithuania, Rockford IL, and Colchester, all have wind turbine farms. Right now the museums of Lithuania, has an energy and technology wing, which includes wind. In 1957 the museum was destroyed in the soviet war. Rockford IL also has a wind farm, with 63 working wind turbines, and on April 4th 1963 the city had major damage due to a wind storm. Now, Colchester IL, and Colchester in UK both have wind turbine farms, but I can't figure out the last number, 15806.

so yah thats what I think

Running with your theory here... I tried out "15806 wind farm" in the googley, and there are some results, the most interesting ones perhaps: 1) http://www.thewindpower.net/developer_en_1170_energiequelle.php shows 15806 as the postal code for Energiequelle's address. 2) U-15806 as the case number in MI about a "long-term renewable energy contract between Detroit Edison Company and Tuscola Bay Wind, LLC".

[theCADguy]

I think I may have figured it out, the challenge has to do with wind.

The first numbers are area codes, to Vilnius Lithuania, Rockford IL, and Colchester, all have wind turbine farms. Right now the museums of Lithuania, has an energy and technology wing, which includes wind. In 1957 the museum was destroyed in the soviet war. Rockford IL also has a wind farm, with 63 working wind turbines, and on April 4th 1963 the city had major damage due to a wind storm. Now, Colchester IL, and Colchester in UK both have wind turbine farms, but I can't figure out the last number, 15806.

so yah thats what I think

The game probably won't relate to wind turbines specifically, but turbines rotate, which may hint to using a ball as a scoring object, or even a rotating goal.

[PayneTrain]

Ok, let me throw in my 2 cents.

I really like this Iron Man idea. The number 3 is prominent, yes? Baseball is a prominent theory, right? How many bases are there besides home base in baseball? 3.

I'm thinking of a baseball themed game that has a starting point and three "bases" where tasks are to be performed, such as climbing stairs. The goal is to pass all three bases and reach the starting point under a time limit. As for the objectives of each base, I don't know for sure.

There have been multiple people talking about the sphere, rectangle, and triangle. What shape is a baseball? A sphere.

As for the rectangle and triangle, have you seen the home plate of a baseball field? The shape of the home plate is comprised of two different shapes: a triangle and a rectangle. Also, the infield of a baseball field is called a "diamond". A diamond has four sides and is somewhat rectangular, so it could work as a field shape.

Just my thoughts.

Hmm. While some might find it odd that some people think about baseball in all of this, it's not actually that far fetched. Let's consider the facts.

This game hint was posted by FRC Director Frank Merrick. Now if I asked someone in FRC what they think when they hear the name "Frank", they will likely think of our noble director. However if I were to poll the average passersby at a mall or on the street, the first "Frank" they think of is probably Frank Sinatra.

Frank Sinatra, as most know, had unprecedented, decades-long success as a solo artist and movie star beginning from the "swing era" after World War 2 until his death at the end of the 20th century. He was so talented and loved that calling him simply one of the best selling solo artists of all time only begins to describe him. That descriptor doesn't include his critically-acclaimed role in The Manchurian Candidate, or his founding of The Rat Pack, or being part of the lead cast in one of the most successful musical films of the era, Guys and Dolls. Simply put, Frank Sinatra is a New Jersey native who accomplished more in any given year of his life than in anyone else's entire lifetime, earning such accolades like being one of the earliest recipients of the Kennedy Center Honor in 1983, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom 2 years after that, and earning the Congressional Gold Medal after going over the hump of being eighty years old!

"But what does Frank Sinatra have to do with baseball?"

Well, Frank Sinatra shares the state of his birth with current Cincinnati Reds third baseman and all around totally awesome guy Todd Frazier. Todd Frazier is very proud of his New Jersey heritage, being a major contributor to cleanup after Hurricane Sandy and having exclusively Frank Sinatra songs play as his "walk up" music (my personal favorite he uses is "My Way, one of Sinatra's later hits). He is also a bit of a local legend, having once saved a fan of an opposing team choking in a restaurant with the Heimlich maneuver, hit a home run without having contact with the bat, and being the best friend of occasional bat boy and Cincinnati native Teddy Kremer (who also has Down Syndrome). There's even a fun story where Teddy asked Todd Frazier to go "hit a home run" for him before he went up to the on deck circle in a game last season, and Todd proceeded to scorch the ball into the moon Deck in right field of Great American Ballpark, which was a total babe Ruth moment everyone deserves to know about. He won the NL Rookie of The Year in 2012, awarded by the MLB Player's Association (but not from those wretched media scum who voted for the insidious Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals).

Before being a MLB slugger, Todd Frazier was the winning pitcher for his hometown of Toms River, New Jersey in the 1998 Little League World Series, in a game where he also scored a home run as the first hit of the game. He later won Big East Player of the Year while playing for Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Suffice to say, he is a great baseball player and my favorite baseball player on my favorite baseball team, the Cincinnati Reds.

What does this have to do with the speculation of baseball being related to the 2014 game? Not a darn thing. But, I figured if you are sifting through hundreds of posts chock full of rampant, unchecked, possibly logic-free speculation, you might as well read up on two really cool people.

Happy Holidays!

Also, I need bout tree fiddy.

[Meshbeard]

Also, I'm gonna need tree fiddy.

tree fiddy?
loch-ness monster?
must be a water game

[safiq10]

Now this is first I've read of this thread. Now my reasearch AKA (over analyzing) is as follows.

61126/1963=Rockford Illinois>ups>Security FIRST=Rockford Illinois has Professional Hockey and Baseball teams there. The Rockford Icehogs & Rockford Aviators

8234/57= Weight limits reduced 25% effective Jan 1 to May 1st.= Pretty straightforward and has been discussed on CD enough.

62326> Colchester Illinois.
15806>Toques, Spain> toques translated means "to touch". In baseball you touch someone to get them out.

Personally I want hockey over baseball

[Camilo86]

The first numbers are zip codes, to Vilnius Lithuania, Rockford IL, and Colchester, all have wind turbine farms. Right now the museums of Lithuania, has an energy and technology wing, which includes wind. In 1957 the museum was destroyed in the soviet war (as said by obaranow2015). The first numbers in the second set “61126” when flipped you get the “62116”.In the middle numbers (1963) there was a very famous futuristic series (Jetsons, in spanish “Supersonicos“) show. I searched up “1963 supersonicos” (i speak spanish so that is why i searched up Jetson in spanish ) in google and found a youtube video. You can see in the description a brief description in which says “Canal 11 en 1963” (english translation: Channel 11 in 1963). 1963 the zip codes were started (which is why it makes sense to get the locations from the first set) and was also the year in which the Jetson were first shown in channel 11. From the number “62116”, 62 represents the first year of the Jetsons in the TV, 11 represents the channel 11 in which the video we found on youtube was shown as well as the year in which this video was uploaded to youtube (2011), 6 represents the day in which the video was uploaded to youtube.

hypothesis: We are thinking of an air game in which the robot has to lunch some kind of object into some sort of hole with turbines which will push the object (idea from Kevin Thorp’s video and connection to the turbine from the first set of numbers).

*We are still working on finding the what the last set of numbers mean, suggestions help.*

LINKS:
Google search: https://www.google.com/search?q=supersonicos+1963&espv=210&es_sm=93&biw=1600&bih=798&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=koi3Uu_VMZTqkAe-pIGAAg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAA
Video from Kevin Thorp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WNcjkZ6d0w

from joanku, camilo86

[Justin2648]

Alright, I wasn't going to post here but I found something interesting. If you go usfirst.org and look at the address of the loaded page it is http://www3.usfirst.org/. Is that 3 always there and if not, more 3's!!

Happy kickoff!

[EricH]

Is it just me

It's just you. I get a www, both using my bookmark and using Google.

[Camilo86]

Weird. i don't get the www3... what web browser are you using?

[Justin2648]

This is what I get

[Camilo86]

I see...I tried putting 4,5,6 instead of 3 and the results were:
3: works
4:doesn't work
5: works
6: works

I don't think it has to do with anything. But who knows...

[Team3266Spencer]

Originally Posted by obaranow2015 View Post
I think I may have figured it out, the challenge has to do with wind.

The first numbers are area codes, to Vilnius Lithuania, Rockford IL, and Colchester, all have wind turbine farms. Right now the museums of Lithuania, has an energy and technology wing, which includes wind. In 1957 the museum was destroyed in the soviet war. Rockford IL also has a wind farm, with 63 working wind turbines, and on April 4th 1963 the city had major damage due to a wind storm. Now, Colchester IL, and Colchester in UK both have wind turbine farms, but I can't figure out the last number, 15806.

so yah thats what I think
Running with your theory here... I tried out "15806 wind farm" in the googley, and there are some results, the most interesting ones perhaps: 1) http://www.thewindpower.net/develope...rgiequelle.php shows 15806 as the postal code for Energiequelle's address. 2) U-15806 as the case number in MI about a "long-term renewable energy contract between Detroit Edison Company and Tuscola Bay Wind, LLC".


This seems pretty solid.

[Hallry]

Alright, I wasn't going to post here but I found something interesting. If you go usfirst.org and look at the address of the loaded page it is http://www3.usfirst.org/. Is that 3 always there and if not, more 3's!!

Happy kickoff!

Guys, if you're going to post on the thread, please read the thread! This was discussed on page 14:

This is really common for websites where content is hosted on multiple servers. Right now, if I go to the site, I still get www. It depends on when you make the request and how many people are making the request at the same time. It's not a hint, it's always been like this.

::rtm::

[Camilo86]

Quick update:

While reading another post by yarden.saa , I saw how the last clue can potentially connect to the idea of weight limit.
The first number is very interesting, there is a sign: "WEIGHT LIMITS REDUCED 25% EFFECTIVE 1 JAN TO 1 MAY" which is the FIRST season
The photo of the sign can be found in the link below.
To find it on google earth:
1. Type 8234/57 in the search bar
2. pick the first option (ohio)
3. go to the main street
4. you will see the sign
[url]https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.94281%2C-81.311998&cbp=%2C32.62%2C%2C3%2C15.080002&layer=c&panoid=VNSRfLx4QNO3teEqfg3kxg&spn=0.18000000000000152%2C0.30000000000000676&output=classic&cbll=40.94281%2C-81.311998

[heisenburger]

I say the 25% weigh reduction signs is the most legit thing we have, the picture with the 3 water bottles is the other clue we should focus on.

[Camilo86]

Im pretty sure those 3 bottles of water mean something...why 3! 3 is everywhere in FRC. 3 this, 3 that. My conclusion is 3 v.3 game just like in Ultimate Ascent and probably 3 game objects.

[Abhishek R]

If baseball is correct, we are somewhat overdue for a robot-robot interaction game (i.e Lunacy trailers, Rebound Rumble bridges), maybe you can touch another robot in a certain area to draw points/penalties?

This is a possibility for 3 theories, football, hockey, and baseball. In football, obviously, tackle, in hockey, bodychecking another player, and in baseball, touching someone with the game piece to get them out.

This also satisfies the capture the flag theory.

[Anthony4004]

This is what I get

I got the same thing using Chrome, even went to multiple pages to see if it changes. Then, for the cause, I opened up Internet Explorer :mad: to try it and it was the same thing.

[Anthony4004]

I say the 25% weigh reduction signs is the most legit thing we have, the picture with the 3 water bottles is the other clue we should focus on.

We've already gone over multiple times how any three non-linear points will give you a triangle. Also the studio picture is marked that it is not a hint, so you can take that suspiciously or possibly thank the GDC for making us not have to worry about that photo. Instead, look at the other pictures that have been posted.

[Anthony4004]

Im pretty sure those 3 bottles of water mean something...why 3! 3 is everywhere in FRC. 3 this, 3 that. My conclusion is 3 v.3 game just like in Ultimate Ascent and probably 3 game objects.

Again, there are 3 water bottles in the photo because there are 3 people who would want something to drink.

