Re: pic: Game hint
 

thanks! I think that any game hints are a great way to get everyone thinking about this stuff, and having a nice highly technical one is that much better.

The big white connector could be used to connect power to the board, or used for programming, or who knows?

If you get the board, you could figure it out pretty easily by tracing the circuitry to the PIC and see what the function of the pins is.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

OK EE guys, what is the white thing labeled PB1?

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Pushbutton 1?

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Doesn't need to be an EE--read the manual (which is now up at the site), that's the "learning" button.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Thanks

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Which part actually receives the IR signals, is it the piece labeled S1?

Re: pic: Game hint
 

The white connector is most likely for programming the PIC. Seems power comes from the 10 pin header connector.

Yes, S1 is the sensor.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

@tawnos23 yeah it is. that big sphere/cube looking thing

Re: pic: Game hint
 

... *sigh* ... Dave, Joe ... pick a night in '09.... I guess I have lost.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

lol

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Did a little more research on this.

Found this on wikipedia: "Levels was originally known as Levels Cross Roads because of its location at the intersection of four roads in north-central Hampshire County"

Could the game involve a sort of "crossroads", or very central location of gameplay? I'm almost thinking a gamefield like 04' with steps and a central endgame.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

This has been mentioned before but: It would be cool if there were different targets that you had to sense which was the right one using IR and then use that one. I am putting my money on that right now. Prove me wrong and get a penny and some pocket lint :D

thanks, vivek

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Our team received an email, but to the best of my knowledge we haven't received the board yet. It may still be in the mail, or our mentor may have gotten it and not told us yet, or whatever.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

How about using a remote control to select one of 4 (or 16) autonomous modes after the field initialization?

I'd be playing with the hint board and last year's robot to see if I could make it do different things just by "changing channels" on an old TV remote (available at any thrift store)

Re: pic: Game hint
 

I don't think FIRST would take that risk, due to the fact that some moron with a universal remote sitting in the stands could probably alter the game...

Re: pic: Game hint
 

touche

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Wouldn't that only work if the moron's remote had been trained with the IR board? That's the sense I got from the user's manual.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Well guys here's what I think:
The IR board says "2007 FIRST". I think this means we could be using 2007's Inflatable Rings again.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

That would apply to ANY use of the game hint board, wouldn't it?

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Good point.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

My initial suspicion is that you are right about using the IR to switch to one of four possible auto modes after the field is set up, but I have a few other thoughts to add based on our experience of using IR remote controls and PICs to run mini-sumo robots for the past several years.

First of all is the issue of channels. With RF transmitters you can change the crystal or frequency synthesizer to transmit your signal on a specific wavelength, and tune your receiver to only receive signals transmitted on that wavelength. Pretty much all IR remote controls, as far as I know, operate on the same (or overlapping) wavelengths of light. Therefore everyone is "talking" on the same "channel".

To make the signal stand out from the background "noise" IR remotes flicker the LED on and off. 38kHz is the standard for the Sony IR protocol, but other brands use other frequencies. The receivers are tuned to only receive a signal that flickers at the correct frequency. Since these flickers all occur in the same wavelength, however, they can jam each other when more than one signal is emitted at a time.

This means that having robots controlled by IR signals coming from more than one source, when each source is transmitting at the same time, could present problems. (I believe someone mentioned the challenges in programming more than one Lego League RCX unit in a room at the same time and the need to control IR reflections.)

It is also much easier to buy a $4.00 multi-brand remote and program it to use a given IR protocol (IE the Sony Protocol) than it is to build a Learning receiver. (You can receive a Sony IR signal with a PIC, a PNA4602M, and 12 lines of BASIC code. Reprogramming the remote requires four button presses.)

So why a "learning" receiver... perhaps because (as suggested earlier) the receivers will learn a signal from the field crew at the regionals. This way FIRST could ensure that the signal and modulation they are using are not used by any commerical IR remote control units, making it less of an issue if people in the stands happen to have "IR keychain remotes" and such.

