View Full Version : 2006 Official Game Hint Discussion
I began to wonder, and after a bit of searching, as it turns out...
there is a band called The Shovels. So...given the strange hint of the picture
with the computer song timeline, .....it could just be possible that
"...a shovel's show" is a concert. They appear to play what is called alternative country or punk country (?), and are located in Canada, but I havent been able to find out much other info about them.
Then, Montana is on the Canadian border. Something about borders, crossings, heights?
What's it mean?
I haven't a clue.
there is also a band called 40 Watt Bulb that has an album called Shovels Lenth Short (http://www.aquariumrecords.com/40wattbulb.htm) and in the article it describes the album as being relaxing after a long days work at a blue collar job....it's a little far out there but that would mean the robot could "relax" somewhere on the field and accumulate points after all the work.....
Jonathan Norris
01-01-2006, 20:16
there is also a band called 40 Watt Bulb that has an album called Shovels Lenth Short (http://www.aquariumrecords.com/40wattbulb.htm) and in the article it describes the album as being relaxing after a long days work at a blue collar job....it's a little far out there but that would mean the robot could "relax" somewhere on the field and accumulate points after all the work.....
I am fairly sure that the FIRST Game Hint is not based on some obscure band's album's name. I think we are getting a little off track here :p . Yes this is a very difficult hint, but there is still a lot to decipher from it ;) .
"Quote:
Originally Posted by b-rant
there is also a band called 40 Watt Bulb that has an album called Shovels Lenth Short and in the article it describes the album as being relaxing after a long days work at a blue collar job....it's a little far out there but that would mean the robot could "relax" somewhere on the field and accumulate points after all the work.....
I am fairly sure that the FIRST Game Hint is not based on some obscure band's album's name. I think we are getting a little off track here . Yes this is a very difficult hint, but there is still a lot to decipher from it "
/
/
/
he has a point though. anything is possible. and it sounds like something that could be a first game.
Nuttyman54
01-01-2006, 21:07
there is also a band called 40 Watt Bulb that has an album called Shovels Lenth Short (http://www.aquariumrecords.com/40wattbulb.htm) and in the article it describes the album as being relaxing after a long days work at a blue collar job....it's a little far out there but that would mean the robot could "relax" somewhere on the field and accumulate points after all the work.....
while it's an interesting connection, i don't think that FIRST will do that...watching a robot sit somewhere isn't very exciting...
agreed, but it is still a cool connection
Billfred
01-01-2006, 21:21
while it's an interesting connection, i don't think that FIRST will do that...watching a robot sit somewhere isn't very exciting...
I'm not so sure.
Imagine that next year's game is a glorified game of Capture The Flag. (This wouldn't happen, as the FPS gamers would all travel to Virginia to praise and thank and maybe even worship Dave for bringing CTF to FIRST, meaning we'd all really be up the creek for manpower.) Suppose further that whichever robot had the flag received a bonus for however long it could stay on a particular patch of field without being moved off or having the flag taken away by another robot. Granted, defending the aforementioned flag isn't particularly relaxing, but it'd still be sitting there.
billfred has a point. and how do we know what dave listens to. for all we know he has listened to the majority of music websites on those late nights rendering fake game animation to through us off. i just got thinking. is it me or is it that as we develop more and more of a game dave posts more pictures. to throw us off maybe?-=------------ does anyone have last years clue, i have an idea------ we haqve reached 22000 views either this is sad or dedication but i wonder if we can reach 40000 or even better 50000
does anyone have last years clue, i have an idea
2005 Official 2005 Clue Thread (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32010&highlight=2005+hint)
Looking Back: 2005 Game Hint (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40731&highlight=2005+hint)
Alan Anderson
02-01-2006, 00:03
a game piece - obvious, and strait forward
I was considering today how little attention this part of the clue is receiving. Why isn't anyone looking closely at it? A "game piece" could be many things -- a chess pawn, a die, a horseshoe, etc. If it's so obvious and straightforward, then tell us what it means. :p
Eugenia Gabrielov
02-01-2006, 01:04
I'm not so sure.
Imagine that next year's game is a glorified game of Capture The Flag. (This wouldn't happen, as the FPS gamers would all travel to Virginia to praise and thank and maybe even worship Dave for bringing CTF to FIRST, meaning we'd all really be up the creek for manpower.) Suppose further that whichever robot had the flag received a bonus for however long it could stay on a particular patch of field without being moved off or having the flag taken away by another robot. Granted, defending the aforementioned flag isn't particularly relaxing, but it'd still be sitting there.
I'd like to build on this a bit and connect it back to some other ideas.
Billfred makes some great points: think about CTF. It's a lot of teamwork. Each alliance would need a very good idea of their game plan, and assign individuals to protecting the flag, capturing the flag, and doing whatever other stuff needs to be done.
Personally, I don't believe that this is the only element of the game. However, I remember in 2003 you got more points for having the movable goal on your side, correct? So maybe they are bringing back something like this, except with more value.
In either case, this makes me think of swimming pool noodles. If it's a relatively large game piece, it would be easily visible by the audience. If anybody has other leads, add on! Woo for speculation! And only a few more days now!
Gundamx92000
02-01-2006, 01:24
the comment was made "sitting somewhere isnt very exciting". think of it this way, while the robot may not tootally be "relaxing" think of a King of the hill like 2003. At the end, the robots "sitting" on top of the ramp was awarded points. That was plenty exciting! perhaps theres a stronger connection than thought? farfetched, yes, but crazy enough to have potential.
Greg Needel
02-01-2006, 10:06
However, I remember in 2003 you got more points for having the movable goal on your side, correct?
that was 2002 :rolleyes: and you got 10 points for the goal being in your zone and 1 point for each ball in the goal
4.5 more days
I've no idea if this was said, since I really havn't the time to read thirty-five pages of posts, but heres my idea.
Noodles is foam packing noodles. You have to shovel them into a bucket or other container above the ground. Scoring would be based on how much was put in the bucket, with multipliers for filling them higher. Obviously, each team would have their own buckets, to keep scores seperate. As for the five 'bots thing, I've no idea.
MikeDubreuil
02-01-2006, 12:13
five 'bots tangling with pasta
a game piece obsessed with a shovel's show
and seeing Montana's green heights
After reading most of the thread I am prepared to give an update on my ideas for 2006's game...
My guess is this year's game will involve a large central island. The island is on wheels and movable. The island is shaped like a truncated pyramid (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=425673&postcount=466). There is enough room for 5 robots to drive on it and park. Above the pyrimid is a large bowl. The bowl is used as a goal for scoring elements. This year's scoring elements will be pool noodles (http://www.jgwhyte.com/poolnoodles.htm) and ball crawl balls (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Baby_in_ball_pit.jpg).
The ball crawl balls will be dumped onto the field similar to the balls in 2004. Human players will have pool noodles. They will be handed off to a robot similar to how tetras were handed off in 2005. The goal of the game is to score the most noodles and balls into the pasta bowl. At the conclusion of the match a robot must be parked on the pyramid to score extra points. If the island is on your side of the field at the end of the game additional points are scored.
I'mwithstupid^
02-01-2006, 12:43
totally knew it would have something to do with cylinders this year! :) man i'm good.
i dont think the human player will have the noodles. after my experience as hp last year handling the tetras without hitting someone was hard enough, a pool noodle it wouldnt heart but yud get hit alot, i like the idea of pool balls what a drivingchallenge, especially if they were to just spread them around the feild
Henry_Mareck
02-01-2006, 14:28
My ideas follow Mike's very closely, and I am gonna do my own summary.
Though it is possible that auto is at the end, i think auto will be at the beginning as usual. I think that there will be TWO scoring options in auto. One that is easy, and one that is more difficult, so that new teams can do something besides sit there, and experienced teams can still have a high goal to shoot for. I also think the truncated pyramid will appear, and i think the top will be worth more points. I like the moving goals. I think they make the game interesting. But where did the ball crawl balls come from? And where did the footballs go to? My theory: replace the ball crawl balls with footballs. And i dont know about the pool noodles, but they are pasta-like, and can be different colors. But if they ARE a game piece, then i get the feeling there are going to be pieces of pool noodle all over the field(s).
EDIT: we used ball crawl balls in a competition called B.E.S.T. (Boosting Engineering Science + Technology). This comptition is on a smaller scale: 24"x24"x24" foot robots, 24 pound weight limit. ball crawl balls seem to be too small a scale to me, compared with tetras and four square balls, etc. but the shovel picking up small stuff makes sense. hmmmmmm . . . .
MikeDubreuil
02-01-2006, 14:54
But where did the ball crawl balls come from?
I guess this was kind of my own invention because I wanted ball crawl balls more than it made sense :o
What made me think of small balls was the clue about the game piece obsessed with a shovel's show. A shovel picks up many small things and dump them together. However, there are clues to support a football themed game piece- Montana and the shovel pass.
In retrospect I would leave everything the same except change ball crawl balls to footballs.
EDIT: There is another reason I didn't want to include footballs. Teams have been asking for footballs for a long time. Every year it was thought, "this is the year, we'll have footballs." Then we get something like a tetra :rolleyes:
Alex Burman
02-01-2006, 19:12
only about 399600 seconds to go until kick off
whos gunna be right? :confused: :ahh: :confused:
Here's a shovel show I haven't seen mentioned: Shovel Racing
http://sportsmed.starwave.com/media/pg2/2002/0219/photo/i_caple_hi.jpg
Could this be how the human players play? Gotta admire his form...
DonRotolo
02-01-2006, 19:37
My guess is this year's game will involve a large central island.
Remember Dave's post about the "Viking Death Ship"? I buy in to a central island, which has ramps to get up to the 'heights'. Rather than a truncated pyramid, I think there will be only 2 ramps, more like a boat. That fits only 5 robots.
Tangling with pasta possibly has something to do with an obstacle placed on the field. Past posts have discussed the durability of pool noodles, I agree and don't think we'll see them. Hula hoops and twirling batons overheard on a jet? Maybe, when combined with Dave's post about 'batons and other stuff around the office' (or something like that).
Looking back at the 2005 game hint posting, it is amazing that the second post had already come up with the name "Triple Play"...
Me, I'm hoping for those 100 pound spheres Magnus Mangusson likes to toss around...
Don
Nuttyman54
02-01-2006, 19:45
Here's a shovel show I haven't seen mentioned: Shovel Racing
http://sportsmed.starwave.com/media/pg2/2002/0219/photo/i_caple_hi.jpg
Could this be how the human players play? Gotta admire his form...
yeah but if there's a branch just low enough....ouch
RbtGal1351
02-01-2006, 19:57
To draw some (hopeful) connections:
If autonomous mode is at the end, I hope the GPS-like technology broadcasts your field location.
~Stephanie
*programmer being hopeful*
Kristian Calhoun
02-01-2006, 20:44
I've no idea if this was said, since I really havn't the time to read thirty-five pages of posts, but heres my idea.
Noodles is foam packing noodles. You have to shovel them into a bucket or other container above the ground. Scoring would be based on how much was put in the bucket, with multipliers for filling them higher. Obviously, each team would have their own buckets, to keep scores seperate. As for the five 'bots thing, I've no idea.
if you're talking about those packing peanuts little syrofoam things, then those would be a pain in the you know what for the field reset clue to clean up. im thinking more towards the ball crawl balls, pool noodles(more unlikely) or pvc pipes/cylinders.
phrontist
02-01-2006, 21:05
To draw some (hopeful) connections:
If autonomous mode is at the end, I hope the GPS-like technology broadcasts your field location.
~Stephanie
*programmer being hopeful*
That would be interesting, but I doubt it will happen. How would you test your code during the build season?
You could achieve the same thing by going to a predifined location before autonomus ends though, then your 'bot would "know" where it is. This adds all sorts of interesting strategic elements because the opposing team could figure out your predefined spot and sit there...
If you're clever, you'll have a multiposition switch indicating a bunch of points on the feild. Then line your robot up to one of those points and set the switch appropriately. The switch's state can be saved in EEPROM for the automode to recover...
I hope auto is at the end and worth a lot of points this year. Please dave, pleeeease? :D
That would be interesting, but I doubt it will happen. How would you test your code during the build season? ... I hope auto is at the end and worth a lot of points this year. Please dave, pleeeease? :D
There's no way FIRST would put Auto mode at the end of a match. Until we have a competition year in which 80-90% of the teams actually participate in Auto mode - it will stay as is. I bet the CMU camera will be back though, and this time, I bet a lot of teams can have more success with it. Who knows maybe we'll get two cameras this year? :)
RbtGal1351
02-01-2006, 23:08
There's no way FIRST would put Auto mode at the end of a match. Until we have a competition year in which 80-90% of the teams actually participate in Auto mode - it will stay as is. I bet the CMU camera will be back though, and this time, I bet a lot of teams can have more success with it. Who knows maybe we'll get two cameras this year? :)
hmm, that's what I originally thought.
Unless... there's some rule against blocking teams from getting to their (known?) autonomous starting spot?
<random thought> Boy... getting off the bar from 2004 during autonomous for tons of points would be interesting </random thought>
Nuttyman54
02-01-2006, 23:37
awsome idea, but the game hint says "tangling WITH pasta" not OVER....pity tho, b/c that would be awsome
Gundamx92000
02-01-2006, 23:39
I cant remember anyone pointing this out : what if the 5 'bots tangling over pasta means that they are tangling above the pasta. this means that the pasta is not the cause of the tangle, and may not be a game piece but just a structural component of my friend, the truncated pyramid. Again, this may have been mentioned already, but if it has it has not been given much thought.
post 445 near the top :)
Soapie 108
02-01-2006, 23:47
This might seem obvious and/or have been mentioned already, but I was thinking that a "game piece obsessed with a shovel's show" would mean that the way in which the game piece was SCORED would have to do with a shovel's show, not the shape of the game piece itself.