[Joseph1825]

I say the 25% weigh reduction signs is the most legit thing we have.
I'm not trying to be negative, but I still don't think that's a valid lead. If the GDC had wanted to point us to that sign how could they have figured out that that search term would show that sign?

[tim-tim]

I'm not trying to be negative, but I still don't think that's a valid lead. If the GDC had wanted to point us to that sign how could they have figured out that that search term would show that sign?

They have ins with Google? And we all know Google rules everything on the web.

[SteveGPage]

15806 = the NBA record for assists. Held by John Stockton of the Jazz. Could this signal a return of coopertition?

[RonnieS]

I just want a racing game and baseball....hopefully short scoring with lower speeds so someone doesn't get serious head trama :eek: so maybe certain zones???

EDIT: trauma

[Mullen]

2 options:
The weight reduction isn't referring to the robot, its referring to the game piece - wiffle balls. Wind is important to this because as air flows through the wiffle ball, it impacts the flight path.

OR

People are looking at the wrong road sign for the 8234/57 on google streetview. Don't look at the weight reduction sign. Turn to the right, you will see a Junction sign. The second set of numbers, 61126/1963, also brings up a location in TX that just happens to be on Junction Hwy. What happens at a junction? Either 2 or more things become 1, or you are are forced to make a choice between which route you want to take.

So what are we going to do this year, Brain? The same thing we do every year, Pinky - try to have 3 robots combine to form one alliance, with each choosing a different task to complete a common goal. Also, coopertition points are revamped and back as both alliances come together at the end to form the FIRST logo using a tetra, a tube, and a bin

[dellagd]

Just thought I'd mention that last time the GDC posted a picture before the actual hint it really had very little to do with the next game. All that could be related is the line "never gonna let you down" to climbing from Rick's song. Everyone was so fixated on the pins and, nope, they were just the Pushpins the GDC had lying around.

[M. Lillis]

The website starting with www3 has nothing to do with the game. It is used all over the web. They all lead to the same place, your browser might take preference.

[MooreteP]

They have ins with Google?

They do have an "in". Sergey Brin has appeared at the CMP, and has recorded a testimonial to the importance of FIRST and the study of robotics.
Though the Japanese may be eating our lunch.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/23/science/japanese-team-dominates-competition-to-create-rescue-robots.html?src=recg

The google search engine was adjusted several years ago to return usfirst.org as the top choice when you type in the words "first".

And we all know Google rules everything on the web.
Not necessarily. There are other choices, but we are lazy. (me included).

Back to the game hint:
I think that the weight reduction may reflect an encouragement of modular designs that can be interchanged depending on the relative strengths of each of the robots in the alliances modular designs.

You may choose a robot that can gather game pieces, or score, or defend a goal, or be proficient at an endgame, but not all three at once.
This may be the GDC's way to encourage the robots in an alliance to interact with each other.
A la "The Atom Bomb" from Aim High, where one robot that was great at collecting balls fed another robot that was great at shooting.........balls.

The weight of each robot on the field will be less, but the withholding allowance will be much larger.

Has everyone finished wrapping their presents yet?

[billbo911]

...Has everyone finished wrapping their presents yet?

Are you kidding me? It's not even the Dec. 24th yet. I haven't even gone shopping!

[Mubtasim]

2 options:
The weight reduction isn't referring to the robot, its referring to the game piece - wiffle balls. Wind is important to this because as air flows through the wiffle ball, it impacts the flight path.


I really like the idea of wiffle ball. It would be a better challenge than baseball:
http://youtu.be/FXq5KvtNf4s
Also the Andy Baker in "Robot in 3 Days", shows something similar to baseball/wiffle ball game. http://youtu.be/wJTpQmPpjmY?t=22s

[gabrielau23]

Dinner missed = plate/frisbee.
Holding weight= climbing the pyramid.

If youre here to discuss the relevance of game hints, youre in the wrong thread. If youre here to relate your favorite show or sport to the next frc game, youre in the wrong thread. The water game talk is common, but its been ridiculously overdone this year. Then again, I have no say over how you interpret the hint. Just keep it productive. Work off of others. This is how we get closer to answering these things.

Also I want to point out that in 2011 we were shown a picture of a LOCOMOTIVE well before the first game hint came out. Keep an eye on prior blog posts.
To me a "dinner missed" and "holding weight" also had the double meaning in that a "dinner missed" could be referred to as "tightening your belts", which would refer to the smaller robot dimensions, yet the robots weight would still hold--"holding weight"

[gabrielau23]

I think that the most solid thing we have are the 25% weight reduction and the picture of the plane with the upside down name, along with baseball.

[mwmac]

FWIW, a wiffle ball playfield is an inverted triangle...
http://www.wiffle.com/pages/game_rules.asp?page=game_rules

[Flimsor]

They have ins with Google? And we all know Google rules everything on the web.

If everyone's so concerned with the web search, then why doesn't someone try it with Bing and see what happens? Sure it's going to be a little different because it's Bing, and there's a slight chance FIRST has a deal with them too, but it's worth a shot.

[MooreteP]

Yes, it appears that it also works on Bing.
Also Dogpile, but they may be aggregating results from Bing and Google.

Back to the Game Hint..........

[gabrielau23]

Hey could someone really quickly direct me on how they found the Google Maps things that led to the FIRST church, FIRST security, and Weight limit reduced 25% signs?

[Andrew Langevin]

Used the Game Hint to get coordinates. Then I put different groupings of the coordinates into Google maps. This led me to four places. The Sahara Desert, the Congo, and two points near the Marianas Trench. This leads me to believe that the entire game is going to be some sort of extremes, like a mixture of uneven land, some water, and some sand. More evidence proving this is that FLL is also doing something that is sort of along the same lines. Anyways, this hint is just really bugging me and comes out as gibberish that doesn't mean anything any other way.

[MooreteP]

Hey could someone really quickly direct me on how they found the Google Maps things that led to the FIRST church, FIRST security, and Weight limit reduced 25% signs?

I understand that this thread can become arduous to work through, but you will find all of the answers to your questions in the 36+ pages that preceded your question.
If you have the time, it may be worth your time. :-)

Not mine, I bought more gifts this morning that I need to wrap now.

Otherwise, suffice it to say that:
Google maps.
Latitude and Longitude.
Weight limits.
Rockford, Illinois.
Skating clubs.
FIRST Security.
Hockey or baseball or.....curling!!!
Something about three things.
Patents.
3v3v3, or 2v2v2, or.....

...spend time with family and friends and try to explain to them why you may be busy for the 6 weeks after 1/4/12.

[WaterClaw]

-----Posting pause as people consider hint-----

This thread will explode in roughly 10 minutes.

Boom. 37 pages of posts. Post number 552.

[Akash Rastogi]

Guys, this is extremely relevant!

http://imgur.com/gallery/AGG99GS

Football game. Finally!

[Kovac]

...spend time with family and friends and try to explain to them why you may be busy for the 6 weeks after 1/4/12.


don't let the cat out of the bag...............

I will take a stab at one set of numbers!
I not sure if this have been passed over yet....
but..... 61126/1963 = 50 years

zip zode 61126 turned 50 in 2013
http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_rockford/2013/07/01/time_to_celebrate

also this fact
"ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service (USPS) since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan,"
"By the early 1960s a more organized system was needed, and on July 1, 1963, non-mandatory ZIP codes were announced for the entire country"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIP_code

but thats all I have come up with so far


so pitch that into your mail box!

[WaterClaw]

I think that the most solid thing we have are the 25% weight reduction and the picture of the plane with the upside down name, along with baseball.

Upside down flying, overweight, robot Base ball? Programmers would be panicking. Build team would be breaking down.Electronics would be evacuating. Complete and utter chaos would ensue!

Can't wait ;)

[Travis Hoffman]

People are looking at the wrong road sign for the 8234/57 on google streetview. Don't look at the weight reduction sign. Turn to the right, you will see a Junction sign. The second set of numbers, 61126/1963, also brings up a location in TX that just happens to be on Junction Hwy. What happens at a junction? Either 2 or more things become 1, or you are are forced to make a choice between which route you want to take.



The name of the game will be "Conjunction Junction".

The robots will be tasked with hooking up words and phrases and clauses.

You're welcome.

Also, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPoBE-E8VOc. Learn something today, children.

[IKE]

The name of the game will be "Conjunction Junction".

The robots will be tasked with hooking up words and phrases and clauses.

You're welcome.

The pit scouts will be going around asking teams "What's your function?"

[WaterClaw]

The name of the game will be "Conjunction Junction".

The robots will be tasked with hooking up words and phrases and clauses.

You're welcome.

Derailed. Pun intended. :P

[bbdickins]

They're Cartesian coordinates. It's a hockey stick.

[Wyverncloak]

8234/57 = 144.45614035087719298245614035088
61126/1963 = 31.139072847682119205298013245033
62326/15806 = 3.9431861318486650638997848918132

Notice how they're all non-terminating decimals? Let it be known that the game will be irrational this year!

[Cheetahbest]

Just out of curiosity sake I googled space baseball to see if it actually happened or if it's some obscure game I've never heard of. And this is what I found.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2065873/Astronaut-Space-Station-filmed-playing-baseball--himself.html

Does this mean the robot has to do all of it at once :ahh:

[MoistRobot]

Weight reduction means... Hovercraft!
I'm predicting hovercraft hockey and I won't hear any different...

[MechEng83]

Notice how they're all non-terminating decimals? Let it be known that the game will be irrational this year!

Math clarification: the numbers are rational. They are expressed as one whole number over another -- the definition of rational. A more accurate representation would be to say that the game is non-terminating....

[Wyverncloak]

Math clarification: the numbers are rational. They are expressed as one whole number over another -- the definition of rational. A more accurate representation would be to say that the game is non-terminating....

Right, but you can't just take the hint as-is. That would be too easy . . . gotta do some unnecessary conversions first!
Though a non-terminating game sounds just as fun.

[raptaconehs]

Don't know if this matters at all but in 2014 it will be the 25 anniversary of the NFL.

[MooreteP]

Don't know if this matters at all but in 2014 it will be the 25 anniversary of the NFL.

Umm, where did you get this from?
It's going to be SuperBowl XLVIII last I checked.

[Pratik Kunapuli]

Don't know if this matters at all but in 2014 it will be the 25 anniversary of the NFL.

The NFL was created in 1920 (source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Football_League)).

[CASN8R]

Don't know if this matters at all but in 2014 it will be the 25 anniversary of the NFL.

It is the 25 anniversary of Madden Football guys.

[Cash4587]

Don't know if this matters at all but in 2014 it will be the 25 anniversary of the NFL.

Just because it is the 25th of madden does not mean that the nfl is also 25 years old, just a thought. That was probably where you got 25 from..

[Johnson.2937]

Maybe we are looking at the message the wrong way instead of 8234/57, 61126/1963, 62326/15806 maybe we should look at the comas as arbitrary separators of larger numbers and the actual numbers look like

8234/5761126/196362326/15806

[SingerandDancer]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockford,_Illinois

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colchester,_Illinois

When you take a look at the two sites. They both say what's major about the cities. Rockford is known as the "Forrest City" and Colchester is where Coal was discovered in he 1850s

[zacube]

Maybe we are looking at the message the wrong way instead of 8234/57, 61126/1963, 62326/15806 maybe we should look at the comas as arbitrary separators of larger numbers and the actual numbers look like

8234/5761126/196362326/15806

When you Goodle 8234, the first result is a NI part ID. 5761126 comes up with a Digikey part number... Not getting anything on the other two, though, so can't be sure....

[Cash4587]

Maybe we are looking at the message the wrong way instead of 8234/57, 61126/1963, 62326/15806 maybe we should look at the comas as arbitrary separators of larger numbers and the actual numbers look like

8234/5761126/196362326/15806

That could be possible. Also maybe we could try using the comma as a decimal point like done in Spanish?

