Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

I’m seeing a few designs that imply tilting the center bridge in hybrid and I expect we’ll see a few instances when robots from both alliances attempt this. The big question is - who will win/survive the ensuing teeter-totter battle.

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

The one that gets there first.

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

That, or the one with the most torque applied at the best angle.

However, like Taylor said, the one that gets there first will win, all the time.

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

There's something to be said for the one who pushes harder, too :)

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

By that time, the bridge is pushed up out of reach.

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

Depends on your reach.

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

Whatever it is it won't be past 14".

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

That's one reason I'm glad we didn't get around to programming that feature in our autonomous code....another is that last year we kind of tore up our robot by having it drive too far in auto most matches.

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

The challenge is getting there asap without driving full speed into a raised bridge...

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

Agreed, first in wins - what if it's a tie? It becomes a force game and that is when it becomes intresting...broken arms, 2 foot drops or a flip are all possible.

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

So that brings up a good question: Which is more important? Scoring the balls you have in hybrid, or getting the balls off the bridges onto your side.

To quote my favorite announcer: Let's do the math:

In hybrid mode, each robot starts off with two balls, and there are two balls on each bridge, assuming all 6 robots use both of their allotted balls.

The score in hybrid mode is (normal_score + 3), so each ball is potentially worth 6 points. That's 36 points if all 3 robots score both of their balls in the top hoop during hybrid, which will require some coordination, meaning there will be a first robot, a middle one, and a last one, most likely shooting in the end of hybrid.

If you use hybrid mode to get all balls off the bridges and onto your side (one bridge per each robot on the alliance), than you will have 12 balls on your side, a little more than each robot can handle. If all 12 of those make it to the top basket, it's worth 36 points.

So in the scenario of going for the bridge vs. going for the points, both will give you 36 points.

Now let's mix it up a little. Say you have all 3 robots taking turns shooting in hybrid, but the first robot goes for a bridge once it's done. That's the 36 points of hybrid from all 6 balls, and +6 points for the two balls that were on the bridge, assuming they were scored in teleop, giving an almost instant score of 42 points.

New scenario: The same thing is done, but with the 2nd robot also going to a bridge. By this time, the first robot probably got the balls off of its bridge down, and the 3rd robot is getting ready to shoot. There are only two bridges left, and chances are your opponents will be going for a bridge as well. IF your second robot gets the balls onto your side, that's another +6 points for your alliance, getting you to a score of 48 points, 12 points above your opponents.

In conclusion, the balls on the bridge will only improve your score if you can gather them AND have all 6 robots on your alliance score in hybrid mode.

Just something to think about when doing autonomous strategies.

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

Here's one of ours It's not an easy thing to do quickly without risk of careening off balls and missing your mark etc. A bot that could to this while shooting/making baskets would be quite an asset.

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

The team with the Kinect that can do it in conjunction with the arm with the most apropos application of torque and an arm that can has options.

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

An aggressive strategy would be - shoot both of your allocated ball and then go for the middle bridge. The remaining bridge balls are off limits to the opposing alliance.

Re: Battle of the Middle Bridge
 

Agreed. The team using the kinect will have the most control over their robot during hybrid, so they will most likely be the ones getting the bridge down the fastest. And the implementation of commands to change the robot speed at will will be pretty helpful. ;)