Elgin Clock
03-01-2006, 01:40
I have a question for you all.
Would there be enough of a coincidence, and/or could it possibly be that a clue could link to a long time supplier/sponsor of the FIRST program in some out of the box kind of way?
If you think yes, I have this to offer you.
Looking at the latest UFH I see Tony and Bob from IFI (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/ufh.php?action=current). (which just so happened to be the 49th UFH - interesting number :cool: )
Anyways, I instantly think Tony (I am told he is the one on the left in that picture - please forgive me if I am wrong, I have never met them) looks like a familiar face, so I Google a movie I have seen and come up with an actor's name.
Joe Mantegna (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001505/) is the person I was thinking of.
Now, I saw this as just another person who looks like a celebrity and a pretty cool way to remember what Tony looks like, until I reflect back to the clue.
"seeing Montana's green heights"
Most people think Montana = Joe Montana in that equation.
Joe Montana (sounds like) Joe Mantegna. Anyone catch that one yet?
I remember Joe Mantegna from a movie called Liberty Heights (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165859/).
There is that word heights.
In that movie, Joe's character buys a Mist Green Cadillac.
There is that word green again.
One famous Liberty is of the Bell shaped variety.
Bell game pieces?
Oh yeah, and the UFH award to Tony and Bob was awarded 5 days before Kickoff.
There is the five from the clue as well! :ahh:
Just some things to ponder.
4 more days.
Oh, and Tony, I hope you are a good sport about this, and take this as a compliment/joke/another FIRSTers crazy random thoughts in this anxious week leading up to the six weeks of craziness of another season, and nothing more.
Thanks! :)
that is crazy elgin! haha the coincidence is uncanny
I think perhaps the larger problem with an autonomous period at the end would be having the drivers let go of the controls on time...imagine it. Pairs of tense high school students their sweaty hands wrapped around the controllers in a death grip praying their robot will make it that last five inches...four...three...two...
...and then a little noise comes and they all gracefully let go of their controls and let their robots move into autonomous mode?
Erp...I can imagine quite a few judge/driver disagreements on "was the driver touching the controls or not"
I find the truncated pyramid very interesting. The sides make me wonder however. Either the incline on the sides would have to be very shallow or the robots would have to be very clever to hang on without damaging the playing piece but at the same time not roll off when the power is cut.
This makes me think...what if the sides were also flat and the playing piece looked like steps instead?
This also fits with the idea of "show" or third place. In the Olympics and such winners stand on a series of platforms. The winner stands in the middle on a higher stand while the second and third place winners stand on shorter platforms on either side. This configuration is a pretty good match to the profile of what the playing piece could look like if the sides of the truncated pyramid were changed to flat planes that were lower steps.
The top view would look just the same as the top view of the truncated pyramid. The side view would look like a shape from tetris...don't know a better way to describe it.
Anyway...I'm not sure how that looks like a shovel but...it fits most of the other requirements.
Bharat Nain
03-01-2006, 03:32
I have a question for you all.
Would there be enough of a coincidence, and/or could it possibly be that a clue could link to a long time supplier/sponsor of the FIRST program in some out of the box kind of way?
If you think yes, I have this to offer you.
Looking at the latest UFH I see Tony and Bob from IFI (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/ufh.php?action=current). (which just so happened to be the 49th UFH - interesting number :cool: )
Anyways, I instantly think Tony (I am told he is the one on the left in that picture - please forgive me if I am wrong, I have never met them) looks like a familiar face, so I Google a movie I have seen and come up with an actor's name.
Joe Mantegna (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001505/) is the person I was thinking of.
Now, I saw this as just another person who looks like a celebrity and a pretty cool way to remember what Tony looks like, until I reflect back to the clue.
"seeing Montana's green heights"
Most people think Montana = Joe Montana in that equation.
Joe Montana (sounds like) Joe Mantegna. Anyone catch that one yet?
I remember Joe Mantegna from a movie called Liberty Heights (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165859/).
There is that word heights.
In that movie, Joe's character buys a Mist Green Cadillac.
There is that word green again.
One famous Liberty is of the Bell shaped variety.
Bell game pieces?
Oh yeah, and the UFH award to Tony and Bob was awarded 5 days before Kickoff.
There is the five from the clue as well! :ahh:
Just some things to ponder.
4 more days.
Oh, and Tony, I hope you are a good sport about this, and take this as a compliment/joke/another FIRSTers crazy random thoughts in this anxious week leading up to the six weeks of craziness of another season, and nothing more.
Thanks! :)
Elgin, I have never seen any other FIRSTer so enthusiastic about solving the clue. You just proved how FIRST is a combination of the craziest people with the craziest ideas.
...and then a little noise comes and they all gracefully let go of their controls and let their robots move into autonomous mode?
Erp...I can imagine quite a few judge/driver disagreements on "was the driver touching the controls or not"
Well, the controls are disabled during autonomous, so it wouldn't really matter if the drivers were still thrashing away at the controls like maniacs or not.
dhitchco
03-01-2006, 09:22
Ya just gotta luv and admire the creativity of everyone responding. This thread has made my new year start off with a good laugh.
I concur with many of you who think that the "noodles" will become game pieces not obstacles...why?
safer and more lightweight than the tetras
industructable (lots of tetra repairs last year)
easy-to-source (less parts shortage for PVC pipes than last year)
I also consur with those of you who think that these game pieces might be stored in some sort of a "bowl" on the field where the robots have a "feeding frenzy" to grab the pasta noodles...what might eb interesting is individual competition, but with two appliance "home bowls" where 1,2,3, or even 4 teams could stash their retrieved noodles?
I also concur that "green mountains" might be carpeted & ELEVATED elements on the playing field; maybe even visualized by the camera during auto mode to climb a ramp of some sort? Auto mode MUST remain at the beginning of the round for all the reasons you have stipulated.
ps: Wal-Mart is already sold-out of swimming pool noodles.......ha, ha, just kidding. Wait until Sunday!
ggoldman
03-01-2006, 10:47
Montana's Green heights:
Montana Green is an actual evergreen plant. According to the link below, it has an ultimate height of 20'. It seems to me that they like having us reach tall:)
Edit: do a search for montana green
Look Here (http://www.earlmay.com/pamphlets/pdfdocs/901553_evergreens.pdf)
Addition # 2: Noodles---
Upon a froogle search for Noodles -- I found that they are a very popular style of golf balls....something else to think about.
Happy clue hunting!!
Gabriel Goldman
On my way to PhD in mechanical engineering ....5 more years!!
Originally Posted by JoelP
Well, the controls are disabled during autonomous, so it wouldn't really matter if the drivers were still thrashing away at the controls like maniacs or not.
The thing is that (supposedly) if you hit the reset button a whole bunch of times in autonomous you can regain control of the robot. I believe that is why the rule was made in 2003 that the drive team has to stand a given distance from the controls.
Zach Purser
03-01-2006, 11:40
Auto mode MUST remain at the beginning of the round for all the reasons you have stipulated.
Um... still not buying it. What were the reasons?
- The students would not release the controls on time: 1)The controls are useless in autonomous mode unless you alter some of the code that is not supposed to be altered, and even then I'm not sure if the controls will work. It could easily be verified if you have altered inappropriate code by having the robot set to autonomous mode and allowing a ref to try to controls to see if the robot responds in any way. 2) There could be a brief 2 second pause between driver mode and autonomous mode until all the drivers released their controls. We've had this the other way around in previous years to allow for the judges to evaluate what goals were accomplished in autonomous mode.
- Too hard to program: We have already seen examples from Vex of how the autonomous coding can be made easier.
- Not enough teams use auto mode: I think 95% of the teams at our regional last year (and it was the first round of regionals) had some form of auto mode by the end of the practice day.
- There would have to be a rule against blocking teams from getting to their known starting point: No way! I can make a deaf, blind, stupid robot drive into a corner from any point on the field, just drive one direction long enough to hit something, turn 90 degrees and drive long enough to hit something else, lather, rinse, repeat. The kit usually includes contact switches, IR-sensors, probably a gyro, and a camera. It's not hard to find your way to a known point as long as you choose a proper known point. You drive into a wall until you square up and you know you are either looking directly down or across the field of play.
Besides, you don't have to have people setting up the field in random orientations if you have the autonomous mode at the end. The randomness is already introduced by everything that has been done during regular game play.
Feel free to dismiss this idea if you want, but at some point, even if it's not this year, we will see autonomous modes that are not at the start of the match.
ggoldman
03-01-2006, 11:46
An additional find from my previous post:
Montana Greem is an evergreen plant that grows in a pyrimidal structure. From this, one could concluded that the scoring goal is pyrimidal.
-Gabe Goldman
MikeDubreuil
03-01-2006, 12:02
The thing is that (supposedly) if you hit the reset button a whole bunch of times in autonomous you can regain control of the robot. I believe that is why the rule was made in 2003 that the drive team has to stand a given distance from the controls.
I think the intent of this rule was for the crowd to realize the robot is operating autonomously rather than under driver control.
litchfieldc
03-01-2006, 12:18
I got it, I got it, eureka I've got it.
First their was the baton hint, then their was the noodle hint. Maybe we are going to have batons as a scoring objective, but we will have to do something that involves the batons going all floppy like, just like pasta in a pot of water, any takers on this idea. I have no idea how it would work, maybe an elastic inside the baton or something. But other than that I wouldn't know. However, FIRST does perform miracles with these games, so I wouldn't be surprised if they figured a way to do this.
663.keith
03-01-2006, 12:28
the multi form game piece idea would be cool, but it seems like it would be rather complicated to construct a game piece that can change its form. This would mean a possibility of only a few game pieces. Maybe the game pieces themselves wouldn't change, but rather they would be replaced with something else once scored :confused:
On autonomous mode: I agree that the whole point of not touching the controls is mainly to prove to the audience that, in fact, no one is moving the robot. It just gives it the one extra wow factor. I can see it being a problem with teams still scrambling at the controls during autonomous mode, but what if a penalty were to be inflicted if you were touching the controls, or even a 5 second period where the robots were disabled, and drivers had to get off within the 5 or so seconds?. there would really only need to be two or so judges to look at this, and I think after a while, teams would get used to it
Shovel's show... shows whatever it throws?
Hidden object in the noodles?
Noodles going to high goal?
5 for all?
or robot on top that belongs to FIRST
and 4 robots below
montana is famous for fishing, going well with fishing for junk inside noodles
green heights? what green stuff do they have?
Peter Matteson
03-01-2006, 13:15
Pasta? Shovels? Montana? I sense a bad mafia hide the bodies joke buried somewhere in the this.
Also for Monatanna and Green I can't help but think of the Green and Gold that Joe Montanna wore at Notre Dame when I see those comments.
Kris Verdeyen
03-01-2006, 14:14
Wow! That's a lot of posts. 546. I have to admit, I didn't read them all. I did look at the hint, and the discussion, and even the "2007 hint picture (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?p=424830)" , and this website (http://www.a2zwordfinder.com/), and determined, that, of the 8 words in the english language that end in "bots", two of them describe fish, one is a ruffle, one a shoe or a gun modification, and one a monk.
This has probably already been covered, but I'm trying to ease my way back into CD for the year.
Wow! That's a lot of posts. 546. I have to admit, I didn't read them all. I did look at the hint, and the discussion, and even the "2007 hint picture (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?p=424830)" , and this website (http://www.a2zwordfinder.com/), and determined, that, of the 8 words in the english language that end in "bots", two of them describe fish, one is a ruffle, one a shoe or a gun modification, and one a monk.
This has probably already been covered, but I'm trying to ease my way back into CD for the year.
I decided to go and look at a2zwordfinder for myself and got the same results. But then I started checking the results more closely. This is what I found out about "Burbots":
An elongated fish of the cod family, Gadidae, and the only member of the family found in freshwater. The burbot lives in cold rivers and lakes of Europe, Asia, and North America.
Searching a little more I found that these fish are found in the mountain lakes and streams of, you guessed it, Montana. Armed with this new knowledge I just have to say, "So What? I still don't have a clue as to what the game will be!"
That is all, carry on with your lives, get some sleep. Kickoff is in less than 4 Days!
After all of this is said and done, think about how much more you all will know about the lovely state of Montana and other things not related to robotics. :)
Jack Jones
03-01-2006, 14:47
After all of this is said and done, think about much more you all will know about the lovely state of Montana and other things not related to robotics. :)
Hummm, too bad the clue didn't mention "women" and "want". I could sure stand to know more about that. ;) ;)
Nuttyman54
03-01-2006, 15:02
i'm inlcined to believe that about half of our connections are so far fetched that they're coicidences...but man, those are SOME coincidences.
I'll add my bit to the confusion and speculation.
a game piece obsessed with a shovel's show
Shovel is a synonym for Spade.
David Spade is the first name that comes up when you search the IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/find?q=spade;s=nm).
David Spade was in several television shows.
So what kind of game piece could be obsessed with "Saturday Night Live" or "Just Shoot Me"?
I hope I have muddied the waters further, thank you.
jjoey388
03-01-2006, 15:43
i really like pasta, and i think it would be interesting if it were green.
Nuttyman54
03-01-2006, 15:53
I'll add my bit to the confusion and speculation.