[Orion.DeYoe]

Maybe we are looking at the message the wrong way instead of 8234/57, 61126/1963, 62326/15806 maybe we should look at the comas as arbitrary separators of larger numbers and the actual numbers look like

8234/5761126/196362326/15806

Interesting idea...
That would give us 4.6049332943431415x10^-16

[Johnnybukkel]

Let the overanalysis begin...!!!!!::rtm:: ::rtm:: ::rtm:: ::rtm::


http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-2014-Game-Hint

You weren't kidding...... This is getting ridiculous:)

[Gaurav27]

The pit scouts will be going around asking teams "What's your function?"

Derailed. Pun intended. :P

The name of the game will be "Conjunction Junction".

The robots will be tasked with hooking up words and phrases and clauses.

You're welcome.

Brilliant! :) Reminded me of my middle school teacher!

[SingerandDancer]

Okay how about we all think to the some of the past games. They all had to deal with the number three. Since the numbers are in three different groups. It probably has to deal with something with the number three. Maybe they changed the shape of the field? Or it has to deal with something with the number three. ::rtm::

[Johnson.2937]

I really like the google earth results with the first set of values 8234/57 and the 25% weight reduction. 8234/57 is a fraction in irreducible form. If you simplify the remaining 2 values you get 4702/151 and 31163/7903 in simplest form. Can someone try the google earth trick with these new values? I am in the computer lab and can't get administrative privileges to try it until I get home. :(

[tim-tim]

So how about a NASCAR race in Dec 1963 that was really part of the 1964 circuit...

http://m.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/story?storyId=10172235

[bduddy]

So entering 61126 (with or without the 1963) in Google Maps points you to Harrison Avenue, in Rockford, IL (presumably, this is because it's the main street of Rockford, which is the city that contains ZIP code 61104). What's at 1963 Harrison Avenue?

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=1963+Harrison+Avenue,+Rockford,+IL&hl=en&ll=42.237913,-89.066991&spn=0.000788,0.001321&sll=42.237899,-89.066993&layer=c&cbp=13,184.75,,1,8&cbll=42.237913,-89.066991&hnear=1963+Harrison+Ave,+Rockford,+Illinois+61104&t=h&z=20&panoid=VZBZSALpRPB2IZlC5wXyCA

Bearings, V-belts, roller chain drives? Sounds like robot parts to me!

I tried something similar with the 3rd set of numbers, but there's no Street View in that area... Maybe someone can go there? :cool:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=15806+N+1200th+Rd,+Colchester,+IL&hl=en&sll=40.453087,-90.751791&sspn=0.03664,0.084543&t=h&hnear=County+Road+1200+N,+Colchester,+McDonough,+I llinois+62326&z=15

[Team3844]

Jim Henson made a short Film in 1963 titled the robot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivJNNwTGDcw

[Team3844]

Jim Henson's 'Robot': 1963 Short Film For The Bell System Released (VIDEO)
http://news.moviefone.com/2012/01/27/jim-hensons-robot-1963-short-film/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivJNNwTGDcw

[Clem1640]

Doctor Who = time travel.

Maybe they are looking at replaying an old game?

No. It will be the 2018 game, played early.

[kayleighs_13]

So I'm new to this whole kick-off game hint thing but I'm super pumped for the game this year and this hint has been keeping me up...:yikes:

I took a little more of a mechanical look at it rather than trying to connect it to a certain type of game or sport or certain numbers. I took some of other people's ideas and formulated an idea by googling the numbers with "Robotics" after it separately... ::rtm:: This is what I got:

8234 Robotics: Ethernet cable number, Server
57 Robotics: First Japanese writing (AD), error code (could pop up with new coding)

61126 Robotics: Rockford (city), Radiator Drain Ock, Solder RA Thru-Hole Tray, Surgical Arm Number

1963 Robotics: Kennedy Assassination, Hula-hoop patented, Sketch Pad (drawing software) patented, THE FIRST COMPUTER CONTROLLED ROBOTIC ARM IS CREATED.

62326 Robotics: Arduino robot number (computer on wheels)

15806 Robotics: Sensor for brain surgery? Patent number for leak detection system, Roller unit number (possible change in KOP system?)

What did I get from this? Well...

There's a lot of info pointing to an arm game... Along with the triangles that people are posting and spheres and rectangular prisms, I'm thinking it's going to be a sorting game with the logo's pieces but they're 3D (like boxy-er I get that everything in the world is 3D, I meant like... more). Plus, with all of the hints in that picture (even though it says there's no clue...) I think that the end game will be somehow climbing one robot onto the other two.

Just an ideaaaa from a tonnn of research, but yeah. Shoot down as you will. :)

[gabrielau23]

Don't know if this matters at all but in 2014 it will be the 25 anniversary of the NFL.
LMAO--that awkward moment when your source is a video game...

[cjl2625]

Multiplying the 3 gives you 17737.359248813320791934611015893.

The number contains 737 which is a plane (Boeing 737)

Googling the first 5 decimals (when rounded, so 35925) gives the Delta 35925-SS Vessona Stainless Lavatory Faucet. Delta is an airline.

This game must have planes/flying stuff

[Ryan Banks]

I don't know if anybody did this already, but i tried looking up what the names of the teams were that were valid FRC teams.

57-leopards

1963-PSC robotics

That's all I can think of, I don't think it is much help though :(

[thegreensniper]

So.. Uh...

Top Ideas:

(1)Baseball
(2)Mashup
(3)Abstract

Reasons:

(1)TRIANGLES
(2)The Google Earth
(3)Water Bottle Picture
(4)Stairs Picture
(5)Dividing, Morse Code, Binary

I doubt any of the others.

[thegreensniper]

So... Uh... Wow. Any ideas?

[KyleBrown9]

I'm not so sure about the sign it is apparently a standard Ohio department of transportation sign and can be found in this document as R-77A on page 9

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Engineering/Roadway/DesignStandards/traffic/SDMM/Documents/012105_SDM%20Revision.pdf

so it may or may not just be a sign that was at the right place at the right time.

[TK3950]

Okay, so I'm sort of going off of someone else's idea here. I noticed pages back someone mentioned some Fish thing, I don't remember it exactly, but he said he took the sum of the digits in each string. The sums produce the following pattern:
17/12, 16/19, 19/20

If applied to the English Alphabet, it produces this:
Q/L, P/S, S/T

This reduces to:
QLPSST

Applied to every basic Rotation, the following strings are produced:
QLPSST
RMQTTU
SNRUUV
TOSVVW
UPTWWX
VQUXXY
WRVYYZ
XSWZZA
YTXAAB
ZUYBBC
AVZCCD
BWADDE
CXBEEF
DYCFFG
EZDGGH
FAEHHI
GBFIIJ
HCGJJK
IDHKKL
JEILLM
KFJMMN
LGKNNO
MHLOOP
NIMPPQ
OJNQQR
PKORRS


To me, the most notable of these is MHLOOP. If you search it on Google, you should find that it's more commonly referred to as a hysteresis curve, a ferromagnetic property. I am not certain that it means anything, but I finally decided it was worth posting here, considering all of the other crazy ideas people are posting.

Normally, I would be (mostly) satisfied with this interpretation, but only part troubles me. The zero in the last set of numbers. If the numbers were meant to be added, the zero is completely useless.


Anyway, take all of this however you would like. I personally don't think it means too much, but it's the most realistic interpretation I can think of right now.

[roboryan]

I'm not so sure about the sign it is apparently a standard Ohio department of transportation sign and can be found in this document as R-77A on page 9

well still the dates line up really well and that isn't part of every sign that is a R-77A sign

[KyleBrown9]

yes but half of the unique value of the sign is that one like it sounded ridiculous now its just a likely coincidence, I'm not saying that it is definitely not that sign but i think we should explore other possibilities since this one Isn't quite as sound as it used to appear.

[kcy0511]

Okay, so I'm sort of going off of someone else's idea here. I noticed pages back someone mentioned some Fish thing, I don't remember it exactly, but he said he took the sum of the digits in each string. The sums produce the following pattern:
17/12, 16/19, 19/20


If you multiply the numbers you get:
192/35, 72/162, 432/0

Do what you want with this.

[thegreensniper]

Those are 5.485 or so, 0.444444(hint?) and null.

[gabrielau23]

I really like the google earth results with the first set of values 8234/57 and the 25% weight reduction. 8234/57 is a fraction in irreducible form. If you simplify the remaining 2 values you get 4702/151 and 31163/7903 in simplest form. Can someone try the google earth trick with these new values? I am in the computer lab and can't get administrative privileges to try it until I get home. :(
I really like this idea. The Google maps thing doesn't work for me since I'm on mobile right now, but could somebody try to run with this?

[Short Stuff]

So from what I am reading the game is baseball, with a 25% weight limit reduction, the game may or may not include stairs, and WILL NOT INCLUDE A WATER ELEMENT.:rolleyes:

[Calvin Hartley]

.... WILL NOT INCLUDE A WATER ELEMENT.:rolleyes:

Don't be so sure. I have a theory that supports the Water Game.

Dean Kamen visited the Michigan State Championship in 2012.
Michigan has recently been getting a fair amount of winter weather.
There are icicles hanging outside my bedroom window.
Icicles are made of water.
Water game.

[gabrielau23]

I really like this idea. The Google maps thing doesn't work for me since I'm on mobile right now, but could somebody try to run with this?
Actually, never mind. I think we might've exhausted the hint. Lighter robots playing baseball. Or maybe, maaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbeeeeeee hockey, just because of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

[Hallry]

Multiplying the 3 gives you 17737.359248813320791934611015893.

The number contains 737 which is a plane (Boeing 737)

This game must have planes/flying stuff

It also contains 30 other numbers too, even more when taking into account groups of numbers. A single grouping of a set of numbers in that doesn't mean anything.

[mhos1997]

Has anyone went to the place where the sign says 25% weight reduction? What does that mean on a street? Can someone actually go there and check if it's there or if google and FIRST photoshopped it in or something.

[Hallry]

Can someone actually go there and check if it's there or if google and FIRST photoshopped it in or something.

You really think that Google and FIRST would go through all of that effort just for a game hint?

[theCADguy]

Can someone actually go there and check if it's there or if google and FIRST photoshopped it in or something.

It is probably not a coincidence that one of the numbers led to that specific sign, as the first date listed on the sign is right before kickoff, and the second date is a few days right after world champs. FIRST almost definitely wanted us to see that sign, whether it is photoshopped or not.

[mhos1997]

You really think that Google and FIRST would go through all of that effort just for a game hint?


Pretty much! LOL!

But I guess it really doesn't matter, cause FIRST probably wanted us to find it.

[Hallry]

Just to clear the air: For those thinking the sign was 'photoshopped' into Google Earth...notice how as you move along the road, the sign is still there. It is either definitely not photoshopped, or they paid a guy way to much to do it just for something as small as this. I'm thinking the former. Whether or not this is what the game hint was really meant to lead us to...that's a different discussion.

[simontore]

Whether or not this is what the game hint was really meant to lead us to...that's a different discussion.
I don't think this is the game hint because only two of the numbers/ number sets lead us to a point on google maps. since all the number sets are in the same format if they were supposed to be input into google maps they all should work, but the third number does not, so most likely this sign is not actually a game hint.

[adlasa]

Just to clear the air: For those thinking the sign was 'photoshopped' into Google Earth...notice how as you move along the road, the sign is still there. It is either definitely not photoshopped, or they paid a guy way to much to do it just for something as small as this. I'm thinking the former. Whether or not this is what the game hint was really meant to lead us to...that's a different discussion.

I think that it is unlikely the sign was placed on the road by someone affiliated with FIRST. In Google Earth the time stamp for the image is sometime in 2011, which seems to far back for the sign to be purposely placed there.

[thegreensniper]

How do you know they didn't?

