Re: Game Hint #1
 

I think it is definitely some sort of odd surface, like a lunar bumpy surface or a tilting ramp, or multi platforms!!

also i agree with the no prebuild!!!

Re: Game Hint #1
 

? You lost me on this one.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Its greek and latin, like most scientific names, not Swedish. Brilliant/clear and speckled/spotted.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

You're not the only one...

And I wouldn't know if the "600,000" speech was last year, because frankly, I doze in-and-out of the speech sections every year. :rolleyes:

Re: Game Hint #1
 

My serious thoughts: Moon fish is an allusion to the playing field being somewhat lunar; rocks, craters, etc... (Not real, of course, but some sort of wood/PVC concoctions). I can imagine TPTB wanting to give the game some sort of potential real world application (or would lunar exploration be out-of-this-world?) Additionally, after years of building drivetrains, we're all pretty comfortable with throwing one together that functions on level ground. They're mixing things up with the cRIO instead of the IFI this year, so who's to say that they're not contimuing this trend?

My optimistic, yet completely unrealistic thoughts: "Opah" is a homonym of "Opa!". This year's challenge will involve flaming cheese.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Lampris in latin is torch :)
torch to me meens flashlight (British)
that could be the code

or
lamp + fish = angle fish?

or
lampris gut at us (latin)
torch neck but foreign (english) ?????????

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I don't think we should get too hung up on the background bleedthrough words and image. It doesn't look like FIRST scanned this image in or even modified the pixels in the image. It looks like the picture was scanned in and the scanner was sensitive enough to pickup the next page. I'm guessing this was a book of fishes that were listed in alphabetical order. The next fish appears to be the Lancetfish, just after our Lampris Guttatus. If you look at the picture of the Lancetfish is does seem to match up with the sillouette in the clue.

I'm guessing the take away here is either the word moon or fish. I think we can toss the fish part as Dave's way of having fun with us and safely say focus on the moon. That's just my $.02.

Andy

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Sorry, my brain is completely fried.

During one of the kickoffs, there was an interesting speech about how a typical FIRST season requires about 600,000 hours of thought, not one of which will be spent on pop culture drivel.

I was trying to estimate the brain-hours spent on marine biology so far. Again, none of these hours were spent on pop culture drivel.

Nothing to see here, dead brain walking, move along...

Re: Game Hint #1
 

completly ramdom but if you go to this website you can see how big these fish really are.:ahh:


http://www.mexfish.com/fish/opah/opah.htm

Re: Game Hint #1
 

all these fish clues = icthyology

icthyology sounds like "icky"

maybe that truly describes what we are headed for....

Of course the fish clues might point to the continuing destruction of the world's oceans and reflect a need for conservation and preservation of the polar ice caps

At least one thing we can say for FIRST is that it got a bunch of robonerds to learn something about obscure fish species on a large scale.

OK- I'm fin'ished

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Oh, I got that part.

Dave is the one who usually mentions Paris Hilton but he usually doesn't post in the hint thread.

So, if he doesn't post, that lowers the chances of the mention of Ms. Hilton or the other one. Which is a good thing.
I'd rather talk about the 600,000 hours of thought/brain power...even fried brain power.

Rock on, Eric.

Mr. C - even I couldn't make puns that bad. Really.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Has anybody ever thought to look at this page...
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...96d5f5a3b3b64f
It talks about the Opah, the name of the fish, being an engineering software for small hydropower plants...

Re: Game Hint #1
 

In this you'll get no argument from me. I just find it odd that they'd leave the backwards text in.

Personally I think the moonfish is a reference that there will be multiple levels.
Moon is high in the sky
Fish dive deep into the ocean

Another reason for my belief is that they were touting the shock rating of the cRIO when they were introducing it.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

The picture was obviously scaned from a book, that expains the backwards text and the shadows in the background. As of what i know, the text is just a description of the opah, because it is just a book. If you wanted to get technical, you could find the book they scanned it from, which would be pointless.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

http://www.australianseafoodexports....rderonline.htm

After looking at the moon fish on this page I saw that it said 30-50 kgs might mean 30-50lbs or lead to some wieght.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

The images do look the same but sure most probably are not because the Clue could have a message encrypted into it like Greg Needel said.

