Re: 2012 Game?
 

It would depend on the implementation of the Kinect. Odds are, the Kinect will not be robot mounted because of interference reasons.

Personally, I think we'll see the return of a 2008 like hybrid mode. Mount 3 Kinects in the Drivers station, one at either end and a third in the center, and one of your team members will be responsible for sending commands to your robot during a semi-autonomous period via the Kinect.

I'd really like to see a game with 10 seconds of normal autonomous, 120 seconds of tele-op gameplay and another 10 seconds of kinect hybrid mode. This would work really well if the end game objective were something like climbing a ramp or navigating to a predetermined position.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I agree I fully expect some sort of Hybrid mode using the Kinnect. Hopefully it turns out better than the IR one, how does a Kinnect deal with area style lighting? Does it even care?

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Our testing with the Kinect shows that it performs well in a wide variety of lighting conditions, as long as it's not direct sunlight. For skeleton tracking, the infrared "range" sensor is used - which has its own emitter and is thus pretty robust to lighting.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I just hope it's not another racing game, that was quite boring.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

i hope it is, my team would gear up the cims to mechanums, and our driver moves like lightning.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Actually, I have seen people using multiple kinects on the same area at the same time. I think the laser grid is specific enough to be differentiated.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Your mileage can (and will) vary significantly when using multiple Kinects looking at the same area. Degradation depends a great deal on the reflectivity of the targets, and relative poses (positions and orientations) of the Kinects.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

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Re: 2012 Game?
 

Reported

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I got to thinking (dangerous, I know) that the inclusion of the Kinect hardware in the 2012 KOP might be an extension of the game theme. What if the game was modeled after a video game?

A (very) little research shows that 2012 will be the 40th anniversary of Atari's release of "Pong" (yes, I'm old enough to have owned one) and the 20th anniversary of Nintendo's release of Super Mario Kart. I could see slinging tennis balls back and forth (like "Pong") or a racing game like Super Mario. Not sure about the whole "damsel in distress" angle, though...

Remembering D.Lavery's red herring last year of the Penn tennis ball, is it possible that his parting shot to the GDC was to reveal the 2012 game piece?

Just my $0.02

Re: 2012 Game?
 

How about we combine a flying and water game? The robots start on a platform near the ends of the field, above the water. The point of the game is to grab the game pieces that are underwater, then go and drop them in some basket, so high up that your robot would have to fly to score!

I know that it would not be feasible, but it is a fun idea to think about. :D

Re: 2012 Game?
 

How about a game that uses a floor? You can drive on it with wheels, and move things on top of a floor. Floors are perfect for adding tape lines on, so you can formulate zones and boundries. The other nice thing about floors is that their surface may be altered in color very easily.

I think the GDC should look into floors as an interesting game element.

[/sillyness]

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I think the last Bill's Blog Post (today) confirms that water will not be part of this year's competition and that they will use carpet. In the blog post Bill explains that they received "an entire pallet of carpet tape". He also describes this year's field as "...a heavy field to set up when all is said and done." This could mean big game pieces or obstacles,etc...Thoughts anyone?

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Im thinking of something like the year when each team had a trailer to pull around, thats why it seems to need more input for fitting it into the KOP also the metal for the trailers adds a lot of new weight.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I think, for the most part, we can rule out a game with water "in it".

HOWEVER, because of the many hints (probably fake, but just for fun), I think something relating to water is possible. I read on another thread that the 100th anniversary of the titanic is 2012. the 2012 disaster, ship sinking? Seems similar. Plus, the titanic was a ship, and ships are pretty heavy, and in Bill's Blog today he said the field was heavy, so just say'n.