However it is also possible for the RC... when hooked up to an IR LED... to be programmed to emit an IR signal. All you do is pulse a digital output, really. Each team could be assigned a particular code (team number, perhaps), and would train the receiver to pick up on this signal so that they could test whether or not they were transmitting properly. Perhaps you score by transmitting your signal to a goal. But that kind of clashes with the whole "jamming" problem.

In any case, I promised myself I wouldn't get tied up over the game clue this year... congrats to the GDC for making me break that promise.

Jason

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Did any one check the 2008 Blast Archive? I didnt see anything about a "December Gift" in there...

Keaton

Re: pic: Game hint
 

They tell us rhyming riddles, post crazy images, and send us things to examine.
I have a feeling that next year the hint will be to stick your hand in a box like those Halloween games where you put your hand in dog food or something and you have to guess what it is. :p (but of course instead there will be distorted melted things that disappear after a minute just to make it more complicated. lol)

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Here are my sleep deprived thoughts.

In the User Guide under step 5. Operation it states the signal is the strongest in an angle of roughly +/- 30-40 degrees from the normal... Hmm staying on course, stay the course, something presidential, the president works in the oval office, alas! oval shaped game objects. - Game objects will be white considering the color of the White House.

Can be trained with a universal remote... a tv watching robot competition. Bonus points will be awarded to the robot that switches their tv to the Colbert Show with Dean Kamen being interviewed.

This is a receiving device and therefore I think that it has to do with strengthening our autonomous mode. For the past two years, FIRST has given us the option of tracking a green light. This may be an alternative or an addition to the process. The robot may receive a signal from a field transmitter and act accordingly. This signal could never come from any human operator for that would defeat the purpose of autonomous mode. The receiver would be programmed at the beginning of a regional event to correspond to the events specific transmitter.

Hmm IR is a sensor that reads a certain spectrum of light, light is always prominent during the competition, maybe there will be various light sources (4?) the robot will be able to utilize during a match.

Of course, this is all speculation. However, my final idea comes back to the remote control idea. I'm thinking about when a pesky neighbor has a remote to your tv and they change the channel while you're watching it. Just imagine a randomizer or FIRST official that uses this receiver to disable it or make it function in a different way. Dave will have a master remote to all of our robots!!!

Happy holidays everyone!!! 20 days to go.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

What if... since we all are making hypothesis... that the IR will be on each robot to tell them which period it is in, as in offense or defense or free for all, like 2006 game. Which may mean multiple autonomous modes... as the IR will tell the robot which state its in? Or it could mean that autonoumous mode is broken up into parts or autonomous mode may be different per match so that some times one team will be offense or one team will be defense.

I am so excited I can hardly finish up my last few college apps (4 left out of 15).

Re: pic: Game hint
 

defiantly indeed. Freudian slip?
Perhaps, but how to "send' that data once it gets there?
38 kHz is a standard modulating frequency for IR remotes, used by almost all manufacturers. The IR receive module from Radio Shack is centered on 38 kHz as well.
The idea is to filter out the 38 kHz Carrier (that is, demodulate the data) to dramatically increase the resistance to noise and stray IR. Any such circuit will have low sensitivity to carrier frequencies other than 38 kHz. Cable TV remotes generally do NOT use 38 kHz to avoid interfering with (or controlling) the TV/VCR/DVD/etc to which they are attached.
This assumes that sanity was the starting point... Alas, and sadly, this is not so...:p

-...-

What we know:
1. Not a hoax
2. Used for FRC 2008
3. Can be used to receive/decode up to 4 IR signals, and act upon them.
4. Compatible with systems on the Robot.
5. The team can pick (teach) the four IR signals...
6. It works from at least a few feet away.

Speculating, if it's on the 'bot, and the 4 signals are unique* to a team, then only that team** can do something with it - sounds like a remote version of the autonomous "version" switches many teams use.

Teams will need to change autonomous*** strategies after the field is set and teams are at the player stations, but before the match begins. This board allows that.

Don

* They get to pick the remote & buttons used for teaching, right?
** Hypothetically, two teams could pick the same remote AND the same buttons...but that's unlikely, and can be mnodified at competition anyway.
*** Or maybe change something fundamental during regular play, but I suppose the OI can be used for that...