Shovel is a synonym for Spade.
David Spade is the first name that comes up when you search the IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/find?q=spade;s=nm).
David Spade was in several television shows.
So what kind of game piece could be obsessed with "Saturday Night Live" or "Just Shoot Me"?
I hope I have muddied the waters further, thank you.
"Just Shoot Me" was mentioned earlier (page 1), but there was no explaination...maybe this is what M.Krass was hinting at
I'm not one to care about the hint so much -- I have enough things to worry about, I guess. That said, y'all are amateurs ;)
For your consideration: "Just Shoot Me," and "8 Simple Rules".
Sidney San Martín
03-01-2006, 16:15
I'm also trying to edge back into CD, and haven't been able to read the many pages of posts. (I was away from internet for a week before now.)
This may have been said and is probably wrong, but somehow "obsessed with a shovel's show" makes me think of a shovel's capacity. Maybe you gain an advantage from large shovel capacity, trying to pick up many tiny gamepieces which all "want" to be in the shovel? Then again, that would cause cries of "there's a flurbie stuck in the transmission!" (Assuming they had any chance of being called flurbies).
"Seeing green" does make me fear the CMUCam, but I could get lucky and have it be something else.
"Just Shoot Me" was mentioned earlier (page 1), but there was no explaination...maybe this is what M.Krass was hinting at
Indeed, it was.
It sounds to me like were back to climing and a game of keep away but also think simple
Sparks333
03-01-2006, 18:05
This is one interpretation that I like...
The game piece will be tubular, maybe a length of PVC. Consider for a moment how hard that is to work with: just picking it up would make for an interesting driving challenge.
You will have to place the tubes in a hole to score (Game piece obsessed with a shovel's show: I think of a shovel's show as being a hole or a trench, that sort of thing). Again, think of the driving complexities. Lots of creative potential there.
There will be a green target over the hole that has autonomous implications (Ignoring the Montana bit, the rest can be interpreted as something green high up, which points toward the CMU cam. Yay!)
The '5 robots' bit is a little confusing, and I don't even want to try to take a stab. The best idea I have heard here, however, is the 2 vs. 2 with one neutral bot. I can't see a 5v5 (field's too small) or a 1v1v1v1v1 (after FIRST's teamwork spiel? not a chance).
Call me boring, but I've noticed that not many of the game hints are based on obscure trivia (unless you want to call 'Stairway to Heaven' obscure). I have also noticed that there is no clear game ideas gained from the hints (Again, 'Stairway to Heaven' pointed to a 6" step). May as well just wait.
Sparks
Henry_Mareck
03-01-2006, 18:16
There is a family guy episode titled: "8 simple rules for buying my teenage daughter"
Just throwing it out there.
And if anyone called Stairway to Heaven "obscure", there is a slight chance i would kill them.
RbtGal1351
03-01-2006, 18:41
I decided to go and look at a2zwordfinder for myself and got the same results. But then I started checking the results more closely. This is what I found out about "Burbots":
An elongated fish of the cod family, Gadidae, and the only member of the family found in freshwater. The burbot lives in cold rivers and lakes of Europe, Asia, and North America.
Searching a little more I found that these fish are found in the mountain lakes and streams of, you guessed it, Montana. Armed with this new knowledge I just have to say, "So What? I still don't have a clue as to what the game will be!"
That is all, carry on with your lives, get some sleep. Kickoff is in less than 4 Days!
the banana fish in 2007 game hint (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41024&highlight=2007) !?!?
If you Google-Image search "Burbot fish" (http://images.google.com/images?q=burbot+fish&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images) some of them are yellow!
... I have other things I should be doing...
It certainly has nothing to do with this year's game, but I found it quite amusing (and coincidental) that yesterday, while watching a section of the Beatles's film Magical Mystery Tour, there was this scene in which John plays a waiter in a restaurant and he actually serves a customer by shoveling pasta into her dish.
The week before kickoff causes some weird stuff on one's mind. :p
Andrew Blair
03-01-2006, 19:19
Hmmmm.....I don't think this has been mentioned.
Kickoff is in 4 days, and I have my money on footballs.
Has anyone else noticed the Kickoff----Football connection?
mikeday51
03-01-2006, 20:07
I'm not sure if its been mentioned yet and i really don't feel like reading all the posts but someone posted in another forum that first has ordered 2000 mailboxes from home depot.
So it may be a game piece or maybe even a part of our kits...
Just putting that out there...
thats good, where did u find this out?
I think he was refering to the2006 Game Piece? (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=41123) thread.
Nuttyman54
03-01-2006, 20:19
thats good, where did u find this out?
This thread (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=41123)
might be a hoax tho, and it's too late to put them in the KOP, as they've almost definitely been packed, if not already shipped to the local kickoff locations
This thread (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=41123)
might be a hoax tho, and it's too late to put them in the KOP, as they've almost definitely been packed, if not already shipped to the local kickoff locations
According to our Regional Director the kits have already shipped. They should be arriving at the pickup locations sometime in the next couple of days, if they didn't arrive today. I think kit arrival varies somewhat depending on the location.
The kits already arrived at the San Diego kick-off location.
Nuttyman54
03-01-2006, 20:58
well i guess that takes care of that. Whatever the order is for, IF there was such an order, it's NOT going to be in the KOP
Henry_Mareck
03-01-2006, 21:01
enough about the kits, back to the game and the hint!
The idea of a moving, center, truncated pyramid that could be parked on came about a few pages ago.
I was discussing this with some of my colleagues today, and we realized that if it was on wheels and could move, it would probably be really hard to climb on top of it. So, I think it will just be attached to the floor.
I'm thinking that the field may be similar to 2000--tall hoppers with a ramp in the middle. Though I may be waayy off, this would go back to Dave's comment about "You already have it." The ramp would be larger (and green) and the hoppers would be able to carry footballs. Oh, and no hanging bar. HP job is to (try to) throw footballs into a hopper.
(Only 3 more days or so to kickoff. Almost out of time to speculate...)
ok these mailboxes could still be in the KOP what if they ordered 2000 more earlier, and then ordered 2000 more for extra parts at the regional competitions?
Kims Robot
03-01-2006, 22:42
This thread (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=41123)
might be a hoax tho, and it's too late to put them in the KOP, as they've almost definitely been packed, if not already shipped to the local kickoff locations
Back to this thought (sorry im just catching back up with this thread) YES the KOP have been shipped... but guess what hasn't? The fields...........
ok just thought of something. ok what is just big enough to fit in a mailbox? a football, so what if they are setting these mailboxes down on a movable base that is on the playing field and the HP is throwing these footballs up in the air to land in a mailbox?
Nuttyman54
03-01-2006, 22:58
ok just thought of something. ok what is just big enough to fit in a mailbox? a football, so what if they are setting these mailboxes down on a movable base that is on the playing field and the HP is throwing these footballs up in the air to land in a mailbox?
then it'd be like playing those carnival games where you try and get the rings on top of the bottles...not very easy, and not very entertaining. I DON"T think this is what's happening.
more likely would be if the HP put footballs in the box, and the robot had to take it out
StephLee
03-01-2006, 23:04
ok just thought of something. ok what is just big enough to fit in a mailbox? a football, so what if they are setting these mailboxes down on a movable base that is on the playing field and the HP is throwing these footballs up in the air to land in a mailbox?
That could be interesting...but I hope getting the footballs into the mailbox is worth a good many points, because I can't think of many people on our team who can throw a football with very good accuracy.
actually i think nuttyman strikes up a better idea. the mailboxes could be "loaders" so to speak... they probably wouldnt have as good of a chance of getting mangaled either, i mean, sure there will be the occasional few... after seeing what some bots did to the roof cover the drivers, its a good thing that they ordered 2000.
Also, it could be like painted mailboxes and then have a moving piece with a group of arrayed mailboxes and then you have to try and aim for hte middle, it wont be as hard as long as you can throw a decent spiral in the general vacinity.
litchfieldc
04-01-2006, 10:12
I think that the "green" hint is going to involve to cameras again. Only this time, instead of just a couple of the game pieces being green (I don't remeber how many tetras were vision tetras), all of the game pieces will be vision pieces. And when we are in autonomaus mode, we will have unlimited amounts of scoring bonuses. Or, maybe the green hint is suggesting that the floor will be green instead of gray like it has usually been.
Maybe the mailboxes are for some insane sort of mail system at the regionals :)
I heard the robot size requirements have drastically changed this year, and USPS will now be handling all shipping and drayage. I wonder if these mailboxes have something to do with that?
Billfred
04-01-2006, 13:09
I heard the robot size requirements have drastically changed this year, and USPS will now be handling all shipping and drayage. I wonder if these mailboxes have something to do with that?
John, does the FRC Robot Controller even fit in a mailbox? :rolleyes:
Travis Hoffman
04-01-2006, 13:34
John, does the FRC Robot Controller even fit in a mailbox? :rolleyes:
The new 2006 RC might....
Bill Moore
04-01-2006, 13:46
I heard the robot size requirements have drastically changed this year, and USPS will now be handling all shipping and drayage. I wonder if these mailboxes have something to do with that?
Didn't somebody mention "fish" in an earlier post? You're a bit late JVN! :D
aaeamdar
04-01-2006, 13:47
"five 'bots tangling with pasta"
5v5
I know the spelling isn't exact, but 'Shovel's Show' might be refering to the incident where Shovell crashed his fleet in home port: "The disaster of the fleet wrecking itself in home waters brought great consternation to the nation. Clearly, something better than dead reckoning was needed to navigate in dangerous waters. This led to the Longitude Act which offered a very large prize for anyone who could find a method of determining longitude accurately at sea. After many years the consequence of the prize was that accurate clocks were produced which became used throughout the world for navigation at sea." - wikipedia.org
I don't think this means that the game will a water game, but it might have something to do with: direction, dead reckoning or maybe even a playing field that has more that one height differention, just a thought...
That's an interesting fact. It seems to me that this is probably not the case, but maybe people are prevented from seeing the playing field, and your robot will have to keep track of where it is? This is a little farfetched, I'll admit.
After much thought I had to put my 2 cents CDN in. Here you are:
'bot - An automated machine or computer program designed to perform a specific task with little or no human direction.
-A program that runs autonomously, and which performs repetitive and/or remotely-controlled tasks, from very simple IRC commands to incredibly complex online game manipulation.
(from urban dictionary)
tangling - Verb: tangle tanggul
1. Force into some kind of situation, condition, or course of action
- embroil, sweep, sweep up, drag, drag in (from wordwebonline)
- "Tangling" is when two or more concerns are implemented in the same body of code or component, making it more difficult to understand. Changes to one implementation may cause unintended changes to other tangled concerns
pasta - Instead offices and public places will be equipped with access points, through which hand-held computer users will be able to communicate with the existing infrastructure.
Our thesis is that the most profound property of a PDA is not its size, nor its "mobility", but the fact that it is private. In the PASTA project, we investigate different aspects of private machines in distributed systems.
(The PASTA project is a joint project between researchers at the Departments of Computer Science at the Universities of Pisa, Italy, and Tromsř, Norway.)
obsessed - To have the mind excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic
- influenced or controlled by a powerful force
From all of these definitions I come up with the following:
There is an autonomous mode that when triggered will change ways that items are scored. There will be a game piece that will be controlled by the loading of some objects. when the game piece reaches it's goal then a green light will come on opening another area for the final task.
Originally Posted by JVN
I heard the robot size requirements have drastically changed this year, and USPS will now be handling all shipping and drayage. I wonder if these mailboxes have something to do with that? USPS? As in United States Postal Service? I may have to eat my words here but that doesn't sound very likely. FIRST is an international organization and the United States Postal Service does not cover shipping in Canada, Brazil, Israel...or any of the other countries to the best of my knowledge. As a branch of the federal government I don't think it could even if it wanted to.
USPS? As in United States Postal Service? I may have to eat my words here but that doesn't sound very likely. FIRST is an international organization and the United States Postal Service does not cover shipping in Canada, Brazil, Israel...or any of the other countries to the best of my knowledge. As a branch of the federal government I don't think it could even if it wanted to.
John could be right. I believe there is a gentlemans agreement between the postal services. I can get things from the US faster than here in Canada.
Elgin Clock
04-01-2006, 16:59
USPS? As in United States Postal Service? I may have to eat my words here but that doesn't sound very likely. FIRST is an international organization and the United States Postal Service does not cover shipping in Canada, Brazil, Israel...or any of the other countries to the best of my knowledge. As a branch of the federal government I don't think it could even if it wanted to.
I bef to differ.
http://www.usps.com/global/welcome.htm
And at the bottom, just so you don't assume Global is a fancy name for a non-global service, there is an International Shipping Price Calculator.
Katy, I'll feed you your words along with some complimentary Krispy Kreme's if that's ok.. :rolleyes:
RayRay365
04-01-2006, 17:36
Could the surface be slippery and/or bumpy. My dad seems to think fun noodles and picking them up and placing them in a goal off the ground.
RayRay365
04-01-2006, 17:43
five 'bots tangling with pasta
Could there be five bots put/tied together some how and they have to work together to get a task done??
RayRay365
04-01-2006, 17:52
[QUOTE=Grayswandir-75]i think there will be possibly a third alliance introduced this year as well as a hill or mound.
There was the mention of pasta. As well as green.
Pasta is one of Italy's biggest foods, green is on the Italian flag. The Italian flag it broken up into 3 sections, green, white, and red 2 of which are associated with the colors of first if you look to the first logo.
