Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

I'm fairly certain NASA has got more important things to do with a few month's time than come up with game hints for FRC ;)

Your point about numbers being able to mean anything is accurate; however no thought is required to come up with numbers that can mean multiple things. If you give it enough thought, you can come up with a relationship between any numbers, objects, people, places, etc, whether real or imagined.

Personally, I get more amusement out of people's reactions to the "game hints" than the hints themselves. I prefer not to think about them because the possibilities are so broad that even if you nailed it right on the head, you'd have no clue until kickoff...so why agonize over it for 2 weeks?

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

Going back to the unofficial clue that was given to us earlier about the stock market, jello, K'nex blocks, and gerbils.

Stockmarket - Rises and falls
Jello - Comes in a box
Gerbils - Live in a cage shaped like a box
K'nex BLOCKS

Then adding the theroy of the counterballance from this clue, a game about stacking blocks on a counterballanced centerpiece that could tip would connect these two clues. The only part I now longer understand where it would come into play would be the IR sensor. Maybe it would be used to control something such as counterballance control that has to be controlled by the human player.

Of cource I could have these clues completely out of wack and my game may not even relate to the actual game released soon but I feel after reading 26 pages of posts that I should post something:D .

-Sam

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

Eh, it's just how it usually ended up for the past 4 seasons. Maybe this one will be different? I guess we'll all find out. This isn't to say that I don't guess either on my own, I agree with the GPS coordinate and bearing theory although I don't have a strong feeling or belief on its relevance yet.

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

#2 is FANTASTIC!!! for it also gives some meaning (in this case) to those two great big buildings south of the square that spell out EI. Question is what EXACT meaning can we draw from that???

That said, with a black body being an electromagnetic 'black hole' (practically, not technically, just relatively speaking), I might be curious about what other voids we would be filling in this game.

-Joe

PS: Curious question to the people with even closer ties to FIRST on here: do you guys or do you know of any FIRST admin that ever prints out these extremely long threads with ideas to what the year's game hint leads to and post them on some wall (or at least the 'good/funny/completely off-base' ideas) and then come back to them every once in a while just to have a good laugh??? :p I can only imagine...:rolleyes: I hope you guys are enjoying yourselves after 370 something posts... and I think we have yet to see the person stand at the said GPS location (I'm assuming that picture (proving the feat) will land itself a nice place on the wall as well). *shrugs* That all said, wOOt! for extreme FIRST dedication. :cool:

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

I might opine that anything "after Dave" is less weird than before.
Now that is interesting. Relevant, dunno, but interesting that MIT has such a tie to Copley Square.
I agree, but certain people who work for NASA, on the other hand.... (you know who you are!)

You know, this is almost as much fun as the build season!

Don

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

Ok, I'll admit that I've not read the entire 26 pages of posts, so please forgive me if this is in there somewhere.

One of the major buildings on Copley Square is the Hancock Tower. This is actually the new Hancock building - there is an "old Hancock Tower" nearby. This older building, as known to Bostonians all over the world, has a beacon or light on it which changes color between red and blue depending on the weather forcast or how the Red Sox are doing.

Now we all have these IR thingys...

So, here is my guess about part of the game: There wil be a large IR emitter in the center of the field that will signal robots that some part of the game is active (like scoring in a goal). There will be a visual signal (a red or blue light) for drivers, but relying on it will put you at a disadvantage.

Oh yeah - It most likely will be difficult for teams to build and test and will be a great pain for the field crew in the first set of regionals... But hopefully not.

-Mr. Van

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

Could this be in some relation to the IR chip that we got? People mentioned something about blind driving using the IR camra to navigate.

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

Found here: http://www.dslreports.com/faq/boston/all

I saw that too, but idk. Sounds cool though.

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

Hmmm... Signal Lights... That got me thinking...

Another famous signal that happened in the vicinity of Boston (and the Clue location) was Paul Revere's famous "One if by land, and two if by sea;"

Both: Paul Revere's house, AND the Old North Church (where the signalling occured) are within 2 miles of the clue Lat/Long. None are a bearing or distance of 342... but maybe that's the direction that the signal was made to....

This idea is consistant with the IR Clue board.
It can distinguish between 4 different IR visual signals (codes)

What if the field transmits a different IR code to all the robots based on where something is coming from, or going to?

eg: 1 if by North, 2 if by East, 3 if by South or 4 if by West.

If the field is square, this could be the side that has double points, or a penalty side (like Last years VEX game)

Phil.

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

While on the street view on google i noticed an amphibious vehicle being used for tours. i think the companies name was boston duck tours and there logo was by land and sea. and boston is also known for paul reveres ride. the thought of the lights in on IR controller being similair to paul reveres signal seems plausible too.


Just a though


ahaha and another one of my paranoid ideas


Infared radiation gets trapped by ozone which causes global warming. this causes the ice caps to melt flooding the planet.

maybe we have to build an amphibious robot where we use the IR to activate something that "floods" the field.

and then Al gore comes and makes boring speeches

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

Why does that sound somewhat like...Truckin'?

"Sometimes the light's all shining on me, other times I can barely see..."

Or, other times I can barely SEA.

Hmm...

:p

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

OK Steph, you can claim the Greatfull dead connection, but I'm calling the Paul Revere connection (Drat, already caught by maclaren)

I just mapped the two sites that I mentioned before about Paul Revere: His House and the Old North church where the signal was sent from.

Guess how far his house is from the church? 343 yards (within measurement error of 342.242)

Also, guess what the bearing is from his house to the church? Pretty dang close to 342 degrees.

Here is the Google Earth picture showing the distance in yellow and the bearing of 342.242 in magenta (or is that cyan.....)

http://www.gearsinc.org/images/oneifbyland.jpg

And just to be helpfull. Here is longfellow's account of the incident:

Written April 19, 1860; first published in 1863 as part of "Tales of a Wayside Inn"

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."

Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street
Wanders and watches, with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,
By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,--
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town
And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay,--
A line of black that bends and floats
On the rising tide like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now he gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns.

A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the $@#$@#$@#$@#,
And the barking of the farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, black and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadow brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,---
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere;=
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,---
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

Hancock Tower
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehou...530202abbbc9d#
Made by Google last March

Berkeley Building (old Hancock Tower)
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehou...&prevs tart=0
Made last August


Put them in Google Earth and float around. =)

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

Just bringing this back in, since we're talking about Paul Revere again.

Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/FRC Game Hint #2
 

I'm really hoping for a Game Hint #3 to come out soon.....for the last three years there has only one hint, this year there's been two hints so far, but I'm thinking we might be getting a third before the end of the game hint season. Things just don't seem right in twos, they seem better in threes :)

So, if we get getting clues at the current rate, we should be expected the third hint either this coming Friday or Saturday!!

Can't wait any longer! 13 days til Kickoff!