Quote:
Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV
The field is working as designed, from my point of view that design was not clearly stated. Since the ball ramps aren't part of the low cost field there was a slim chance a team would discover this challenge on their own with out some hints from FIRST. They could have worded it "that the ball ramps allow balls to be removed when the bridge is tipped to the other side" and I think a lot more teams would have understood the challenge as FIRST intended it.
|
The problem here is that, even if that was clear, a scenario still exists where a ball can get stuck under either side, making it impossible to lift up and clear*.
Whether it's intentional or not, the fact of the matter is that it was represented to teams that a system was in place to keep balls from getting stuck under the bridges, and balls are still getting stuck under the bridges. I have yet to see any robots which can get on the bridge without lowering it or without the assistance of another robot**.
When you have something as basic to the game as a Coopertition bridge, which
counts as a win, it should be doable by almost every team...but if balls get jammed, nobody's getting on that Coopertition bridge.
There are some things the GDC can rightfully say are "part of the challenge", such as the chains sometimes deflecting goals in 2006 and 2010, or popped tubes in 2007 and 2011. This should not be one of those, as it is a situation which prevents teams from being able to complete a major part of the game, by no fault of their own, and is happening it a large number of the matches.
*I have not played with a real bridge with balls stuck under it. It's possible that they will move enough that rocking the bridge will clear them, even though it can't be pushed down far enough to climb on to
**With the exception of 118's hanger mechanism, pending legality rulings. It's worth noting that 179 can hang from the bridge without climbing on it, but someone needs to get on it first for them to be able to balance by hanging, thus they would require the assistance of another robot (and another robot requires theirs).