View Single Post
  #175   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 02-03-2015, 15:46
SteveGPage's Avatar
SteveGPage SteveGPage is offline
Mentor - Scouting and Strategy
AKA: Steve
FRC #0836 (RoboBees)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Rookie Year: 2004
Location: Hollywood, MD
Posts: 523
SteveGPage has a reputation beyond reputeSteveGPage has a reputation beyond reputeSteveGPage has a reputation beyond reputeSteveGPage has a reputation beyond reputeSteveGPage has a reputation beyond reputeSteveGPage has a reputation beyond reputeSteveGPage has a reputation beyond reputeSteveGPage has a reputation beyond reputeSteveGPage has a reputation beyond reputeSteveGPage has a reputation beyond reputeSteveGPage has a reputation beyond repute
Re: Week 1 Observations

I will echo what has been said previously, boring to watch (Friends watching the video feed told me that watching paint dry or grass grow is much more exciting!) - challenging to build and play. We thought we had nailed this - great analysis of the game, how to play, things we needed to do ... build an absolutely beautiful robot ... that doesn't work at all. Week 1 showed that we completely missed the mark in how to build for this year's game. We are fortunate that we have a shot at redemption - 4 weeks until the Chesapeake Regional, and then 2 more weeks until Championships. So 30 pounds of changes between now and Chesapeake, and 30 more for Champs. We have just entered our second build season! In this regard, I'm glad we did a Week 1 event, so we could see what we need to do for subsequent events.
I remember the days of being "One and done" and it would have been heart-breaking to think we ended the season on the disaster that was our Week 1 outing at Palmetto. This is much, much tougher to play than I thought.
Congratulations to the amazing teams we saw that nailed it and could perform at a high level this weekend!

A couple of side notes:
* Tossing Litter -- if you haven't started to have your human player practice, start immediately. It is a huge impact on the game.
* The field Geometry -- the space is much smaller that you think it is - Human Player Stations are practically on top of the Totes and RCs. Landfill is hard to drive around.
* Coop points are a must -- Just do that consistently, you'll score high
* Human Player -- Totes don't fall like you think they will. We built the practice field version, and the actual field one works completely different. Spend the time on the field during the practice matches dropping them out the chute door (yes, chute door).

Steve
__________________
FRC 836, The RoboBees www.robobees.org
growingSTEMS www.growingSTEMS.org
2017: Southwest VA, Northern MD, Chesapeake District Championships, Championships
Reply With Quote