Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

Unless that pointless extra height has something to do with a yet to be mentioned part of the game :ahh:

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

Color me skeptical.

As a mildly humorous aside, does anyone see any rule against building a 5'-tall, 50''-long wall-on-wheels which extends 20'' on either side, with the aim of parking it in front of the opposing driver station to obstruct vision? While I clearly don't expect anyone to actually do this (it'd be obnoxious and decidedly un-sportsmanlike), I can't find anything disallowing it.

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

Well, most people could see over a 5' wall? I think. :P

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

It has come up that this year's equivalent to last year's 5 disk auto mode is the two ball auto mode. If one of your two alliance partners can't shoot high goals, take their ball and place it in front of your shooter. First shoot your ball, then pick up and shoot theirs. This gets you 35 total auto points instead of 20, if it had just sat on the ground.

The defense against such a two ball auto mode is to park a tall defensive bot in their shot line before the match. Rather than being useless, that appendage now becomes worth 35 points. (Unless the shooter has the ability to sense the blocker and rotate to shoot around the appendage.)

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

4.2.1 R8
ROBOT parts shall not be made from hazardous materials, be unsafe, cause an unsafe condition, or interfere with the
operation of other ROBOTS.
Examples of items that will violate R8include (but are not limited to):
A. Shields, curtains, or any other devices or materials designed or used to obstruct or
limit the vision of any DRIVERS and/or COACHES and/or interfere with their ability to
safely control their ROBOT
B. Speakers, sirens, air horns, or other audio devices that generate sound at a level
sufficient to be a distraction
C. Any devices or decorations specifically intended to jam or interfere with the remote
sensing capabilities of another ROBOT, including vision systems, acoustic range finders,
sonars, infrared proximity detectors, etc. (e.g. including imagery on your ROBOT that, to
a reasonably astute observer, mimics the VISION TARGET)
D. Exposed lasers other than Class I.
page

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

Well, there we have it. That settles that!

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

Andymark's specs say the ball weighs 2.75 lbs. (but does not state if that is the inflated weight or not). Maybe your scale is off?
I have seen multiple people say the ball weighs 5 lbs. Where are you getting this information from?

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

Who puts the ball on the pedestal?

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

Field crew. They are in charge of chasing balls and loading the pedestals.

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

I feel like there is a bigger purpose for the truss...i mean why would they put all the time and money into something that a rope, a rod, or something of the sort could replace.

But besides that i'm interested to see how teams are going to shoot the balls...should be a fairly interesting year

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

Is it at all possible to get points for an assist if the opposite alliance accidentally gains possession of your game piece? Or is that completely ridiculous?

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

If the opposing alliance possesses your alliance's game piece, then they incur a technical foul and you receive 50 points.

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

Your assists do not reset. You would gain no further assists from an opponents robot contacting your game piece in a yet uncontacted zone.

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

So there is no goalie zone height restriction. If your robot pokes the ceiling can you complain that they lied?

Re: Aerial Assist Discussion Thread
 

Well, it has its advantages and disadvantages.
THE GOOD STUFF
-Provides for a lot more design possibilities. It's always seemed like, in the past, we had a few certain best ways to do the task. One that won the most competitions, got the most points.
-It forces you to depend on your alliance more. People need to cooperate at a really deep level to win.
-Gets rid of robot specialization. For example, last year, our team was the "designated climber", which got us far. This year, that won't fly. Every robot needs to be able to perform every task well if the team wants to mesh well with the alliance.
THE BAD STUFF
-Seems very unoriginal. I can't really put it into words, but Aerial Assist seems to be "missing" something. This could be just me getting used to it, as it's very, very different from every other challenge.
-It forces you to depend on your alliance more. FIRST's notion of "cooperatition" is a very good thing, but I feel like this may be taking it a step too far. I also feel like it's putting more pressure on rookie teams to build and compete at an unrealistic level.
-NO ENDGAME. But why? The endgame was amazing, it made every challenge seem like two different games in one. It's very possible they cut it out because of the impossibility of robot specialization, which would make sense, as the one game is complicated enough already.
(Please note all of this is just a collection of my very early opinions, as the season goes on, I will probably change my views on most, if not all, of this.)
I think it's going to be a very interesting year, regardless of anything. This is a totally new type of challenge, and, although I'm not sure how it will go, I get the feeling it's going to be remembered for a long time to come. Also, I think it's very important that we make use of this forum this year. We should all make sure each team knows as much about as many other robots as possible so we can work together more effectively.