Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I think the game will be called Transition Tower or Rally Relay -Some type of relay race with moving or re-positioning game pieces with your alliance partners!!

Good Luck Everyone and See you on Jan 3rd!!

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Inaugural Competition
Robots increase in size and go wireless
Robot weight increases
Robot alliances begin
Robots race against the clock
Autonomous Mode introduced
3 v 3 introduced
Primary field surface isn't carpet for first time since 1992
Frame perimeter changes

Capitalized letters spell out ICRRRRAMPF. It might be a bit of a stretch, but I see Icy Ramp.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I see "I Cramp". Either we deal with low intestinal fortitude or our style will be impinged upon. :p

Change is coming.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Just an idea, can anyone name some of the major changes that FIRST didn't in the video, etc. Bumpers introduced and stuff like that. They wouldn't simply hand us the answers. They'd expect us to think they were though.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I see my name! Maybe it's a game sponsored by the Dodge Ram? :p

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Bumpers introduced--2006 (optional), 2008 (mandatory)--probably why they didn't mention that.
2006--Game played in offense/defense periods.
2007--"staggered height/weight". Long story short, the taller you were, the lighter you needed to be.

There was a sizing box change in 2005, after another one in the late 90s; the weight changed to exclude the battery the year before.

Penalties became Fouls in 2012, and instead of reducing your score they increased your opponents' score (same time).

Red/Yellow cards were introduced in Breakaway, as I recall (2010) after having been used at IRI since '04 or so.

4-team elimination alliances at CMP was a change in 2014; the elimination alliance structure previously changed in '06 (the serpentine draft) and '05 (introduction of the backup robots).



I thought about asking a random non-FIRSTer what the first thing that popped into their mind was when I said "Change is coming", but decided against that.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I saw crrrrap. Must be on same wavelength:)

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I'm fairly surprised anagrams and stuff of the like has not really been discussed for "change is coming"

One I found was "ic hanging comes"

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I thought I saw at least 1 anagram of "change is coming" (maybe not in this thread?). Found several, which may be at least mildly interesting:

chasing coin gem
chasm - nice going
gain some c-ching
going mechanics

Also thought of changing "is coming"...

mini cogs
I M cosign

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

+1

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

So in my mind after spending 3 hours reading most of this thread and the USFIRST website this is what I am thinking.

• Either Hockey, Football, or Baseball
• Weight Reduction and Perimeter Change
• Major Overhaul of the Rule Book
• Same field as prior years (Andymark's website shows that it is confirmed)
• NO water game or HPs on the field
• NO alliance members change

Also I am pretty sure there will be an autonomous endgame that would require some sort of self-positioning on the field (ex. GPS, IR, Sonar)

http://www.andymark.com/Field-p/am-2800.htm "FIRST® has determined that this Field Perimeter has the ‘fit and function’ necessary for use in the 2015 FRC."

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

What if the change is that there are no gamepeices? I'm really not sure hoe that would go, but it would certainly be a pretty big change. Maybe you manipulate something that's a part of the field? Maybe it's robot jousting and you get points by hitting opponents (in a non-damaging manner, of course).

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

That could be possible, imagine the long box in KOP is a different surface with a bit less traction and what better thing to do on a slick surface then king of the hill!

Would be nice a hockey game

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

how did Andy Mark confirm the same fields as prior years?

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

AndyMark's new field was approved by FIRST for usage.
http://www.andymark.com/mobile/produ...p/am-2800.htm=
We are happy to announce that FIRST® has determined that this Field Perimeter has the ‘fit and function’ necessary for use in the 2015 FRC

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Change is coming. The game piece will be pennies.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

RIP open gearboxes.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Not if you use a gearbox from those machines that turn pennies into elongated souvenirs.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Note that is not a confirmation that the field is the same as prior years. The field is modular so the only confirmation is that the interfaces where FIRST has made the year to year modifications in the past is the same. For example the 2014 field had the side boarders assembled in a "non standard" fashion so that the robot gate was in a different location. For 2013 there were two pieces of the side boarder that were not used to allow for the angled corners. Another example was that the 2014 field used a different top Polycarb retainers to account for the narrower field. In 2013 the two middle uprights were not used so the driver's station end would be narrower to accommodate the angled corners.