We should try to decrypt the message inside this image using some software, i might work on that when i have the time.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

It has been noted in the FRC game in 2009 thread that the fish is not in the water, its a fish out of water. significant? probably not. interesting to note and mull over? Indeed.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Okay, I've read over 300 posts about clue #1 and I don't have a clue. I like some of the ideas, particularly the suggested names for the competition ("Shoot for the Moon", "Feeding Frenzy"), but also a "lunar" playing field, or having robots "scale" an obstacle.

As a practicing engineer, I have to say that while FIRST does expose students to some real aspects of engineering, most of my days at work aren't as fun as the intensity of build season.

Maybe my employer could take a lesson from FIRST: "We're reorganizing. We aren't ready to reveal the new organizational structure, but you can find clue #1 on the internal website..." :-)

Re: Game Hint #1
 

can you direct me to finding the decrypting software? and did you try the password Red_herring like squirrel recommended?

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I tried Red_herring in every possible combination. No luck.... :(

Re: Game Hint #1
 

what about luna fish or moon fish
and how did you try this, this kind of stuff interests me so just wondering how you did this?

Re: Game Hint #1
 

50 Kg = 110 Lbs.


Maybe we're pulling up 110 lb weights :ahh:

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Hmmm, maybe we have to join with other alliance robots to pull a 110lb fish out of a hole.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Maybe our robots, themselves, will have to weigh 110lbs.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Visually, the difference between the two pictures is zero - and I don't mean look at and guess, I mean open 'em up on MATLAB¹, subtract one from another and notice that the result is a black image.

Of course LCD screens aren't very good with blacks, so you analyze the difference in the RGB pixel level and notice that yes, there are subtle near-black values. Probably due to the different compression, but still... Definitely not enough difference to start a conspiracy theory. A FIRST GDC moonfish² is an Australian buy-your-online moonfish is a moonfish.


¹ - Yes, engineers analyze their images with MATLAB. Photoshop is for wusses. :P

² - Remove that extra fin and you have a Brazilian piranha, as someone mentioned above.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I dunno... I don't think they're gonna be lowering the weight since the new control system is heavier... but who knows, they might!

As for the page from the book, I don't think anything on the opposite page will help much... but if we find out which book it came from, then that might be a useful hint... or it could be nonsense all together!! haha!

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I've seen a lot of the arguments about the significance of the Opah and this is the first one that's so simple but it just might work!:rolleyes:
Maybe you have to build your robot to adapt to the different changes that might be presented on the field?... Morphology...? makes sense. I think :confused:

Re: Game Hint #1
 

oh goodie...

Re: Game Hint #1
 

This is the longest thread ever. There are so many amazing ideas that there is no way of even choosing one until there is another clue.

I'm liking the Opah simming in deep water and the underwater mountain stuff. Although, there won't be water.

One robot will be down in a "hole", out of site from us. This robot will have to use the camera to detect the colors of gamepieces to give to their team members above. (The Opah has 4 different colors on its 4 types of skin.)

I can't wait till the next clue. This researching of a stupid fish is fun...lol =)

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Except piranha, thank goodness, don't get up to 30-50 kg.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Just some info i dug up.

Opah, a colorful marine fish found in open waters. Although not abundant, opahs are found in almost all seas. Opahs range in length from about 3 to 6 feet (.9 to 1.8 m) and weigh from 50 to 400 pounds (23 to 180 kg) or more. The body is oval and compressed from side to side. Opahs are grayish above shading to rose underneath, and are marked with white spots. The jaws, fins, and tail are red and the eyes are ringed with gold. The flesh, which is considered excellent food, is also red.

The opah is sometimes also called moonfish.

The opah is Lampris regius, the only member of the family Lamprididae, or Lampridae.