[roboryan]

I myself doubt that it was place there for FIRST but I think they found that sign on purpose and used it on purpose

[gavmac928]

So, I have finally made my way through all of the posts. I have no idea what to make of the numbers, although the triangle, rectangle, sphere sounds suspicious. The one thing I think is for sure is that if AndyMark was trying to hint at anything about the game, then it will definitely be a baseball game. Not just because of the baseball references, but because the new chassis is supposed to allow easily changing attachments. My theory is that this is to allow teams to build a simple base with an offensive attachment and a defensive attachment. A few others have mentioned this theory. Basically, you would use one attachment or the other based on which alliance you are on, since in baseball each team is either playing offense or defense, not both at once.

[pfreivald]

With all the sign speculation, did anyone make note of the fact that it's a square?

I mean, maybe the text is just there to get people to freak out about 90-lb robots, and the real clue is the shape.

[jman4747]

The weight reduction must refer to something other than robot weight restriction as we know it. A strait 90lb limit is unimaginable with our hardware. I think it could refer to the game piece. The other option I can think of would be the ability to attach/detach 25% of your weight during the match.

[bbradf44]

I don't think this is the game hint because only two of the numbers/ number sets lead us to a point on google maps. since all the number sets are in the same format if they were supposed to be input into google maps they all should work, but the third number does not, so most likely this sign is not actually a game hint.

Maybe that's what they want you to think, that all 3 sets should work in the same way. Maybe ones a zip code ones a google maps and ones something different, or ones a Google maps and the other 2 we haven't even thought of. Just a thought

[magnets]

I don't think this is the game hint because only two of the numbers/ number sets lead us to a point on google maps. since all the number sets are in the same format if they were supposed to be input into google maps they all should work, but the third number does not, so most likely this sign is not actually a game hint.

Thank you for your sanity. This whole google maps thing is way off.

[raptaconehs]

I might be stretching this too far, and this might not mean anything. When you add all those points and keep the seperated with commas you get 17/12,16/19,19/20. Now if you get rid of all the prime numbers you get 12,16,20. Now divide that by 4 the largest number they have in common and you get 3,4,5. 3,4,5 is a special right triangle.

Another possible way could be getting rid of the slashes once you add the all together. If you do that you get 1712,1619,1920. I don't know if that means anything.

[gavmac928]

As interesting a coincidence the 25% weight reduction sign is, I think that it's just that- a coincidence. How could the GDC possibly figure out that those numbers when put into google maps would produce a picture of that sign?

[raptaconehs]

As interesting a coincidence the 25% weight reduction sign is, I think that it's just that- a coincidence. How could the GDC possibly figure out that those numbers when put into google maps would produce a picture of that sign?

Well it's possible that they know that it is an official sign in Ohio, and contacted the Ohio department of motor vehicles to find a location of the sign. But I still highly doubt that sign is the hint. I believe that it is just a distraction.

[gavmac928]

Also, I think it may be pertinent to acknowledge the fact that this is the entire game hint, not just the numbers:

Blog Date: Friday, December 20, 2013 - 16:08
Here you go!

8234/57, 61126/1963, 62326/15806

Have a great weekend!

Frank

(Copied directly from the FIRST blog)

[Celia]

The weight reduction must refer to something other than robot weight restriction as we know it. A strait 90lb limit is unimaginable with our hardware. I think it could refer to the game piece. The other option I can think of would be the ability to attach/detach 25% of your weight during the match.

I think the sign is a definite clue, paying special attention to the last sentence of that post. Having a ~30 lb attachment for offence or defense could be a big element of baseball, hockey, or an abstract, stair-climbing endgame. I think the new KOP frame gives a little more credit to this theory, too.

As for how FIRST found the sign, maybe someone saw the sign while out and about and back figured it into a fraction. I dislike the idea that the numbers can only equate to one solution. Who says the game hint can't be geographical locations relating to road signs and anniversary hints?


Yes everyone, we get it, if you interpret the numbers in any way that gives you three points, you get a triangle, which is literally the most boring thing that three points can define.

I think this is a main thing to keep in mind. FIRST is about creative solutions (especially with game hints), not just connecting three points. Good luck everyone! ::rtm::

[NoahD]

8234/57 = 144.45614035087719298245614035088
61126/1963 = 31.139072847682119205298013245033
62326/15806 = 3.9431861318486650638997848918132

They must be 3d coordinates.

[emmcro]

One team went to reddit for assistance deciphering the hint.
www.reddit.com/r/cryptography/comments/1tcx5p/cipher_example_help/

I converted the number to hexadeimal maybe these mean something: 202a/39, eec6/7ab, f376/3dbe
In hexadecmial the first anwswer is C3. Second is 1F. And the Third is 3. (all answers in hexadcimal)
So this means there will only be one floor. C3 i just went on wikipedia and the first thing for technology is rockets, so we might be firing stuff using rocket propulsion or flying. Some other things might work too check for yourself what seems best: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C3#Technology. And 3 Means that we will have 3 different goals to shoot our rocket propelled thing into.
I just saw paintball on the wiki so we are definetly firing something
into one of 3 goals
im converting the final answers from hexadecimal back to decimal
1f = 31
c3 = 195
3 = 3
195 is a galaxy rockets

Think this is relevant?

[Anthony4004]

The weight reduction must refer to something other than robot weight restriction as we know it. A strait 90lb limit is unimaginable with our hardware. I think it could refer to the game piece. The other option I can think of would be the ability to attach/detach 25% of your weight during the match.

that would be interesting...minibot anyone? Frankly i think that is the most believable use of the sign yet. its been awhile since we had the minibot, and it brings a challenge to the game.

[Anthony4004]

They must be 3d coordinates.

i dont believe that anyone has plotted them yet like that.

[gavmac928]

One team went to reddit for assistance deciphering the hint.
www.reddit.com/r/cryptography/comments/1tcx5p/cipher_example_help/

I converted the number to hexadeimal maybe these mean something: 202a/39, eec6/7ab, f376/3dbe
In hexadecmial the first anwswer is C3. Second is 1F. And the Third is 3. (all answers in hexadcimal)

I like this theory, since it makes the division come out whole numbers, as for what they mean, I doubt rockets

[LisaGinkgo]

Also, I think it may be pertinent to acknowledge the fact that this is the entire game hint, not just the numbers:

Blog Date: Friday, December 20, 2013 - 16:08
Here you go!

8234/57, 61126/1963, 62326/15806

Have a great weekend!

Frank

(Copied directly from the FIRST blog)

Just wondering, do they usually start hints with things like "here you go"? I haven't been able to find many past game hints, but the 2012 hint just went straight into the numbers. Is this common?
I ran the words "here you go" through an anagram solver the other day because I was curious, and nothing popped out at me right away, although some of the phrases could be vaguely related to the game if you stretch your imagination. Then again, one of them was "eh your ego," so maybe they're just mocking us.

[TK3950]

Also, I think it may be pertinent to acknowledge the fact that this is the entire game hint, not just the numbers:

Blog Date: Friday, December 20, 2013 - 16:08
Here you go!

8234/57, 61126/1963, 62326/15806

Have a great weekend!

Frank

(Copied directly from the FIRST blog)

I also thought it was good to consider all of it. I couldn't see much with the rest of it though, but I don't think it should be thrown away.

[Christopher149]

Well, getting the hint was dependent on adding 50 FB likes and 100 twitter followers, so it might be entirely innocent to have "Here you go" given it was a reward item.

On the other hand, it could be something, like a key to decode this thing.

[Jacob Bendicksen]

So my strategy was to completely ignore the numbers (since I have no idea what I'm doing there) and run only the words through an anagram solver. I ran "here you go have a great weekend frank" and got out HEATHEN AGE GO FRAUD KEEN YORK WEAVER.

HEATHEN AGE: Heathen means non-religious, and atheism is on the rise today, so I interpret this to mean modern times. Baseball is a fairly modern sport.

GO FRAUD: This is the most confusing one. It might mean that you have to foul other robots in order to win (perhaps a certain number of fouls are allowed per game?). Not sure here.

KEEN YORK WEAVER: Jeff Weaver was a pitcher who played for the New York Yankees. You need keen eyes to be a pitcher. Baseball game.

BUT WAIT I JUST REALIZED THIS: when I think of baseball fraud, I think of the infamous Chicago Black Sox, where the players conspired to lose the World Series. They did this by prearranging bets with mafia guys. In other words, you're going to need to talk beforehand with your alliance partners (because of the modular systems for different tasks) to see how you can profit the most from the match.

Boom.

Baseball game.

[atucker4072]

Alrighty here is what I have taken away from reading all the pages on the thread.

Things that have kept coming up consistently include: baseball, space, ice/skating/hocky, shapes (triangles, squares, and circles), football, racing, and wind.

I think that baseball and football are eluding to the fact that the element will be a ball. However there are also the different shapes. This could mean reuse of the tunes from logomotion. With the ice it could be the return of regolith coving. This also connects space and lunacy together. Racing could mean something similar to overdrive. With wind being a factor of racing (drafting and such).

The tape measures and 25% weight are probably changes to general robot rules. The chassis also being able to be a wide bot with 6 wheels may mean you need more traction to the playing surface.

[Calvin Hartley]

They must be 3d coordinates.

i dont believe that anyone has plotted them yet like that.


I believe somebody earlier in the thread used Wolfram Alpha to do this and got a sphere... I could be wrong though, it may have been something else. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

[RonnyV]

I believe somebody earlier in the thread used Wolfram Alpha to do this and got a sphere... I could be wrong though, it may have been something else. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

That's correct! Somebody plotted it in Wolfram Alpha and got a sphere.


Somebody else plotted it different. I only saved the link of the attachment not the whole post. But you can see what he did. It forms a rectangle. So the conclusion of the guy was: Triangle, Sphere, Rectangle = 3 game pieces.

Triangle = Coordiantes google maps
Sphere = Wolfram Alpha
Rectangle = His plot

Here is his plot: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15615&d=1387644692

[magnets]

That's correct! Somebody plotted it in Wolfram Alpha and got a sphere.


Somebody else plotted it different. I only saved the link of the attachment not the whole post. But you can see what he did. It forms a rectangle. So the conclusion of the guy was: Triangle, Sphere, Rectangle = 3 game pieces.

Triangle = Coordiantes google maps
Sphere = Wolfram Alpha
Rectangle = His plot

Here is his plot: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15615&d=1387644692

Triangle- Any three points will make a triangle, unless it's a line, can be done with random numbers.
Sphere- A single point was plotted on a sphere. The same could be done with any number.
Rectangle- The rectangle was plotted by making a rectangle with dimensions that were the given numbers. Again, any set of three numbers could do this.

What I'm trying to say is that if your game hint solution works with almost every set of three numbers, it might not be the solution.

[rsisk]

If only it was a triangle, circle, rectangle... It would be just like the FIRST logo

[Johnny_5]

When you Goodle 8234, the first result is a NI part ID. 5761126 comes up with a Digikey part number... Not getting anything on the other two, though, so can't be sure....

Here is something to think about. So I know we can't get very far with that part number. But what if it's similar to the hint from 2 years ago. The hint was a list of donated and purchased components from Rockwell/Allen Bradley. What if the part is in the KoP or on the field?

[Sorry2]

Hello all.
Someone earlier said something about "Who's on FIRST?" Being a good game title. And that got me thinking about when it was created. Well, it was in 1938. (Source: http://thenostalgialeague.com/kwtnl/whos-on-first.html and Wikipedia, but I got lazy and didn't look it up again. ) That means that this year is the 75th anniversary. Someone might have hit a home run with that idea! (pun absolutely intended) Sorry if there are any mistakes, I'm on a cell phone.

[Deke]

First I would like to say that I do not believe there is a weight reduction for this game. In the north, they have weight reductions every spring when the ground thaws so that large trucks do not destroy the roads. We have enough torn up roads just from the freezing and thawing without large semis crushing them. So there are thousands of instances of weight reduction on roads, it is likely a coincident that picture was found.

