Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

my idea (minus any details):


similar to 2002 field, except scoring zones for balls would be a red/blue trough at opp. ends of feild. robot scoring zone is middle of feild. at any given time, there may be only three balls on the feild at any given time. if a ball is scored, or otherwise removed from play, only the alliance that removed it can put a new ball into play. the human players are the only ones who can put balls into play.
there are also two non-functional obstacles that the robots can interact with that do not affect the score.

Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

Ok Another change I would like to see is the alliance colors ( yes something petty I know ). For many many years ( subtract the early years when FIRST started out) the alliance colors have revolved around Red and Blue. To my knowledge there was only 1 year where FIRST had used 4 - 5 different Alliance colors and that was 2001 Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and whatever color to identify the fifth team during the finals (the unselected team during a match)

Now I think the only reason why Red and Blue and white have been used b.c thats the USA national flag Color and the UK's. (Personal Opinion!) but since we have Brazil in the FIRST Org. Why not we have a season of just Yellow and Green and White. not asking FIRST to change their colors just the alliance. It would be nice to see a color change.

Just like the balls this year not only where they Yellow and Black similar to 2000 - 2002 Colored Balls but they also threw in Purple Balls.


I think the field should be slightly bigger at least in length for those teams (cough cough T25) who like to have fast Drivetrains and use that in Auton mode. Like a few of u said field should be bigger for fast drive trains to be used.

now onto fun stuff.....

Start Rant Here://
There should be magnets in the game - Strong powerfull ones. The team must build a non magnetic robot but be able to use metals to give the robot robustness and strength.

Weight Limit should be increased an additional 15lbs to compensate for battery weight 140 -Robot plus 15lb for Battery = 155. Thats 15lbs extra to play around with.

Judging what the game may be, height restriction should be raised or lowered. This years robots did reach 10ft+ after the start of a match. and thats fairly unsafe if one should tip at its peak altitude.

(BTW everyone remember that chin up bar could be lowered. I have not seen that function At ALL. It was suppose to prevent teams from over working themselves in getting the robot off at the end of the match and yet I still saw teams lifting 140lbs to get the robot off. Some teams where smart anc carried around their tether or a PVC tube to get the robot un hooked. Point is Why design a field to have a saftey aspect if its not going to be used. I didn;t see it used in NYC, NJ, SVR, or the Nats. And taking two much time to reset the field using that function is not a good excuse either, Safety is more important then trying to hurry up and start the next match)


Just a thought or 2

P.S. not bashing FIRST just sighting a flaw thats all. FIRST does a very good job in making sure teams are kept safe while handling their robots such as the 4 gates around the field that weren't exsisting up until the 2002 season began. and I look forward to seeing more safety enhancements embedded into the field in future games

Mike

Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

*insert erased robot controller here* I don't think employing powerful magnets will happen... cool idea... but I don't think it's really feasible.


Since when was the weight limit 140 pounds? I don't think they should compensate for the battery... if they did that, eventually they'll start saying, "Well... since you NEED the controller, we'll compensate for that too... and the victors... and the motors, and the wiring..." The battery is part of the robot and it should be included in your weight... if it's too heavy... I guess you could find a whack of AA batteries :P



Does anyone recall team members dropping their robots trying to lift them off the bar? I know my team had no problems lifting it off there. I don't recall seeing a robot that was so high up that it would be a danger to lift... no more danger than carrying it onto the field and whatnot... Maybe if it was just one person lifting it :P


Rather than increasing the field size (which would probably happen if the following happened) what aboot having a non-rectangular field? Laff... FIRST Mini Golf ;)

Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

don't count on it......first has put alot of money into those fields and prob wont waver from the shape or size for a few years now...especially because they build 3 new ones this year

Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

I don't think FIRST likes giving advantages to teams. It is nice to have a good drivetrain, but you should not give advantages to certain teams. If you want a good drivetrain for most of the fields FIRST designs, design an omni-drive system.

