Re: Will you NEED to be able to pick up off the ground?
 

[quote=Flak-Bait;1228113] In 2009, we could not pick up off the ground, and for this reason, we were dead last at our regional.

2009 was a very different game, floor pickup was pretty much a requirement, because that's where the game pieces were. That is not the case this year.

Re: Will you NEED to be able to pick up off the ground?
 

We just didn't want to take that chance. We discussed the amount of defense and how difficult it would be to make it to the feeder stations. The other factor, as mentioned before, was how many shots we thought would be missed by the opposing alliance. We were betting that there will be a lot of frisbees in close proximity to each other and/or at the end walls, and designed our intake accordingly.

Re: Will you NEED to be able to pick up off the ground?
 

Any team who cannot pick-up from the ground should plan for autonomous positions that do not interfere with those who do.

I predict the teams with a reliable ground pick-up and supporting autonomous code will vie for the #1 seed most regionals, but an alliance only needs one such robot. If the captain has the bonus autonomous covered then speedy, accurate slot loaders will fit right in.

Re: Will you NEED to be able to pick up off the ground?
 

I agree with this 100%, this is the type of thing that wins events. You only need one (maybe two) robots that can pick up during auton, and the remaining robots need to get out of the way. Our strategy looks like it will involve picking up 2-4 Frisbees and scoring a total of 5-6 for 30-36 points, but robots getting in the way could decrease that score.

Re: Will you NEED to be able to pick up off the ground?
 

I don't think it's absolutely necessary for every team. I do think that it'll play a part in the cookie-cutter alliances that we'll start to see in the later regionals. Last year the general play was one dedicated defense/feeder, one shooter to pick up from the opposing side of the field, and one dedicated home-side shooter.

This year I anticipate the "normal" alliance will consist of one robot to pick up the opponents discs to score, with the other two focusing primarily on running the route between their designated loading station and their preferred scoring position.

Re: Will you NEED to be able to pick up off the ground?
 

We are picking up and delivering at a shooter near the top of the bot. Here is a link to a video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d03Vgd1Tl2k

This video was made about 10 days ago, and since then there has been quite a bit of development. There are two sets of Banebot wheels with the axes oriented vertically which "sweep" the frisbees into the pickup belts. Can pick up against a wall or even in the corner.

Right now it is semi-reliable, but should be quite reliable before the GSR.

We hope to be able to pick up and shoot two frisbees during auto. We hope to be able to convert misses into points during telep.

Re: Will you NEED to be able to pick up off the ground?
 

Looks great! Can't wait to see it in person at GSR!

Re: Will you NEED to be able to pick up off the ground?
 

I'm not Carnack but sometimes I play one on TV.

Observation: Winning autonomous has real strategic value and floor pickup is a big part of that.
Prediction: Many teams will over-allocate resources to a floor pickup mechanism and not leave their programming teams enough time to program their robots to score in autonomous.

Bonus Prediction: In game floor pickup will be one of the easiest game actions to defend.