I was thinking about game piece volume for the 3 numbers. What if there are 3 different sized game pieces and they gave us the volume for them? Those numbers seem pretty specific. Here was a calculation on volume with in^3 converting to the diameter of a sphere in inches:

144.4561403508771929 in^3 = 6.50997 inches (diameter)
31.13907284769211920 in^3 = 3.90333 inches (diameter)
3.943186131848665063 in^3 = 1.96012 inches (diameter)

Now the numbers don't work out to a nice whole number, but maybe the game pieces have dimples or are in a 3D polygon shape. If so, these could be some of the smallest game pieces yet. The ~1.96 in (dia.) is slightly larger than a golf ball.

With the objects being on the smaller side of things, I lean away from a stacking game. Certainly lean away from a shooting game (unless the numbers are the area of the targets). It seems to lean towards a placement game with smaller containers than are customary to past FRC games.

Have a Merry Christmas!

[Anthony4004]

Hello all.
Someone earlier said something about "Who's on FIRST?" Being a good game title. And that got me thinking about when it was created. Well, it was in 1938. (Source: http://thenostalgialeague.com/kwtnl/whos-on-first.html and Wikipedia, but I got lazy and didn't look it up again. ) That means that this year is the 75th anniversary. Someone might have hit a home run with that idea! (pun absolutely intended) Sorry if there are any mistakes, I'm on a cell phone.

I would love this! Mainly because it would give me the right to make everyone watch Abbott and Costello! :p

[Jill_ls101]

Using my Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Ring, I have determined that the game hint reads:

"Be sure to drink your Ovaltine"

;)

[Willem Bohrer]

8234/57
61126/1963
62326/15806

Fibonacci sequence: 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,134, etc.

Feel free to do what you want with this information. This may be connected to fluid dynamics?

[Rynocorn]

Using my Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Ring, I have determined that the game hint reads:

"Be sure to drink your Ovaltine"

;)

Someone has been watching TBS today....

[Laser_Shows]

Using my Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Ring, I have determined that the game hint reads:

"Be sure to drink your Ovaltine"

;)

/begin sarcasm

This means one of two games.
1. Something involving a red ryder bb gun. Oops; this violates the spirit of FIRST so it cannot happen.
2. A football.

My money is on #2.

/end sarcasm

[Sarakiro]

Hi FIRST community,

I will admit that I am usually one to stray away from threads full of mere speculation- Nonetheless, I present some thoughts...

The Game Hint:
The game hint seems to be a series of 3 numbers-

My initial thoughts were coordinates (perhaps defining maximum X, Y and Z field dimension restrictions relative to the point 0,0,0 but the scale seems rather uncommon lest each value is in it's own specific unit [leave it to the GDC to be vague and "justified" in their hints])

My next thought was perhaps a scoring threshold, either pertaining to value or placement of game pieces; that too in my opinion can be denounced for proportions.

Throwing those aside, I look to game trends

Trends:

So here is some speculation of my own-

I don't think a stacking game is so far fetched. One such game I envision has the field strewn with crates (similar in design to milk crates) and numerous (90-200) balls of about 3 inches in diameter.

The objective of the game would be to stack these crates with variable numbers of balls in them, thus scoring points determined by stack size, and ball content.

The complications include dealing with upside down, sideways and irregular crates amongst "herds" of loose balls, the combination of which are difficult to navigate, and difficult to handle provided a versatile range of game pieces.

Alliances would also need to be concerned with defending built stacks.

(FIRST is decently rooted in providing irregular driving conditions; off the top of my head I list Maze Craze, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (rhymes with "*unacy")

Sorry for ranting,
I guess we know why I try to stay away from these threads,

[JB987]

I think you just described the foundation of the 2011? FTC game, Bowled Over:) Thus the FRC GDC emulates the FTC GDC...

[Orion.DeYoe]

i dont believe that anyone has plotted them yet like that.

Please read the thread before commenting. Check back several pages, I plotted them in 3D several days ago.

[Calvin Hartley]

Please read the thread before commenting. Check back several pages, I plotted them in 3D several days ago.

At risk of sounding like a jerk, but... Did you read the posts following the one you quoted? This was already addressed. Let's try not to be hypocritical. Thanks! (Although we're all guilty of this, I am sure.)

That's correct! Somebody plotted it in Wolfram Alpha and got a sphere.


Somebody else plotted it different. I only saved the link of the attachment not the whole post. But you can see what he did. It forms a rectangle. So the conclusion of the guy was: Triangle, Sphere, Rectangle = 3 game pieces.

Triangle = Coordiantes google maps
Sphere = Wolfram Alpha
Rectangle = His plot

Here is his plot: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15615&d=1387644692

Now let's get back onto the original topic! :)

[Renegade1058]

It seems a lot like it's going to be a game forwarded towards the moon. Like Zalinsky stated, JFK challenged the USA to go the the moon in this decade. Then there are the two 3s and the 3 water bottles. There's definitely a strong reference to the number 3. In my opinion, the 33 is a reference to the date 1933, when there was a film produced called the "Three-Cornered Moon". A triangle has three corners, just like the shape the water bottles formed in the picture and just like the graph of the points created. Just my opinion.

[Orion.DeYoe]

At risk of sounding like a jerk, but... Did you read the posts following the one you quoted? This was already addressed. Let's try not to be hypocritical. Thanks! (Although we're all guilty of this, I am sure.)

Haha, point taken. But, yes, I did read the posts following that one (and all ~650 previous ones).

[RWS98]

I have not read all 40+ pages for this thread so I don’t know if anyone has proposed the following:

Looking at the Nov. 25 photo, if it indeed had games clues I would speculate that the game has something to do with billiards. First there is the green screen like the felt on the tables. There are tall chairs like you would find in a billiard hall/tournament. The water bottles (and the plotted hint numbers) form a triangle that would represent the rack. And finally, all three are reading their “Cues” from the teleprompter.

If I were to guess a name for this game it would be “Rack’em Up”

[Mr. N]

Happy Boxing Day!


(Apologies if I'm duplicating ideas from earlier posts...)

Let's assume the hint is not an alphanumeric cipher, but rather refers to three "things". Personally, I do not believe these are coordinates (in physical space or colour space), since the inclusion of the "/" is an odd way to represent a coordinate.

I think each "thing" is a geometric object (game piece or field element), and the "Large Number/Small Number" defines the shape somehow. The relative magnitude of the numbers suggests (at least to me) "Volume/Area".

I had a look at the volume and area formulas for various solids (source: Engineering Toolbox/Volume and Surfaces of Common Solids). At first, I tried to match up Volume to Surface Area without much luck. However, when I instead looked at Cross-Sectional Area (or some representative planar area), things started jumping out.

Now, since absolute values are given for both Volume and Area, they are expressed in terms of some "unit" which is not explicitly defined. I think mm are too small, so the most likely "unit" is either inch or cm.

Here is a summary of the solids corresponding to each number group (all dimensions expressed in rounded "units")


8234/57 = tall cylinder (8.6 dia x 146) OR toroid (8.5 minor dia. x 46 major dia.)

61126/1963 = sphere (49 dia) -- minus a little bit, suggesting a cut-out or cavity

62326/15806 = shallow square pyramid (126 x 126 x 12 tall) OR shallow square platform (126 x 126 x 4 tall)


I drew these shapes to scale and put some of them into an assembly (based on pure speculation). Please see attachment.

[Flimsor]

First I would like to say that I do not believe there is a weight reduction for this game. In the north, they have weight reductions every spring when the ground thaws so that large trucks do not destroy the roads. We have enough torn up roads just from the freezing and thawing without large semis crushing them. So there are thousands of instances of weight reduction on roads, it is likely a coincident that picture was found.


If trucks have to be lighter in the winter because the roads are colder, then maybe the robots will have to be lighter because of certain field conditions. It could be that heavier robots won't be able to complete a certain task, or they'll want to make it more difficult to drive a certain way by making them lighter. If that were true, then that would certainly be a portion of the game worth noting via a clue. Given that, the FRC GDC could have easily known these were already signs, making them the perfect clue.

[Skidzoo]

I really like Mr. N's interpretation of the hint, although it could be complete chance and we are overthinking it (but we all know that doesn't happen, right? :rolleyes:).

It's a pretty solid explanation- I just can't tell if that blue sphere is a game piece or a field structure, which leads me to a few ideas about how the blue sphere will affect all of this.

If the blue sphere is a game piece, it could mean one of three things: either we have to put the ball on the peg, take the ball off the peg (I feel like the second is more likely than the first, since it will take a ridiculous amount of accuracy on behalf of the programming/driver to get it perfectly onto the peg), or that the other team has to try to knock it off its pedestal... kind of like tee-ball, except that you are trying to hit the other team's ball.

If the blue sphere is a field structure, it is either an endgame field structure with a purpose (like the tower in Ultimate Ascent), or it is a standard field piece that is in play the entire time, like something we have to drive around. I really don't know what the its purpose could be. A few random guesses: We have to lasso it? Throw/stack something on it (like Logomotion)? Fill it up with some other mini game pieces?

Just my interpretation of Mr. N's work.

[RonnyV]

So my strategy was to completely ignore the numbers (since I have no idea what I'm doing there) and run only the words through an anagram solver. I ran "here you go have a great weekend frank" and got out HEATHEN AGE GO FRAUD KEEN YORK WEAVER.

HEATHEN AGE: Heathen means non-religious, and atheism is on the rise today, so I interpret this to mean modern times. Baseball is a fairly modern sport.

GO FRAUD: This is the most confusing one. It might mean that you have to foul other robots in order to win (perhaps a certain number of fouls are allowed per game?). Not sure here.

KEEN YORK WEAVER: Jeff Weaver was a pitcher who played for the New York Yankees. You need keen eyes to be a pitcher. Baseball game.

BUT WAIT I JUST REALIZED THIS: when I think of baseball fraud, I think of the infamous Chicago Black Sox, where the players conspired to lose the World Series. They did this by prearranging bets with mafia guys. In other words, you're going to need to talk beforehand with your alliance partners (because of the modular systems for different tasks) to see how you can profit the most from the match.

Boom.

Baseball game.

Why didn't anybody respond on this post? I really like what he did. I'm a new kid on the block, second season coming up, so I don't know how much deepness/work FIRST puts in these hints.

But there are a lot of theories behind the baseball idea and this confirms it as well.

Coincidence? Maybe... Reliable theory? Maybe..

[atucker4072]

Since the the weight reduction sign has to do with trucks this could mean we would have trailers again.

[Calvin Hartley]

Mr. N, I like your thoughts.

The image reminds me of a tesla coil.... not going to happen, but a fun thought.

That being said, I think this could be a very solid lead. I don't have much else to add to this speculation, but I like where it's going. If your blue object is the game piece and the rest a field element that would make sense.

I'm afraid my post isn't doing much more than taking up space... hrm. :o

[Anthony4004]

Please read the thread before commenting. Check back several pages, I plotted them in 3D several days ago.

I have read seriously every single post on this tread and other treads. After you have read over 700 posts you may forget a few.

[Anthony4004]

team has to try to knock it off its pedestal... kind of like tee-ball, except that you are trying to hit the other team's ball.
.

oh this sounds like a great idea with Mr. N's idea. this greatly supports the baseball idea.

[Anthony4004]

So has anyone seen the AndyMark Ri3D website (http://myemail.constantcontact.com/AndyMark-Participating-in-Robot-in-3-Days-2014.html?soid=1103606398845&aid=62mbXCHeNZE)? On the bottom of the page they have up a simple arm joint, which is a new item they sell. So....arm joint......game where we need an arm? After all the hints, my money is on a baseball game where we have to move the "ball" onto tee-ball peg (check out Mr. N's pic above (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15652&d=1388105986)) somewhat like Logomotion. Interesting..... :D

[gavmac928]

The Mr. N theory, as it has now been dubbed, revolving around the sets of numbers each being ratios between the volume and an area of grometric shapes, sounds pretty legitimate. However, keep in mind that his drawing is just one speculation, and that the bottom square could also be a pyramid. That is just one orientation he came up with. But I still like the general theory more than anything else we've come up with, because it is an actual interpretation of the numbers mathematically, not just typing the numbers into google or a coordinate grid, which is where most of our theories have been coming from.