Italy also has allot of mountains which relates to the green heights
I also thought italy...i just didnt know how it related...i like ur thinking..
Has anyone thought about how many sections of leather there are on a football and there shape if they were laid flat.
Are they in the shape of a shovel?
Are there 5 sections?
varcsscotty
04-01-2006, 20:23
Someone on my team mentioned the "Octopus" game. Where you hold hands and get all tangled up and then you have to get untangled. Something to that effect....maybe we have to untie something.
aaeamdar
04-01-2006, 20:37
2 Quick things:
Hints are fun and all, but most likely we'll be looking back at this in 3 days and saying, "Oh, of COURSE." That being said, please don't let me stop you from having fun; I myself think it's a great venture. I just wouldn't want anyone to think too much is going to come from it.
KISS: when deciphering things, keep it simple- fanciful explanations /are/ fun though.
aaeamdar
04-01-2006, 20:40
Someone on my team mentioned the "Octopus" game. Where you hold hands and get all tangled up and then you have to get untangled. Something to that effect....maybe we have to untie something.
I'll admit I say this with almost no experience building manipulators, but that seems /unlikely/. Human fingers are /fairly/ well designed for untieing nots. We can bend them lots of different ways at lots of different points. Building a manipulator with anywhere near that amount of complexity isn't feasible.
I think =)... maybe I'll be eating my words in 3 days.
Just my 2cp
five 'bots tangling with pasta
Could there be five bots put/tied together some how and they have to work together to get a task done??
I don't think so.
People hated 4vs0, and I see this as being a safety hazard contrary to the entanglement clause.
Has anyone figured out anything about this hint? (http://www.deansimmonsandthekamens.com/showimg/241)
--Petey
five 'bots tangling with pasta
a game piece obsessed with a shovel's show
and seeing Montana's green heights
Let the Games begin!
ok
five 'bots tangling with pasta-what can you have in spaghetti? meat ball...therefore the game will be with balls
a game piece obsessed with a shovel's show- what does a shovel show? a hole in the ground. therefore we will have to drop[ something into a hole of somesort
and seeing Montana's green heights- Montana...has mountains and stuff in it. there will be a hill of somesort in the middle of the field that we will drop the balls in.
Billfred
04-01-2006, 21:37
Has anyone figured out anything about this hint? (http://www.deansimmonsandthekamens.com/showimg/241)
--Petey
The only connection that could be drawn between DSATKB and the impending game would be if they recorded the music for the game animation. None of the members of the band work for FIRST or are on the GDC (well, at least I didn't see an Ozzy Kamen on any list I've ever seen), so I just can't see a connection.
Collin Fultz
04-01-2006, 21:50
Has anyone figured out anything about this hint? (http://www.deansimmonsandthekamens.com/showimg/241)
The only thing I can draw is that there are three vocals, three rhythm guitars, and three lead guitars, plus two extra (bass and drums). That's five groups (vocals, rhythm, lead, bass, drums).
Could we expect three groups of three with two other things. What those other things are I don't know.
But I bet they're related.
*random*
How does the bass player get to the after party?
He follows the drummer.
How can you tell if a stage is level?
If the drummer drools out of one side of his mouth more than the other side.
*random*
Has anyone thought about how many sections of leather there are on a football and there shape if they were laid flat.
Are they in the shape of a shovel?
Are there 5 sections?
Football's have 4 sections they look kind of like this ().
Link (http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_5/601-7166285-7043352?%5Fencoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000065DL3)
angelc24
04-01-2006, 22:29
What if the end zones were elevated and green? Then if autonomous was at the end, you would have to get on top of the end zone using the camera.
1075master
04-01-2006, 22:41
ummmm
1:autonomous at end would be dangerous and cause problems if u couldn't get ur robot in the exact right spot. u would hit objects, robots. if ur robot is damaged there is even more damage.
2: if its not autonomous whos to say wether ur actually using the camera or just driving it on.
Nuttyman54
04-01-2006, 22:47
ummmm
1:autonomous at end would be dangerous and cause problems if u couldn't get ur robot in the exact right spot. u would hit objects, robots. if ur robot is damaged there is even more damage.
There are already plenty of chances for the robot to crash into things as it is. Teams would find a way around this, just as they figured it out when autonomous was introduced. I don't think this would be a major issue.
1075master
04-01-2006, 22:51
ya but but but thats more thinking to program!!!! :ahh: especially for me!!!!
Nuttyman54
04-01-2006, 22:54
ya but but but thats more thinking to program!!!! :ahh: especially for me!!!!
yes, but has FIRST EVER made an easy challenge? it kind of defeats the purpose of having a "challenge"
mechanicalbrain
04-01-2006, 22:59
I'll second what ^ said.
2: if its not autonomous whos to say wether ur actually using the camera or just driving it on.
Easy, they just shut off the OI like they normally would at the beginning of a match. Or am I misunderstanding what your saying, why would the CMU be involved out of autonomous mode? Actually the idea of autonomous would definitely make the game interesting. No guaranteed fixed place or direction, you would see much more complexity in how sensors are used and the fact that field conditions would be different every match would spurn so interesting object avoidance systems. I think it would add a level of reality to the game play, of coarse it would also add a level add difficulty too. If I remember wasn't their some rumor of an extended autonomous mode earlier this (last) year?
1075master
04-01-2006, 23:27
hmm since u put it that way sounds fun but what about new teams who don't know much about all these sensors??? thats a huge challenge for them.. i'm the only one on my team this year that knows anything!! that'd be alot on me to come up with all that!!
Katie Reynolds
04-01-2006, 23:38
hmm since u put it that way sounds fun but what about new teams who don't know much about all these sensors??? thats a huge challenge for them...Like Dean says, it's not (and is not meant to be) fair. :)
Originally Posted by Elgin Clock
Katy, I'll feed you your words along with some complimentary Krispy Kreme's if that's ok.. Krispy Kremes? I have to start being wrong more often...
Well then in that case if we are seriously reconsidering the robot's size then we can reconsider how many robots would be on the field at once...
I think that almost every robot in FIRST is addicted to Krisy Kreme...which makes us all go on the nifty "24 hour weight loss plan" the night before ship date :P Maybe we can cut back this year.
Nuttyman54
04-01-2006, 23:56
hmm since u put it that way sounds fun but what about new teams who don't know much about all these sensors??? thats a huge challenge for them.. i'm the only one on my team this year that knows anything!! that'd be alot on me to come up with all that!!
who says you have to do it all yourself? this is a TEAM effort...teach them something. Who knows, with a little luck, you might just learn something yourself! Last year's rookie teams must've felt discouraged by the autonomous mode, but i didn't see any of THEM giving up...if anything they were trying the hardest...
Katy, I'll feed you your words along with some complimentary Krispy Kreme's if that's ok.. :rolleyes:
Wow! Can I be wrong too? Please!
I've spent the last three days going through about 3/4 of the posts in this thread. My head is about to explode!!! I'll get to the rest, but I can't resist throwing in my thoughts....
shovel's show....Another name for a shovel is a spade. And spade's show is/was 'Just Shoot Me'. Granted David Spade was on SNL, but he became more famous for his role on 'Just Shoot Me'. Maybe we are shooting, throwing, launching something.
Montana's green heights....I am on board with the Joe Montana/Notre Dame football interpretation here. The Fighting Irish. Sounds like green to me.
five 'bots tangling with pasta....There are pasta shells that are shaped like footballs.
So....Put them all together and you have a field littered with red/blue/green(bonus points?) footballs which certainly could/would tangle some drive trains. and robots collecting their alliance color of footballs and returning them to a human player to be thrown (or shot) into a goal.
Or maybe it's robots collecting the footballs and launching (shooting) them toward a green goal located by the CMU cam.
Or maybe I'll just wait until this Saturday and find out with the rest of you!!!!
artdutra04
05-01-2006, 00:19
Originally posted in this post (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=426900&postcount=20):
I am on the team hosting this kickoff. We do not know what this $58 dollar part is either. We recieved this message from Kevin Ross, a pretty reliable source
Hello Teams,
There is a thing-a-ma-jig that every team FRC team is going to need this
year. By placing a bulk order, FIRSTWA was able to purchase this doo-hicky
for about half of what it would have otherwised cost. We went ahead and
ordered one for every team so we could get this bulk price.
At Saturdays kickoff, you will be able to pickup and take home this widget.
To do so, you will need to bring $58 with you. You can bring either cash or
a check made out to FIRSTWA. We will provide you with a receipt for $58 so
you can get reimbursed. We will be unable to accept purchase orders for
this.
If you elect not to purchase what we are offering, it will cost you
approximately $125 to get on your own. Please plan on taking advantage of
our offer on Saturday. That is once again on kickoff Saturday only! We are
sending you advanced notice so you can make arrangements for the $58.
Thanks, see you on Saturday morning.
KevinAfter a little bit of searching for things that FIRST might use that are about $125 dollars, I found everything from waterproof GPS units, to laser optical sensors, to photoelectric detectors. :eek: Luckily, there are only two days until we find out what it all means...
Here are links to some of the things I found that were at least somewhat related to any of the ideas in this thread:
Laser Optical Sensor: - $125
Link: http://www.bmumford.com/photo/camaccess.html
Infrared Beam Sensor: - $125
Link: http://www.bmumford.com/photo/camaccess.html
Garmin Geko 201 GPS [Waterproof] - $124.99
Link: http://ctech.zoovy.com/product/GARGEKO201
Photoelectric Detector - $124.63
Link: http://www.alarms-r-us.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2022
AVS-801 CCD Camera - $124
Link: http://www.fantasticfurnishings.com/avs-801.html
Digital Scout Team Edition - $124.77
Link: http://froogle.google.com/froogle_cluster?q=football&pid=4834532080207778247&oid=13551593778899141345&btnG=Search+Froogle&lmode=&addr=&scoring=p&hl=en
Football Yard Markers - $124.99
Link: http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-1854755-0427060?asin=B000BR292Y&AFID=Froogle&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001
Football Training Blocking Dummy - $114-$129
Link: http://froogle.google.com/froogle_cluster?q=football&pid=4842810831545030209&oid=7506223635299290788&btnG=Search+Froogle&lmode=&addr=&scoring=p&hl=en
Football Post Pad - $129.92
Link: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?dest=9999999997&product_id=4016369&sourceid=0100000030660805102498
Kicking Cage Replacement Net - $125
Link: http://froogle.google.com/froogle_cluster?q=football&pid=4709277296121848646&oid=12517649461105517810&btnG=Search+Froogle&lmode=&addr=&scoring=p&hl=en
:eek: 18 ˝ Dozen Krispy Kreme Donuts - $125
using Price of $6.75/Dozen
What did Dave cook up for this year's game? Could it be a robot donut eating contest?!? :p
Nuttyman54
05-01-2006, 00:21
Or maybe it's robots collecting the footballs and launching (shooting) them toward a green goal located by the CMU cam.
Or maybe I'll just wait until this Saturday and find out with the rest of you!!!!
I don't think so... If a robot "sees" wrong, that's a ball in the audience. Also, in the past the rule has been no untethered projectiles, and tethered ones had to stay under 1.5m/s. They have a good reason for this (safety) so i don't think they'll be changing it unless they enclose the entire field in Lexan...which is not only REALLY expensive, but it makes viewing harder too...although i suppose they could use mailboxes (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=41123) for that (viewing might be a problem tho)
I don't think so... If a robot "sees" wrong, that's a ball in the audience. Also, in the past the rule has been no untethered projectiles, and tethered ones had to stay under 1.5m/s. They have a good reason for this (safety) so i don't think they'll be changing it unless they enclose the entire field in Lexan...which is not only REALLY expensive, but it makes viewing harder too...although i suppose they could use mailboxes (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=41123) for that (viewing might be a problem tho)
Agreed. That portion of my post was to be taken in jest. But we clearly could have a human player throwing/shooting a ball. We did it in FIRST Frenzy: Raising The Bar did we not?!?!
Nuttyman54
05-01-2006, 00:50
yup, tossing the ol' pigskins around wouldn't pose a problem...except that i can't throw footballs..
I don't think so... If a robot "sees" wrong, that's a ball in the audience. Also, in the past the rule has been no untethered projectiles, and tethered ones had to stay under 1.5m/s. They have a good reason for this (safety) so i don't think they'll be changing it unless they enclose the entire field in Lexan...which is not only REALLY expensive, but it makes viewing harder too...although i suppose they could use mailboxes (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=41123) for that (viewing might be a problem tho)
Going back to the football theme, in football games, teams going for a field goal have to kick the football between the goal posts. But what's there to stop that football from going into the audience and potentially hitting someone? A net. It can't be that expensive to hang some cheap netting around the field to stop stray footballs, can it?
Maybe this is all just wishful thinking, since I've always wanted to have the robot throw/shoot scoring objects into the goals, program in some ballistics calculations, targeting systems.... oh the possibilities.
blue_crew
05-01-2006, 01:16
Going back to the football theme, in football games, teams going for a field goal have to kick the football between the goal posts. But what's there to stop that football from going into the audience and potentially hitting someone? A net. It can't be that expensive to hang some cheap netting around the field to stop stray footballs, can it?
Two years ago, FIRST Frenzy required shooting balls into a basket from ~15 feet away and no netting was used to protect the crowd from either bouncing or badly thrown 4-square balls.
But if field goal kicking is one of the tasks, some netting might come in handy.
Nuttyman54
05-01-2006, 01:34
good point. Dang, but I'll be in even WORSE trouble if i have to kick field goals...