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Changing your autonomous mode from the players' station - doesn't that come really close to defeating the purpose of the autonomy of it? If you need to change your autonomous at the last minute, a binary switch on the RC can do that very easily...

Re: pic: Game hint
 

i agree, it seems like way too much hassle for you to do something that 1 you should already have planned before the match and 2 it would be easier to just have a manual switch on the robot that you can change while setting it up for that match, there is almost no time anyways from when you set it up till when the match begins, so theres not much time or need to change your mind.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Wow. I'm really confused and my brain hurts. Watch this really be a hoax. lol that would be great.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

I agree. Seems like a lot of effort for so little purpose... Also, commenting on people's ideas of "robots going from station to station to get data to score points": would that not be the most boring game you've ever seen. Seriously, if that was the game, I'd cry. I can just see it now... everyone sitting in the stands and an announcer trying to sound enthusiastic about a robot getting data...

That's about as exciting as making a sandwich... or maybe thinking about making a sandwich...

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Probably thinking about it; seeing a robot trying to handle mayo might be at least a little funny, if not exciting...

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Haha, Subway is now a FIRST sponsor...

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Getting data would be a lousy game (though it would also be grounds for a nice fifty-motor drive, since you probably wouldn't need much in the way of an arm). But let's suppose there was a specialized field element robots had to negotiate to receive some information that is relevant to their interests. A box or area that robots had to stick the sensor into could make for an interesting test, particularly if that information can make the difference between a Good Robot and a Great Robot.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

I like the idea someone else came up with of using the infared soccer ball that was posted earlier.

A game piece involving infared would be more interesting... I don't know why you would need an infared sensor to use it though... unless you wanted to get to this game piece during autonomous mode...

Thinking about it, the real question we need to be asking is: why the need to go infared when we already have the CMUcam...

Re: pic: Game hint
 

YEAH!! Look at those 0's and 1's just fly into team xxxx's IR chip!! Yes ladies and gentlemen, they are moving at the speed of light! Aww, it looks like they got knocked over....

At least the game pieces wouldn't get stuck on the freaking flag :p

-vivek

p.s. It might be cool if the game pieces were identical in everyway except that they put out different IR signals. two goals: wrong IR game piece gets one point, correct IR game piece gets two points? eh... I need to do my homework.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Hahaha, that is an advantage to a pretend game piece...

Re: pic: Game hint
 

No, not a water game, or a Jello game....but a MAYO Game!!

(Ewww).

Re: pic: Game hint
 

honestly, I can't get a clear idea of what this is used for.:confused:

but I wonder if they are leaving out an item left in the kit. Such as a transmitter perhaps?

Perhaps we will be able to interact with other robots without harming them. (like lazer tag).

One thing I have noticed is that we are forgetting that FIRST may have left other parts relating to this device in the kit and secret.

We should probably take into account the possibility of items kept secret.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

if you notice, it says shes from from virginia on stumble upon, and maryland on ilounge. but nice job sherlock.:D

Re: pic: Game hint
 

I'll say it again... this IS the game piece... get your circuit board harvesters ready!

Re: pic: Game hint
 

if so, I hope these are cheap and more robust that them tubes :D

-vivek

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Ok, so basically, I would have to guess this in fact is what will be in the KOP, but considering you only get one end of the wire in this "hint" there will be a complete set in the '08 KOP. What? Like 20 more days now?

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Interesting. This makes me think of the Mindstorms RCX in the fact i've used it as a jammer to stop people from changing the tv channel away from the one i'm watching, simply by telling it to send message 1-10 and repeat. That completely jammed the remote from getting any response out of the tv.

My thoughts are this will go on the robot to respond to how the fields setup.
And being able to use any tv remote allows you to emulate the actual field.
Im picturing a large transmitter (or several small ones preferably) placed around the outside of the field that send messages to the robots be it autonomous or normal gameplay.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

@willitblend

LOL I think that it would blend...

