Thread: Ideal FRC Game
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Unread 02-01-2013, 10:17
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Re: Ideal FRC Game

How about a game where the robots are the playing pieces, and the difficulty is navigating the playing field? The object is to touch the far side wall, for 10 points, then your own side to reset. The obstacle is that there is a 6 foot high wall in the center of the field. The wall has two openings (red and blue), 1'x2', three feet off the floor, where the red and blue ramps were this year. Robots may go through the slots or over the wall. Only robots that match the slot color may pass through the slots, and preventing a robot from going through a slot is a penalty. Autonomous scores are worth 30 points. End game is to be 5 feet above the floor, supported only by yourself and the wall (no other robots), 30 points. Coopertition points scored by assisting other robots to return to their side of the wall, 10 points. Halfway through the match, a section of the wall drops in the center (where the coop bridge was this year), leaving a 3 foot wide opening, 3 feet off the floor.

This game would encourage differentiation in robots. It would be difficult, but not impossible, to score yourself. There would be lightweight scoring robots that go over the wall or through the slots. There would be helper robots that help the scorers get through the slots or over the wall. Some might be able to do both.

Interesting twists could be made by playing with which side of the field is the scoring side (near or far). You could also play with making the wall either transparent, or opaque (or some combination).

To make it most interesting, robots start on the far side of an opaque wall. Robots are allowed to carry one video camera each, and the video feed from all the cameras on an alliance goes to all the operator stations on that alliance. So, even robots that never move during a match would at least provide valuable video to their partners. The video scoreboard would display the video feeds from all the robots on the field, so the spectators have the advantage of seeing both sides of the field, and also all the video feeds. Kind of like televised poker. If a drive team were good enough, they could watch the big board instead of their operator station, to see all six video feeds.

Defense is legal once a robot is on the floor, but would be difficult, since the defenders would only have video to drive by, and the scorers would have eyeballs on their robot.

In the simplest version of the game, with everyone playing nice, two ramp bots on each side sit by the slots and a scoring bot from each side races up and down the ramps, back and forth through the slots, scoring points. There would be lots of strategy around when to help your opponent return to their side of the field. Scoring robots that could score on their own have a big advantage.

Because of the size of the slots, previously developed, "stock" drivetrains won't be the biggest scoring bots. Robots which are small, light, fast, and can get through the slots on their own would be the best. If you stick with a previously developed drivetrain, you have to go over the 6 foot wall, help other bots through the slots, or wait until the center section drops, and fight to get through.

Edit: While we are dreaming, robot rules would allow the Arduino Controls Package (am-2316), to replace the CRIO, and robot electrical power to be provided by any 3C LiPo battery, as long as it was fully enclosed by a battery box of minimum 1/8" aluminum construction.
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Last edited by ToddF : 02-01-2013 at 10:32.
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