1075master
05-01-2006, 01:38
i know what is meant by kicking field goals but... ya it would be bad cuz a lexan and aluminum structure would really hurt to kick, so if thats the case make sure to wear steel toes.. haha poor humor..
- Too hard to program: We have already seen examples from Vex of how the autonomous coding can be made easier.
And it's an open secret that we'll have that Easy-C compiler with us this year.
And if anyone called Stairway to Heaven "obscure", there is a slight chance i would kill them.
At my heathen college (http://wm.edu), at least two people on my dorm floor didn't know it when I began to play it :(
The '5 robots' bit is a little confusing, and I don't even want to try to take a stab. The best idea I have heard here, however, is the 2 vs. 2 with one neutral bot. I can't see a 5v5 (field's too small) or a 1v1v1v1v1 (after FIRST's teamwork spiel? not a chance).
Have you not read Dave's posts championing a 1v1v1v1v1 game? I think that may be where we're headed...
Call me boring, but I've noticed that not many of the game hints are based on obscure trivia (unless you want to call 'Stairway to Heaven' obscure). I have also noticed that there is no clear game ideas gained from the hints (Again, 'Stairway to Heaven' pointed to a 6" step). May as well just wait.
Sparks
Did you not read last year's game hint? You wouldn't call the fact that Triple Plays were performed by John Neun and George Harrison in the 1930's obscure?
Hmmmm.....I don't think this has been mentioned.
Kickoff is in 4 days, and I have my money on footballs.
Has anyone else noticed the Kickoff----Football connection?
Then you didn't read the thread...but I agree.
ok just thought of something. ok what is just big enough to fit in a mailbox? a football, so what if they are setting these mailboxes down on a movable base that is on the playing field and the HP is throwing these footballs up in the air to land in a mailbox?
Bucko, what kind of mailboxes are you talking about? Because I'm $@#$@#$@#$@# sure that Matt Leinart couldn't throw a football into my mailbox.
If you're talking about a big blue, side of the road mailbox...than maybe. But I doubt it.
ya but but but thats more thinking to program!!!! :ahh: especially for me!!!!
I assure you that you will have a lot less trouble programming this year with the new coding system. (http://www.elabtronics.com/CoreChartFR.htm)
Two guarantees:
1) No field goals (as much as I loved Flutie's drop kick)
2) No robot projectiles
I think it will be footballs, and the goal will be on a central truncated pyramid. In it, rather--a deep depression in the top of it.
Aw hell, why not throw out another couple halfass predictions.
1) green cmu cam
2) autonomous at end of the match--robots must stand on the ramps of the pyramid to get points at end
3) 1v1v1v1v1. Why not make it exciting?
4) no goals near the sides of the field, to minimize errant throws into the audience.
Why is there no one else on this thread at 2:50 AM? Are there no other college students on this board :)
Well, we'll see in two days won't we!
--Petey
Peter Matteson
05-01-2006, 07:42
Just a thought about the CMU cam since it keeps getting brought up.
We couldn't get the thing ro stay callibrated because the light conditions varied so much at the competitions even day to day, so unless FIRST solved this problem with say powered LED targets on the the scoring object and goals or something else to eliminate this issue I have difficulity in believing they will just give the same camera again.
It kind of like the IR beacon from 2004 it was better in theory than in the practice of the competitions because there were too many interferences when you got to the competition the FIRST hadn't accounted for. I would hope that for any new sensor this is considered before it goes into the kit again.
First off, forgive me if I break some unwritten rule that I haven't read yet, but I just stayed up till 3:ish reading through 42 pages of ideas we've come up with from three lines of text hints. Amazingly, I've got some ideas nobody else has mentioned yet.
In a very particular order... (random) ^__^
the 5 bots with pasta, thing. 5 pasta stations. two on each side of the field, one in the middle. fits with the symmetry idea, doesn't it?
~or~
yes, more on the pool noodles. maybe there will be a bonus noodle cap that there is only one of. I like my 5 legged octopus idea, cause it'd be cute.
~or~
interesting things with autonomous could happen this year, like one bot on autonomous at a time with the game divided into 6 equal segments. I'll finish with the rest of my ideas later, because I have to go to school now. YAYS!
Mark Pettit
05-01-2006, 08:56
Seeing how this is the game hint thread, I will venture my guess prior to ranting. . . . then I will rant.
'First thing that came to mind when I saw the word pasta was pool noodles. I think that these are plenty sturdy to use as game pieces and they could be really fun to manipulate with a robot. As for the 5 'bots clue, how about if they give us vex kits (or similar) that allow us to make 5 robots per team. An alliance, then, might be made up of all the robots from one team. That would allow for a smaller (more economical) field also.
Montana's green heights. I am thinking that this isn't related to football. I figure this is a structure that resembles a mountain and perhaps something green that the CMU can pick up and track.
As for the shovel's show, the first thing that came to mind was a pile rather than a hole. Perhaps you have to make a pile of a certain color of pool noodles. That, again, would bring the CMU and green into play.
Yet another guess is that on top of the mountain is a randomly moveable hole with a green rim around it into which you have to place pool noodles that your robot has collected from the field. That 5th robot is a part of the playing field and it is actually a big robot that can pull or push your team's robot out of the hole when it falls in. For autonomous, you have to find the precisely placed/colored noodle that will release the other noodles or give you some related advantage.
Now for the rant. What's this about an extra piece that we have to buy? Didn't that $6,000 that we paid go towards the kit (as well as costs associated with putting on a big travelling show)? It seems that a $125 part, especially one discounted to $58 when purchased in bulk, could have been thrown into the box with the rest of our parts. Perhaps these are the afformentioned pool noodles. After all, we had to buy boxes for Stack Attack, PVC and end-pieces for tetras, etc. I guess that would make sense.
I guess I also just talked myself out of a rant.
Good luck teams!
MikeDubreuil
05-01-2006, 09:57
It seems that a $125 part, especially one discounted to $58 when purchased in bulk, could have been thrown into the box with the rest of our parts. Perhaps these are the afformentioned pool noodles. After all, we had to buy boxes for Stack Attack, PVC and end-pieces for tetras, etc. I guess that would make sense.
Yeah, what doesn't make sense is where would you put them? Assuming retail here: $5/noodle, $125 worth of noodle- that's 25 noodles. That's a heck of a lot of noodles to put into your car.
Assuming your standard 4" diameter, 48" long pool noodle... that would consume a volume of 20" x 20" x 48". I guess it could fit in most cars? :confused:
they have already used field goal uprights as the goal.
that was 1995, ramp and roll. fyi, this was also a 1v1v1 game.
man i'm getting old....
for a game piece obsessed with a shovel's show... I think someone was right when they thought of spades and poker. (credit to my senior English/literature teacher for getting me to think of alternate meanings and synonyms of shovel's show. I am working on the football assumption as I like football a decent amount and it hasn't been done before in FIRST that I'm aware of. Ok, connections time. in poker, at the end of a hand you SHOW your hand. another word for shovel is spade. What is it called when you show all spades? A flush, right? Now we just replace shovel's show with flush(ing) and what is the first thing we think of that has to do with flushing? If you are like 90% of the population, you should know what I'm thinking now. I think we will be throwing footballs through a game piece deserving of flushes. a toilet seat. Can you imagine how much fun that would be for everybody involved? I sure can. Granted, I suppose this could be considered a long shot, but hey, its my pet theory now. also, five cards in a poker hand, you "see" someone an amount, and can "raise" the stakes some if you so choose. And as for the "green heights" has anybody else seen how much poker has been on tv recently? there's a fair amount of green felt on a poker table... and cash too...
I think maybe the noodles must be dug through to retrieve the footballs with which to score. and for the heights, I think there will be a platform of some sort in the middle of the field. yeah, long shot, huh?
A toilet seat is a much nicer target than a mailbox size wise, anybody know how much a toilet seat costs?
Peter Matteson
05-01-2006, 10:55
man i'm getting old....
Sara,
We're not getting old we've only been out of college... 4 years
Nevermind, we are getting old.
Pete
First off, forgive me if I break some unwritten rule that I haven't read yet, but I just stayed up till 3:ish reading through 42 pages of ideas we've come up with from three lines of text hints. Amazingly, I've got some ideas nobody else has mentioned yet.
In a very particular order... (random) ^__^
the 5 bots with pasta, thing. 5 pasta stations. two on each side of the field, one in the middle. fits with the symmetry idea, doesn't it?
He could be on to something. In the case that my football idea is off, and it is something to do with spaghetti shaped stuff/batons/something else, I could easily see bowls in the corners.
But again, 5 bots...why not 6? and why the contraction to 'bots, aside from an 8-10-8 haiku?
interesting things with autonomous could happen this year, like one bot on autonomous at a time with the game divided into 6 equal segments. I'll finish with the rest of my ideas later, because I have to go to school now. YAYS!
Very bright.
Very smart newbie here!
A toilet seat is a much nicer target than a mailbox size wise, anybody know how much a toilet seat costs?
$7.84 at Home Depot. Bemis White Round Toilet Seat Model 70BPA 000.
I know, I know..... Get back to work and stop reading CD so much! :o
its my 4th year on the team, so I'm not really new to FIRST, just the CD forums, and I'm a girl (only one in an electronics class out of a school of over 2000 students, YAY, I'm special!) I'm used to being "one of the guys" and prefer it that way, its much more amusing when looking for the nuts somebody lost :yikes: . Its also fun to see how people react when I tell them I'm a girl.
Origionally posted by MikeDubreuil
Yeah, what doesn't make sense is where would you put them? Assuming retail here: $5/noodle, $125 worth of noodle- that's 25 noodles. That's a heck of a lot of noodles to put into your car.
Assuming your standard 4" diameter, 48" long pool noodle... that would consume a volume of 20" x 20" x 48". I guess it could fit in most cars? Actually I checked the math and if you are using basic pool noodles that may be an overestimate. I'll round up on everything here for a worst case scenario. Your average pool noodle appears to be just under 4 dollars. That makes 32 noodles. If you look online you see they are 60 inches long and "nearly 3 inches thick," so we'll call that a 1.5 inch radius. That's 1.5^2*pi*60*32 noodles or about 13571 cubic inches. Divide that by 12^3 since that is cubic inches and you get about 8 cubic feet. It probably is a bit more than that since nobody can ever really do ideal packing conditions...but still...your average team is already probably bringing a vehicle large enough to hold the kit bins there is probably enough room for a few spare noodles...and probably most people either will bring the team (meaning they need two cars) or no passengers (leaving them with a lot of extra space). It really actually sounds quite reasonable (assuming of course the pool noodles are the game piece) because pool noodles are out of season right now and so might be hard for some teams to find.
1075master
05-01-2006, 11:33
here is the statement it was talked about here (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41129)
Hello Teams,
There is a thing-a-ma-jig that every team FRC team is going to need this
year. By placing a bulk order, FIRSTWA was able to purchase this doo-hicky
for about half of what it would have otherwised cost. We went ahead and
ordered one for every team so we could get this bulk price.
At Saturdays kickoff, you will be able to pickup and take home this widget.
To do so, you will need to bring $58 with you. You can bring either cash or
a check made out to FIRSTWA. We will provide you with a receipt for $58 so
you can get reimbursed. We will be unable to accept purchase orders for
this.
If you elect not to purchase what we are offering, it will cost you
approximately $125 to get on your own. Please plan on taking advantage of
our offer on Saturday. That is once again on kickoff Saturday only! We are
sending you advanced notice so you can make arrangements for the $58.
Thanks, see you on Saturday morning.
Kevin
the statement reads that FIRSTWA is getting this item. FIRSTWA is first of washington. seeing as how the only people who have probaly heard of this $125 item it are going to that kickoff it is probably a non competition oriented item such as some sort of software or something else that isn't needed. this was mentioned by me and another person in the thread this orignally started in..
Dave Scheck
05-01-2006, 12:26
it is probably a non competition oriented item such as some sort of software or something else that isn't neededThen why would it say every team FRC team is going to need this year.Why not then say "may need this year"?
1075master
05-01-2006, 12:47
good point but why have only the teams at that kickoff heard of it??
good point but why have only the teams at that kickoff heard of it??
Caring Regional Director? :D
MikeDubreuil
05-01-2006, 13:03
Caring Regional Director? :D
I agree. My bet would be that when FIRST sends out their next email blast they will tell teams to bring the $58 to their kickoffs.
Katie Reynolds
05-01-2006, 13:37
good point but why have only the teams at that kickoff heard of it??Here's the way I interpreted the situation:
People running the remote kickoffs are bound to have the Kits by now - or, at least, a list of what teams are going to need. They know that, in addition to the Kits, teams will have to buy one extra part that is going to cost $125. Whoever is running FIRST WA took the initiative to contact a dealer of said part and buy a bunch in bulk, getting a discount on each part. Rather than having the teams attending that kickoff go out and buy the parts for $125, they are requesting that each team bring $58 to get the part, at a discounted price, (a one time only deal!) at kickoff.
I don't think there will be an email blast saying "bring $58 to kickoff!" I do think that, at each kickoff, we will find out what this extra part is and be responsible for obtaining it on our own.
Elgin Clock
05-01-2006, 14:03
Oh man.. yet another Montana.
In the movie Scarface (which I have never seen yet mind you), Al Pacino's character is named Tony Montana.
Anyways, going by the IMDB page for that movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086250/), their was a film editor in that movie named Jerry Greenberg (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0338513/). He was also film editor on a movie called "They Might Be Giants (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067848/)".
