Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

Here is a video of Apple Pi at the Suffield Shakedown.
http://youtu.be/xN9IUKN0PBs

Team 2067 from Guilford Connecticut.
They have a nice compact robot design that can also pick up off of the floor.
This is their practice bot and the floor pick up needed work.

Nonetheless, if unmolested, they can score four cycles at 12 points each added to 18 in autonomous. Thats 60 points. We'll see if that can happen as they would be easy to block.

However......
If they get their floor pick up working and it is effective, It will easily get those four if not five cycles.
Since they can sit under their pyramid, you can't defend that.
It will beat any climbing robot.

I think this is one of the top strategies for this game.

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

If the drive train can beat out defenders and it rests against the pyramid while shooting (as it did in the video), it will get the 4-5 cycles/match anyway.

Man, what a great strategy. Compact, nimble, accurate, uses wall feed as the primary... If only the robot also attempted a 10 point climb, I could probably compare it to a robot I am close to...

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

As long as they are touching the pyramid. Even then, a defending robot can be under the pyramid with them as long as the defender isn't touching the pyramid or their robot and still block their shots if it comes to that.

One advantage that the defending drivers have is that they are on that side of the field so they have a better line of sight.

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

There is a lot of finesse required by defensive teams willing to risk massive penalty points for a move like that.

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

Very good point.

Referee judgement calls (The 50 point Penalty for contact during a climb) may affect this.

I am liking this game more and more.

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

Oh, is that all? That's easy. :rolleyes:

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

Very nice.

Any climbing robot? Including one that does that and climbs, too? :)

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

Is it 50 or is it just 30? I didn't think that it was a technical foul along with an automatic 30 point climb, I may be wrong though.

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

This was a strategy we have had planned since week 2. But with a 10 point hang.

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

According to G16, the use of a strategy that uses discs to aid or inhibit climbing is a technical foul (20pts). If the climbing robot is affected by this strategy, that robot's alliance gets the points for a 30 point climb
... So in theory, yes, it is possible to give your opponent's alliance 50pts by shooting a disc at a climbing robot.

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

We plan to also add a climber to the final robot (at least 10 point hang, but
possibly a 30 point one)

Yeah, floor pickup on this robot wasn't that good, so we didn't bother using it most of the time. But you might have noticed the harvester flopping up and down though; it wasn't staying up :P. Hopfully the final harvester will be better

The autonomous code is obviously going to be improved, and hopefully we'll be able to pull off 5 high goals for a 30 point autonomous. The autonomous was kinda buggy at Suffield Shakedown; the first shot was usually weak and the robot had to be rebooted every round in order for autonomous to even run. I couldn't fix that between matches because deploying new code just wouldn't work, so we we were stuck with a somewhat buggy autonomous (it's fixed now)

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

so the "strategy" is to play the game the way it was designed? :confused:

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

Try G30. It's a foul. However, if it's purposeful or consequential, make that a T-foul for 20. If a climb is affected, 30 for the climb, PLUS whatever CLIMB points the robot earns (Q141).

So, translation: If you brush an opponent contacting their pyramid, the best you can expect is 3 points for them. If it's obviously intentional (purposeful) or it moves them significantly (consequential), 20 points for them instead. If they are also trying a climb, 30-60 points depending on which level they end up at. (That's the penalty plus whatever climb points they get.)

Shorter translation: Do you REALLY want to even THINK about defending an opponent who is in contact with their pyramid, or could be at a second's notice? And if you do, then think a few times.

Please note that this is not necessarily a "use of discs to aid or inhibit a climb" situation, so any G16 penalties will be in addition to any G30 penalties assessed.

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

Impressive run in that video. Obviously I think they will get a little more harassed racing across the field if they continue to put up frisbee points like that, but it's definitely hard to defend at either end.

Re: Apple Pi with an excellent Strategy
 

Our (1058) strategy is very similar, except we have a 23" wide intake so we can pick up two side-by-side frisbees. This allows us to start with 2 at the back of the pyramid, pull up, pick up the 2 under the pyramid, pull up, shoot 4, pull up again, pick up the 2 in front of the pyramid, back up to the pyramid, and fire those two. Our shooter is built to be rapid-fire, so if all goes perfectly, we have a 36 point auton.