One of the changes that AM had to make before their field was approved was to change the side panel to driver's station interface to be compatible with the standard field.

So that means while a large portion of the field will be the same would could see another 8 sided field, or a field that has slightly different dimensions than 27x54 and the AM field could still be used.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

When did FIRST start using the clam shells for the KOP?
(I don't mean to make reference to anything that may or may not have happened , I'm just curious)

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Aim High played on the field surface from 2009.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I think if you set it up the right way, that would certainly make an interesting game.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

That was 2003

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Maybe you should consider the possibility that the encryption reduces the length...

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Adding another team to each alliance would reduce the total number of matches, making events faster. However, time hasn't been much of an issue recently, or at least as far as I know.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

my oh my.... change is coming...
There's been so many large robots! And the perimeter of the arena has changed before...BIG CHANGE = SMALL ROBOTS?

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

No game pieces could mean robots skateboarding...

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4slvnvPHW8

That video has a better view of it walking & pushing at 00:18 and a real good close up of it walking at 00:23 (Can't see the Team # on the bot though).

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

That is 71

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Not Going To.....Happen! As LIBBY always says "Denim is in the genes!":cool:

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

We just attempted to confirm this on both iPhone & iPad and could NOT Confirm on either device. Until you can decrypt with a proper password nothing of the kind showed up.

Downloaded on Mac laptop. Says 65 pages

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I present to you, the 2015 FRC game, Bothockey!

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

While 65 pages is a big departure from the 111 pages it had last year, I think most of the reduction will be due to formatting. The 2014 admin manual was 78 pages with 26,407 words and the 2015 admin manual is only 51 pages with 23,950 words. So 35% percent reduction in page size with only a 10% reduction in words.

Here is a quick comparison picture (new manual is on the left):

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

That would definitely be awesome, but I would much rather play hockey on the 2009 surface which I will not name.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Oh, is that how it is now? "The surface that must not be named"? It loses its power if you use its proper name you know... :p

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

No, the Deatheaters will find you if you name it. That's how Harry got caught.

Voldelith.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Think about it. There's pretty much three categories of games: balls, inner-tubes, or some unique specialty thing. We had a ball game last year. We had a specialty game before that (Ultimate Ascent), a ball game before that (Rebound Rumble), and an inner-tube game before that (LogoMotion). I think it's about time for another resurrection of the inner-tubes.

As YouTube commenters have pointed out, the "1999 game footage" that they show is actually footage from Toroid Terror in 1997. Frank acknowledged this to blog posters with a simple "Whoops" - http://bit.ly/177Gf1q

That's definitely a hint. Inner-tube type game with significant structural changes with respect to alliances, robot weight, field size, etc. confirmed.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

It's as smooth as He-who-must-not-be-named's face.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

It's just Lunacy to talk about a field surface this way!

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

One of the most unusual changes I can imagine is moving the Autonomous to the end. Imagine having to load your robot, Clear your opponents scoring area, and position your robot so that your autonomous runs correctly. A buzzer and 3 seconds for the teams to clear out, then autonomous starts. It could be a really tough challenge.

Neal

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

2015 Kickoff broadcast (Open Captioned) is currently playing classical music, so the new game will have something to do with having robots play instruments, and the winner will be decided by applause level.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Water game with water made out of denim

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I personally don't see them moving autonomous to the end, but if they did, the challenge would either be positioning/loading your robot before the start of the aton. period, or designing your autonomous so that it works in any position on the field (compass and gps?).

