Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Westwig
I agree that the gears have a higher face value than fuel, but in higher level matches, all the gears will be placed before the match is over and you don't want your robot sitting around on the field waiting for the ropes to drop.
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I wouldn't overestimate the realistic number of possible cycles for the average competent team. Going back to 2011 scoring tasks have often been protected by zones or keys. Scoring the gears are not protected tasks, similar to trying to place a 2007 inner tube (e.g .
this vintage defense. In recent years, defense has been limited to jostling robots around while they travel around the field. This year brings back "big defense" where you can interfere with robots while they perform scoring tasks. Knock someone out of alignment while they're crossing the field and they'll adjust, maybe you add a second or two to their cycle time. Knock them out of alignment in placing a gear and they'll probably need 5-7 more seconds to realign, unless they (wisely) designed their mechanism to not require major lineup precision.
My point is not that the boiler should be ignored but this: supposing you score all the gears, there are better uses of your time than low goal cycling. I like Rangel's idea of loading up high shooter bots.