[Bryce Paputa]

Why didn't anybody respond on this post? I really like what he did. I'm a new kid on the block, second season coming up, so I don't know how much deepness/work FIRST puts in these hints.

But there are a lot of theories behind the baseball idea and this confirms it as well.

Coincidence? Maybe... Reliable theory? Maybe..

Yeah, I like it too. I don't see us getting anything at all out of these numbers.

[smarthimandrew]

8234/57 = tall cylinder (8.6 dia x 146) OR toroid (8.5 minor dia. x 46 major dia.)

61126/1963 = sphere (49 dia) -- minus a little bit, suggesting a cut-out or cavity

62326/15806 = shallow square pyramid (126 x 126 x 12 tall) OR shallow square platform (126 x 126 x 4 tall)


I am currently in the middle of checking the math on this one. I don't like how much rounding is involved here. Would you please post your work for how you got those dimensions for the objects.

[Skidzoo]

...keep in mind that his drawing is just one speculation, and that the bottom square could also be a pyramid.

I actually factored the pyramid base in when I was originally coming up with my theory (with the same explanation as below), but now that I think about it, the pyramid base could also be applied to another scenario.

In both cases, a pyramid base would prevent a robot that runs into the base from having its parts jarred lose by running into an edge, and it wouldn't shake the pole as much as a flat piece of metal, although a flat base a few centimeters higher than the ground should not have much of an effect on the robot's functionality (but who knows). The other advantage of having a pyramid base is that it allows round objects to roll down its slopes, so a pyramid base could mean that there are a lot of small, round objects (or one big one). Either way, the slope helps round objects roll off the base.

Now, for the two possibilities:

1) The tee-ball version. For the sake of saving space, refer back to my earlier post if you forget or haven't seen it.

2) A fill-the-basket scenario: If there are a lot of small game pieces, that probably means that there is a bucket or some sort of container (the sphere with a hole in the top) that needs to be filled with those aforementioned game pieces (probably a small-diameter ball, like a tennis ball or a golf ball). The sloped sides would make any pieces that don't make it into the bucket go back out onto the field, where you pick them up again.

I personally like the tee-ball idea more, though.

Also, it's late and I have been thinking about this for a long time, so there are probably some gaps in my logic, and I think that explanation might not be as clear as I thought it was... if you see any problems or are confused, just tell me and I will be happy to explain again or rethink my theory.

[Munchskull]

I know I am a little late to the party but did any one else notice that the numbers all form a repeating decimal?
8234/57 144.456140350877192982


62326/15806= 3.943186131848665063899784891813235480197393394913 32405415664937365557383272175123370871820827533847 90585853473364545109452106794888017208654941161584 20852840693407566746805010755409338225990130330254 33379729216753131722130836391243831456408958623307 60470707326331772744527394660255599139567252941920 78957357965329621662659749462229533088700493483487 28331013539162343413893458180437808427179552068834 61976464633683411362773630266987220043021637352903 96052132101733518916867012526888523345564975325825 63583449323041882829305327090978109578641022396558 2690117676831582


61126/1963= 31.13907284768211920529801324503311258278145695364 2384105960264900662251655629

[Chris is me]

I know I am a little late to the party but did any one else notice that the numbers all form a repeating decimal?

All rational numbers are either repeating decimals or end after a finite number of decimal digits. Not particularly noteworthy.

[JohnSchneider]

Happy Boxing Day!


(Apologies if I'm duplicating ideas from earlier posts...)

Let's assume the hint is not an alphanumeric cipher, but rather refers to three "things". Personally, I do not believe these are coordinates (in physical space or colour space), since the inclusion of the "/" is an odd way to represent a coordinate.

I think each "thing" is a geometric object (game piece or field element), and the "Large Number/Small Number" defines the shape somehow. The relative magnitude of the numbers suggests (at least to me) "Volume/Area".

I had a look at the volume and area formulas for various solids (source: Engineering Toolbox/Volume and Surfaces of Common Solids). At first, I tried to match up Volume to Surface Area without much luck. However, when I instead looked at Cross-Sectional Area (or some representative planar area), things started jumping out.

Now, since absolute values are given for both Volume and Area, they are expressed in terms of some "unit" which is not explicitly defined. I think mm are too small, so the most likely "unit" is either inch or cm.

Here is a summary of the solids corresponding to each number group (all dimensions expressed in rounded "units")


8234/57 = tall cylinder (8.6 dia x 146) OR toroid (8.5 minor dia. x 46 major dia.)

61126/1963 = sphere (49 dia) -- minus a little bit, suggesting a cut-out or cavity

62326/15806 = shallow square pyramid (126 x 126 x 12 tall) OR shallow square platform (126 x 126 x 4 tall)


I drew these shapes to scale and put some of them into an assembly (based on pure speculation). Please see attachment.

given the geometric nature of most first games this actually seems pretty neat...

[Derpancakes]

Don't know if anyone has pointed this out, but they're in a hangar in the picture. Look at the floor drains, the corrugated metal walls, and the cockpit diagram in the back left. Seems interesting.

[Derpancakes]

Don't know if anyone has pointed this out, but they're in a hangar in the picture. Look at the floor drains, the corrugated metal walls, and the cockpit diagram in the back left. Seems interesting.

Well, I redact the statement about the walls upon further invetigation. But still, it looks a lot like a hangar. I've spent a good amount of time in and around them. http://www.usfirst.org/sites/default/files/uploadedImages/Robotics_Programs/FRC/Game_and_Season__Info/2014/Kickoff-Filming.jpg
Also 666th post

[ENIAC]

Don't know if anyone has pointed this out, but they're in a hangar in the picture. Look at the floor drains, the corrugated metal walls, and the cockpit diagram in the back left. Seems interesting.

Cockpit diagram! So that's what it is...

Also, in regard to the weight limit sign, perhaps that indicates a game component involving moving larger, heavier game pieces around the field, à la Stack Attack, but with a stipulation that the game piece must be within the frame perimeter whilst moving? A wild conjecture, but what isn't, at this time of year?

[Mr. N]

Further to my original post (#649, p44):

Attached, please find an Excel spreadsheet containing the calculations for my analysis. The exact numbers are given with no coarse round-off. (Please check my math.)

Here are a few additional notes:


If the "Volume/Area" assumption is correct, then any geometric solid that can be represented by two independent parameters (e.g., cylinders, prisms, pyramids, cones) may be forced to fit. So there are myriad possibilities.

The exceptions are single parameter shapes like spheres and cubes. You can choose the parameter to match volume or area but not both. However, once you do so, if you do get a match for the other quantity, then it's a good bet that the shape is a sphere or cube.

The "Volume/Area" is akin to aspect ratio (in this case, it's a characteristic length), in that it says something about the general properties of the shape. For example, "8234/57" is a large ratio, but the "volume" number is small, which suggests a tall, thin object (whatever it ends up being). For my "guess", I chose a tall, slender pole (in keeping with past FIRST games). Conversely, "62326/15806" is more "massive" than the first shape, but the ratio is much smaller, suggesting a large but very shallow object (like a flat platform or a pyramid with gently sloping sides or a very squat cone).

As people have rightly pointed out, the drawing I posted is pure speculation. There is not enough information to specify the exact shapes. However, if you ask yourself, "What Would FIRST Do?", then certain shapes (balls, platform, poles) seem to be more likely than others (e.g., 9' tall cones with a narrow base).

The most "tantalizing" match concerns the number "1963". If we assume it is a circular area, then the corresponding diameter is "49.99" units --- extremely close to "50". To me, this appears to be more than a coincidence. It strongly suggests something round or spherical with a diameter of 50 cm or perhaps 50 inches (rejecting something measured in mm as too small for FRC).

The most "irritating" object is Shape 2 ("61126/1963"). It is almost an exact match for a 50-unit sphere --- almost! In fact, it is off by 4%. You can get an exact match if you assume a prolate spheriod (i.e., a squashed sphere) with major and minor diameters of 50 and 48.3, respectively. (Could this be a slightly saggy "yoga ball"???) You can also get an exact match if you assume a perfect 50-unit sphere with a small bite, flat or hole taken out of it (for hooking onto a pole, perhaps???).


Anyway, I hope this helps.

Attached is a drawing of a torus that matches Shape 1 (major diameter = 45.98 units, with an outside diameter almost exactly equal to a sphere that matches Shape 2).

[Mr. N]

I am currently in the middle of checking the math on this one. I don't like how much rounding is involved here. Would you please post your work for how you got those dimensions for the objects.

Please see my update in Post #668. I've attached the spreadsheet on which my calculations were based, so you can see the numbers without round-off. You can also use the spreadsheet to check the formulas.

[E Dawg]

Remember: Game hints all depend on whether or not they think we think they think about what we think they think is related in any way to what they think we think they thought about what we thought about their thinking.

[Derpancakes]

Remember: Game hints all depend on whether or not they think we think they think about what we think they think is related in any way to what they think we think they thought about what we thought about their thinking.

[Stack overflow error on lines 1-2]

[Flimsor]

Those field elements that Mr. N made make a lot more sense if you use the torus. Then it looks like you're putting inner tubes on a vertical post, and stacking them up. That seems very reasonable.

[cad321]

Those field elements that Mr. N made make a lot more sense if you use the torus. Then it looks like you're putting inner tubes on a vertical post, and stacking them up. That seems very reasonable.

Based upon Mr. N's latest extrapolation of the game hint, its looking very similar to VEX Round Up (http://www.vexrobotics.com/wiki/Round_Up) from the 2010/2011 season. Perhaps replace the middle pyramid with those promising looking stairs found many pages back.

[smarthimandrew]

It is almost an exact match for a 50-unit sphere --- almost! In fact, it is off by 4%. You can get an exact match if you assume a prolate spheriod (i.e., a squashed sphere) with major and minor diameters of 50 and 48.3, respectively.

This is interesting because the ratio of earth's diameters is about 1.0032160486.
The ratio of the prolate spheriod's diameters is about 1.03519668737.

Is this close enough to be considered a clue?

[Jibri Wright]

I think its going to be some sort of turf war like King of the Hill or Territories. The triangle representing that there are three territories that teams will try to take over. This may true considering there are three robots on each team. There will also probably be different types of terrain. Each robot specializing in a certain type of terrain or all three considering what type of robot you build.

[dibblec]

Has anyone compared this game hint to the seasons past to see if they even lay credibility to the actual game? This is our second year in and we were late starters last year so this is all new to us. The take away is most of what is suggested is probably not even close or the hints never have anything to do with the game...

[Celia]

Has anyone compared this game hint to the seasons past to see if they even lay credibility to the actual game? This is our second year in and we were late starters last year so this is all new to us. The take away is most of what is suggested is probably not even close or the hints never have anything to do with the game...

There was discussion of that in this thread a few pages back. I think the overall conclusion was yes, the hints are credible. Some years we've gotten closer than others, and I think Mr. N's Theory could be very close.

[dibblec]

There was discussion of that in this thread a few pages back. I think the overall conclusion was yes, the hints are credible. Some years we've gotten closer than others, and I think Mr. N's Theory could be very close.

Thank you. I admit... I have not read through all 46 pages of posts. :yikes:

[RoundTabler]

Props to Mr. N. I didn't think we were getting anything done. Now, I think we might have a clue. That, and the 25% weight reduction are our most credible leads.

EDIT: How many of you have read all 46 pages? I have. :)

[IVAN]

well it looks like kit of parts chassis lost 4 lbs somewhere
http://www.andymark.com/AM14U-p/am-2563.htm
http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2239.htm

and we might have gotten 3in back on the chassis? ideas?

[billylo]

Glow in the dark ring toss? http://www.one-stop-party-ideas.com/images/Halloween-Kids-Games-Ring-Toss.jpg

Would be fun!

[Anthony4004]

Props to Mr. N. I didn't think we were getting anything done. Now, I think we might have a clue. That, and the 25% weight reduction are our most credible leads.