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

If that's true I'm sure Kinect/Cheezy Vision will become extremely useful

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

or dead reckoning

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Currently, they're playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in blue, water is blue, water game confirmed.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

So all this excitement over a shorter game manual sums up to using a smaller font and less paragraph spacing ... and just when it was getting good :(

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Just wondering when was the last time only one hint was sent leading up to kickoff

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Shifting autonomous to the end has an unique advantage from a tournament execution viewpoint.

It shortens pre-match setup time and gives the teams a different challenge than before.

It could work. Especially if the startup position is outside the main playing area. It saves a fair bit of time getting the next match going if the match queue has been "pre-loaded" with robots ready to go.

Imagine an official "On Deck Circle" for the next matches' robots on each side. No practice swings of course... :-)

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

One could say in 2014, if you don't take into account the update ...

Original hint : 8234/57, 61126/1963, 62326/15806
Updated hint : 61474:135, 12661:1963, 32662:15806

Not much of a difference if you ask me, so I guess that the last time FIRST only gave us one hint prior to kickoff was last year ...

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Actually, this is usually the case. It is not the norm for there to be more than one game hint:

Out of the past 12 years (including 2015), there has only been more than one game hint 4 times, or 1/3rd of the time.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

What I'm wondering is if we can count 2014's hint as a single one since there was an update that was released not too long after to supposedly make it easier for all of us to understand ...

They weren't exactly the same, but they were almost the same, so : one hint or two in 2014?

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I count it as one. According to Frank, "We did, however, on double checking, find that the first set of numbers in the hint contained a potential error, or at least data we can't verify at this point. We aren’t saying it’s wrong, we’re just not 100% sure it’s right. So maybe we should have spent a little more time on this one! Sorry about that. As compensation, we're replacing that set of numbers with a new set that should get you to the same answer. We've also reformatted some of the numbers to hopefully make them a little more familiar." Thus, the original hint that they gave was possibly incorrect, so they simply edited the hint to ensure that the data was right. One hint.

But, this is getting off-track, back to the 2015 hint...

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I'll give that one to you ... anyways, back to 2015! 17 hours 'till kickoff to see if any of us succeeded in deciphering the code!

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Woodie gave a hint...."Man who wait for roast duck to fly into mouth wait a long time"...we're gonna throw roasted ducks at human players" (that or a rubber chicken)

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

My kickoff event is tomorrow at Georgia Tech, but I predict that 2015's game will include water, spheroid-looking objects, and some surprise element.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

They can't, shouldn't, and hopefully wont redo last year's game. Everyone would just use their last robot with a few modifications and that would be that. If they do Aerial Assist again, they might as well have Worlds in January.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Unless they have an endgame that requires something extra... :D

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

If last year's game was repeated, I don't think there'd be a single team that didn't touch/upgrade their robot. Six build weeks is close to nothing in the crunch, so getting an extra six could lead to an exponentially greater outcome of power all across the boards.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I did an analysis on the shot composition of the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH8k8EkM6Bo&

There is definitely an emphasis on game pieces, and going back to the past...

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

No, everyone would attempt to copy 254's design (though few would be successful)

LESS THAN 12 HOURS TO KICKOFF

At this point we should stop reading this obnoxiously long thread and get some sleep. If you stay up all night reading, you won't be awake for what could be the most exciting kickoff we have experienced. Maybe post your best guess for bragging rights.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Has anyone thought of an ending autonomous period? That would be a huuge game changer.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

There have been many posts on this thread about the likeliness of an auton endgame. Read up on all of the ideas.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

GUYS![/color] Okay, so you know how in the video, the 2014 manual specifically was reCYCLEd? Remember how last year, Aerial Assist had a CYCLE in the game that had to be completed in order to gain more and more points? What if FRC does something just like that this year? Any thoughts???

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I... Can't... Believe... I have read every... Single... Post... On this thread...

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

You are not alone good sir. I've learned that it's easier to start when it does and just keep updated... like Facebook. This is kind of social media for FIRST...

