Thread: What if...
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Unread 15-12-2014, 00:25
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AKA: Gus Michel II
FRC #3946 (Tiger Robotics)
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Re: What if...

Quote:
Originally Posted by brandon.cottrell View Post
Really? Where'd you guys go?
We've played at the Bayou Regional in Kenner, LA. 3400's the median team number at Bayou for 2015 (between 3337 and 3468), so most of the teams are still relatively new, and last year, we had about a dozen robots that consisted of only a drive system, a drive system with a "box" to hold the ball, or had essentially non-functional manipulators. Curiously, we have no rookie teams scheduled this year - the newest were rookies last year. However, of the regionals I checked out on video (perhaps four, but I don't recall which), the effective game strategies didn't seem much different.

I also generally agree with the criticism that AA didn't offer enough "engineering challenge". While dealing the big ball was hardly trivial, there were no competing requirements that forced compromise. Apart from the 10 points of "mobility" which simply involved driving forward about ten feet in autonomous, every point to be earned involved manipulating the ball. With UA, there were competing space requirements - we'd have loved to be taller or heavier, but then we wouldn't have been able to get inside the pyramid for the much easier "inside climb", and/or been slower about it. For RR, there were definite height (for basketball) vs stability (for crossing bridges or the hump) tradeoffs. Checking back on some research I did this summer, every game since 1999 excepting 2000 and 2014 seemed to involve an "endgame bonus" which was distinct from, and often in design conflict with, the "main game".
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