Next Years Game
 

Hey Everybody~

Just wondering if anyone had any ideas on the play for next year? I read the one about the water. Not likely. I have a feeling it will be with balls again. I even heard something about stairs(?) Maybe im not sure. Wouldnt that be a challenge!? Well, see what you think.


Ben

If i's stairs we better all look out. Dean's chair can do it but look at all the stuff on that thing. I hope we play an already popular sport. I also doubt the water idea.
C~ya,
Carolyn

it may not be likely, but then again, who expected a game with out any direct competition?
mike whos all for the water game

My guess is no balls last year. The main reason why: we've used balls for the past two years and FIRST doesn't like to make it that easy for us. I expect some sort of bizarre objects a la floppies from '99. I'm still hoping for inflatible cubes though....

Matt

my two cents
 

1: 4 v0 again
2: some sort or roatating device that the bots must place color coded times on
3: once again TIME BONUS
4: mid field obstace- my best guess is three stairs


dahl
team497

Re: my two cents
 

I'm of the opinion that we won't be doing 4v0 again. It may not be 2v2 or 1v1v1, but I think there will be head to head competition. Partly because of Lori's promise for there to be more competition in the game next year (at least I'm hoping it was a promise ;) ). I'm also of the opinion that overall the 4v0 didn't go over too well with the teams, particularly veterans. Unfortunately, I think that if we try 4v0 again, there will be a significant number of teams not returning the next year. I think FIRST knows this and will act apropriately.

Matt

Why not do 4v2???
 

It could be 4 teams trying to accomplish a task against 2 FIRST-built robots. FIRST could have a small army of robots and each time there would be a random selection (like normal) to see which perfectly-engineered robot each team would go up against. This would finally give FIRST co-workers a chance to join the games. Who wouldnt want to play a game against Dean or Woody? And it would still allow for the 4-team alliance. How 'bout that???

Couldn't go against Woodie. Who'd announce? Well, it would give The High Priest a chance to overtake him in the pin count...

I would love 1 vs 1 vs 1, but if that's too much, how about a spinning goal again?

-Ed "Who really loved Torrid Terror" McDonnell

going up against FIRST Built robot would be a hoot

talk about braggin rights if you are the first to get one over on a DK created robot- that would be about as good as winning the regional


dahl
who obviously needs to get more sun light and off the CD on the computer in the basement

Re: Why not do 4v2???
 

Like they don't have enough to do already?! Then again I'd be they'd be more likely to relax certain rules....

Matt

the only problem
 

the only problem i see with the 4vFIRST is that they would have to build alot of them because to keep the flow moving they cant stop for a broken robot and with 2 regionals a weekend min, and then at nationals they would have to have like 8 robots and that could not even be enough, think how fast rounds moved this year.

they could make a bunch of replica bots though, so it woudnt be too time consuming. one design, then just repeat a lot.
hmmm...i think robbys got something here...

I already put this in another post, but this is a good spot for it too. Today I was lucky enough to actually talk to Dean. When he said goodbye, I said "I look forward to hearing from you in January." He stopped, kinda grabbed my arm and said, "This one's so sick even I'm proud of it." Sounds like whatever it is, its going to be a doozy. My personal guess is driving each others robots. Yes, that'd get a lot of people mad, but that's the point. User-friendliness.

~Tom~

driving other teams bots?
 

I think a game like that would be a disaster. It would be very difficult to introduce someone to the controls of your robot in just a few minutes. Even though I was familiar with our robot this year, I didn't get to drive it a lot until we were getting ready for IRI. It took a good hour or so until I could perform all the basic tasks without messing up. Even then I wasn't nearly as good as our drivers.

You say that user friendliness is the key, but even that isn't good enough, it takes a familiarity with the controls and a good feel for the machine. A good example is a car. They're very user friendly, but different cars have different feels. When I drive my brothers car, it takes a few minutes to get used to the stiffness of the gas pedal, and to get a good feel for the clutch and shifter. Even then I can't really push the car to its limits (not that I would ;) ) because I'm used to the handling of my car, not his.

