[Greg Young]

My 2012 game prediction. This includes some ideas I've been kicking around for several years. The minibots are a recent addition.

I started working on this again when thi thread began back in May. The life thing intervened in June and I shelved it until Bill's comments about pallets of field elements and the high speed counters caught my interest again.

I've tried to attach some jpegs with views of the field. The field is incomplete but if I wait until I have time to finish it May will be here again. Some of the field elements are hanging in midair, mostly because I couldn't figure out a good way to model polycarbonate as transparent.

All the polycarbonate is missing. The high goals are supported by the end walls. The low goal guard rails that are hanging in the air are supported by the end wall and side wall. The walls beside the stairs and platform are polycarbonate that extend three above the platform to avoid falling robots.

Sorry about the length of the post. I sometimes get a tad verbose.

Game Design

Philosophy:

1. Flat is boring
2. Penalties are bad.
3. Aim High was fun. The sight of a string of balls flying over the alliance station or into the stands was a thrill.
4. Minibots are a good idea. The minibot race was a little dull. It needs some twist. And even a minibot needs a (mini)brain.
5. Life may be iterative, but the universe is random.

The field:
1. Four low goals, two for each alliance. Two high goals, one for each alliance.
2. Six poles for minibots.
3. Bumps to make life interesting.
4. Steps and a platform for the end game.
5. Shooters to introduce balls into play.

Dimensions:
Since the robots will frequently not be sitting on a flat floor, the robot dimensions are defined by the bumpers. The plane formed by the top of the four bumpers is the horizontal dimension. The vertical dimension is perpendicular to the horizontal plane. The maximum robot starting configuration is 28W X 38L X 48H inches without bumpers. The bumpers are as in 2011. The bumper zone is 9 to 16 inches above the floor. The maximum minibot size is a twelve inch cube.

The bumps are one foot high. The platform is two feet high by four feet by nine feet. The steps are four inch rise and six inch run. The horizontal segments of the minibot poles are seven feet above the floor. The minibot scoring ring is 7.5 feet from the center of the field. The high point of the low goals is one foot above the floor. The center of the low goal guard ring is two feet above the floor. The center of the high goal is eight feet, nine inches above the floor. The high goal is 18 inches in diameter.

The game balls are the 7 inch poof balls from Aim High.

General rules:

Knocking an opposing alliance minibot off a pole in teleop while exceeding starting dimensions is fatal.

Your robot can go anywhere on the field that it can reach without damaging field elements.

Red robots start in the red rings, blue robots start in the blue rings.







Autonomous (15 seconds):
During the autonomous period the robots attempt to place their minibot onto one of the six minibot poles. During autonomous the robot may extend to a maximum horizontal dimension of 84 inches. There is no limit on the vertical dimension. The minibot poles are not assigned to a particular alliance and multiple minibots may be placed on a given pole. Minibots may be placed anywhere between the finish line and the shooter guard rail at the edge of the field. Any minibot placed after the end of autonomous will not be counted. The minibot game which begins during autonomous continues until the end of the match. The minibot game is worth 60 points divided as follows:

Number of minibots finishing Minibot finish place
1 2 3 4 5 6
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 60
2 22 38
3 10 30 20
4 8 18 22 12
5 6 10 20 14 10
6 5 10 15 15 10 5

Each minibot carries a RFID tag which is scanned before the match and assigned to the team whose robot carries the minibot onto the field. When a minibot triggers the finish gate on the minibot pole the field reads the RFID to assign a finish place to the team. Each minibot carries a wireless receiver. Once per second the FMS broadcasts the number of minibots that have finished and the seconds remaining in the match to the minibots.

Teleop (120 seconds):

During teleop the robots attempt to score balls in the goals at either end of the field. Balls in the low goals score one point. Balls in the high goals score two points. Balls scored into the goals are not returned to the field.

During teleop no part of the robot may extend beyond the frame perimeter except as noted in end game. Maximum robot height during teleop is 48 inches. Teams have 10 seconds after the start of teleop to return their robot to this configuration. Any robot extending beyond the frame perimeter or exceeding 48 inch height after the 10 seconds will be disabled. If a robot knocks an opposing alliance minibot off a pole while exceeding the teleop dimensions that robot will be disabled, disqualified and their alliance will receive a 60 point penalty. Don’t do it!

Balls are entered into play by the six ball shooters on the long sides of the field. Each shooter contains twenty balls at the beginning of the match for a total of 120 balls. Each ball shooter will shoot one ball onto the field during each five second interval after the start of teleop. All balls will have entered the field twenty seconds before the end of teleop. The time when the ball is introduced during a five second interval will be determined by a random number generator. The shooter mechanism sweeps through a 150 degree arc horizontally at a rate not correlated with the five second period. Both the time and angle at which the balls are introduced will be random. The initial speed of the ball will be 10 to 15 feet per second.

Any balls that leave the field during the match will be returned, if possible, to the shooter nearest the point where the ball left the field. The shooter will increase its shot rate to introduce all the balls into the field before 100 seconds into the match.

The maximum total score possible from the balls in the shooters is 240 points.

Human players:

Each team will have one human player in a designated HP zone during the match. The HP zones are the red or blue pads just outside the field. Each human player will have 5 poof balls in their alliance color. During teleop the human players may introduce the balls into the field as they wish. The balls can be thrown onto the field, into the high or low goals, or into a robot. Colored balls score double in a goal of the same color as the ball. Colored balls in a goal that is a different color do not score. Colored balls that leave the field will not be returned to the field. The maximum total score from the colored balls is 120 points.

End game:

It’s not really an end game since there is no time restriction but the scoring only comes at the end of the game. At the end of the match any robot that is only in contact with the blue (red) steps and platform counts 5 points for the blue (red) alliance. Any robot that is only in contact with the blue (red) platform counts 10 points for the blue (red) alliance. Any robot that is only in contact with a robot that is only in contact with the blue (red) platform scores 20 points for the blue (red) alliance. Any robot that is only in contact with a robot that is only in contact with a robot that is only in contact with the blue (red) platform scores 40 points for the blue (red) alliance. If an alliance can figure out how to stack three robots on the platform it is worth 70 points. The polycarbonate walls at the side of the steps and platform and the driver station wall are considered part of the platform. Note that a red robot on the blue platform scores for the blue alliance. While only in contact with the steps or platform a robot may extend to a maximum horizontal dimension of 84 inches. The maximum vertical dimension remains at 48 inches. Note that it is legal to stack two robots on the opposing platform to block the opposing high goal. I can’t think of a situation where this would be desirable, but the rules allow it.

Maximum total scores:

Minibot game: 60
Robots during teleop: 240
Human Players: 120
End game: 140

Total: 560

Maximum alliance score: 500