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/fish/opah-info.htm

Re: Game Hint #1
 

In my opinions this was just a fish picture scanned from a book with very thin paper so the words are backwards because they are on next page. Onion skin paper and <40gsm paper like bible paper is common for big dictionary like books.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Not to be mean or rude, but please, people, we all know what kind of fish it is, for the sake of space, and the people that actually do read the entire thread before posting, let your post be at least somewhat relevant or perhaps entertaining before you post. The source of the picture and the words behind it has also been found, feel free to deliberate your opinion on the relevance of the wording and the source, but we don't all need to say "The words are backwards, I think it's from a book."

Re: Game Hint #1
 

the other name found for this moon fish is

Lampris regius

an anagram of this name yields;

Realism Grip Us

since most of us reading this thread have lost our grip on reality, this possibly does not apply to the clue!
:o

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Time to go in another direction. The clue is a picture of a moonfish, less specifically a fish.

No one has mentioned that the term "fish" is used by the Navy as slang for a torpedo.

"Fish" is also slang used by civilian treasure hunters and geoscientists to refer to a towed sensor such as a magnatometer or side scan sonar. Both of which are often used to locate sunken ships which might have been sunk by torpedos.

Originally, torpedos were not the propelled ordinance they are today, but were simply sea mines.

Sea mines often have magnet detonators.

Mine clearing operations are an excellent task for robots.

Mines are also a source of treasure.

A torpedo is also a type of short level often used to level or plumb conduit.

Maybe these are all just Red Herrings, but word association can be beneficial. :rolleyes:

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Hmm...this has to be one of the weirdest and probably one of the farthest away from the intention of the hint, but I'll thr

Everyone knows about Dave's "hints." Someone mentioned a while ago that the Opah is sometimes known as the "King of Herrings." Red Herrings...Dave's hints...Dave's herrings...could this be a ploy to get us to actually dissect his signature? Maybe he WAS actually dropping hints, we just didn't realize it. I haven't been watching Dave's signature too much, but based on what I saw posted earlier about Six, Five, and Four...Six and five are mentioned in the quote that he has up there (woot, superfluous adjectives), and four..."To the four: awaiting a few more.".
...I'm just going to stop now, that's not it. You know you've gone crazy over a game hint when you analyze every word in Dave's signature. :rolleyes: Although it may point to him somehow, it's not in that way.

Though...moonfish...Phoenix/Mars...NASA...Outer space, anyone?

I'm fairly sure that it has to do with the fish itself. It's the fish and not some other object that could embody the same hint but would be more obvious. Like last year, with the tortoise and the hare referring to a race...if they wanted to make a race game obvious, they could have easily given us the coords for something NASCAR-related.
So the Opah might have some quality that other things obviously have...the GDC just didn't want to make it too apparent.

I can't wait for the next hint; we might be able to start piecing things together.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

there is obviously text in the background. even more obviously if you invert the colors, the question is how to read it, i think there are multiple layers of overlapping text. i don't think this is from the paper the book is scanned from, i don't think the pic was scanned at all, there is the exact same image online at other sites without the text in the background, FIRST wouldn't allow text in the background unless the book its from is a clue, so the text must be some sort of clue, along with whatever the watermark looking thing behind the fish, which may or may not be a shark, it has the right shape from what i can see. so, how do we read the invisible text, and is the hypothetical shark important? ideas?

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I didn't read this whole thread but has anyone wondered why the fish is on paper or whatever the background is (aka out of water)? I don't think it matters what kind of paper the fish is on, or what fish it becomes if you remove one of its fins. Some of you are grasping for straws. really.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I sort of agree with Sam, but how to go about reading it is beyond me. I've tried a number of image sharpening methods in PS to no avail...

Also, I know of a method to store files within images. I'm trying to reverse it right now.

