Q. about "the ball"

[Ami Schwartz]

Hi, did anyone see a rule about 'ball hiding" in the match ?

( i mean did you see a rule that says you are not allwoed to move the ball inside the robot that it is not visible to the eye)




mods, if i post this in the wrong place please move it :)


Thx Ami.

[Alan Anderson]

Hi, did anyone see a rule about 'ball hiding" in the match ?

( i mean did you see a rule that says you are not allwoed to move the ball inside the robot that it is not visible to the eye)

I think this is what you're referring to.
Balls Contained in ROBOTs at the Start of a match - Each ALLIANCE will start a match with 40 balls. Each ROBOT may contain up to 10 balls at the start of a match. Any balls not contained within the robot will be evenly distributed between the alliance ball corrals. All of the balls must be contained within the ROBOT’s 28” x 38” x 60” starting volume and must be clearly visible from outside the ROBOT. The Head Referee will require that balls outside of the starting volume be removed. It is the responsibility of the head referee to verify that this rule is satisfied prior to the start of the match.
I don't see any rules about the visibility of balls entering the robot after the start of the match.

[dhitchco]

Hmmmm.

let's see. If you draw black curtains around your ball storage compartment DURING a match, what does it prove?

Well, the opposing alliance won't know just how much ammunition you've got on-board, so that may alter which 'bot they want to thrust their defense against.

On the other hand, a ball that is stored or hidden in your robot is not a scored ball, therefore, it's s moot point to hide balls?

Interesting discussion here.......

[Ashley Christine]

I am sure that if they want the balls to be seen then they will make a revision to the rules.
Besides that, I dont see why you woudnt be allowed to, it says "Robot starting" not "Robot playing"

Its another one of those judgement things... I am sure FIRST will clarify at some point if they realize they meant it differently.

Like Doug said, the other alliance wouldnt know how many balls you have, which could be scary when trying to decide when and where to score your own balls! But also as he said, just because you have them, it doesnt mean you will get any of those points. You could have an awesome storage system but no way to get the balls out!!! xD I hope that wouldnt happen, but you get the idea.

[Ianworld]

Just a note if you hide the balls from your opponents you'll also end up hiding them from yourself. I know that the drivers should have a better idea of how many balls they have than the opponents who have their own robots to drive, but in the heat of the moment I think its more usefull if you know how many balls you have and giving up the advantage of secrecy.

Perhaps covering just the front side of your robot with a curtain wouldn't be such a bad idea, since it would stop the other team from seeing your balls when you're pointed towards them which is when they might care most. It might even be legal to start with a curtain on one side so that the balls are visible from other angles.

[John Gutmann]

If your opponents are good enough it doesn't matter if you hide balls because they al recirculate anyways.

[Kelvin Ng]

It would be interesting if you had: one robot that could shoot, one that emptied balls into the corner goals. They have curtains to hide the balls, they come together and do an exchange(or not) of balls. They then rush to the goals, and the defenders have no clue which bot has all the balls! an in game trick show. haha =)

[Lil' Lavery]

As I interpretted from my father's response when I mentioned this rule to him in reference to the red "shooter" bot and how I beleived it violated this rule, he reponded that you could see the balls by looking down the barrel of the "gun". So, unless your opponent has the time to look down your barrel and count the balls....
(note that this also implies that you can see how many balls are visable, not just the top one)

[Ami Schwartz]

I think this is what you're referring to.

I don't see any rules about the visibility of balls entering the robot after the start of the match.


I see, but may i put our balls in a galss tube ?


then they are visible.

(or not glass just transparent) .

[Rich Wong]

My interpretation of the “must be clearly visible from outside” was not in the area of strategy but to allow the referees to count each bot and to make sure that no more than 10 poof-balls are in any bots before the start of a match.
This rule prevent alliances from packing good shooter-bots full of balls.
:)

[Bill Moore]

Hi, did anyone see a rule about 'ball hiding" in the match ?

( i mean did you see a rule that says you are not allwoed to move the ball inside the robot that it is not visible to the eye)




mods, if i post this in the wrong place please move it :)


Thx Ami.
This will work exactly once against teams that scout properly. After that, your average number of balls collected/average number of balls shot/average number of balls scored will be known. As the qualifying rounds continue, they will establish the "maximum number of balls collected". These facts will determine how aggressive the defense would play against your robot.
Team scouts will also have data on the mechanical condition of your robot, from "needs a jump start" to "flys like the wind".
You can only surprise teams once with most strategies, then you have to figure out what the next step is when they react to the first strategy.