Staying in Zones
 

I've been thinking about game strategy for quite a while now, and I am becoming increasingly convinced that it will be useless and possibly even detrimental for robots to move away into different zones than their starting ones. It just doesn't seem like it's worth all the extra trouble. As such, it seems as though being able to effectively pass will be a big one.

All three zones are equally important in my eyes. The one closest to the goal is for scoring easily, the one in the middle is for retrieving and passing forward scored balls that return, and the far zone is for stealing balls and passing forward the opponents missed/stray balls. Since all of these zones require attention, what's the point of leaving one? You are just creating a disadvantage for yourself as you are lettings your opponents robots have free reign over a zone. I think the balls will be relatively equally spread out between zones, despite the fact that they only return to the middle. After all, the goals aren't in the middle are they? Why would the balls be concentrated there of all places?

Is anyone else thinking some of the same things as me?

Re: Staying in Zones
 

Yes.

Re: Staying in Zones
 

The only strategy I see as a possibility is to move the defender up to the middle zone for ball control. But otherwise I think the matches will play out like you have described.

Re: Staying in Zones
 

Depending where teams are positioned from the beginning, they might need to be able to move to different zones if they intend to hang in the last 20 seconds. Passing will also be very important to get more balls on your side of the field, but if the other team gains possession of most of the balls you might need some backup in the middle zone. Even if your robot is small enough to go under the tunnel, the robot with the bumpers would be a tight squeeze and the tunnel exit could be blocked. So I wouldn't say that being able to move to different zones is completely useless. I think the drivetrain is pretty key in this game and is just as essential as scoring, hanging, passing, and defense.

Re: Staying in Zones
 

I think moving will be very important. For example, lets say your defending robot zone has been cleared of all four starting balls and no more have entered. You need to be able to move it into the middle zone to assist with control of the reentering balls. This goes vice versa with the scoring side. There's no reason your robot should be sitting in a zone doing nothing for more than 5 seconds. A waiting robot is a wasted robot.

Re: Staying in Zones
 

Also, what do you do if an alliance partner breaks down. Do you leave your zone to cover for the disabled robot or stay in your zone? You'll need some flexibility.

Re: Staying in Zones
 

I can only imagine that being where the balls are is going to be the most important thing, and with only twelve on the field maximum at a time, being able to make snap decisions and move from zone to zone seems extremely important. The only way I can see a match where robots stay in their own zones is an alliance that 'kicks' balls perfectly from zone to zone and an all star robot in the center. A sight to behold, I'm sure, but I would rely more on adaptability (as with pretty much every other aspect of the build season). :cool:

Re: Staying in Zones
 

I could see after you clear the opponent’s zone you might want to move to the center zone and help your team mate collect the balls from the over head drop. If a few are taken by your opponent that’s no problem it helps with you score as long as you control the majority. But than when teams wise up to this than you will end up with four in the center zone. That will make it crowded but necessary. I think controlling the center will be the game breaker.

Re: Staying in Zones
 

To make the analogy to a soccer match, each team is a specialized "player" and they should stay in their respective zones and do their specialized jobs for the benefit of the alliance. The "defender" should block the goals while moving balls (launching?) forward. The "midfielder" should keep balls that are re-entering play from moving into opponent zones. The "striker" should be able to solely focus on scoring because balls are constantly moving into his zone, if his alliance does its job. Team coordination is paramount.

Also, keep in mind that if you do leave your zone, it is open to your opponents. I seriously forsee virtual 1-v-1 matches in each zone.

Re: Staying in Zones
 

Sticking with the soccer analogy...each player should be talented in their individual zone and skill set, yes; but having a defender who can overlap the midfielder and go to goal is quite an advantage. Midfielders usually play both ways effectively. Referring to the MLS, if you watched the Sounders play up your way you'd notice that Leo Gonzalez and James Riley frequently advanced up the field into the attack when the opportunity was there. (okay...so 27 years of soccer playing/coaching/watching is revealed here).

I agree that there will be three 1v1 matches going on, but if one gets lopsided, changing thirds may be the only way to rescue your alliance. Also handy if you have a dead bot, flipped bot, or a no-show to a seeding match. Ever get paired with a team who forgot a charged battery, lost a motor, or ??? :eek:

If your alliance has cleared most of the balls into the attacking 3rd it would be beneficial to advance to the midfield to aid in the movement of balls to the attacking 3rd. (and if you are that dominant you'd better give the other alliance a chance to score anyhow as per 9.3.x).

Re: Staying in Zones
 

One thing we've been working on is modeling matches with robots of different strengths. A few examples to give you ideas:

- If a robot breaks down in a zone, how does that affect the ball distribution (and the score)?

- If a robot is horribly overmatched by the opponent in their zone, how does that affect the ball distribution?

- How does the human player ball return rate affect the distribution?

One thing to keep in mind from what we know about sports... uneven pairings are horribly ineffectual. Think about football - if the receiver is significantly faster/more agile than the defender, he can get open for a pass a lot more often. Or soccer - if the defender is a lot slower than the attacker, he won't be able to keep up. Or Basketball... the parallels are there.

Also consider strategy. If your middle player is horribly outmatched or breaks down, what do you do? Does your scorer come back to help? If so, what does the opposition defender do - follow the scorer or stay put and just kick back any balls the scorer sends over into that zone? Does your defender push forward to help, and sacrifice any points for balls that are already in the zone, but potentially stop more balls from getting into score-able position?

Having a good modeling system and a good way of determining all the robots abilities is going to be extremely important in determining strategy this year - much more so than years past, when robots would typically engage with any/all of their opposition at different points in the match.

Re: Staying in Zones
 

My team thought the exact same thing. We call it the "Iron Curtain Strategy".

Then when you control the middle you move all robots in your end zone and score!! I think that's legal?? Is it?

Re: Staying in Zones
 

I see the ability to move between field sections as a powerful advantage.

Re: Staying in Zones
 

Robots can specialize in each zone.
In the near zone, robots can push the ball into the goals AND steal balls from opponent.
In the middle zone, robots can recover returned balls and feed them to robot in the near zone.
In the far zone, robots can recover returned balls that roll thru the tunnel AND block goals by the opponent in that zone.

The only reason I can think of for the robot in the near zone to change zones is to elevate itself; it can't use the tower that is closest to it.

Re: Staying in Zones
 

I agree completely, except im out numbered 20 to 1 at our design meetings. Im trying to convince my team that crossing the border should only be used as a last resort in extreme situations. I feel its just to dangerous and will take far to long for the little assistance it might provide.