EDIT: Nope, nothing's being stored inside of the image.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

This is the best idea i have read on here, i think everyone else is WAYYY over-analyzing it.
it's rock, paper, scissors, style game play. balanced, fun, and allows for variety in robot designs, something many FIRST games try to achieve, mostly the balanced but separate play styles. and i really like the "snatching" mechanic, although it would give crab drive huge advantage if trying to avoid the "snatching" of a game piece away from it's control.


So when kickoff rolls around, cant say i didn't call it.:D

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I see the text too. HOWEVER, if you look behind the fish when you tilt the monitor, you see another outline of a fish. I suspect that this was just scanned in from a book and the text that we are seeing is just from the page behind it. Another reason for this is that the text is unintelligible - it's backwards or rotated somehow. So... I don't actually think the hint is in the text.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I second this emotion.
We all know it's from a book, there's a shark in the background, the words are backwards, it's a moonfish. I keep coming back to the thread only to re-read the same thing concluded earlier in the thread, except reworded.
There is a "Search Thread" function near the top of the page...

Wanderor, that's the fun of the game hints. Over-analyzing it until our little brains can't take it anymore. Then the GDC releases #2.... :D

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Im going to go out on a wild guess here but since there is a camera this year, we could be operating only off the camera. Expecially with the new and more advanced control system this could be used.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

How about this Google find the FISH! philosophy further explained here.

Fish is also slang in the drilling industry.

Or the SMS dictionary FISH "First in still here"

gotta love Red Herring! :p

Re: Game Hint #1
 

So here's my thought...
The watermark may have no significance BUT you must flip the image horizontally 180*. Now the Opah is mainly found in the open ocean waters of the Mediterranean Sea. If we go East or west 180 degrees from this landmark we land in the Bermuda Triangle.:yikes:
Jane Young pointed out earlier of a lines making up a triangle on the fish.
This could possibly be the game piece shape or what not...
But if we consider the Bermuda Triangle it leads us down another path. The triangle is known for disappearing ships. The fish represents these ships because it has fins shaped like sails. The name of the fish is the moonfish correlating with night and ocean.
NASA has also been doing some lunar exploration recently which could correspond with the new camera system.
Maybe there's a giant dome in the center of the field which robots can go into to find certain objects. the objects can't be seen because the dome is blackened out. The only way to recognize the object are by small blinking lights. Blinking because of the disappearing ships. Is anybody following me here....?:ahh:

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Game hints become less and less useful every year

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Ok, I'm thinking that this hint is about the Feild design specificly. What I;m thinking(Combines several idea's thrown out here) is that we have some sort of wet or otherwise slippery surface with a ramp that leads to a raised platform. This raised platform has the game peices on it(whatever that may be). The ramp has a moving mechanism attached to it that is constantly moving(down to 0 degree's and up to the point that it touches the raised platform). Each allience can only have one robot up on the platform at any given time. The goal of that robot is to throw down the game peices so that the other members of that robots allience can do something with them.


Maybe, but I'm kind of going off on a tangent.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I talked to the mentor of my team and he said that because of OSHA restrictions the weight limit cannot go up because tight now it is what it is because we only have to wear goggles in the pits and on the field...if they were to make it more they would have to up the safety restrictions...one of my fellow team members suggested body armor...lol :ahh:

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I cant remember what game the word "diabolical" was a hint for but i remeber somone on my team hearing somone in first say "diabolical" at a dinner.

i may be off on a long shot but could this perhaps be that we might be similar to that game this year?

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Diabolical Dynamics?

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Diabolical Dynamics, 2001. 4v0, the faster you get done the bigger your multiplier. Balance two goals on a bridge, preferably filled with balls. If your color ball was on top of the goal, you got extra points.

I doubt that the xv0 format will come around again (2 matches in the eliminations for each alliance), but maybe other elements will (the bridge, for example).

The one thing that seems to be constant:

There will be "terrain" on the field. What type, I don't know. Could be a different surface, raised area(s), or a combination of the above.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

almost rocky? thats one of the ideas one of my friends pitched out there.

and wasnt the field split in 2 halves with a wall?