:D

-vivek

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Oh btw I believe the other end of the cable is an exact replica, so maybe thats how FIRST saved money on shipping these out, they just snipped these in half lol. Considering it will have a replica opposote side, there may be some piece that was not included in the hint but will be included in the KOP. The part may either be a field element such as a ball, or a part placed on the robot. If no other part will be in the KOP, then obviously this IR thing will be installed somewhere upon the field, and this thing will in fact be used to train the bot to adhere to any autonomous controls on the field. I hope that made sense.:D

Re: pic: Game hint
 

rofl

Re: pic: Game hint
 

haha ever since I've seen that site ive broken that out at every oppurtunity... and it was all thatks to Dave's post on another thread i can't recall...so on behalf of me and my group of friends I thank you for another inside joke...

[start insane conjecture] maybe this is an elaborate plan to keep us away from our computers playing with this while the real game hint is released! or not [/conjecture]

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Nah, didn't you hear? Dave isn't even in the GDC this year.

-vivek

EDIT: :p

EDIT2: You know you are addicted to FIRST when you have been sitting here on the gaem hint page for 7 hours on a sunday...

Re: pic: Game hint
 

We are given a rainbow ribbon wire for an infrared receiver, am i the only one who thinks the absence of ultra violet means something?

perhaps ultra violet is supposed to clue us to some sort of sun related theme or game piece.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

That's incredible, two pages came up in the twenty minutes that I was reading all the posts that came up overnight. And at least 16 members looking at this page. For what I originally intended to say, 766 hasn't gotten our package or email yet, or our contact is unavailable. :confused:

Re: pic: Game hint
 

well, it is a sunday so our school is closed and mail/fedex doesnt work on sunday? correct me if im wrong.

-vivek

Re: pic: Game hint
 

XD You know youre addicted to first when Chief Delphi is on your FireFox bookmarks toolbar.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Correct.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

waait a minute... Is that piece of paper in the picture smaller than 8x11? I hope so. Other wise those led's must be huge!

-vivek

Re: pic: Game hint
 

in that case, Most teams that have not gotten them might have not gotten them due to the fact that fedex doesn't work on Sunday. Give it a few days before assuming its a hoax guys.

-vivek

Re: pic: Game hint
 

But how can it be an official email blast? I'm the alternate contact for my team and did not receive an email. I've received every other email that has been sent to frcteam@usfirst.org, but not this one :( I want one of these things soooo badly now....

Re: pic: Game hint
 

ok, Im going to get off CD for a day or two until our team can confirm this thing.

-vivek

Re: pic: Game hint
 

or your homepage for firefox xD

Re: pic: Game hint
 

That white 6-pin connector looks like it might be a standard ICSP connector, used for programming the PIC. This opens up the possibility of loading custom code onto the board, but I have a feeling that FIRST won't allow that.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Oh and Kate Pilotte was in charge of the 07 K.O.P.
our team 1625 and 111 wildstang attended a sensor expo summer of 2006.
While we were there I knew she was hunting around for sponsors so being my curious self i kept a close eye on who she talked to;) .
The second day of it however we had our oh so brilliant minded animator (also my arch enemy:D ), was the only person who could go and he didn't keep an eye on her!! so if he had payed attention that day we may know the exact background of this thing. CURSE YOU PETE!!! (buddyb309)

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Ah, another fun game hint (or what appears to be one) only a few weeks before kickoff, just to torment us all further. Who else loves the Christmas season?

Now, my weigh ins on some previously mentioned ideas as well as my own...

1. Although cool, I don't see this as an inter-robot communication device. Each alliance would be limited to only 4 signals they could send between the robots, and for them to mean anything, there would have to be a universally adopted code between all teams in FIRST. Every team would have to know that receiving a COM0 signal means "head to left side of field", "score gampiece", "inflate clown balloon", etc. To be honest that seems like a rather boring use of signals, as only four commands for the whole alliance doesn't give many options in terms of what to do.

2. Is this the end of the CMUCam? With the success and usefulness it's gained in more recent auto-modes, I don't see the camera ever leaving competition permanently, but I do think FIRST could take a break from it. The camera has already been mastered by a few teams, and alot have it working, even if the rest of their auto isn't up with it. I see a departure from cameras for a few years in favor of IR challenges, such as back in 2004, so everyone has a challenge again. Then once we've all figured this one out we may go back to the cameras, combine them both, or go on to something else new.

