[Ken Streeter]

Originally Posted by eli2410

So that would mean BHS/RHS is Autonomous, BFP/RFP is foul points. That sounds right.

Having played in the match in question on Saturday, I'm pretty sure the above is the correct interpretation of the Twitter feed scoring in that match.

FYI, the matches were the "Week Zero" tournament held in Merrimack, NH (home of Team #166, ChopShop), staffed by FIRST with the official field and scoring system, as a final test of everything before the real deal at Week One events starting about 10 days from now. It was at last year's "Week Zero" event that FIRST realized they needed to change the rules about human players throwing unlimited frisbees onto the field in the endgame, due to the relentless barrage of human-thrown frisbees at the end of every match. Fortunately, I don't think any such rule changes will be in the works this year!

I hadn't realized that FIRST activated the Twitter feed for the Week Zero event. It's good to learn that they had it going.

The Week Zero elimination matches were pretty intense. Early-day qualification matches at the scrimmage were like ballet - opposing robots shared the field nicely together, with nearly all offense. Everybody gave the opposing alliance space to practice picking up balls and shooting, without having to deal with pesky defenders. I think we had at least one qualification match where our alliance managed to get 3 complete cycles with all 3 robots handling the ball for max assist points. However, as the day wore on, some defense started to get played, and by the elimination finals, defense was full-on.

Indeed, with this now being my 10th year as a drive coach, yesterday's matches were the most physical defense I've seen since the 2007 game (which, by the way, was downright brutal). If a team intends to score in the high goal, they better be able to do it within 1 second of their initial arrival at their shooting position. With only one ball on the field for each alliance, shutting down a ball-handler effectively stops the entire other alliance. The payoff for good defense is huge.

If nothing else, this game will be an exciting one, with lots of physical contact. Durable robots will be very important - no safe zones for shooting, heavy balls falling from the sky, and high-speed robot contact a part of the game!

Actually on second thought, strike the first part of that prior sentence -- durable robots will be essential!