EDIT: How many of you have read all 46 pages? I have. :)

Yes I agree with this, Mr. N's idea had the most credibility of being the true meaning.

Not only have I read all 46 pages of this tread, but also all the other side treads as well :D I've had nothing to do, and this keeps my FIRST addiction in check ;)

[Calvin Hartley]

Has anyone compared this game hint to the seasons past to see if they even lay credibility to the actual game? This is our second year in and we were late starters last year so this is all new to us. The take away is most of what is suggested is probably not even close or the hints never have anything to do with the game...

The general consensus is that the game hints are credible. However, they give us so little information that we hardly know anything before Kickoff than we would anyway. Besides, any correct theories are mixed in with so many others that it is very difficult at best to know what may be correct.


... How many of you have read all 46 pages? I have. :)

I have, as well as the other threads. :)

[smarthimandrew]

How many of you have read all 46 pages? I have. :)

I have read all 46

[z_beeblebrox]

Besides, any correct theories are mixed in with so many others that it is very difficult at best to know what may be correct.

I'd be inclined to disagree. I've read most of the posts and the only one that I find plausible is the one about weight limits, churches and security. It is very improbable that all three of those places were not intended by the GDC. It may not mean anything (and I'm disappointed by the relative lack of posts analyzing that hint), but it's probably what the GDC wanted us to find.

Almost every other is either not directly supported by the hint or the result of finding meaning in fairly arbitrary operations on the game hint numbers. (Yes, three points make a triangle)

[GaryVoshol]

How many of you have read all 46 pages? I have.
If you configure your settings, you only have to read 7 pages. :yikes:

[thursam]

I was hunting through Frank's blog, and some other CD threads - in which I found the 'Who's on FIRST' post. I Googled it a short while about, and the major result that came up was an old Abbott & Costello comedy sketch - about a BASEBALL TEAM.
Could be coincidence, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

[cadandcookies]

I was hunting through Frank's blog, and some other CD threads - in which I found the 'Who's on FIRST' post. I Googled it a short while about, and the major result that came up was an old Abbott & Costello comedy sketch - about a BASEBALL TEAM.
Could be coincidence, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

That's why it's the suggestion. It's just such a perfect combination of history, baseball, and FIRST-pun that it's too good to pass up. If this year isn't somehow related to baseball, I wouldn't be surprised to see them use it for a future game.

[Anthony4004]

I was hunting through Frank's blog, and some other CD threads - in which I found the 'Who's on FIRST' post. I Googled it a short while about, and the major result that came up was an old Abbott & Costello comedy sketch - about a BASEBALL TEAM.
Could be coincidence, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Seriously?!? Are you kidding? LOL thats the whole premise to the statement of Who's on FIRST is that is it a direct tie to that sketch. It saddens me to know what so many people do not know Abbot and Costello more..:(

[Anthony4004]

This needed to be addressed now for those sad few who do not know Abbot and Costello.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTcRRaXV-fg

[Steve Compton]

Prolate spheroid = a football.
Throwing a football is not insignificant, and a distinct challenge.

Football game.

[Phyrxes]

Prolate spheroid = a football.
Throwing a football is not insignificant, and a distinct challenge.

Football game.

Football or rugby ball, doesn't matter to me its an ellipsoid and I can buy it from amazon, I'm okay with this.

[markmcgary]

Prolate spheroid = a football.
Throwing a football is not insignificant, and a distinct challenge.

Football game.

Football Throwing Machine (http://youtu.be/pt1K81aboP0)

[ThereYouAre]

http://i.imgur.com/7b8aipE.png

Is this common practice for the images they release, or are they lying to us?

They said it isn't in this picture, and the picture is of people taking a picture. So maybe the clue isn't in the picture they're taking, maybe it's outside the green screen, where no picture was supposed to be taken.

[ThereYouAre]

I mentioned how it says, no clues in this picture, or something like that. And that what they are saying is probably really true.
The picture is of people taking a picture.
So the clue isn't in the picture, it is probably outside the green screen where no picture will be taken.
I've spotted a few things, stuff that caught my eye, what do you think?
There's the waterbottles, the lights, and the hard to decipher numbers in the background.

[ThereYouAre]

They said it isn't in this picture, and the picture is of people taking a picture. So maybe the clue isn't in the picture they're taking, maybe it's outside the green screen, where no picture was supposed to be taken.

In fact maybe the picture has nothing to do with anything, maybe it is the numbers they mention on what kind of image it is and everything.

[ThereYouAre]

Football Throwing Machine (http://youtu.be/pt1K81aboP0)

If it has something to do with football, how would that relate to the other hints.

[markmcgary]

If it has something to do with football, how would that relate to the other hints.

I was merely offering a possible solution to the distinct and not insignificant challenge of throwing a football. You'll have to ask Steve about the relationship of the hints to football.

[MOE]

HELLOOOooooooo :yikes:
YEP its the red lights !!!!!!!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL

oh yeah ???? OH YEAH !!!!!!!
MOE ::rtm::

[gabrielau23]

Mr. N's theory, I think, should hold quite a bit of weight. The numbers match up pretty well--scarily well, actually. Originally I was pretty sure that the hints pointed towards a baseball game, but now I'm split. The most solid clue we have, I believe, is the 25% weight reduction. The fact that, when the two other numbers were plugged into Google Maps, the numbers produced signs with "First" in the names is almost as if FIRST said, "Yes, you're on the right track."

To me, we now have 4 solid theories that all have decent "evidence" if something were to be proved:
1. 25% Weight Reduction
2. Baseball game
3. Stacking game, maybe? (Mr. N's Geometry work)
4. Tee-ball, although that's almost like baseball.

[Steve Compton]

If it has something to do with football, how would that relate to the other hints.

Yeah...the football claim doesn't relate at all to the other clues. I've just thought it was going to be a football game for months now. Very little analysis from here ;)

[iceBird10]

Those field elements that Mr. N made make a lot more sense if you use the torus. Then it looks like you're putting inner tubes on a vertical post, and stacking them up. That seems very reasonable.

That seems a little too similar to LogoMotion if you ask me.

[Anthony4004]

That seems a little too similar to LogoMotion if you ask me.

We did talk about how the hint relates to being Green, so recycling.

[EricH]

We did talk about how the hint relates to being Green, so recycling.

Recycling way too fast, even for FIRST. You shoulda heard the comments when LogoMotion (2011) came around only 4 seasons after Rack 'n Roll (2007), which was 10 seasons after the previous game to use inner tubes (back in 1997!). 3 seasons between similar games? WAY too short a turnaround.

2012 to 2006? Better. 2013 to 2012 and 2006? Different game object and no returns, so different game entirely.

[DavisC]

To me, we now have 4 solid theories that all have decent "evidence" if something were to be proved:
1. 25% Weight Reduction
2. Baseball game
3. Stacking game, maybe? (Mr. N's Geometry work)
4. Tee-ball, although that's almost like baseball.

I think that is about right, however looking at past games (yes I know the GDC is bound to throw curve balls here and there like last year), we have had 2 strongly shooting games the past 2 years, I'd say we are due for handling game.

Also I think they are hinting at baseball too much in the blog.

This leaves 1 and 3, both i think are highly plausible.

On another note, the abstract hinting at Dr. Who could mean something, but what would be a game that comes from that (obviously cant base game on too much previous knowledge of show cause that would make it too confusing).

Also, in the picture's background i see what looks like 2 upward opening 3's towards what looks like a giant mushroom? idk...

[audietron]

Also, in the picture's background i see what looks like 2 upward opening 3's towards what looks like a giant mushroom? idk...

This picture is just of an airplane cockpit as Derpancakes has said, They most likely filmed somewhere oriented around aircraft.

http://images.flightstore.co.uk/images/products/1334756208-06431200.jpg

It is not the exact same, but you get the point.

[DarrinMunter]

Dean's a pilot, this could have taken at his home. I remebered from a year or two ago when they first started the pre-taping, the blog said something about filming at Dean's place.

[PAR_WIG1350]

Don't know if anyone has pointed this out, but they're in a hangar in the picture. Look at the floor drains, the corrugated metal walls, and the cockpit diagram in the back left. Seems interesting.

Dean's a pilot, this could have taken at his home. I remebered from a year or two ago when they first started the pre-taping, the blog said something about filming at Dean's place.

Dean Kamen owns helicopters, and hangers...

[theCADguy]

In fact maybe the picture has nothing to do with anything, maybe it is the numbers they mention on what kind of image it is and everything.

Looking at the data located below the image, I was able to draw a few connections:
1. Encoding Process - Baseline DCT.
In baseball, each base is connected by a white baseline. The bases are places where the runner cannot be tagged out. This could mean there could be a zone where robots from another alliance cannot contact robots in that specific zone.(Think of the protected feeder stations and pyramids from Ultimate Ascent.)

2. Exif byte order - Big-endian(Motorola,MM)
In this one, the word "big" stands out the most. This could potentially mean that some aspect of the game is larger than past. This could hint to larger game pieces, larger alliances, or a longer match. There are many possibilities with this one.

3. Compression - JPEG(old style)
Compression is a way of making an image's file size smaller. Therefore we may have to build smaller robots this year. This is further supported by the 25% weight limit sign that we had come across earlier. Before an image is compressed, the file size is much larger than after it is compressed. This hints to the possibility of certain objectives requiring a robot to either increase or decrease in size.

Something else to pay attention to is the use of an older form of JPEG compression. This could be telling us that some aspects of the game may be 'borrowed' from a previous FRC or FTC game, as the term 'old-style' is used.

[Anthony4004]

3. Compression - JPEG(old style)
Compression is a way of making an image's file size smaller. Therefore we may have to build smaller robots this year. This is further supported by the 25% weight limit sign that we had come across earlier. Before an image is compressed, the file size is much larger than after it is compressed. This hints to the possibility of certain objectives requiring a robot to either increase or decrease in size.

This actually is a smart idea. Just throwing this out here, what is the speculated field CAD that i had brought up is a corral that the robot will need to fit into? Like a box.

[cadandcookies]

Nearly any image that isn't raw from the camera is compressed. I doubt it's significant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_compression

[theCADguy]

Nearly any image that isn't raw from the camera is compressed. I doubt it's significant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_compression

I know that. The fact that this is present in the data sheet may still be of significance. I also find it interesting that JPEG is noted twice on the datasheet.

[theCADguy]

This picture is just of an airplane cockpit as Derpancakes has said, They most likely filmed somewhere oriented around aircraft.

http://images.flightstore.co.uk/images/products/1334756208-06431200.jpg

It is not the exact same, but you get the point.

Hmm...

That image reminds me of Microsoft Flight Simulator...

[theCADguy]

Lately, we have made several connections to aircraft, as well as baseball and football. Combining these connections together, we can speculate that we will be required to shoot game pieces through the air. Baseballs, footballs, and airplanes travel in some sense, through the air. Therefore, we may be flinging game pieces this year, which will present a decent design challenge, as we have seen in past games.

[gavmac928]

I am guessing the details on the photo description are just to describe the photo. I am sure they wrote that there are no game hints in the photo because they knew that a photo like that at this time of year would raise suspicion from people like us. I think they just wanted to post a picture of them filming the kickoff video. However, the one bit of info the picture will tell us towards the game is that there are likely game hints in other pictures or blog posts, as I think (someone more experienced can back this up) there have been in the past. Trying to make connections from that picture that are likely pure coincidence or just normal filming studio conditions (ie. water bottle triangles or green screens) is getting us nowhere.

