View Full Version : Legality of Blocking Ball Chutes
Is it illegal to block the ball chutes that feed the human players?
animater31405
11-01-2004, 17:55
As far as I know, the goals are the only thing you can't block so i think that the ball chutes are all good.
yes the ball chutes can be blocked. But you might not want to do this becuase if you were to read the manual when it gets to how the qp and new this year RP's work you want your opposition to lose by as little as possible.
Todd Derbyshire
11-01-2004, 19:51
... U better make the most durable wings possible cuse ask 71, 365, or any other teams about this strategy parts will get broken every round. Your pit crew will have to become an ER team and try to pick up the pieces of your robot. This is also an expensive strategy and not one for the weak at heart. With that said yah its legal to do if you wanna go that route.
U better make the most durable wings possible cuse ask 71, 365, or any other teams about this strategy parts will get broken every round. Your pit crew will have to become an ER team and try to pick up the pieces of your robot. This is also an expensive strategy and not one for the weak at heart. With that said yah its legal to do if you wanna go that route.
Why all the robot needs to due is park it's rear-end in front of a gate and then the gate is blocked. If the robot can't handle a few hits then there is something wrong.
I think its gonna be worse than a "few hits"
I know if someone tried to block my ball shoot well I would ram them continuously and as hard as i could.
I think its gonna be worse than a "few hits"
I know if someone tried to block my ball shoot well I would ram them continuously and as hard as i could.
Unless they were moving or had a chance to be pushed away, I'd counter by herding their balls away from their shoots, moving goals, and genreally whining.
Damian Manda
11-01-2004, 20:10
Why all the robot needs to due is park it's rear-end in front of a gate and then the gate is blocked. If the robot can't handle a few hits then there is something wrong.
Remember though the there are two chutes in use during the match, so if you want to truly block all points for that alliance, you robot would have to cover both openings, which are about 15 feet apart. Then you would need a large extendable are, which could cause the problems with robustness.
Remember though the there are two chutes in use during the match, so if you want to truly block all points for that alliance, you robot would have to cover both openings, which are about 15 feet apart. Then you would need a large extendable are, which could cause the problems with robustness.
Or just use both alliance robots, or roll back and forth?
Or you could make the much talked about but never made two part robot that could break into two halves and block both ball chutes. :D
BlueOrion
11-01-2004, 21:33
Just drag your goal (or theirs) in front of the chute you want to block, depending on your strategy.
~BlueOrion~
KenWittlief
11-01-2004, 21:34
If any bot tries to block our corral openings, our bot will drag them to the highest yard-arm and hang em by their wires
making sure they are touching the ground with one wheel :c0
while you are busy blocking a corral opening, the opponent bot can be busy stuffing balls in the other one, going after the 2x balls, dragging your small goal away from your team - capping your goal with a 2x ball so you cant score
why would you want to tell your own bot to go sit in the corner? Does it have a bad attitude?
Joe Matt
11-01-2004, 21:39
... U better make the most durable wings possible cuse ask 71, 365, or any other teams about this strategy parts will get broken every round. Your pit crew will have to become an ER team and try to pick up the pieces of your robot. This is also an expensive strategy and not one for the weak at heart. With that said yah its legal to do if you wanna go that route.
Couldn't agree more. Design to play the game, not controll it.
That's why we've damned Sparky 3.0 to the bowls of JR Tucker High.... muahahaha
Todd Derbyshire
11-01-2004, 21:40
If any bot tries to block our corral openings, our bot will drag them to the highest yard-arm and hang em by their wires
making sure they are touching the ground with one wheel :c0
while you are busy blocking a corral opening, the opponent bot can be busy stuffing balls in the other one, going after the 2x balls, dragging your small goal away from your team - capping your goal with a 2x ball so you cant score
why would you want to tell your own bot to go sit in the corner? Does it have a bad attitude?
Ken I agree with you that blocking only one ball chute is not worth the time and effort. Now if you were to block both ball chutes what would you do???
May all of your balls and goals belong to us!!!!
KenWittlief
11-01-2004, 21:58
anything that is wide enough to block both corral openings would have to be, what? 24 feet wide?
assuming your bot is in the center of those wings, thats a 12 foot lever
I dont care how much traction or weight your bot has, if I grab the end of the 12 foot lever I will drag your bot all over the field - turning the wings into pretzels in the process.
BTW - rules state nothing can detach from your bot. nothing can be tethered either
anything that is wide enough to block both corral openings would have to be, what? 24 feet wide?
assuming your bot is in the center of those wings, thats a 12 foot lever
I dont care how much traction or weight your bot has, if I grab the end of the 12 foot lever I will drag your bot all over the field - turning the wings into pretzels in the process.
BTW - rules state nothing can detach from your bot. nothing can be tethered either
It's hard to grab something flush against a diamond plate wall.
Todd Derbyshire
11-01-2004, 22:07
It's hard to grab something flush against a diamond plate wall.
Looks like we are thinking the same thing....NJ should be fun :D
Looks like we are thinking the same thing....NJ should be fun :D
Heh, oh it will be. NJ always puts out some good competition. We'll see what 25 thinks up this year... :yikes:
KenWittlief
11-01-2004, 22:14
if your wings are exactly 24 feet wide, then you would have to center your bot perfectly before opening them, which would be impossible
so the wings would have to be a little shorter than the width of the field - meaning there would be small openings at both ends
besides, to deploy said wings, the end of the field would have to be completely clear of balls, or they would keep them from being flush with the walls.
