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Unread 01-02-2017, 21:22
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Parker Brotman Parker Brotman is offline
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Re: Defensive Robots/Strategies?

Quote:
Originally Posted by garyjune View Post
Considering the shuttling and the importance of cycle times in this year's game, how effective would defensive strategies/robots be?
I agree with everyone else that defense will be a big factor this year. A mostly open field which also has a few chokepoints lends well to defense, as well as the fact that there's only one fully protected zone per alliance.

Quote:
Originally Posted by garyjune View Post
Would it be a better idea to defend against gear or ball scoring robots?
Either could be good depending on the circumstances of any given match, but generally I'd think defending against gear-delivering robots would be a more effective strategy due to the nature of how gears and fuel are each scored. Fuel is scored in a fluid manner, meaning a team basically sits in front of the boiler and the score steadily ticks upward. Gears on the other hand are scored in an incremental manner, meaning you only get points when your gear total passes what I think of as a "checkpoint." The gap between the final two checkpoints (rotors) is equal to the sum of all previously delivered gears, so if you can keep the opposing alliance down to 11 delivered gears, it's just as good as limiting them to 6 delivered gears, and you're making their last 5 gears completely worthless.

Quote:
Originally Posted by garyjune View Post
What design elements/components would increase a robot's defensive capability?
Good drivers and a strong drive train.

The more experience your drivers have, the better they will be at all aspects of the game, especially defense. There's something to be said for keeping your design simple and finishing early so that you're drivers (and programmers) get more time with the robot. And the thing about practicing defense is you don't even need a full robot to begin practicing; all you need is a functioning drive train.

Unless you can pull off a more complex drivetrain such as swerve or octocanum, I'd stick with tank drive (as in 6 traction wheels, not treads). This is a very contentious topic, but most people, myself included, would highly advise against using a mecanum drive or an H drive, as the (slightly) increased mobility is outweighed by the fact that they will get pushed around easily by other robots. And if you have well-trained drivers, you should be totally fine with the mobility of a tank drive.

As for the transmission, I like shifting gearboxes. You can have a very low speed which is great for pushing other robots, and you can have a high speed which is good for traversing the field quickly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by garyjune View Post
Would a hybrid gear + defensive robot be viable?
If your talking about robot design, absolutely. All it takes to build a good defensive bot is a strong drivetrain.

If you're talking about strategy, it could work. If you're confident your alliance can get 3 rotors activated but highly doubtful your alliance could get up to 4, one good use of your time instead of cycling useless gears would be to play defense.

A hybrid fuel + defensive strategy for your robot might be even better though. To pickup a gear requires that you fetch it from a specific location on the field, whereas fuel can be found everywhere. This means that you can both intake fuel and play defense at the same time.
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