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I've been thinking...

Is Opah the acronym for the name of the game?

(can't think of anything clever for that, sorry)

Re: Game Hint #1
 

perhaps our alliances weight will total a maximum of 400 pounds.. or close to that.. who knows.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

could be. 4 letters is perfectly reasonable. the main issue is, what could it stand for?

could the field be an oval this year? the opah might be the shape we are looking for.

im going to see where words take me opah, moonfish, full moon, warewolfs, superstition. superstition could be part of the name of the game.

wikipedia says opah are solitary but sometimes school with tuna, it also says other names are , kingfish, redfin ocean pan, and Jerusalem haddock

Re: Game Hint #1
 

ornery pigs are herded

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Yes and no. There was a beam of wood running across midfield with a pipe above it at normal side rail height.The only place this didn't exist was right in the center, where the balancing bridge was.

Some teams ignored the bridge that year and went through the barrier. (Legal tactic)

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I don't know or care if it's been said before, I'm too lazy to read through pages upon pages of speculation:

"Moonfish" refers to several different fish, not just this Opah.

Interestingly enough, I found that Moonfish is another name for both an Atlantic Spadefish and a Diamondfish.

Spades? Diamonds?

This year's game is robo poker. Problem solved.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I totally agree, this is what i was thinking. The degree of the ramp will be 32 degrees. This angle was mentioned before. So it means that this year you might need a lot of traction and the bot needs to be robustly built (more than last year)

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Well this is a random hint haha, fish?
I can see the text aswell but I can't make it out.

~Justin

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I don't know if this was discussed, but I was looking up the Moonfish and there are seems to be a couple sound programs with the same name. Like there's an audio tracker program named moonfish and a combination tracker/groovebox named moonfish. I know it's a long shot, but what about detecting a sound or using sound to find something we can't see? Does the camera have a microphone?

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Interesting. One of my team's mentors was telling us about how the new Speed controllers have Ethernet ports on them for integration of speech recognition and the like. You may be on to something.

Image clues
 

Well there have been many people talking about text in the image, well I think that there may be some thing in there. A while ago I came across a program that allowed the use to have an image and put text into the meta of the image, and it was saved through changing shading values minutely, different for each letter. And there may be a possibility FIRST may have done that.

Another thing that I find interesting is how, and what changed in the "Original" compared to the FIRST image. Here is what I found....

Now the image is a little dark so look to my next post for more....

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Now for this image I changes the levels so that there is less contrast between 000000 and ffffff. There are three main things that stick out to me.\

1. There are those odd rectangles in the background
2. The blue spots don't match up with the spots you see on the fish,
3. The top fin has an orange spot on it, no where else do you see an orange spot.

You can also see normal jpg artifacts between lines of high contrast (The fish vs. the white background)

If there are any questions, or suggestions on how this was done, or how to further it, just contact me.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Wow!!! This is really interesting.
Also me and my mom were thinking that maybe it has something to do with night vision??? or something similar like color regonition...maybe there will be part of the field not visible so we have to use the ethernet and the camera combined tofind certain items...scavenger hunt anyone?:rolleyes: :confused:

Re: Game Hint #1
 

a scavenger hunt with the camera would actually be really cool. i hope it's something like that.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