3. If FIRST does actually intend on using remote controls with these (not just as a test method), they will have to supply their own special controllers at competitions. Otherwise the risk is too high that two teams will bring the same remotes and use the same buttons, which would guarantee interference. Human players directing robots with remote controls would be interesting, perhaps a section of the field will be obscured from driver view or will have driver control removed so that only the remote may operate the robot? I hope such a system wouldn't be implemented in autonomous mode, as this would defeat the point of it (something about no human control...).

4. I keep having a leering suspicion of something akin to a game suggestion I made last year, involving goals with lights above that didn't turn on to indicate which alliance they scored for until autonomous began. Imagine four goals on the field each with an IR emitter that doesn't activate until autonomous begins. Two goals send out a signal indicating red goal, while the other two send out signals to signify a blue goal. Which goals score for which alliance are random each match, making a dead reckoning autonomous potential suicide in which you score 20 points for your opponents. Visual alliance indicators are then revealed after autonomous so teams that don't attempt to find the signal may still score in operator mode.

Unlike 2004 when teams had to figure out which emitter they were looking at themselves, FIRST is already giving us the tools to distinguish between multiple IR transmissions on field. Sounds like they must want us to use it for something, all will be explained on January 5th, but I really don't want to wait quite so long.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

That souns very cool. I really hope it's something like that!

Re: pic: Game hint
 

I'm one of the alternates for our team and I did receive the email. I checked the message headers and it does appear to originate from FIRST. It will be tomorrow before I can check at the school to see if we've received a package.

I don't think this is a hoax, although how relevant it will be to the 2008 game is yet to be seen.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Vivek, we all know that doing this is physically impossible.:p
Anyone thinking Wii nunchuck controlled robots? :rolleyes:

Re: pic: Game hint
 

How about Guitar Hero guitars controlled robots? How cool would that be!

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Hey CD!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I have a cool idea (which probably is a couple years away in terms of FIRST actually doing it..but MAYBE it will be for this year.)

FIRST becoming economical....VIRTUAL GAME PIECES

Even though FIRST usually has their game pieces at least partially donated by supplier partners, a very interesting concept to me would be virtual game pieces.

Imagine a game in which there are four locations on the field with integrated IR signal emitters that give out a red, blue, green, or yellow signal (for example) when a robot comes up to it with their IR receiver.

Once the team is within range of the receiver, the signal is picked up by the robot and a beacon (maybe like a LED light on the robot) lights up the color given out by the IR signal. This is equivalent to a Virtual Game Piece.

Bringing the virtual game piece to the correct colored goal scores a point.

Advantages of this idea:
1) no need for game pieces....(Saves LOTS of money for teams and FIRST)
2) instant score board updates (since it is all controlled by the IR signals)
3) Game is different every time since you might not know which color you will get at each station.

Disadvantages:
1) Not sure if we will have IR transmitters too...to send the goal the scoring info.
2) Unlikely that FIRST will ever get rid of a real game scoring piece...this might be used for a bonus or big point objective.


As always...I am probably over analyzing the situation...but thats what I do best:)

-Gabe G.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

sigh... I guess you are right.

:D -vivek

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Re: pic: Game hint
 

while this would be pretty cool: rookies would have a harder time with it maybe. It would be WAY less interesting to watch from an ordinary nonfirster's point of view.

-vivek

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Wii want to play... wii want to play very very badly:D

Re: pic: Game hint
 

maybe 4 LED's mean 4 team on the field as opposed to 6!

meaning possibly a 2v2 instead of a 3v3 or maybe even a free for all with 4 robots?

So 4 unique commands for 4 unique robots?... maybe? :confused:


*Edit* 4 "receiving" LEDS + Error LED *edit*

Re: pic: Game hint
 

LMAO!!!!!