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I've been doing that too :)

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

A lot of people have mentioned this idea. I like this idea, but there is absolutely no evidence to support that it will happen this year.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

we all have...and we're going crazy over it!

2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I'm going with Delta Dual or Delta Duel as the name of the game. Just for bragging rights.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I'm going with a mass ball collection game. Just for bragging rights.

Footballs would be cool.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Just for bragging rights...

Pick-and-place game. Big change from the last 3 seasons.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I'll get on board with that. I'm tired of shooting games (never seen one that isn't).

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

If we're doing for bragging rights... ::rtm:: I think multiple *different* game pieces being manipulated. (Hopefully not Shooting... This is my last year, I'm done with shooting! Haha)

Happy Build Season! ::ouch::

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Grab and dump game. Just for the bragging rights.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

For bragging rights:
Relay game (with a pole)
No game pieces, less robot contact rules
Shorter or divided matches

And what I really think wil happen due to the hint: a change in the alliance system

Good luck out there tomorrow. Can't wait to see what the "almost nothing" that we have to worry about is

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

For bragging rights, my guess about the coming "change" would be that the game would be played differently for quals and elims. Perhaps a 6v0 for the quals and 3v3 for the elims with roughly the same objective.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I'm thinking the recycling bin has something to do with it all...bringing boxes/bins back... Being green/eco-friendly! Maybe catagorizing goals to dispense balls or some other field element into "recycle," "compost," "trash," etc. goals, and have to move em around or into zones. Now that there could be an educational point to it as well.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Pick and place or stacking. Probably a modified clone of a past game.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Jut for bragging rights

Mystery 3x3x60 box is a pool noodle.
Get your bumpers ready for competition correctly.:cool:

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

A x<60" robot perimeter? Looks like the change already came.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I really have no idea what I'm talking about, but I'll throw this just just like this (for bragging rights hopefully!) : the game pieces will be boxes/crates.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I say a stacking game, been ages since we had one.
Interesting note, 2003 was a placing game so was 2007, 2011 so why not 2015

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

That is simply the length of the pool noodle. A joke from FIRST on the quality of bumpers. But still that's just a theory made for the rare chance it happens.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

For bragging rights:
Hockey (with a slick surface) or golf (with fake grass) as a hockey puck or golf club could be the sixty inch package in the kit of parts...

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

+
= a game where we will have to stack boxes ...

I know it sounds a bit simplistic for the moment, but this is just the main idea of the game, and other more complex details and game objectives will be added onto this idea. All will be revealed in a bit more than 2 hours!

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Capital letters of specified changes spell out ICRRRRAMPF. Remove the repeat letters so that all letters are new, or changed. You get ICRAMPF. The only apparent word in this is RAMP, but if you remove that you get ICF, or International Canoe Federation. We are going to be canoeing up ramps. You heard it here first. ;)

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Has anyone noticed that on the FRC Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRST_Robotics_Competition) the 2015 game is listed as "Sea-saw Splash"? Is there any reasoning or validity to this?

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

I can assure you that there is no credibility behind this. After all, it is Wikipedia. For more info, you can go see this thread : http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=131624.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

This is the best logical response I've heard

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Just tell us the game already FIRST!!!!!

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Almost time... :)

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Blair's wearing a cycling jersey, I think.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Cycling, That was a reCycling bin

Change.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

We know that the game will most likely have three teams per alliance because of 4.5.1 in the administrative manual. "Practice matches are randomly assigned and each team is assigned an equal number of practice matches unless the number of teams multiplied by the number of practice matches is not divisible by six."

We know that the field will most likely be rectangular, because of AndyMark. "FIRST® has determined that this Field Perimeter has the ‘fit and function’ necessary for use in the 2015 FRC."
Link: http://www.andymark.com/Field-p/am-2800.htm


What will be the significance of "change is coming?"

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Everything they mention here is revolving or orbiting, or going in a cycle of some sort.

Re: 2015 HINT DISCUSSION
 

Another thing, that graph from PTC was a cycle in graph theory.