OK, so this is my first post on CD, because I really wanted to comment on the first hint of 09. I don't know if anyone else has suggested this, but it appears to me that the image in the background of the fish is a shark, pointed the other direction. As for the prominent fish in the picture, it is clearly an Opah. This is a bit out there, but the record for weight of an opah caught in open water is 162.9 pounds. Perhaps the weight limit this year? Seems about right. As for size, they are roughly 1 meter wide, again, a possible size hint. I also saw the posts that went up a while back saying that the FIRST regional directors were looking for pools. I think anyone that has been in the program for a build season or two knows that FIRST is more clever then to send a game hint about a fish, and then have all the directors look for pools. The game is not a water game. The question that is really being posed is why would they pick this fish? As far as I have found, other then the characteristics I mentioned, the only other valuable information is that it is common in Hawaii and does not travel in schools. New Alliance format perhaps? But even that appears worthless. As for the writing in the background of the image, I have been unsuccessful in lighting it in photo shop. One last note about the sharks possibly being the thing in the background... Assuming they are sharks, maybe they are hinting to sonar. I have no idea if this is correct, but from the pictures I have seen of the new control system, there is a very prominent camera. More then ever, a challenge that is some sort of maze or obstacle course style game is likely. That would not be extremely difficult in terms of transition to a new controller, but would also not be a walk in the park. As always, FIRST has confused us all. Maybe this can at least get you thinking of some other possibilities.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Well not to get you down but FIRST probably will not change the weight limit one they will not lower it because now the main components are heavier and two they will not raise it because of OSHA Standards and health and safety requirements that they have to meet.:(

Re: Game Hint #1
 

THE GHOST IMAGE: MY VERDICT
This will be the sixth year of clues for me, so I'm starting to get used to what they will, and will not do. And though I cant discredit the possibility, however small, that the fact that there is this background ghost image may be important, I can conclude that its contents are most certainly of NO importance.

Heres the image flipped corrected to show the background.


As you can see by the color of the letters, their distortion, the fact that they are mirror image, and the shading indicative of a copy getting darker as it reaches the spine of the book, all point toward this simply being an artifact of this picture being a photocopy. Someone even pointed out earlier that the version of this pitcure on the web that doesnt have the ghost is an older image, suggesting that it has probably been edited to remove the ghost image.

Also, you can see in this image that there are actually TWO ghost images on top of each other. One from each page. Further indicating that this "ghost" was unplanned. Or, if it was planned, its contents are unimportant, as there are two opposite pictures and lines of text on top of each other.

There is no possible way that useful information could be expected to be extracted from this ghost. Therefore, only the fact that there is a ghost is important, or, it is an unplanned artifact.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

something i just realized... though i cant think of how it would mean anything:

the fins are red, and sort of triangular in shape
the spots are white, and their circles
the body of the fish is blue... unfortunately it isn't a square, if it were we would have every component of the first logo:ahh:
...again i don't see how this would mean anything, but i found it interesting, and if it did somehow mean something that would be great too

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I believe that the background image of the "Shark" is the slime/wet area of another fish. That fish was probably just had the shape of a shark, and you can see it in the original images. Form that I can conclude that they took photos of a a few fish at a time, and it wasn't put in there by FIRST.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I agree with you. The first thing that I tried to do with the image was mess around with an overlay, and sharpen the text. After a few minutes I concluded that the text was illegible no matter what you do to it. Also it was in the original, so FIRST did not put that text in there as a clue.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

After more than 350 posts and reading the thread twice I still have very little clue.

The GDC did well...ooo how I wish they didn't. :)

The one thing I think is very good bet is the fact the the game field will NOT be flat even carpet. With the introduction of the new surfaces for TEC I really think we can expect something similar for FRC if not on an even larger scale.

Matthew Forman
MorTorq 1515

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Let's try DaRandom Coding it...

ie we take apparently unrelated but somehow connected things and come to a very logical, irrefutable conclusion:

Opah. Sounds like Oprah. TV show, and Oprah gives stuff away. This fish is given away by longline fishermen of old. Logically connected then. TV Shows--Jeopardy--Alex Trebek--Double Jeopardy--5th Amendment--Bill of Rights--Bill Gates--Robert Gates--Defense Secretary--Navy--Water Game!

Darn, that can't be right, can it.

Let's try again

Moonfish--Earth's Moon--Satellite--Sputnik--USSR--Miracle on Ice--Ice Hockey, which is played on ice, which is frozen water--Water game!

Hmmm...still can't be right.

Lampris Guttatis--Latin--Romans--Famous architecture--aqueduct--Water Game!