I have had similar thoughts, and I agree it would be nice to see some other colors used. However, if you look at the FIRST logo, it is red, white, and blue also. It would be neat to see a tribute to our international friends by making it yellow, green, and blue one year, but I doubt we will see that from FIRST any year soon.

There are all sorts of great ideas that could make the field much more interesting, but it all costs a lot of money and FIRST is trying to keep this competition somewhat affordable, otherwise a lot of teams will start dropping out due to lack of funds.

Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

We've heard over and over that IR tracking is going to be essential in the future. I think Dave's been reading too much Harry Potter. Think Golden Snitch.

One game piece is a small autonomous robot with an IR beacon on top that moves around the field. The direction of motion is under control of a random number generator with ultrasonic range sensors for object avoidance so it can run away from robots that are trying to capture it. Its maximum speed is 3 to 5 feet per second.

Catching the snitch during autonomous is worth 100 points, catching it during driver mode is worth 50 points, and breaking it gets you no capture points and a 50 point penalty. You can extend autonomous mode to keep trying for the 100 points if you choose. Placing the snitch in a basket 8 feet off the floor gets you an extra 50 points, but if you drop it the chase starts over.

It's not a complete game. Other scoring methods would be needed along with a role for the human player.

It would explain the fascination with IR tracking.

Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

Actually, there are other ways of tracking a moving target but I am not telling.:) Its a secret. Well its not a secret persay but just something I found on the internet.

Re: Next Year....
 

It's coming soon.

We will be asking for your ideas and creativity in developing the 2005 game. But first, everyone just needs to take a break for a little while - decompress and relax for a few days. It is OK to take at least one 24-hour period and not think about FIRST at all!!! :) We will be back shortly with a few of the design heuristics and constraints that will factor into the 2005 game, and let you go all-out to come up with the best, most creative, most exciting concepts you can for next year.

In other words, watch this space for more info!

-dave

Re: Next Year....
 

you make it sound as if it isn't an effort to go through a 2-hour class without thinking about multi-motor drive trains and CVTs....

Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

Indeed... I have a nice tan from my computer monitor displaying chiefdelphi.com and websites ;)

I like the idea of trying to catch the "snitch" thing. But I think it'd have to be something more simple and robust... I think it might not be exactly financially feasible to have this little bugger getting crushed every other match ;)

Maybe instead having an IR beacon or something on/in a ball? Dump two dozen balls and the bots have to fish out the "special" balls that are indistinguishable from the normal balls. That'd probably promote some sort of feedback from the robot to the field crew or autonomous programs running during the match to detect, point out, and acquire the "special" object(s).

It might be interesting to involve that kind of "cooperation" between the robot and the players; the robot would be the driver's "eyes" in this case.

Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

Imagine a Tractor Pull start followed release of the electromagnet coupler.

I believe it would also be fun to have a Musical Chairs ending where there are 3 platforms of different difficulties. Each platform would have corresponding higher points for the more difficult or smaller platform.

I very much like scoring games. :) I also like to compare capabilities and performance of robots. As a source of ideas, I use existing non-robot games and imagine them played by robots.

Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

I think they'll keep the overhead dump but fill it with something new.

Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

I would like to see a game with this many options and more next year... It boring seeing the same outcome match after match... But look at this years game you could win by scoring balls and capping, hanging, and things like that... Options are what make the game... Maybe we'll see a game with balls, bins, and tubes all on the same field... Who knows... That would be neat because then the robots would look nothing a like... I think that would be awesome to have a lot more options... I don't know... Thats just my two cents...

Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

Call me crazy, but I liked the time multipliers from 2001.

Seconds Remaining Multiplier
0 - 29 1.0x
30 - 59 1.5x
60 - 89 2.0x
90 - 120 2.5x

It really added a great twist for strategies. It was a little difficult to explain to people that weren't well versed in the scoring rules, but it was great for those strategical thinkers I know a bunch of teams have.

Re: Next Year's game idea....
 

OK - you're crazy.

But this does help prove that, no matter how nuts it may be, there is always someone that will like just about any idea! :)

-dave