2015 Recycle Rush, more than any other recent game, called for cool-headed drivers. Despite the name of the game, rushing was the last thing you wanted the driver to do. Yes, move quickly and surely, but never get in a rush! Most years, taking a bit of a gamble of speed over consistency might pay off in the long run; probably not in 2015.
The only time I can think that driver aggression helped us this year was in driver tryouts. We learned that yes, our stabilizer bar could be used to flip totes (actually roll them 90 degrees at a time) when used aggressively. It didn't work when done methodically. After a bit of noggin-scratching, we added some rubber tape to the bottom of the bar so we could flip totes in a more controlled fashion. We probably wouldn't have thought the problem through if we hadn't seen it work sometimes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay O'Donnell
Human Playing this year was much more difficult and required communication than the past two years. There wasn't much to communicate in 2013/14, but this year it made sense because of how stacking works.
|
In 2014 Aerial Assist, communication (apart from hand signals) was only feasible with the HP behind the alliance wall, in any event. For the field-side HPs, there was only one ball to keep an eye on, so the HP could just follow the robots' (that is, the drivers') lead in most situations, and look to the drive coach for a hand signal when necessary.
In 2013 Ultimate Ascent, the HPs were behind the wall, but I imagine that loading stations and altitudes were all known before each match. The main thing that needed communication to the HPs were when to feed the colored frisbees, and when to start the HP frisbee launch. I imagine that some HPs had to guide their drivers in to the loading station, especially if their robot did not have an on board camera feeding back to the driver station.