Maybe if we start with just fish:

Fish--Phish (The band)--Music--Metallica--Dave Lavery wants speakers on the robots to play Metallica--Dave Lavery's other car is on Mars--Pheonix is on Mars--Pheonix found water--Water game!!

Hmm... What e'er ga'e me that idea?


(yes that last bit is a lame water game pun)

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Fish out of water:

I think it is important that this isn't a picture of a swimming fish, which is actually easier to come by then a dead fish on paper. That makes me think this idea of "Fish out of water" is some critical point to the game. I would guess either there is some zone that when entered your control ability changes drastically, or there is some disabling capability whether against the other team, or your own I don't know.

btw anyone that still thinks the text matters, FIRST took the picture from this website:

http://www.australianseafoodexports....rderonline.htm

Since the did not make it themselves, they could not control what the text says

Re: Game Hint #1
 

As seen in the picture, on the first line, between the tail fin and the bottom fin. Is "@ body", is it just me or would they have not let that go if it was in a book. :confused:

Re: Game Hint #1
 

A few ideas I was wanting to air out about the clue. The water game, although fun to think about, would be impractical to set up. One bad leak in a tank and FIRST is rebuilding somebody's arena floor. The fish has the common name "Moonfish". Plus, we're getting cameras in the kit of parts and handy-dandy instructions on how to specifically hook them up. My guess, and I apologize and do not take credit if someone beat me to this conclusion. is that it will be a Lunar Landing game and the driver will be "black-bagged" and have to operate the robot through a monitor just like an actual rover. This could be for gameplay or perhaps take the place of autonomous. Plus, I remember seeing a clue a month ago that was up with the round diamond plate and the number 5 painted on it(could have been bogus). If that was an actually clue then those could have been gamepieces. If not, the Moonfish is listed as a "gamefish" by marine organizations. It may, in fact be the gamepiece.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Its colors and shape could have something to do with it. The main colors, as mentioned int the first article post, are red and blue, like alliance colors. The pattern of colors is Blue at the center with Red at the top and bottom. Could this suggest a field setup or shape? Will Blue be defending the center of a field or will the challenge be to claim the center? Finally, the body is filled with white spots, could this suggest many small "game pieces" in the field?

-Nick

Re: Game Hint #1
 

It could be less obvious. ....maybe the name of the fish....

GOOGLE : MOONFISH

http://www.australianseafoodexports..../moonfish1.jpg

hmm... interesting... If the name does have anything to do with the game... then it could have a landscape similar to the moon landscape. I think that would cool. It would make designing transmissions and wheel systems difficult, but also very fun. Think of having to climb over bumpy terrain.....

or maybe even advanced sensors similar to what might be used on the moon.....

last year they added the IR recievers to simulate what it was like to talk to the mars rovers. I think it's very possible they want to simulate something else "NASA" related.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Hey everyone, all the ideas make a lot of sense really but the one thing i just noticed that doesnt make any sense and sorry if this was already pointed out but there is this guy who posted a reply for Game Hint #3 for last years game and at the bottom of his reply, it has this same picture of the moonfish and its dated 1-02-08! Now idk if that is just a coinsidence but it really confused me and got me thinking.:confused: If u cant find it go to the bottom of this page under "Similiar Threads" click "Game Hint #3" and its like the 3rd reply down. Let me know what you guys think.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Not a coincidence. I know who you are talking about, and he didn't have that then.

When you update your profile or signature, the information goes to every post you have. So it's always current, even if the post isn't.

