Quote:
Originally posted by Caleb Fulton
Capture the flag with 1/2 the time being autonomous mode!
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That would be... extremely challenging. It would require a much greater focus on sensors and some pretty complex AI. Now, I'd love some (or a lot) of better sensors and the programmer inside of me would love a challenge (although I'd definitely want something better than PBASIC... gah...), but a game such as this would be difficult for a rookie team that doesn't know much about programming. That's why I doubt autonomous would be that long, although it may get more complex to promote sensor use. It will probably still come at the beginning of the game, and can still decide a major part of it.
Also, earlier there was discussion about the big points given to getting the goals or getting on top of the ramp and the relatively few points given to ball manipulation or stacking. I'm pretty sure that this is so because FIRST doesn't want to leave teams out. After all, building a robot is *not* easy. Some teams, rookie and veteran alike, may be short of funds, or time, or mentors, or luck, and the best they can come up with is a box on wheels (still a marvelous accomplishment). FIRST doesn't want to exclude them after they paid upward of $5000 to enter. Hence, a large portion of the points can be accrued by a simple box on wheels, either by pushing goals into position or plowing onto the top of the ramp, so they aren't left out of the experience. It promotes the entrance of rookie teams and gives even them a chance to win.
I think specialized functions could be better promoted if they lower the worth of KotH-type points by a little (15/20 instead of 25). Even if they don't, specialized bots can still get picked as an alliance partner for elimination rounds or win a technical award. And beyond that, remember the goal of FIRST is not just to build robots, but to build people and ideas. Sure, it'd be great to win, but I would still feel awesome if I know my team worked as hard as it could to make something cool. And if you really did that well, I'm betting that you would be recognized at least by the other teams at your regional, if not also by people here on CD.
And now that I've gone sufficiently off topic, I'll be quiet and return you to your regularly scheduled game predictions

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