Re: 30pt climb under 15 seconds
7 discs will be hard just by dead reckoning -- there isn't much room for error in the left/right direction in order to simultaneously pick up 2 side-by-side discs, given the sizing constraints this year. If the robot is too wide, then it will be short length-wise -- meaning not only will the bot risk tipping under high acceleration, there becomes a threshold where it's difficult to touch both the center of the pyramid rung and the autozone line while also being able to drive under the rung. In our design, the 54" cylinder hasn't been an issue; but maybe it is with others'. Thus, I think robots will at least need encoders &/or a gyro for some good old fashioned drive-straight code.
9-discs will be very tough to do. I've come up with 2 concepts and 1 high-level bot design that could do it, yet they limited the rest of the robot enough (for our abilities) that we went down a different path.
The bigger issue with a 9-disc autonomous is that it might not be pragmatic in every qualification match depending on the alliance setup. Essentially both alliance partners would need to be out of the way enough that the 9-disc bot has some margin of error when it re-crosses its starting position point at the back of the pyramid. Since the pyramid is only ~7.8' across the base, it may limit the dead-reckoning ability of an alliance partner if they want to start at the back of the pyramid. I think that some eliminations may have a few 5-disc mid field autonomous bots available such that a 9-disc autonomous isn't necessary (but having it as a backup plan is a plus).
However, at the more elite events where there are some non-moving autonomous partners, a 9-disc autonomous may make the difference in seeding #1 vs #2/3. Thus, the 9-disc bot is quite valuable yet should also have an alternative autonomous, IMO.
A 7-disc or 9-disc autonomous with a 10-pt hang totally trumps a 30-point hang with a 18-pt autonomous in any situation -- more than just by raw point values. The autonomous-leaning bots don't need to take the extra time to hang in teleop (ours is < 1 second and can be done while driving forward at full speed) and thus can probably score at least 1 hopper of discs in the final 15 seconds. This hopper alone doesn't make up for the teleop gap of a 30-point climb: the tradeoff of doing autonomous instead of climbing makes up for the gap.
Even with all of that said, a full alliance will need some combination of both abilities -- so it's not like anyone should scramble to change their robot to fit the other strategy. That's what makes this year quite fun for a strategist -- the game will require serious engineering tradeoffs for 99% of teams, meaning there will be a wide array of strategies to choose from when doing alliance picks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BJC
(Post 1223830)
By the same logic there is really nothing stopping 9.
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