For example, when I make this post, my profile will indicate that I am on team FRC #1135(Schmoebotics)(0330 Alumni), with a team role of Alumni. Give me about 5 minutes, and that will change.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Ohhh...ok thats a relief....thanks a lot. I am new to this forum stuff so I just needed a head up thats all. ;)

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Guys, I've figured it out. The reason there is a fish is because it's a water game.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

On that same note, take a look at the inverted image... When you flip it it turns blue. Perhaps there is something, as mentioned, to having to control a portion of the field. Maybe the field randomly decides whether red or blue is offense / defense. Perhaps a offense/defense period like the one in 2006?? I think that was the year, I dont remember.
There was another person who mentioned this, and I agree with it, that even if the physical size of the field does not change (I doubt it would) I would find it near impossible that there would be absolutely no changes to the surfaces. Especially with challenging teams by providing the camera and having access to this new system, some change to the field surface besides the challenge structure is very likely. As for game pieces, the last year was balls, the year before that rings. 2006 was balls again and 2005 was triangles. Because I do not believe that a fish would be a game piece, maybe they will go back to cubes? And 1 other note, pools are out of the question, but what about some sort of tank where maybe robots can reach over the edges of the field and retrieve something from a tank of some sort as a bonus? Seems far-fetched, but you never know.:D

Re: Game Hint #1
 

For some odd reason, that just made my day! :rolleyes:

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I think that the Game Hint only relates to the name of the game, and not any particular part of it. It has been this way in previous years more then a couple of times.

Now, what does interest me, is the name of that page on UFfirst.org.
Does the name "Game hint #1" mean we will be getting at least one more hint?
in 2006 and 2007 there was only one hint, but don't remember if it's page on usfirst.org was called "game hint" or "game hint #1"...

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Techalex,

I really like the idea of having one team control a portion of the field. I think that throughout the match you will have to play both defense and offense (what ever that means).

I also think that our robots will be forced to climb things and the floor will be wet or something because fish are slippery! Also, I was reading that the moonfish migrate in a vertical patter (or something like that). I think that this is more evidence that our robots are going to have to climb something or pull themselves up.

But where does the camera fit into all of this? Any ideas??

Re: Game Hint #1
 

OK this thread has become useless because people are to lazy to read the thread before posting. Oh well. Se you in the next clue thread.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

building off the thought earlier posted, you only ever see one half of the moon. could it be that the game will be like the moon? could it be that the driver will only be able to see one half of the field and then have to use the camera.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Most likely we'll be receiving more hints. Last season, we had a total of three hints. And it related to the game, not the title of it.
Same here. I'm tired of checking the latest posts, only to read the same stuff over again for the third time. There is a "Search Thread" button on the first post of every page, people. Please use it. I know you're excited, but it brings nothing to the conversation if you're reiterating something that has been found out earlier in the thread.

Thanks.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

OPAH: obvious pre-announcement hint

announcement as in kickoff

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I was thinking about the text in the background of the picture and I came up with this

Hybrid Systems Interchange Format (HSIF)

which is fish backwards

Maybe something to do with having a new type of robot needed to exchange things with other robots?

Thats the best I can come up with....:(

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Its reasonable considering the power that the new control system has. makes a bit of sense when you think about it.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

This one is textbook.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

The goal of HSIF (Hybrid Systems Interchange Format) is to define an interchange format for hybrid system models that can be shared between modeling and analysis tools. HSIF models represent dynamic systems, whose dynamics includes both continuous and discrete behaviors.

Sounds reasonable to me.....and quite sensible

Re: Game Hint #1
 

This is a very good idea. What if there is a wall in the middle of the field and the robot has to climb over it, use it's camera to find the game piece, and then bring it back to the other side of the field.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I did this same process to images from a wikipedia article on the JPEG compression.

The original image:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Im...psis_(aka).jpg

The compressed image (compression increases LTR)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...opsis_JPEG.png

Attached is the difference map with its contrast increased. Nowhere in it do artifacts appear like in the image hihihiflcl81pig posted. I'm no image expert, but it does appear like the change in filesize is not due to compression differences. Try 5634 (The order of Dave's changing signatures) for the password on that decoding program.

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Meh, I'm bored right now. I'll entertain the idea and post back shortly....

Re: Game Hint #1
 

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but if you think about water on Mars (particularly in relation to NASA's Phoenix), you are really thinking about ice, not water. Perhaps the playing field might be/involve fake ice:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008...-ice-rinks.php

Re: Game Hint #1
 

Attached are the numbers I tried. No go.....