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Unread 24-01-2015, 18:32
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Re: Pool Noodles -- How Important?

I think really there's only two things to consider with noodles

1. Is it worth the extra time to drive up with a container to feed a noodle in from the human player? Does my design allow this?

To me, it's one of those things that seems too easy not to do. Container robots will need something to do while they are waiting for stacks to get made, if they are not stacking the totes themselves. Obviously, bringing the containers to the human player station to be loaded with litter both fills this time and adds the equivalent of three totes worth of points to the score. I only expect it to be skipped in a big time crunch, or if the team is placing a container on a stack in an unconventional way.

2. Can my robot passively push the noodles into the landfill to avoid giving my opponents (in the finals) points?

This isn't THAT important, really, but it's something nice to have. However being able to drive these noodles into the landfill requires a mechanism low to the ground, which is somewhat conflicting with the ability to drive over the bump. If you've got time for a flap or something to drop down on one side of the bot for this purpose, great, but I'm not sweating it too hard. I've got stacks to worry about first and foremost.

Anything about picking noodles up off the ground, etc. is a waste of time.
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