Bowling Balls!

But does anyone know how many bins were left over from last years competition? If there is a lot than maybe they will be included this year. Prehaps not a whole wall of them but five or ten.

bowling pins would be more of a challenge.

Knowing the kinds of games Dean and Woodie came up with over the last 12 years, you wouldnt have to pickup the bowling pins

or stand them up

you would have to stack them

or put them on a railing 8 feet in the air :c)

There were TONS at FIRST HQ when I was there for the Garage sale, and they weren't letting anyone take any.

They claimed it was for an off season but I've never heard of off seasons getting the actual bins from first, especially in that kind of quantity...

Hmmm...

nah, No way!

FIRST has never used the primary scoring object two years in a row.

We've had tennis ball, soccer balls, gaint inflatable balls, inner tubes, floppy doughnut things filled with shipping peanuts, the containers from last year,

Im sure Im missing some here.

Bins??? Again?!??!
The only problem is that just about the only thing you can do with bins is stack them... pretty much...
I'm not sure the bins would stick, especially after the number that were destroyed...
Plus, why have one of the same challenges over again?
Hmm...
But it is peculiar...

How about a free-for-all deathmatch? Haha, just kidding.

I think that the more robots on the feild at once, the more fun. Can you imagine teams of 4 dueling for controll of a ramp or box or ball? A lot more strategy would open up. Teams could design only for speed and maneuverability because odds are that they will always have someone who designed only for power on their alliance.

It would also make partner selection a lot more interesting.

They don't necessarily have to be the primary scoring object. Maybe it could be part of the field? Like a ramp made of bins, or a goal or other obstacle, something like that. People complained about the ramp being too expensive, so why not use the bins? They're not terribly expensive(at least not HDPE expensive), they require little to no tools to assemble, and a lot of teams already have them.

I think that autonomous mode will stay very similar this year. Dead reackoning will still be able to do decently and there will be a way to easily use sensors to assist. I also think that it will be about the same amount of time.

Why? Last year autonomous was new, but the controllers were not. Now we have a more capable controller, but there is a learning curve. Next year, I expect that autonomous mode will be expanded.

Yep. We used the same balls in 2000 and 2001. At least, some of them were the same.

Andy B.

Remember my idea:

Those free AOL CDs! :ahh:

Yep, they do. I know that we used bins from FIRST at the Maryland State Fair Competition. I think FIRST has gotten more friendly to post season competitions over the past year or so. Particularly when they're run by the same people that run regionals.

Matt

im hoping it will be really strange, like stacking kittens, or creating cold fusion right there on the field. hehehe, but that might be a little obscenely hard.

of course maybe we will have to open the crates, put something into them, close the crate, and then stack them, all while trying to undo the other team's work

I'm amazed that we're speculating already and more amazed that I'm compelled to give my two cents!

I don't see the bins coming back but I sure hope autonomous stays around. It's good fun (sorry to Josh who was almost injured by out autonomous programming). All I can say about the ramp idea is that if there is one, it'll probably be at 15 degrees, right? Who knows.

Amanda, look what you've started with this B business! I like the idea of ballons...we do have compressors you know! I could see the off season robot employed at local birthday parties, blowing up ballons at a rate of 10 a minute (i didn't do the math, so don't quote me).

If it starts with a B, I'm going for bananas! (hey, monkeys like bananas, what can I say?)

Speculating is FUN!
I heard the game teams would blindly walk into a Home Depot and the first thing they fallover on will becom the next items for the new game. (so they said)
;)

I have absolutely no clue other that i would be shocked if auto mode left.