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind seeing a band like They Might Be Giants at a regional, or The Championship event this year.
Billfred
05-01-2006, 14:08
Oh man.. yet another Montana.
In the movie Scarface (which I have never seen yet mind you), Al Pacino's character is named Tony Montana.
"Say hello to my little friend!"
...does that mean we'll have miniature footballs this year?
Peter Matteson
05-01-2006, 14:11
Oh man.. yet another Montana.
In the movie Scarface (which I have never seen yet mind you), Al Pacino's character is named Tony Montana.
Wasn't that a white mountain on his desk in Scarface before the "Say 'ello to my lil' friend!" scene.
MikeDubreuil
05-01-2006, 14:32
I don't think there will be an email blast saying "bring $58 to kickoff!" I do think that, at each kickoff, we will find out what this extra part is and be responsible for obtaining it on our own.
Katie's right and I have to eat my words! :ahh:
varcsscotty
05-01-2006, 15:46
"Say hello to my little friend!"
maybe we'll have MiniMe Robots this year =D
but I've never seen Scarface so I don't know what you guys are talking about...
Nuttyman54
05-01-2006, 18:43
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind seeing a band like They Might Be Giants at a regional, or The Championship event this year.
THAT WOULD BE SOOO AWSOME!!! TMBG r0x0rz!
MrBlack298
05-01-2006, 19:54
ok im gonna go nuts on this clue, and say this:
five 'bots tangling with pasta: i guess it could be foam noodles. (already said)
a game piece obsessed with a shovel's show: Spade is a synonym for a shovel. David Spade was on the show Coneheads in 1993. Therefore, this refers to a cone shaped object, or rather, a cone shaped game piece.
and seeing montana's green heights: a hill of some sort in the middle of the field.
(already said)
Eldarion
05-01-2006, 20:11
I think some other people must be thinking the same thing but:
The 2006 advance field parts list has us buying a lot of plywood, as well as some diamondplate and lexan. I think this pretty much confirms there will be an elevated area or areas, topped with either diamondplate or lexan.
Also, it looks like they are distributing the rest of the game objects in the KOP due to the number of boxes. Rats! No guessing what the game objects could be! :D
Only 1d 03h 48m till kickoff... :rolleyes:
Nuttyman54
05-01-2006, 20:23
i don't know about the diamond plate...couldn't that just be the same stuff we've had protecting the player stations in the past? or do they not included that in the BOM?
aaeamdar
05-01-2006, 20:27
For all those interested, look here: http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/2006/frcdocs.htm#Section3 for the list of materials. Obviously, as has been said, this isn't a completed list.
Also, isn't it more like 38 hours till kickoff?
FIRST is trying to make the games fairly simple so that people who are unfamiliar with the game and FIRST can walk into an event and walk out understanding the game and somewhat understand FIRST.
The "five 'bots tangling with pasta" does not mean that there will be only five robots on the field, but instead five robots that are "tangling with pasta", while a sixth robot is not tangling with pasta, and that the game remains 3v3.
You've come the closest to what I think is simple-- 2nd grade math (subtraction):
6-1=5
There will be 6 robots in each match, playing King of the Mountain (Montana/height). Only one can be on top, leaving 5 'bots below.
I like the idea of pool noodles. Surely they can't be any more fragile than the Stack Attack containers, and they're cheaper. Plus, no assembly required! But there would be a new rule: no Tug-Of-War with the pool noodles! They'll be a challenge to drive over, though. (Transportation note: they can bend easily to fit inside just about any vehicle or crate.)
Here's another possibility involving pasta of any shape: The human players will have an eating contest! (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=379644&postcount=36) Pasta instead of Krispy Kremes. (My cat ate an entire piece of Alberstons Essensia gnocchi last night, so it must be so. It was kind of rubbery, like a football skin.)
Shovel's show--I prefer the interpretation of the part of the shovel that's showing. This could be a simple stick protruding up from a broader base. Or it could be a shovel handle with the perpendicular grip loop at the top. In any case, it could protrude up from the top of the mountain. Maybe the loop part would be big enough to put something through or in. Maybe that's where the mailbox will be (if you believe that rumor).
and seeing Montana's green heights:
Montana's mountains aren't green, they are white because they are covered in snowThey are green in summer--dark green, covered with pines and firs (hey--like the shovel handle??).
With all the negative things Dean Kamen has said about our culture's obsession with sports, I'm not sure I like the idea of FIRST using obscure sports facts in game hints two years in a row. Last year was baseball, then this year football? Hmmm... So I prefer to think of Montana as the state, not the athlete.
About the 2000 mailbox rumor: (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=426216&postcount=1) Do you really believe that an employee is going to risk his job sharing confidential information about customer orders on the Internet? Even if this is the case, a search for 200 Bedford Street turned up:
--Manchester Historic Association (Millyard Museum)
--University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
--St. Mary's Bank/The Mortgage Center
--Science Enrichment Encounters
--New Thalian Players (lists 2nd floor of FIRST admin offices as a "venue")
--Holliday Picture Frames Inc. (in PA)
--SEE Science Center
--WEE PLAY SCHOOL INC
I'll leave it to others to guess why any of the above might want 2000 mailboxes.
that has me thinking.... mabey one has to dig something out of a box on top of something and down onto the field!?!?!?!?
Eldarion
05-01-2006, 23:19
Also, isn't it more like 38 hours till kickoff?
I don't know...I just copied it from the countdown on the ChiefDelphi banner. :p
If it's off, I'd like to know :D
1075master
05-01-2006, 23:29
You've come the closest to what I think is simple-- 2nd grade math (subtraction):
6-1=5
There will be 6 robots in each match, playing King of the Mountain (Montana/height). Only one can be on top, leaving 5 'bots below.
I like the idea of pool noodles. Surely they can't be any more fragile than the Stack Attack containers, and they're cheaper. Plus, no assembly required! But there would be a new rule: no Tug-Of-War with the pool noodles! They'll be a challenge to drive over, though. (Transportation note: they can bend easily to fit inside just about any vehicle or crate.)
Here's another possibility involving pasta of any shape: The human players will have an eating contest! (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=379644&postcount=36) Pasta instead of Krispy Kremes. (My cat ate an entire piece of Alberstons Essensia gnocchi last night, so it must be so. It was kind of rubbery, like a football skin.)
Shovel's show--I prefer the interpretation of the part of the shovel that's showing. This could be a simple stick protruding up from a broader base. Or it could be a shovel handle with the perpendicular grip loop at the top. In any case, it could protrude up from the top of the mountain. Maybe the loop part would be big enough to put something through or in. Maybe that's where the mailbox will be (if you believe that rumor).
They are green in summer--dark green, covered with pines and firs (hey--like the shovel handle??).
With all the negative things Dean Kamen has said about our culture's obsession with sports, I'm not sure I like the idea of FIRST using obscure sports facts in game hints two years in a row. Last year was baseball, then this year football? Hmmm... So I prefer to think of Montana as the state, not the athlete.
About the 2000 mailbox rumor: (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=426216&postcount=1) Do you really believe that an employee is going to risk his job sharing confidential information about customer orders on the Internet? Even if this is the case, a search for 200 Bedford Street turned up:
--Manchester Historic Association (Millyard Museum)
--University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
--St. Mary's Bank/The Mortgage Center
--Science Enrichment Encounters
--New Thalian Players (lists 2nd floor of FIRST admin offices as a "venue")
--Holliday Picture Frames Inc. (in PA)
--SEE Science Center
--WEE PLAY SCHOOL INC
I'll leave it to others to guess why any of the above might want 2000 mailboxes.
well the last thing is a playschool mailboxes make good shoe storage.(like in mcdonalds playplace). and ya thats alot of different places that could order them to put ur job on the line.
artdutra04
05-01-2006, 23:37
I don't know...I just copied it from the countdown on the ChiefDelphi banner. :p
If it's off, I'd like to know :DWhy not just install the Firefox Countdown Clock (https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?application=firefox&category=Miscellaneous&id=468) extension? I have it installed, and it's been counting down to the Kickoff on both of my computers for the past month. I also made it so that is plays a Hallelujah sound clip (http://faultgame.com/images/halleluj.wav) when it gets to 10:00 AM Saturday. ;)
Mark Pettit
05-01-2006, 23:59
What part might a human player play in the whole scheme of ideas that we've created here?
I can see the human player briskly walking pool noodles over to the mailbox loading station and dropping them in for the robot to retrieve.
Why not just install the Firefox Countdown Clock (https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?application=firefox&category=Miscellaneous&id=468) extension? I have it installed, and it's been counting down to the Kickoff on both of my computers for the past month. I also made it so that is plays a Hallelujah sound clip (http://faultgame.com/images/halleluj.wav) when it gets to 10:00 AM Saturday. ;)
...we FIRSTers are sad, sad people. :D
--Petey
Nuttyman54
06-01-2006, 00:31
not sad, just....different...yeah DIFFERENT!
i know this may be kinda random; but has anyone thought of the saying "green with envy" ?
since there is no green paint on the field material list, i think we should look at different possiblities for the "montana's green heights" part
Here's the way I interpreted the situation:
People running the remote kickoffs are bound to have the Kits by now - or, at least, a list of what teams are going to need. They know that, in addition to the Kits, teams will have to buy one extra part that is going to cost $125. Whoever is running FIRST WA took the initiative to contact a dealer of said part and buy a bunch in bulk, getting a discount on each part. Rather than having the teams attending that kickoff go out and buy the parts for $125, they are requesting that each team bring $58 to get the part, at a discounted price, (a one time only deal!) at kickoff.
I don't think there will be an email blast saying "bring $58 to kickoff!" I do think that, at each kickoff, we will find out what this extra part is and be responsible for obtaining it on our own.
The Regional Director for Washington is either Jim Beck or Jason Morrella, they also oversee kickoffs at all west coast locations - they wouldn't show preference by helping one location over another - they are very fair. At UC Davis, we received the KOPs yesterday and they've been secured until Saturday 10 am. That is most likely true of many remote kickoff sites. I doubt they have opened up those KOP's in WA to find out the game piece. Looking at the Advance BOM - perhaps they're getting a good deal on the lexan or diamond plate which are hard to find at your local hardware store, or it is something else entirely.
Nuttyman54
06-01-2006, 01:02
I'm going to agree with whoever suggested that someone in the WA area found a good deal on a field material (the diamond plate is the most likely) and simply wanted to pass it along to the other teams at the kickoff
- 2 vs. 2
- The camera's back, and its going to cost you $58.00.
- Small platform, for autonomous.
- stationary and moving scoring bins
- interaction-less autonomous mode.
- new game piece shape (haha, what's next, a tesseract?)
Yep, yep.. autonomous is gonna be an important one this go 'round.
Eldarion
06-01-2006, 02:02
since there is no green paint on the field material list, i think we should look at different possiblities for the "montana's green heights" part
That green paint is a very specific color, one that is probably sitting in the encrypted game documents right now! :D
1075master
06-01-2006, 02:10
- 2 vs. 2
- The camera's back, and its going to cost you $58.00.
- Small platform, for autonomous.
- stationary and moving scoring bins
- interaction-less autonomous mode.
- new game piece shape (haha, what's next, a tesseract?)
Yep, yep.. autonomous is gonna be an important one this go 'round.
1) the camera would come with the kit if they wanted us to use it.
2)small platform for autonomous? its still on the field after autonomous unless it magically vanishes.
3)umm MOVING scoring bins??? where in the field BOM do u see casters or wheels of anykind??
4)interaction-less autonomous?? iv'e been hear a couple years don't remember human players interacting at all during autonomous so thats nothing new! unless of course the robots are interactionless which means no autonomous but that definetly won't happen.
5)new game piece? well ya theres a different game piece every year.
i'm not trying to be rude but your points are either obvious or obviously make no sense what so ever.
varcsscotty
06-01-2006, 02:34
yeah it's definitly not the camera that they got a bulk deal on. It's probably the diamondplate or something similar not parts of the robot.
I like the idea that we will be playing KOTH. that would leave 5 'bots on the ground struggling to get up. and that pasta is some sort of obsticle.
What if the robots had to play King of the Hill in autonomous mode? That would be sweetness....and that would explain the green mountain.
Eldarion
06-01-2006, 02:44
What if the robots had to play King of the Hill in autonomous mode? That would be sweetness....and that would explain the green mountain.
I sense many infuriated programmers trying to get the robot away from mechanical so they can start fighting with the PID loops... :yikes:
varcsscotty
06-01-2006, 03:02
LOL you betchya! Programmer wars!!! w00t!
vic burg
06-01-2006, 08:26
My guess is that the pasta is some sort of obsticle that will cause driving issues for the 5 robots that will be on the field.
5 'bots? i highly doubt that there will be five..... such an odd number.... i mean, it maybe... or it could be just to throw us off..... if there is five, it may be another part of the field that th robots have to get to or 5 ojects to get that are pasta like..... 5 'bots though, i highly HIGHLY doubt that there will be five... typo? or maybe part of a rule? nothing to do with it? but 5... strange number..... then again 5 is how many letters are in FIRST...... :D
MikeDubreuil
06-01-2006, 08:27
and seeing Montana's green heights
Who wants to bet that the Montana football reference eludes to the football uprights in the game Ramp n'Roll (http://firstwiki.org/Ramp_n%27_Roll). I bet this clue meant that we would have ramps to deal with.
Billfred
06-01-2006, 08:40
What if the robots had to play King of the Hill in autonomous mode? That would be sweetness....and that would explain the green mountain.
