Upside-down game

[lemiant]

I had a radical concept when I was on the game design forum, do you have any ideas how it could turn into a game:

""What about a game that was not on the floor {example:

Metal bars run width-wise along the field. The bars are about 1m (1 yard for you Americans) apart and 2m-3m off the floor. Robots are not allowed to touch the floor; They start on (or above) raised platforms (like the bases of the towers this year), so you could start on the bar, or do pull-ups to get on it. There could be one (or a few) goals on each end of the field, and the aim is to get the playing pieces into the opponents goals. If you were an advanced team you could move from bar to bar to collect balls, but rookie teams could just travel back and forth along one bar, playing defense.
}

How's that for throwing a wrench in your drivetrain?

As an added plus it is themed after a game, FOOSBALL!""

Here is one response:
It could be like a giant spiderweb with I-beams to ride on and hang on to. Maybe it would popularize controls based on polar coordinates.

or, maybe the robots could be giant stationary arms.

[MagiChau]

Well there would be a problem considering a 2-3m fall is pretty hefty for a 120 pound robot. I think I would be against this mainly because of the chance that robots could break more than they normally do. So if we ever see this, hope yoru robot doesn't fall and break FIRST.

[Nadav Zingerman]

I see safety issues with this... But the real issue is that this goes against trying to make FIRST a spectator sport. If moving around the field is so difficult, even the best robots won't move around as much. That would be a pretty slow and static game.

Regardless, I'd really like to see the designs teams come up with. I hope that FIRST can come up with an idea just as radical for next year.

[efoote868]

What about making the poles lower, and having pressure pads on the floor. Penalties for touching the floor or bonuses for staying in the air.
A fall of 2-3" isn't as bad as a fall of 2-3'.

[viperred396]

As an added plus it is themed after a game, FOOSBALL!""


I think there is already a claim for this name :P
http://bitsandpieces.us/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/imagesfoooosball.jpg

[Hawiian Cadder]

hmmmm, i think a better way to do that would be to have a suction/magnet wheel thing in the kit, there are permanent magnets with around 500 lbs lift, i think a couple of these on set wheels and we would be good to go. this could actualy be pretty sweet.

[J-Brock]

that sounds hard to watch with a bunch of bars in the way...

[Trent B]

My two thoughts that sprung to mind

Make a more strict rule on robot height say 24-36" so the 36" robots have a 2" fall and the 24" have a 15" fall (maybe have gym mats to cushion the fall also.

And watching through a bunch of I-beams would be difficult, they would have to have very good video from multiple angles (our regional had a few cameras this year) or find a way to make the bars clear (eg polycarbonate or some strong plastic which would be expensive)

[lemiant]

Intrinsically it feels that way to me,
But mathematically it doesn't seem quite so certain: would 2 inches per 36 (ie 6%) really obscure view that much.

[Robert Cawthon]

Intrinsically it feels that way to me,
But mathematically it doesn't seem quite so certain: would 2 inches per 36 (ie 6%) really obscure view that much.

It would depend on the spacing and thickness of the bars and whether they were paralell or spiderweb. How about running on top of the bars for extra points?