Now the hard part will be deciding whether to name our robot Britney, Beyonce, Paris, or Lindsay!!!!!! :rolleyes:

One of those pictues that you have to stare at for a few minutes before you see a 3D image would be cool as well. lol

Re: pic: Game hint
 

i was thinking of an explanation the email not being the usual FIRST email blast. Perhaps, if the email's were indeed falsified, the perpetrator(s) searched the CD members list for those listing their team role as a mentor, and sent the supposed FIRST email to them (accounting for alternate contacts who have not received the email). The email inconsistency and the fact that i cannot navigate to the circuit board documentation using the FIRST site (I can only get to it through the URL in the picture) both keep me hesitant to totally believe this is the real deal. But then again, maybe it is.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

My point. That would work about as well as Dave getting excited about virtual Krispy Kremes.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

hey - Dave gets excited about ANY Krispy Kremes!!!



-dave



.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

How do we know this is a hint for 2008?

Seriously. Knowing the GDC (or specifically, Dave...)

also...
Maybe the fact that only some people have gotten it has to do with their status? Who's paid for their events?

Re: pic: Game hint
 

That kind of looks like a boiled bagel, Dave. Sorry, but I just cannot trust your googling abilities anymore.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

my mom got the email and she dosent have an account on here, and is the secondary contact for a rookie team....so unless they had a list of tims contacts theres no way they could spoof that...

Re: pic: Game hint
 

hmmm, i couldn't think of any other way that some TIMS contacts would not recieve a supposed email blast.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

ah man. finals this week. Looks like i won't think at all about this... unless we get one. Then i'm going to be the one thinking all about this. ouch.

Well, it looks like the breadboard companion I soldered up for my digital electronics class, with its leds. Tell me its something more exciting though.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Have you ever tried to put a cable assembly back together that has been simply "snipped in half". I work at a place where we make cable assemblies for all kind of companies including FIRST sponsors & supporters and leaders in technology like Harris, Raytheon, DEKA, & more, and we make terminated (ie: snipped) cables for specific reasons that the customers request of us.

If your theory is correct, I doubt we will get the other half, but rather a full cable with a mystery connector on the other end.

That's kind of sad. No offense.

It looks square. 8x11 is not square. lol

What if this item was only sent to certain teams? I don't know why that would be, but I remember our team signing up for experimenting with a board from National Instruments a few years ago. Maybe they selected teams who would receive this board this year by a lottery of past electrical based award winners & people who signed up to use that expierimental software as well back in the day?
AKA: Rookies need not apply?*** :o I don't know. It doesn't sound like the "level playing field advantage" that every team has had in the past if it is in fact part of the 2008 competition, but if not every team has gotten one or will not be getting one then maybe that explains it? idk.

We got one of the 2008 boards btw.

That could be a factor as well. Good thought Libby. Just one more thing to think about when teams say they haven't gotten theirs yet.

*** See below post.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Okay, so I already posted this but it's been zipped by...

also...
Maybe the fact that only some people have gotten it has to do with their status? Who's paid for their events?

Re: pic: Game hint
 

eh... none taken... I think...

-vivek

Re: pic: Game hint
 

then how come my mom got an email and shes the alt contact for a rookie team?

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Both valid points.

As for the "virtual gamepieces" idea, I'm not a fan of it, at all. When I first attended the Buckeye Regional with my dad, I had never even thought about robots before then. After seeing these machines built by highschoolers doing cool stuff was what fascinated me, and now I'm very active on my team. No offense, but had I watched a competition about us getting certain data or whatever, I would have steered clear for the rest of my life, maybe a load of other students. In fact, I think FIRST wouldn't have survived after the first year of doing so.

How important is this
 

2008 is going to be my second season on a FIRST team and will also only be the second year our school has a team. My question: Why take up 19+ pages on guesses?

Just to waste time?
or
Just for fun?

I don't see the reason for the guessing. We'll all find out what it is soon enough. Right?:confused:

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Hmm.. I see. So maybe just a regular lottery of all participants in '08, or some people just haven't gotten theirs due to weather, or normal shipping restraints.