That's essentially what happened in Stack Attack. I've seen video. It wasn't pretty.
Jessica Boucher
06-01-2006, 08:57
My spy that I placed outside HQ (in disguise, of course) happened to notice the trucks leave yesterday and arrive at SNHU. More details to (hopefully) come...
Vaillancourt88
06-01-2006, 09:24
Hey, who shoveled a bunch of macaroni into my green extra-tall Joe Montana mailbox? :D
a game piece obsessed with a shovel's show: Spade is a synonym for a shovel. David Spade was on the show Coneheads in 1993. Therefore, this refers to a cone shaped object, or rather, a cone shaped game piece.
You actually SAW that movie? :)
David Spade was also on the TV show "Just Shoot Me". Look out-flying noodles!! OH, THE HUMANITY!!!
I'm not even going to touch "going postal" (mailboxes)
Hope everyone has a ball at kickoff--only a few more hours to catch up on your sleep!!
Zach Purser
06-01-2006, 10:45
Putting together a couple of ideas I saw earlier in the thread:
Shovel's show -> Handle
6-1=5
So what if one robot has to be pulling a handle in order to allow the other robots to get a game piece or achieve some goal? That would only be "five 'bots tangling", but could still be a 3 vs. 3 match.
Mark Pettit
06-01-2006, 11:56
since there is no green paint on the field material list, i think we should look at different possiblities for the "montana's green heights" part
After reading your post, I went and checked the old 2005 advanced materials pdf file (http://www2.usfirst.org/2005comp/AdvanceBuy_r4.pdf) and saw that only the "Sunny Summer" color was included on the advanced list last year. Green, blue, and red were not on that list (probably to throw us off).
I am not counting on robot vision systems (CMU or otherwise ) to be going away, especially based on the list. I just hope that my team will be more successful with vision should it be there for us to utilize this year.
Arkorobotics
06-01-2006, 12:17
Maybe that big 4' x 8' lexan board it the slippery surface that goes up hill.
Peter Matteson
06-01-2006, 12:17
After reading your post, I went and checked the old 2005 advanced materials pdf file (http://www2.usfirst.org/2005comp/AdvanceBuy_r4.pdf) and saw that only the "Sunny Summer" color was included on the advanced list last year. Green, blue, and red were not on that list (probably to throw us off).
I am not counting on robot vision systems (CMU or otherwise ) to be going away, especially based on the list. I just hope that my team will be more successful with vision should it be there for us to utilize this year.
Doh'
That post made me remember the 1/4" plywood/luan was used to make vision targets last year. This is likely what its for assuming we get the cameras again. I doubt the wood will be for a curved surface but something like a target works.
Also the lexan could be used to make our scoring object.
One more thing I still think my prediction of a wall completely obscuring the far side of the field from last year is plausible this year given the materials.
EddieMcD
06-01-2006, 14:05
Who wants to bet that the Montana football reference eludes to the football uprights in the game Ramp n'Roll (http://firstwiki.org/Ramp_n%27_Roll). I bet this clue meant that we would have ramps to deal with.
I had somthing similar earlier in the thread:
My first thought for "green heights" was the Ramp N' Roll hill back in '95. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it green? And it had a field goal on it. Perhaps we're moving footballs over a field goal on a hill for points.
I was also in the football themed crowd with the Montana clue, so it seemed hardly a coincidence. I highly doubt this game will be similar to that one, but I'm still betting a Dew on a green hill (with possible field goal). This also goes pretty well with the truncated pyramid theories earlier, because if you remove the back wall and finish off Ramp N'Roll's hill, it'd be a truncated pyramid (something I literally just thought of now).
My final guesses: I'm going with footballs as a game piece. The 5' robots, using the prime number meaning of the apostrophe, leads to a 3 vs. 3 game (and yeah, I'm pretty sure autonomous is back, though still at the beginning), and that the "pasta" are footballs scattered along the ground. I think passing to teammates will be a part of scoring (if only as an increase in points per ball) because of the shovel clue. And Montana's green heights has me going with the aforementioned truncated pyramid as a hill, and a possibility that there will be field-goal-esque goal.
I also feel that one part of the game has been intentionally been not mentioned in this clue.
Oh, and I still have my Huang He "theory" as a backup. :D
ggoldman
06-01-2006, 14:10
Montana Green is a type of Evergreen plant with a pyramidal growth structre... Can grow up to 20'
Mentioned this before...but noone caught on. Adds to the pyramid hype.
"Montana Green Power is your source for information on renewable energy. Explore solar, wind and biomass, geothermal, and hydropower technologies in Montana."
from: www.montanagreenpower.com
just something to chew on.....the sun is pretty high up....*innocent shrug*
has everyone seen the bill of materials, just realeased, with all that lexan i am thinking of a slipery surfaced ramp?
Ian Curtis
06-01-2006, 15:39
Doh'
That post made me remember the 1/4" plywood/luan was used to make vision targets last year. This is likely what its for assuming we get the cameras again. I doubt the wood will be for a curved surface but something like a target works.
Well, assuming that were the case we'd either be looking for something very large, or several small things as FIRST wants us to get 64 sq. feet of the stuff!
Eldarion
06-01-2006, 15:57
OK, at what point do we say "x hours won't help me design anything" and just wait for the kickoff??? :D
Chris Sturrock
06-01-2006, 16:33
im positive the wood is for a platform. possibly 2... and the deck screws.
funstuff
06-01-2006, 16:44
I'm surprised with all this talk about noodles, no one has mentioned the Flying Spaghetti Monster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_spaghetti_monster). With all the crazy talk going on about mailboxes and such, why not include the Flying Spaghetti Monster?
The lexan and diamond plate are both optional supplies, as it says in the footnotes. These are used every year for the driver station, but are not necessary. I doubt that they would have us drive the robots over lexan, as we would crack it within 10 minutes.
I do see ramps and/or platforms in our future, however.
varcsscotty
06-01-2006, 16:47
"Montana Green Power is your source for information on renewable energy. Explore solar, wind and biomass, geothermal, and hydropower technologies in Montana."
from: www.montanagreenpower.com
just something to chew on.....the sun is pretty high up....*innocent shrug*
renewable energy! now that would be fun and as far as I've heard new to FIRST.
another possible nudge...perhaps linking the "renewable energy" perhaps new batteries with a longer life....longer matches? maybe? or not...lol
Alright now everyone just slow down a bit. I'm hoping this thread count hits my prediction made last week (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=425429&postcount=424).
Oh, I guess this post doesn't help, huh?
There will be a platform with diamond plate on top. The ramp will be curved up to the top of the platform and covered with the Lexan. I'm imagining a sort of speed bump looking shape in the middle of the field. But there's got to be more. Footballs or fun noodles could be the game object which may just need to be pushed (or shoveled) from one side of the field to the other. I don't forsee any "goals", because they usually include PVC or other similar components in the advanced BOM. Well I'm sure we'll all be proved wrong in 16 hours.
JamesBrown
06-01-2006, 18:30
I'm surprised with all this talk about noodles, no one has mentioned the Flying Spaghetti Monster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_spaghetti_monster). With all the crazy talk going on about mailboxes and such, why not include the Flying Spaghetti Monster?
The lexan and diamond plate are both optional supplies, as it says in the footnotes. These are used every year for the driver station, but are not necessary. I doubt that they would have us drive the robots over lexan, as we would crack it within 10 minutes.
I do see ramps and/or platforms in our future, however.
There will be platforms and most likly ramps also. THey will have us drive on lexan, people run into the drivers station all the time ans I am yet to see one break, if lexan is fastened properly it is extrmely tough to break.
MaskedShadow
06-01-2006, 18:37
haha, well no matter what the game has in store... we will find out in just a few short hours.... or well for all of us roboteers out there.... the time could go by REALLY SLOWLY! i just have a feeling this year is gonna be awsome...
I just wanna know why we need all that plywood (supply kit) as someone on my team mentioned... maby we just have really a GIANT HOUSE in the middle of the field... and we have to wreck it down. No, it dosnet fit ANY clues ;) but i'd be fun :)
varcsscotty
06-01-2006, 19:13
Here's something interesting:
A spade is an old British gold coin. And gold is easy to get 'obsessed with'. So I had an idea of some sort of slot machine that deposits game pieces or something. "game piece obsessed with a shovel's show" how many things it can be!
Nuttyman54
06-01-2006, 19:22
or well for all of us roboteers out there.... the time could go by REALLY SLOWLY!
...there's General Relativity, Special Relativity and now....KICKOFF RELATIVITY!
Kickoff Relativity (n.) KĬK-ŏf rĕl-ă TĬV-əty - the pheonomenon that occurs in the days preceding the FRC kickoff, when time slows down and nearly stops the closer it gets to the game release. If you, or anyone you know, is experiencing Kickoff Relatvitity, please refer them to FIRST-a-holics (http://www.first-a-holics.com) annonymous for treament immediately
Tom Saxton
06-01-2006, 21:03
I'm thinking the first line of the hint is just messing with us: if you just move the space "five 'bots" becomes "five' bots" which just means "five-foot bots" simply referring to the robot height limit and not anything about the number of bots on the field.
JoeXIII'007
06-01-2006, 21:18
"Montana Green Power is your source for information on renewable energy. Explore solar, wind and biomass, geothermal, and hydropower technologies in Montana."
from: www.montanagreenpower.com (http://www.montanagreenpower.com/)
just something to chew on.....the sun is pretty high up....*innocent shrug*
another possible nudge...perhaps linking the "renewable energy" perhaps new batteries with a longer life....longer matches? maybe? or not...lol
and then, the last line of the hint...
five 'bots tangling with pasta
a game piece obsessed with a shovel's show
and seeing Montana's green heights
You scare me sometimes, other times you make me wonder: what do you know that the rest of us don't. :rolleyes:
Dave, one day before kickoff, and you've given us a great piece of insight.
OK, so may be the shovel's show has to do with some form of renewable enery such as a windmill, but more likely geothermal. Something around the lines of nuclear energy processes perhaps and how a shovel would be used to assist with that. But the pasta part of the hint really evades me in the object aspect of a renewable energy game. Now, pasta doesn't necessarily have to deal with spagetti noodles. Pasta noodles can also include the "screw" shaped noodle. That's pretty much all I'll say there.
Shovel show: scooping for uranium chunks or other energy stuff.
Longer matches: no. No way, no how. I think FIRST has enough on their hands getting all the current teams ran through several matches before dinner time.
New batteries: we can only hope
Real time recharging bases are possible from what your hinting though.
Conclusion: I love the renewable energy idea, I'll be looking for that tomorrow.
$0.02
-Joe :cool:
Nitroxextreme
06-01-2006, 21:42
I don't want to be the bringer of bad news...but the list of components for the field still leaves all those people holding out for the water game with some hope. Polycarb + Caulk= water tank
Nuttyman54
06-01-2006, 21:52
I don't think the venues are set up to be able to handle a water game...(wooden floored gyms and water don't mix very well) The polycarb is probably either the player station protections or some field surface
artdutra04
06-01-2006, 21:56
I don't want to be the bringer of bad news...but the list of components for the field still leaves all those people holding out for the water game with some hope. Polycarb + Caulk= water tankI doubt that FIRST would implement a water tank. Water, which weights about 8lbs/gallon is very heavy. The force being exerted on the sides of a polycarbonate (Lexan) tank would be far too much for a 1/8" think piece of Lexan to bear without tremendous reforcement. The large quantity of 2x4s may lead some creadence to this clue, but if it was for a water tank, they would use thinker polycarbonate material anyway.
Peter Matteson
06-01-2006, 22:03
Why are people holding on to this water red herring so much?
I would love to know why people think FIRST would even consider accepting that liability. We all know how difficult it is for many teams to even pass a basic safety inspection when it is clearly spelled out in the rules and they don't need to be water proof. This isn't even talking about the cost of waterproof motors and wiring pass throughs necessary in a kit to attempt making it safe.
Pardon the rant but the water thing is so nonsensical I just don't get it.
i completely agree. you must remember, high school kids must be able to build this field, and also, you must think, every year, there are rookie teams, rookie teams can sometimes mean not the greatest robots, which will mean sinking robots, which means, 5K down the drain (No Pun Intended).
This is a fantasy, not a reality.
mechanicalbrain
06-01-2006, 22:42
i completely agree. you must remember, high school kids must be able to build this field, and also, you must think, every year, there are rookie teams, rookie teams can sometimes mean not the greatest robots, which will mean sinking robots, which means, 5K down the drain (No Pun Intended).
This is a fantasy, not a reality.
I don't think anyone seriously expects it to happen we just like talking about the possibility :D , and to some extent joking about it. We know it's silly but assuming it did happen and if it was ever feasible (which it's not really) it would make a pretty cool game. Anyway the game is in what 11 hours I think ill just wait until im at Richmond to find out. Im not so sure about this whole pool noodle thing by the way. I have a couple lying around and they are pretty hard to manipulate with accuracy.
Sidney San Martín
06-01-2006, 22:46
Why are people holding on to this water red herring so much?
I would love to know why people think FIRST would even consider accepting that liability. We all know how difficult it is for many teams to even pass a basic safety inspection when it is clearly spelled out in the rules and they don't need to be water proof. This isn't even talking about the cost of waterproof motors and wiring pass throughs necessary in a kit to attempt making it safe.
Pardon the rant but the water thing is so nonsensical I just don't get it.
