Re: What robots will seed highest?
 

I'd disagree. Looking at the periodic table of stacks the utility scales as you go up.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/at...2&d=1420418954

If you look at the requirement to score six points in game.
It is
1 tote and 1 bin
or
3 totes

Lets set that as the baseline for a scoring role. Lets scale it up to 12 points
1 tote 1 bin 1 noodle
or
2 totes 1 bin
or
6 totes

That is either one of the craziest coincidences in game design I have ever seen or intentional.
My bets are on intentional.
This could be the GDC balancing out strategy and not punishing teams for following one standard design path for this years game. It implies that they wanted a manipulation heavy robot (that is capable of controlling a tote bin and noodle quickly and effectively) to be just as valued as a stack heavy robot (that is capable of racking up 6 totes as quickly and efficiently as the bin and noodle).
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE
The 2 tote 1 bin is a sort of middle ground for both ends of the spectrum. It requires basic stacking ability and basic manipulation of bins and provides the same 12 points. Last year the two opposite ends of the scoring spectrum were (imo) a scoring bot vs a goalie bot. While technically the rules were set out to keep both roles balanced. Everyone quickly found out that there were so many areas where you could just work around a goalie bot the rules were almost written against them (the fouls for extensions, the limited area, giving up an assist in favor of defense). This year though the GDC does not punish a team for choosing a specific build path.
Shout out to that!
That is good game design....

Re: What robots will seed highest?
 

The robot that has the highest seed in district and regional competitions will be the one that:
* Can make individually make three stacks of 4-6 totes + a recycling bin during teleop.
* Has some sort of scoring ability in autonomous or can assist with coopertition.

However, in order to win in elimination rounds, an alliance must not only have the ability listed above, but must also be able to consistently get (and stack!) at least two of the recycling bins from the center.

As for the "Jack of all Trades..." As a general rule, we approach the game like this: Do one thing very, very well. Do a second thing well. Anything more than that is gravy. For the most part, there is neither time in build season not enough weight allowed to to do everything well, so choices have to be made. Doing everything "so-so" is not a viable strategy for winning anything.

Re: What robots will seed highest?
 

If you assume that the robot that stacks 3 in autonomous will then score it on the step, that's a 60 point robot at the start of the match with the capability of making stacks of 3 totes.

If you want to talk about highest seed this robot dominates. Important to note that it's scoring abilities drop by 40 points in playoffs.

Re: What robots will seed highest?
 

It wont drop off till the finals. Co-op is still there in the Quarters and Semis.

Re: What robots will seed highest?
 

Not really though.

Re: What robots will seed highest?
 

From the Manual:

In Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals Matches of the Playoff Tournament, each alliance earns match points as described in Section 5.3.3 Qualification Average.

That means the quarters and the semis are governed just as Qualification matches are.

Re: What robots will seed highest?
 

Throughout the manual, "match points" are used to determine your qualification average. In Quarters and Semis, you do not win or lose a match; you simply earn match points and these contribute to your qualification average as they did in quals (with the exception that your average gets reset to 0 at the beginning of Quarters and Semis). This does not say that you can earn match points with coopertition sets/stacks during Quarters and Semis, merely that match points determine whether or not you move on to the next level. The rule about coopertition sets/stacks is pretty clear that you can't earn those points during the playoff matches.

Re: What robots will seed highest?
 

I think a robot that can adapt to any situation with a drive team that can effectively perform in any situation will allow a high seed. If you can only do one specific thing I believe you'll drop down very quickly because there will be matches where alliance partners cannot carry you because they lack the skill/mechanisms to do so.

With a "jack of all trades" robot, if you can show that you can do everything very well, you have the ability to compliment any robot on the field.

Re: What robots will seed highest?
 

Besides being good at more than one aspect of the game, the top seeds will have reliable robots that don't waste match time sitting dead due to poor electrical connections, mechanical failure, or programming issues. In early competitions, the high seeds will be the teams that finished their robot early enough to work the bugs out of their robot and give their drivers some practice.

I may be unimaginative, but I expect to see a lot of robots that look a lot like a forklift. I don't expect to see so many that work all that well.

Re: What robots will seed highest?
 

I very much agree with these... it's most important for team's to get 'done' with something early, smooth it out, and practice with it. Pretty nearly any strategy (except only stacking totes with no ability to put an RC on top) that is implemented well can bring a team to captain an alliance.

The teams that have the top 10 or so QA's in FRC each weekend will be the ones that can stack 3 yellow totes in auto (or at least finish them quickly in teleop), put them on the step to enable the 40pt co-op, then proceed to make 2-4 stacks of 3-5 totes underneath RCs. These teams will probably have a QA of around 80-120 in the early weeks and 100-160 in the later weeks as they (and their partners) generally improve. Other teams will do well as long as they have practiced and keep the robot working smoothly.

Elims will be won by these same teams, so long as they assemble an alliance of complementary partners, make sure they don't run out of RCs, and can avoid robot failures in the finals.

Re: What robots will seed highest?
 

"Jack of all trades, master of none" dose not mean a successful robot can't be flexible. Creating stacks with RC on top is the key to high scoring a Alliance. If your team can do this and place them on the scoring or coop platform, your team will be in control of its own destiny.

Re: What robots will seed highest?
 

IMO, most "crazy robots that do everything" will not seed high because they will be less reliable. There will be the few that will excel at everything consistently, but I think betting on "jack of all trade" designs will come at a cost for most teams.