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No-show teams and trailers
In the past, if a team, for whatever reason, could not bring their robot to a match, they could nonetheless send their drivers or human player and receive match points for that round. The same rule applies this year (section 9.3.6).
However, I have not seen any rules discussing what happens with the trailer if a team shows up but does not bring their robot. Does the trailer get placed on the field anyway? |
Re: No-show teams and trailers
It would be nice if they had a set of acetol blocks to mount the trailer hitch to so that it is at proper orientation if they are going to leave it on the field. Plus this might help prevent the tongue from gouging into the floor.
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Re: No-show teams and trailers
I think they will leave the trailer on the field, in all fairness to the game play from both sides. But what concerns me is the trailer tongue sticking out in midair and a robot running into it or over it and damaging their bot in the process.
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Re: No-show teams and trailers
Interesting... Could be a strategy, however I see it very unlikely. Maybe they would eliminate a trailor from the other team to compensate. :cool:
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Re: No-show teams and trailers
This would give the "short" alliance an advantage - they have 3 goals on which to score, whereas the "full" alliance only has 2. I imagine the trailer will be a sitting duck for the match, which means a non-working robot is an absolute killer for the alliance.
I also expect Q&A clarification on this rule. |
Re: No-show teams and trailers
I asked this on the Q&A last night.
IMHO, they will have to leave the trailers on the field. The definition of a "no-show" team in the rule book is one that has NO members of the team (including Payload Specialists) at the field. Therefore, a team that sends their PS out but no robot still gets the qualifying points, ranking points and win/loss from the match. If the trailers are removed, then the best robot is the one that doesn't show up for the match. An example: Alliance A has the 3 best robots at the regional and are expecting an easy win. Alliance B had the three worst robots at the regional. Alliance B sends only their Payload Specialists out to the field. Therefore they all will get the points for the match, but because they don't send robots out, there are no trailers present for alliance A to score in. It is now impossible for alliance B to win. Alliance B can send balls flying with their human players, and out of 60 shots, only one has to go in to guarantee a win, because alliance A cannot score any points. I also agree with IKE that they should have a jig to keep the trailer upright and from gouging the floor. |
Re: No-show teams and trailers
At San Diego last year they asked a couple teams to step into unfilled matches, but did not count their score.
I imagine they'll ask teams to tow the trailer and work with the other robots for strategy, but not score. |
Re: No-show teams and trailers
Back-in-the-day (before the alliance era) FIRST provided a Placebo robot to fill no-show slots. The Placebo had no scoring capability, and fairly limited mobility. One such Placebo was actually a hovercraft, IIRC. I don't recall if there were others.
Perhaps FIRST should provide non-functional Placebo robots to stand in for no-shows in Lunacy. Placebos could be built using the AM C-Base chassis with no drivetrain, fitted with standard bumpers and trailer hitch, and ballasted to the maximum inspection weight. Trailers assigned to no-show teams would be hitched to Placebos instead. Alternately, perhaps no-shows should simply be prohibited. Put another way, teams might be required to place a robot on the field and hitch it to a trailer, whether they think it can be competitive or not. A non-functional robot would behave much like the Placebo described above, and would save FIRST the cost of deploying and maintaining several for each event. |
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How would you interpret <S04> in the case of no-shows? Quote:
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Re: No-show teams and trailers
I really like the idea of just a kit frame with wheels, bumper, and a hitch. The weight value I see as negoitiable, but I really like the chassis idea.
I think we will have an extra kit frame this year. If FIRST can provide some wheels, I know we could donate a stationary bot. |
Re: No-show teams and trailers
One thing that I do see, is that if FIRST did send a trailer out by itself, it's starting position is right in front of an opposing teams PS. As an insult to injury, that alliance could stock up on moon rocks in that PS position and at the start of the match have an easy shot to score points on the robotless trailer. I am intrigued to find out the ruling.
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Re: No-show teams and trailers
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-Jim |
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I can see robots trying to move the trailer out of the way, but I can see that as being hazardous to the field. If they would force the team to an inoperable robot on the field, that could be even harder to remove from the fueling station. |
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