Don't you remember team 842, who beat MIT in the underwater ROV competition with a PVC robot? They didn't have huge resources, and they made it. Cheapish underwater FIRST bots aren't a complete impossibility.
Nuttyman54
06-01-2006, 22:58
While I agree with most of the water points above, I do have to say that it's NOT as hard as it looks. My engineering class built and competed with underwater ROV's last year. We made them out of PVC and standard 12V DC motor (I wanted to water proof some CIM's for it, but the teacher said no) we waterproofed them with vaseline and wax. All seven of them worked and were able to complete the challenge (picking up various shaped cans from the bottom of the swiming pool). In conclusion, I my opinion, it's not the logistics of building and underwater robot that's the problem, but that it's the venue and field setup that would cause problems...plus how do you test on a practice field?
Joe Matt
06-01-2006, 23:05
i completely agree. you must remember, high school kids must be able to build this field, and also, you must think, every year, there are rookie teams, rookie teams can sometimes mean not the greatest robots, which will mean sinking robots, which means, 5K down the drain (No Pun Intended).
This is a fantasy, not a reality.
Well, only the important thing to remember is that only parts of the field need to be assembled, like in 2004.
Peter Matteson
06-01-2006, 23:17
My point is not that it's not possible to make a robot that can work underwater for a reasonable price.
The intended point was that to garantee all the teams built a safe robot and mitigate the risks to FIRST would have to "mistake proof" the kit with "inherently safe" parts this driving up the the cost of the kits.
Nuttyman54
06-01-2006, 23:20
My point is not that it's not possible to make a robot that can work underwater for a reasonable price.
The intended point was that to garantee all the teams built a safe robot and mitigate the risks to FIRST would have to "mistake proof" the kit with "inherently safe" parts this driving up the the cost of the kits.
Well it hink the safety part is more a factor than the price...we made ours (see my post above) for about $50 each. However, it's generally not a good idea to mix water and electronics unless you KNOW what you're doing. I don't think FIRST would put that high schoolers in that kind of situation..land robots are dangerous enough
SizzelChest330
06-01-2006, 23:25
$20 says in 10hours this whole threads a joke :D
as a highschooler i dont see us building underwater robots and having fun it would be so complex that college students would be doing most of it.
Nuttyman54
06-01-2006, 23:47
$20 says in 10hours this whole threads a joke :D
nah, just most of it..i'm sure SOME of the posts on here got something right...or partially right...or not
Tomasz Bania
07-01-2006, 00:24
Hey,
It's now 9 hours :ahh: away from the kickoff and I'm probably going to have my last good night of sleep for the next 6 weeks. So let's just get in bed :confused: and just clear your mind, as tomorrow, you will need every square inch of your brains to hold all the stuff they'll throw at us :yikes: . Well, good luck and hope to see you at one of the events!
:cool: Micro3000x :cool:
P.S. Cross your finger(s)!
Mike Betts
07-01-2006, 00:39
Real engineers don't need sleep... Just ask our bosses!
Dan Richardson
07-01-2006, 01:43
Real engineers don't need sleep... Just ask our bosses!
For College Students as Engineering Majors I imagine thats doubly so heh :-) <3 caffine
Nuttyman is right. While waterproofing a robot is indeed a formidable task, it is nothing next to constructing a giant underwater practice field.
Look, even if FIRST did supply us with, say, an inflatable swimming pool that measured the size of the field (throw in an air compressor for the sake of not being lightheaded), what teams are going to have the place to set that up? On my parquet floor? Bro, they won't allow a bottle of Aquafina in my gym, much less a swimming pool. And you think a school would spring for filling/emptying a swimming pool on a regular basis? Hello, water bill and imminent flooding.
Look, to get an underwater game, FIRST would have to do one of two things:
A) Find a way to provide every team with a magical swimming pool that filled itself, did no damage to gym floors, cost no more money than a normal field setup (in the hundreds of dollars lets say)
or
B) Allow only teams with incredible resources and/or sponsors with personal pools to have testing before the match.
Won't happen, man. Not even close. Think of the basic problems! It would be institutionally irresponsible of FIRST--and contrary to their basic messages of fairness, especially to new vs. established teams--to bring an underwater game to the fore.
That said...8 hours till kickoff.
--Petey
Mike Betts
07-01-2006, 02:13
... While waterproofing a robot is indeed a formidable task, it is nothing next to constructing a giant underwater practice field... Won't happen, man. Not even close. Think of the basic problems! It would be institutionally irresponsible of FIRST--and contrary to their basic messages of fairness, especially to new vs. established teams--to bring an underwater game to the fore...
Pete,
You are not thinking diabolical enough... Imagine an outdoor game played on a parking lot... No protection from the elements (OK, maybe a tent for the spectators)...
Think of it... Every school has a parking lot (so no whining over incredible resources)... And so does every venue...
You might say that it is not fair that one regional is in Rochester, NY and another is in Orlando, FL on the same weekend...
You might also say that it is not fair if it begins to downpour halfway through the finals...
Who ever claimed that this was a fair contest?
Think of the educational possibilities! Chaos theory as applied to weather prediction and last minute frost heaves! Ya gotta love it...
Just thank your lucky stars I'm not designing these games... ;-)
Keep Smiling and Good Night...
Mike
Eldarion
07-01-2006, 02:14
nah, just most of it..i'm sure SOME of the posts on here got something right...or partially right...or not
According to randomness, yes. But I'm not sure if we have enough random noise yet... :D
More stuff about a water game or other nonsensical stuff and me might just be there, though! :rolleyes:
pssst! 7 hours everryyone!! i cant sleeep. aaaahh!
Pete,
You are not thinking diabolical enough... Imagine an outdoor game played on a parking lot... No protection from the elements (OK, maybe a tent for the spectators)...
Think of it... Every school has a parking lot (so no whining over incredible resources)... And so does every venue...
You might say that it is not fair that one regional is in Rochester, NY and another is in Orlando, FL on the same weekend...
You might also say that it is not fair if it begins to downpour halfway through the finals...
Who ever claimed that this was a fair contest?
Think of the educational possibilities! Chaos theory as applied to weather prediction and last minute frost heaves! Ya gotta love it...
Just thank your lucky stars I'm not designing these games... ;-)
Keep Smiling and Good Night...
Mike
Come now, Mike. A Connecticuttian...Connecticutti...a resident of New England should realize that any body of water left outside in the New England winter for more than 5 minutes freezes through.
;)
Less than 7 hours...
--Petey
A little over 3 hours!
I have been waiting for this since last year.
I still have a feeling the game piece is footballs...
Only 2H50min left 'til the kick off.
let the game begin....:)
UngsFree
07-01-2006, 08:02
let the games begin!! good luck to all teams...
less than 1hr 59mins!!!
:)
^________^
OK...
brain, check
safety goggles, check
gracious professionalism, check
consent, release, hold harmless and authorization to reproduce physical likeness, check
workshop registration, check
camera, check
sanity, ish
enthusiasm, check
note-taking stuff, check
curiosity, check
excitement and anticipation, check
kickoff checklist complete, preparing for departure for Kickoff 2006!
Good luck everyone! I'm sure I'll wonder what they're doing to us after the kickoff again this year.
Maybe FIRST could try having a water competition with Vex robots as a test at actually doing it for FRC? It'd be an interesting way to see if it's feasible.
And outdoor games would give such a huge advantage to us Arizona teams... provided the competition is no later than mid-April.
Rafi Ahmed
07-01-2006, 08:42
1hr 19min!!!! good luck everyone. i say ramp and something to do with footballs.
Nuttyman54
07-01-2006, 08:48
i still believe that SOMEDAY (not this year, probably not the next) FIRST will find a way to make an underwater game feasible, but until then, we're stuck as land-lubbers. I like the idea of previewing/testing with VEX...that could be a LOT more workable
Oh god I'm on my way to the kickoff thing at BAE http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-w00t.gif
At the kickoff!! Im looking at the stuff under the tarp, its very tall... Either Don Knight or Dean is screwing with us, or.............
artdutra04
07-01-2006, 09:56
At the kickoff!! Im looking at the stuff under the tarp, its very tall... Either Don Knight or Dean is screwing with us, or.............Here's what I can see right now at the Manchester, NH Kickoff!
-3x3 - Two Alliances
-One Tall Thing at the End of Each Field
-They are ramps!!!
-Roughly same size field as last year
Pictures and more to come soon. !!! :D
:cool: Ok time to start let the games begin
stop talking its time to start with details
hey they spelled corvallis wrong
Here's what I can see right now at the Manchester, NH Kickoff!
-3x3 - Two Alliances
-One Tall Thing at the End of Each Field
-They are ramps!!!
-Roughly same size field as last year
Pictures and more to come soon. !!! :D
How do u know all this already.....? All i see is a freakin tarp =P
w0000t 4x the code space, and 2x varible space! w000t. =D
Camera again this year looking at a green target.... W00000T =D
duh it was lookin for green hey we're lego legue
if you dont touch the machine then how can you build it?
if you dont touch the machine then how can you build it?
haha, i dont htink that was he really means. =P
wow, good to here that there are alliances for sure lol I like that a lot more, BE SAFE!!! here we go!!!
OK,
Shovel's Show -> Just shoot me -> shooting balls
Tangling with pasta? Those strings hanging in the goals, and only 5 bots there at a time?
Green Heights -> Camera.
Well we were all wrong.
Except for M. Kraus, who got referenced by Woody. Nice find there.
There were definitely a lot of differently interpreted things, and a lot of things in the game not alluded to in the hint.
Oh well.
--Petey
Freddy Schurr
07-01-2006, 14:09
I'm not one to care about the hint so much -- I have enough things to worry about, I guess. That said, y'all are amateurs
For your consideration: "Just Shoot Me," and "8 Simple Rules".
Can someone explain the entire clue to me.
Elgin Clock
07-01-2006, 14:19
Can someone explain the entire clue to me.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=427858&postcount=734
I'll buy that explanation.
To go further, Shovel = Spade = David Spade (Actor in Show called "Just SHoot Me")
Shovel's show = "Just Shoot Me"
we were close, ramps, balls, slipery surface on ramp
OK,
Shovel's Show -> Just shoot me -> shooting balls
Tangling with pasta? Those strings hanging in the goals, and only 5 bots there at a time?
Green Heights -> Camera.
tangling pasta is more like the pool noodle bumpers
JoeXIII'007
07-01-2006, 14:56
I think it's worth mentioning how right we were on some of the aspects of this years game, and how dead wrong we were on others. :yikes:
For the majority of us, we were looking the wrong way, again!
Arkorobotics
07-01-2006, 16:00
I WAS RIGHT! pools noodles have to be used for bumper (2-1/2 inch), that is why they are tangled in PASTA! W00T!
Nuttyman54
07-01-2006, 16:12
i thought teh pasta could also refer to the chains behind the high circle goal..
Beta Version
07-01-2006, 16:17
Yeah, they are really pushing to have noodle bumpers this year (tangled in pasta), they arent even includig the bumbers in the weight limit. And I guess the balls could be the "meatbals" hitting the "pasta" on the robots
but I dont get the "montana" part
Nuttyman54
07-01-2006, 16:34
but I dont get the "montana" part
i think it was Joe Montana with the field goals and the comeback (last 40 second free-for-all) Also, Montana is flat on one end and hilly on the other..hence the ramp on the ends
Yeah Joe Montana was a red herring (what field goals are you talking about?). And I bet you "tangling with pasta" doesn't refer to pool noodle bumpers because
A) bumpers aren't mandatory
B) 5 bots deal with the "pasta" net behind center, while all deal with the bumpers.
I don't think the hint was necessarily related to the game in the same way we expected.
--Petey
ZZII 527
07-01-2006, 18:22
The Montana clue hinted that there would be end zones, as in football, rather than a central ramp.
I thought of mandatory noodle bumpers last night at around mindight...thought it was a far stretch but I guess not.
iwearshoes
08-01-2006, 10:27
I've found the key to unlocking the mystery of "shovel's show"! Turns out they're talking about a TV show....
http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?PAGE=PRODUCT&PROD_ID=1456864&cid=80488&fp=F
What....it wasn't obvious to you guys???? :p
Close, It actually refers to another TV show "Just Shoot Me" in which case the game is most likely going to involve projectiles.
This is my interpretation of what the clue means.
five 'bots tangling with pasta
Means - 5 foot tall robots fighting with bumpers made of pool noodles
a game piece obsessed with a shovel's show
Means - what the others have said about David Spade.
and seeing Montana's green heights
Means - The high green light for the camera to track.
roboticsguy1988
08-01-2006, 11:53
I'm not one to care about the hint so much -- I have enough things to worry about, I guess. That said, y'all are amateurs ;)
For your consideration: "Just Shoot Me," and "8 Simple Rules".
Well you got it :-p...... Good Job. Now lets see who can guess next years :D ....
663.keith
08-01-2006, 12:02
I talked to Dave after the kickoff about the clues. This is what he told me
5 'bots tangling with pasta
-- referencing the only five robots on one side of the field. The pasta is talking about the bumpers with the pool noodles.
Shovels show
-- the David spade "just shoot me" hind that woody gave us. The piece wants to be shot into the end zone
seeing Montana's Green Heights
-- while he didn't expressly talk about this one, he said it obviously had to do with the vision camera and that the Joe Montana references were included
another hint was given earlier "hovercraft's, and the English Channel"
-- this clue referred to the general shape of the field. the English channel has hover craft stations on both sides that when viewed from the side resemble the field. Empty in the middle, and high on the sides.
I forgot to ash about the batons :rolleyes:
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