Re: 2012 Game?
 

How about giant peanuts!? http://sustainabledesignupdate.com/w...-kartooner.jpg

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Yes! Love the idea! Not sure what, though!

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Using duct tape as a game piece...how about the end game being who can get the longest strip of duct tape on the ground?

Re: 2012 Game?
 

i agree i would like to see a Hockey like game for next year it would be a chalenge but it would be fun for hockey and robotics fans:D :cool:

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I think it is pretty clear we are going to see the minibot again, but I feel very confident it will require code next year.
I could easily see next years challenge require you to balance you minibot, this way teams who helped out with FTC this year have a leg up.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

And a big disadvantage in Michigan, where there are no FTC competitions. If the minibots become too much like FTC bots Michigan might be in trouble.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

That would be a mess to clean up. After all, duct tape holds the universe together.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

although i agree with you on a minibot showing up in next years game, i don't think it will require code. building ONE robot in 6 weeks is trouble enough for some teams and for the game to remain competitive at all in large scale (that is allow smaller teams or teams with fewer resources to be competitive) the minibot would need to remain simple. i know from experience on my team that the initial design of the minibot and production of a minibot actually took longer to build than the actual robot, not to mention all the other tweaks we did to it after build season.

if the minibot had more complications to it, like code, then smaller teams would not be able to compete with the large teams that have a vast amount of resources.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I think that future minibots will virtually require code to be competitive. However, it will be possible to get a non-code solution, which may or may not be better than the code solutions.

However, it will be whatever code the NXT (or chosen processing unit) runs, which isn't the same as FRC coding necessarily.

For those hockey lovers out there: 2009 was bad enough flooring wise; I could go with a street-hockey version, though.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

exactly but for second year of minibots in the FRC competitions i don't think that the GDC would take such a big step between years like that

Re: 2012 Game?
 

You mean a step like going from the blue box driver's station to the Classmate between 2009 and 2010? Or the control system change the year before (though that had advance warning)? Or the staggered robot size/weight in 2007 (which sadly vanished the next year)? That type of step has happened before, though there was only one robot to worry about then.

NEVER underestimate the GDC like that. Next thing you know, one of them spots that post and says, "Oh, really? Hey guys, look at this! What do you think?" or something similar, and then they take exactly that step.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I'll take anything that doesn't involve tubes.

Discs would be cool. Every FIRST team throws a Frisbee around at lunch...

Re: 2012 Game?
 

sort of? but the classmate switch and the control system switch were relatively easy because these major changes were already pre-programmed and pretty much ready to use without much difficulty (at least thats how it appeared on my team) but adding more code to a second robot would cause more complications

and trust me. i know that nothing is out of the imagination of the GDC. honestly who thought we'd have to build a miniature robot to but on our larger robot and then have it function outside that zone?

Re: 2012 Game?
 

The NXT unit also serves as the speed controller for the Tetrix motors. Part of my thoughts is the GDC looked at all those batteries wired strait to motors and had safety concerns.
Maybe the minibot will be 2009s super cells next year in order to make up for the added difficulty. It would be helpful to score, but a rookie bot could rack up points in other ways while you are deploying.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Alrighty then. . .

There were various suggestions on "water" simulation material. How about the kiddie ball pit . . . BAZINGA ! !