Joe Matt
11-01-2004, 22:28
if your wings are exactly 24 feet wide, then you would have to center your bot perfectly before opening them, which would be impossible
so the wings would have to be a little shorter than the width of the field - meaning there would be small openings at both ends
besides, to deploy said wings, the end of the field would have to be completely clear of balls, or they would keep them from being flush with the walls.
It's 6 feet across, so only 6 feet wings to block the ball return. But if you do that, you won't make any good friends.
Trust me when I say you can't controll the game, only play it. Sparky 3.0 won the design award at VCU in 2002, but failed horribly in the finals, and didn't even make it to the finals in Champs. It wanted to controll the game. Guess what. I couldn't have. Build a bot that can do one thing and do it well, and stick to it. Then build around that. Sparky 4 was built for 2 things: bin maneuvering & fast autonomous mode. Stacking, throwing bins, and everything else came latter as the pieces feel into place. You must design with the intention of not being a one-man army, but working with partners. Sparky 3.0 didn't work well with others. It failed. Same with all the other ramp blockers from last year. Also, alliance partners pick on strengths and how you complement them, not if you try to dominate the game and they just sit around the theoretically twiddle their thumbs!
KenWittlief
11-01-2004, 23:00
yes, 6 feet wide on both sides of the endfield - so your wings would have to span 24 feet to block both of them.
I dont care how much traction or weight your bot has, if I grab the end of the 12 foot lever I will drag your bot all over the field - turning the wings into pretzels in the process.
Play nice.. ;)
Joe Matt
12-01-2004, 08:35
yes, 6 feet wide on both sides of the endfield - so your wings would have to span 24 feet to block both of them.
OH! I see now. Stupid me....
Mr. Ivey
12-01-2004, 09:16
JosephM is exactly right. Do not try and control the game. That is why Sparky v3.0 just sits over in a corner as a reminder to what not to do in competition. You will not have to torque to stand up against two opponents, you can not make your wings strong enough without exausting any and all funds, and you won't be quick overall. And if you have the money to build those wings, think, if a bot can grab the end of one of those wings, and starts pulling back you are over. You can turn the other wing into a fulcrum, then the bot pulling on you can easily turn the rest of you into a lever. With this leverage, your wings will bend, and you are over. From a design standpoint, you really should not build a bot that covers the corrals. Also trying to build a bot that makes a wall over the area that the balls are shot from can't happen. Defense is not a good way to play this game.
ivey
Um guys, I was serious when I suggested a bot that could break into two parts connected by a tether and block both goals. If you make both sections wedged and added small wings to each you have both corrals blocked.
Though personally I think blocking corrals is the wrong way to make friends and play this years game.
animater31405
12-01-2004, 12:41
JosephM is exactly right. Do not try and control the game. That is why Sparky v3.0 just sits over in a corner as a reminder to what not to do in competition. You will not have to torque to stand up against two opponents, you can not make your wings strong enough without exausting any and all funds, and you won't be quick overall. And if you have the money to build those wings, think, if a bot can grab the end of one of those wings, and starts pulling back you are over. You can turn the other wing into a fulcrum, then the bot pulling on you can easily turn the rest of you into a lever. With this leverage, your wings will bend, and you are over. From a design standpoint, you really should not build a bot that covers the corrals. Also trying to build a bot that makes a wall over the area that the balls are shot from can't happen. Defense is not a good way to play this game.
ivey
Ok. Sorry to just but into a conversation but I agree almost completely here. All except for the point of playing defense is a bad idea. I happen to find it a very ggod idea to manipulate your opponents goal and cap their large goal for point controling. I know there are problems with that, but theoretically one could do this very easily. Let em have the balls! They're worthless if they aren't able to put them in anything in the goals!
Joe Matt
12-01-2004, 13:44
Ok. Sorry to just but into a conversation but I agree almost completely here. All except for the point of playing defense is a bad idea. I happen to find it a very ggod idea to manipulate your opponents goal and cap their large goal for point controling. I know there are problems with that, but theoretically one could do this very easily. Let em have the balls! They're worthless if they aren't able to put them in anything in the goals!
And nobody was against that, just the designs where you would controll the game, the people who want to have a robot that can hand off the bar, move multiplyers, and push balls into the corrals.
Ragin_Kage
12-01-2004, 13:57
I think there really are so many ways to go at this game, there is a lot of things you can have your robot do, and realistically its hard to have them do multiple things well. A good robot should control some aspect of the game, and do something the best really, i remember last year wildstang controlled the ramp pretty well, this year, go for the bar...a lot of possible robot designs, good fun
The best way to block balls shoots without a robot is to position the mobile goals. Fill your own and cap it well for one side and keep them from uncapping their own for the other side once they are in place your robot can leave to do other things. Like trying to steal the rest of their balls or getting the bonus 50 points.
you can control whatever game you want. just ask a certain sponsored by pepsi how to do it. they do it, and tend to win nationals every couple years. Straddle the BOX and the answer will come quickly
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