Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

https://youtu.be/PtKH-1WJ-dU

We were as surprised as anybody to see that shot go in. Working vision code has been one of the many benefits of finishing the robot week 3.

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

It really seems that the portcullis falls MUCH slower than the field tour made it out to be, which miffs me a bit.


Man you have no idea how much I wanted to do vision code this season... so little time to do it though.

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

Thanks to 2220 and 3184 for co-hosting the even we attended. More robots were running and able to practice on the field vs. recent years.

As expected, vision is a big deal. Positioning of defenses is so key in what drivers can see. Of the 26 teams in attendance, 6 were able to shoot high. I believe there were 3 that did not bring their manipulators.

As Ginger Power mentioned before, bumpers were an issue.

Hope everyone makes good progress these next 3 days.

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

I was unable to attend the 1741 scrimmage, any reports on their robot?

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

What was your biggest problem with the aiming? Just the time it took or couldn't find the tape...?

I personally was surprised about how little depth perception you have when the goal is that tiny and that far away. Shooting high goal was a dice roll.

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

For the teams that were there, how little visibility did you really have?

I always thought that, although you cannot see your robot from behind the drawbridge, you still could "know" where your robot last was, in a sense.

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

From alliance stations two and three you can not see the feeder station.
Teams consistently struggled to line up properly to drive back thru the draw bridge and Sally port. Otherwise it wasn't that bad

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

We had a very different experience. Visibility is brutal in this game. It's nearly impossible to see balls in the opponent's courtyard.

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

I think the alliance that wins champs will have at least one bot that can score from well beyond the batter.

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

Why?

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

My thought is because of unpredictability.... if all you do is go to batter and shoot a singe defensive bot can ruin you day very easily via many different avenues. Batter only is way easy to defend with even a kitbot

If instead you can shoot far/high/low then the single defensive robot cannot key on any one repeated move.

I have a feeling in real games defenses are going to dominate those bots that show predictability in having a favorite/only shooting spot. The scouts will have that in their notes.

So teams that scout will find the bots that should just play defense in a match and those on the other side that show predictability as in needing a sweet spot like the batter. Its hard enough hitting the high goal without any defense with its nearly impossible with another bot ramming into you or getting in your way where you cannot see clearly and good luck for your spy telling you real time move info.

I do think versatile shooters will prove to be choices over a batter only bot as I'm fairly certain teams will be able to handle batter shot only bots with a weaker member of their alliance playing only defense.

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

Of 19 teams at our practice session, only 3 could score goals with any consistency. All of them were set up for high goal. Many "low" bots could not get under low bar. 3 bots had implements outside their frame perimeter and are having to redesign.

Wooden outerworks had quite a bit of wood missing at end of day

Human player was almost non-existant due to very few shooters in both spy box and "bowler".

Not a single robot seemed to have been built for defense. I thought maybe some of the rookie bots would have gone this way.

3 bots trying to go through obstacles was very crowded. Even worse if you were a shooter and alliance members kept running into you. Can't imagine what it would be like if you added a defensive bot into the mix.

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

We attended the week 0 in Nevis mn. 14 teams very fun and informative. Thanks to TnT
One shot HG well several others attempted and need some tuning
Most could cross non manipulator defense
I think 3275 was the only one to do the Sally port and lift the gate
Hard to see w/o camera
Had one team climb
Lots of robot parts on the field
Teams will need to communicate well to win
Scouting will be crucial

Re: Week 0 Discussion
 

When refs miss defense crossings it's painful, especially with manipulated defenses.

You'll see here that a red portcullis crossing is missed.

https://youtu.be/tRs7lJmzNVw?t=49

At the end of the match you'll actually find that we (319) cross over the defenses again to get in position cross it for a third time. In that time our teammate crosses it for the third time, breaching the defenses.

We make it back over in the nick of time to get on the batter, but it never should have been this close.

This scenario is particularly frustrating because in this case, two robots were distracted with a task that shouldn't have been necessary.

In a game that winning will be the result of using your time the most effectively, this could be really tough.