To relate this back to the robots, it means that we would get inexperienced drivers making all sorts of mistakes. That is not a good for the spectators. It would be like making Tiger Woods use my golf clubs. Sure he'd do better than I can with them, but not as well as with his own clubs. It's more exciting to watch someone perform with the club/robot they're familiar with.

Mike

what about the idea of using footballs? it always seems to come up every year and it would be challenging.

the first time i drove this year's robot, it took us about a minute to get from one side of the field to the other (going under the bar)... if you put a bunch of drivers that are unfamiliar with the robot they are driving, the game would be, as mike said, a disaster. The drivers from 177 (Eric O. and Me) practiced upwards of 50 hours in between hartford and nationals (with the bobcat clone we built) The only reason we were able to be as competitive as we were in florida is because of driver practice. Perfect example: battlecry.. Eric and I (the real drivers from 177) drove one bobcat, while we let everyone else who didn't drive before drive 177.5, we came home winning first and last. :)

To sum it up, I seriously doubt that FIRST would do that. I don't trust some of the people on the team when driving the robot, why would i trust someone i just met with it?

Tom Schindler
Team 177

...
 

I am not so sure...I got to drive a few robots, and it took me about five seconds to learn the ropes, however, I don't think that will be the game...

In the words of the Borg Collective: "We will adapt."

if Dean did do a game like that, it would teach us to adapt to our surroundings at a moment's notice. Idea: A team gets points for the points their robot scores, along with the points their driver scores with another robot.

Im not sure about controlling each others robots guys. Im not saying its not a possibility, but would you really trust someone with your robot that is worth the price of a small car? I mean, your team knows how your robot works. I know for a fact that no one could learn the ropes of our robot in just 2 minutes or whatever. We had to tape a piece of paper to our control board just so that WE could remember the buttons. I could be wrong about it though. I believe that Dean can come up with some pretty wacky ideas. It would be my guess this year that we'll have some sort of obstacle in the middle but all the way across the playing field. Maybe a raised platform with ramps or something of the likes? Whos knows?



~Ben

Well how about a bonus for teams that swapped drivers???
 

Similar to the bonus with the stretcher this year. Only maybe offer it in time, for example alliances get an extra minute or an extra multiplier for switching robots, and each team only has 3 robot swap coupons, like the stretcher. The extra time would be good if it was 4v0 or 4vFIRST and the multiplier would be good if it were 2v2 again or even 2v2v2 which would be really cool. Rather chaotic, but I would be right there cheering along side every team then. Not that I dont do that now :p

Re: Well how about a bonus for teams that swapped drivers???
 

I never thought of that. if you're desperate, that may be something that teams may do.

hmmm...

The stretcher idea wasn't all that great last year. Very few people had the capability while others made claims. As for driving someone elses robot. "Danger Will Robbinson" Suppose another team is driving and something goes wrong. They could blow a major component or worse the Inovation First panels. It may not be a question of trust but more of hoping something like that won't happen. How far would you go to get points in a match? Another team might think "go all the way" while you may think to be a bit more cautious. I would be more scared than having a lack of trust. The other driver may get it and be able to drive your bot fine. But there's still the off chance... I guess it's like when you first get your license and your parents tell you they trust you, it's the other drivers they don't trust. I guess I've gone on long enough, I hope this makes sense to someone.
C~ya,
Carolyn who needs duct tape on her finger.

Hmm... Robby might be on to something.

what about 2v2 where bots have to activate switches that allow the other robot to retireve balls, pass thru a barrier ect

that way it would be time finess and teamwork for the winning team



dahl
team497\

Extra Multipliers
 

Say you do get the multipliers then. And people are scared to let others drive their robot. Why not contact teams within your area before the competition then so if you are paired in competition, or looking for alliance partners you can pick those that you have driven and get the multiplier? That would promote making contact with teams before the competition and make things more userfriendly.