I'm now happy to know Rookies were not excluded in the gift. :cool:

I'm sorry, but was that a serious question? :confused:
Sorry. Couldn't resist asking that. Just play along with it. It's fun.
The seemingly simple explanation I can think of is FIRST (as a whole organization) has liked to generate a "BUZZ" about the new game before it's been released for quite a number of years now. Some great things come out of the discussions, even if they don't come to be a part of the game this year.
I'm guessing the GDC has even maybe gone back to these hint threads, and pulled some feasible items or actions for future games from the guesses.
In any case, it gives us a change to chat about the new game before we're all too busy building robots & our stress levels are up. We may get stressed about the hint, but you shouldn't.
It's the calm before the storm, aka: The 6 weeks of hell! :eek:

Re: How important is this
 

no fun waiting IMHO lol. and for me its only 4 (50 posts per page or something) xD...

but ya its too long of a wait till the 5th

Re: How important is this
 

It's my first year on CD, second year in FIRST. Last season, after we had our first meeting in December, January 5th took too long. This lots of fun for most of us. Will we even come close to guessing the game or what this is for? Probably not. But it's cool to see all the different views and opinions on something so simple. Some people posted stuff I've never thought of, and maybe the GDC will use some of the musings here in future games or rules.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

I think that dave might have influenced those people at the GDC a bit too much... :p

-vivek

p.s. I still think that you kids should wait a couple of days before jumping to conclusions. Maybe the email list got cut off, maybe only some teams got the boards because of their location, maybe everyone will get the boards if you waited a couple of days.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Seriously? Can't be.

Speculation, particularly wild (but plausible) speculation is what makes this kind of thing fun. Kind of like science fiction.

We're creative types, but with a engineering bent, so speculating excites the creative juices and satisfies the need to be creative. But geeks have their limits.... Also, don't take stuff so seriously.

If this doesn't make sense, then I have some puzzlement.

Don

Re: How important is this
 

True story - 2007 - I was sitting in the stands with 1902 as their team mates competed on Einstein with their alliance partners. A few rows down from me sat KathieK and a few rows down from her sat Dave. As I watched the teams competing, I thought about a clue we received right before the start of the 2007 season. It was an interesting clue and KathieK and I exchanged a couple of PMs. She wondered if I saw fingers in the clue. Nope, I didn't see any fingers.

Wrong.

I sat there absorbing the moment with a 2nd year team and a loud contagious cheer, thinking about the very beginning of the incredible season, starting with a mysterious clue - and all I could do was smile.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

None of the Team 980 contacts (Main, Alternate/Shipping) have received the e-mail or circuit board itself. We did have an issue with a payment from a non-profit org to FIRST not being credited because our team number wasn't on the check, but that was resolved last Tuesday.

We'll wait until next Wed. to contact FIRST. Perhaps by then, the "hoax" will have been uncovered or everyone officially registered will have received their "December gift".

Either way, this exercise shows just how hungry we all are for next season's challenge!!

Re: How important is this
 

Wrong, honestly i'm a rookie and the whole Jan 5th excitement has already gotten to me, I've spent idk 6-7 hrs on this board and I spent all morning trying to confirm this as an offical FIRST object, which right now is my decision that it is an offical object (after i think 3 DNS traces, and a few IP traces), and yea i've gone somewhat sleep less on thinking on what the game might be this year.

Re: How important is this
 

To all the rookies reading this:

Welcome! This is the beginning of the end. Game Hint Season.
[credit to Michelle Celio for naming the next 2 weeks.]

Re: How important is this
 

im used to the whole beginning of the end thing was part of FLL for 2 years until my school stopped it but the Hint Season is just downright currently nerve wrecking. :D but im keeping my cool from jumping all over the place.

As for my rookie game theory, im working on it.

Re: How important is this
 

Emphasis mine. :rolleyes: :p

Re: pic: Game hint
 

my guess is beachballs.

Re: pic: Game hint
 

Our team's paid for everything (I think), but it is a Sunday, so... that leads to more indecision. We haven't gotten either a board or an email, and we aren't rookies. And I don't think FIRST would do anything not to keep the field as level as possible. Will each team post whether they've gotten their's?

Re: pic: Game hint
 

lol

this is my FIRST "game hint season"... I'm pretty excited.

last year, I found out about the program so late that there was no build up. nobody know about it at all. rookie team. premeeting, workshop at the U of Minnesota, kickoff, boom...

-vivek