[mchavez22]

8234/57 = 144.45614035087719298245614035088
61126/1963 = 31.139072847682119205298013245033
62326/15806 = 3.9431861318486650638997848918132

it comes out to roughly 179.5. Round that up and it's 180. I looked it up. It comes out to either having the same sizes as a soccer field or little league baseball field. Both would be cool

[theCADguy]

8234/57 = 144.45614035087719298245614035088
61126/1963 = 31.139072847682119205298013245033
62326/15806 = 3.9431861318486650638997848918132

it comes out to roughly 179.5. Round that up and it's 180. I looked it up. It comes out to either having the same sizes as a soccer field or little league baseball field. Both would be cool

Soccer and Baseball are both sports that use a ball. This, along connections to airplanes, and sports that involve tossing, hitting, or kicking a ball through the air, means that we will be launching a ball into a goal of some sorts, as we did in '06. Also, we have mentioned earlier that we are due for a ball game this year, according to trends concerning game pieces. (Basically, the game pieces each year have alternated between balls and irregular shapes since the 90's. Last year, the game piece was irregularly shaped (frisbee), so if current trends continue, the game piece will be a ball this year.)

[mhos1997]

We have wayyyy to many ideas for this year. Let's hope its one of them. Back to interpretations.

[Calvin Hartley]

Regarding the Kickoff filming picture. I really don't think it's worth our time trying to interpret it as a game hint. They did say that there is no game clue in the photo. Do we really want to stoop low enough to assume that FIRST would blatantly lie about that fact? They specifically stated that there is no clue. I am going to believe it and think about other sources of information such as the blog post title "2014 Game Hint"

That's my opinion.

[Kevin Leonard]

Last year we were at least trying to interpret the right game hint. And we had some sense of direction with that poem.

This year we have like fifty different directions, and they're all flimsy.
I don't think we're going to get any further with this one. I love game hint speculation, but some of this is ridiculous sounding for EVEN the GDC.

[mrnoble]

What's the consensus on Andy Baker's baseball video at this point? I'm feeling like the bulk of the evidence (including that video and the other statements from first and andymark) is pointing in the direction of a baseball-related game. I will also point out that the first thing I noticed about "The Photo" is that the green screen reminds me of the Green Monster. The official hint seems likely to be about weight limits in one way or another, and unrelated to the "theme". So...

If it is baseball, how do you think it could be played? I'm not inclined to think that the only baseball-like part of the game would be the size of the balls; that's too much like Aim High. If it's hitting or striking balls, that might be an interesting challenge. Baseball, by it's nature, is slow moving, which doesn't fit very well with FRC's style. How do you imagine the sport might be modified or adapted to make it a viable FRC game?

I don't have very many answers at this point, and I realize that whatever we imagine, it probably won't turn out to be correct. Still I'd love to see what you all think might be possible.

Thanks!

[kcy0511]

@FRCTeams just tweeted this:

Yes...kind of RT @2767StrykeForce: Less than a week until kickoff! Has anyone figured out the hint? #omgrobots

In my opinion this is the FRC telling us that someone, in some thread read by them, is on the right track. I propose we go back through past suggestions no matter how unusual and make sure we didn't push something aside that was somewhat correct.

[Flimsor]

@FRCTeams just tweeted this:

Yes...kind of RT @2767StrykeForce: Less than a week until kickoff! Has anyone figured out the hint? #omgrobots

In my opinion this is the FRC telling us that someone, in some thread read by them, is on the right track. I propose we go back through past suggestions no matter how unusual and make sure we didn't push something aside that was somewhat correct.

Alright, well what if the 25% weight reduction is for the game pieces as opposed to the robots? It would be quite a lot for robots. We really should figure out a way to tie in the other portions of that hint. I've heard basically nothing about the other two FIRST signs.

[gravityloop]

Not that it would matter, but the post says 16:08 and it was definitely not posted at 16:08... (more like 16:20)

in January 1608 at Jamestown, Christopher Newport returns in a ship with the FIRST Supply and about 100 new settlers; he finds only 38 survivors.
In April 1608 at Jamestown, Christopher Newport again sails for England.

Co-incidence?

Water game?

[thursam]

Alright, well what if the 25% weight reduction is for the game pieces as opposed to the robots? It would be quite a lot for robots. We really should figure out a way to tie in the other portions of that hint. I've heard basically nothing about the other two FIRST signs.

It would be 30 lbs - which would reduce the robot's weight to 90 lbs.


in January 1608 at Jamestown, Christopher Newport returns in a ship with the FIRST Supply and about 100 new settlers; he finds only 38 survivors.
In April 1608 at Jamestown, Christopher Newport again sails for England.

Co-incidence?

Water game?

I looked up some stuff based on 16:20 (1620.)

July 15 – The ship Speedwell departs Delfshaven with the Leiden colonists and Pilgrims.

August 5 (O.S.) – The Mayflower and Speedwell depart together from Plymouth, England, but the Speedwell starts to leak again and must stop.

September 6 (O.S.) – The Mayflower departs from Plymouth, England, on its 3rd attempt without the Speedwell, arriving on November 11 (Old Style date) at Cape Cod (named from Concord voyage of 1602).

November 21 (N.S.) – The Mayflower arrives inside the tip of Cape Cod, with the Pilgrims and Planters.

December 21 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

[pfreivald]

How heavy was the previous kitbot? The 25% weight reduction might be just referring to the transition to the new one.

[Calvin Hartley]

How heavy was the previous kitbot? The 25% weight reduction might be just referring to the transition to the new one.

The 2013 kitbot (http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2239.htm) is listed at 26 pounds. I believe the information posted for this year's was 22 pounds...? I don't quite recall.

[AllenGregoryIV]

The 2013 kitbot (http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2239.htm) is listed at 26 pounds. I believe the information posted for this year's was 22 pounds...? I don't quite recall.

22 pounds is correct.

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/kit-of-parts

AndyMark Drive Base Kit (AM14U):

These are the items that go to teams that did not opt out of the KOP Drive System.
Checklist coming soon!
Size: 5.5" x 6.5" x 33"
Weight: 22 lbs
2014 Drive System User Guide (coming soon!)

[Andrew Lawrence]

Not sure if this is too useful, but the GDC posted on their Twitter a couple of hours ago: Nobody will guess the game name: 0 21 10 11 1_0 21 6 1 6 21 43 11_9 21 10 3 10 15. What that has to do with the name, we won't say!

[Christopher149]

They also posted that the underscores are spaces. Though, why is the GDC avatar a Lunacy trailer? And #allregolithallthetime (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23allregolithallthetime&src=hash)?

[Calvin Hartley]

Not sure if this is too useful, but the GDC posted on their Twitter a couple of hours ago:

They also posted that the underscores are spaces. Though, why is the GDC avatar a Lunacy trailer? And #allregolithallthetime (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23allregolithallthetime&src=hash)?

Am I the only one noticing that the account name is "Fake GDC"? I am sure that this is a hoax account, and is not at all intended to be taken seriously. I do not believe the real GDC would make an account titled "Fake GDC". Despite all of their crazy shenanigans, I still trust the GDC. I would not expect them to pose under a pseudo-fake account.

[MikeE]

@FakeGDC

[Andrew Lawrence]

Am I the only one noticing that the account name is "Fake GDC"? I am sure that this is a hoax account, and is not at all intended to be taken seriously. I do not believe the real GDC would make an account titled "Fake GDC". Despite all of their crazy shenanigans, I still trust the GDC. I would not expect them to pose under a pseudo-fake account.

They've posted legitimate stuff in the past. I'd throw out a guess saying it's a way to throw people off. If I were the GDC, I'd want to distribute information through both official and unofficial mediums. The question is legitimacy is the perfect veil to post legitimate information behind.

[saikiranra]

They've posted legitimate stuff in the past. I'd throw out a guess saying it's a way to throw people off. If I were the GDC, I'd want to distribute information through both official and unofficial mediums. The question is legitimacy is the perfect veil to post legitimate information behind.

Andrew, who runs that account? :rolleyes:

[Andrew Lawrence]

Andrew, who runs that account? :rolleyes:

I'd tell you if I knew. :P

[MechEng83]

can you imagine how convoluted the game hint could be if the GDC used 24 hours of the CD hive mind to come up with it?

[moogboy]

can you imagine how convoluted the game hint could be if the GDC used 24 hours of the CD hive mind to come up with it?

The CD hive mind is kind of like the English majors in this XKCD: http://xkcd.com/451/

[Charlie2016]

Going with the idea of baseball and the 25% weight reduction, going from a softball to a baseball is a 25% weight reduction.
A softball can range in size anywhere from 6.25 to 7 oz. The largest weight I found online was 7 oz.
A standard Major League Baseball weighs between 5 and 5.25 oz.
So if you take the largest possible size of the two balls, 7 and 5.25 oz. that is EXACTLY a 25% weight reduction.
So could this mean we must score both baseballs and softballs into goals? Or maybe we'll play baseball with specific softball rules? I'm not familiar with softball rules, they may be the same as baseball. Anyway... this is too much of a coincidence to just pass up.

[rwkling1]

Going with the idea of baseball and the 25% weight reduction, going from a softball to a baseball is a 25% weight reduction.
A softball can range in size anywhere from 6.25 to 7 oz. The largest weight I found online was 7 oz.
A standard Major League Baseball weighs between 5 and 5.25 oz.
So if you take the largest possible size of the two balls, 7 and 5.25 oz. that is EXACTLY a 25% weight reduction.
So could this mean we must score both baseballs and softballs into goals? Or maybe we'll play baseball with specific softball rules? I'm not familiar with softball rules, they may be the same as baseball. Anyway... this is too much of a coincidence to just pass up.

I like that concept! Many rules about softball are the same with baseball, with some exceptions with leading off and some other rules. That's a very interesting concept, similar to FTC 2012-2013, where some rings were different weights.. Where we could have softballs and baseballs, where the baseballs have to go into one goal and softballs have to go into another

[Jacob Bendicksen]

Or perhaps softballs are the endgame but have special rules. I've followed baseball for a while and yeah, the rules don't differ very much except with regards to pitching (baseball is any way you want, softball has to be underhand) so maybe there's limits on how we can launch the balls?

[rwkling1]

Or perhaps softballs are the endgame but have special rules. I've followed baseball for a while and yeah, the rules don't differ very much except with regards to pitching (baseball is any way you want, softball has to be underhand) so maybe there's limits on how we can launch the balls?

What if the softballs have to be thrown with some sort of appendage? Instead of wheels..

[Jacob Bendicksen]

Throwing arms? Don't even start.

[Lat Mac]

What year was there a 90 pound weight limit? Going back to the discussion pages ago, they might be bringing back that game.

[EricH]

What year was there a 90 pound weight limit? Going back to the discussion pages ago, they might be bringing back that game.

There hasn't been one that low since at least 1996, possibly back to 1992. Not even the tallest robots in 2006 were that low (100 lb for a 6' maximum starting height).

[Mohnster-Marie]

After a lot of confusing math and research
I have a come to the idea that we may be playing water polo this year.

Many results showed water or things relating to water
There was also a few soccer relations

Not to mention the weird doctor who references, but my point is
I believe it's water polo
Anyone else getting this?

[theCADguy]

https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/p403x403/1476320_786617168019141_16446231_n.jpg

I found this on the Ri3d (robot in 3 days) Facebook page. It's basically the CD hive mind in a nutshell.

[mrnoble]

After a lot of confusing math and research
I have a come to the idea that we may be playing water polo this year.

Many results showed water or things relating to water
There was also a few soccer relations

Not to mention the weird doctor who references, but my point is
I believe it's water polo
Anyone else getting this?

No. Sorry.

[[martinskot]]

In case anyone hasn't noticed, Andy Baker is playing baseball with a side of last year's kit bot (I Think) in his video from Ri3d. Game hint? It fits with some of the latest talk in this thread.

[jlmcmchl]

;1318287']In case anyone hasn't noticed, Andy Baker is playing baseball with a side of last year's kit bot (I Think) in his video from Ri3d. Game hint? It fits with some of the latest talk in this thread.

Andy knows as much as anyone else in this thread about the next game; he's in the same group as all of us. If anything, it's him playing baseball, and that's it.

[mechanica]

Hey guys,

check out this link below; it offers a ton of analysis and it appears to be a "water game" (most likely not with real water). :D

http://lablayers.deviantart.com/journal/2014-FRC-Game-Hint-Roundup-421735515