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Unread 25-04-2005, 13:49
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Post Re: New Ideas for next year's competition

It seems to me that most of the penalties this year could be avoided through game design instead of taking off points. The two biggest hitters for point deductions are because FIRST wants to discourage teams from blocking or descoring opponents and keep human players safe.

The reason teams choose a descoring or blocking strategy is because it is easier to block or descore than it is to score. Solution: Have at least one scoring piece (that is really easy to pick up) get deposited into something like a goal so that it is difficult to get out. Also, make many scoring pieces available as well as several places to score.

The safety penalties were targeted around the HP and Auto loading zones. If you hit a bot while they were in this zone, that bot could potentially fall and hit a person. Solution: elevate the loading zones off the floor using ramps or isolate it from the field using barriers. The plus side to using ramps is if someone tries to block you from getting out of your zone, you can go any direction out of the zone. Also, if the penalties still exist for loading zone infractions, then the opposing team can clearly see from across the field that the robot is in fact in a loading zone (because it is elevated from the field). Or, you could keep the HP away from the robot and load the robot from the HP like in 2000 or 2001... from behind the alliance station.


My idea for a future game:
2 Scoring Objects:
- Balls (A different color for each alliance).
- Something Else (Floppies, tetras, KK donuts, whatever).

2 Types of Scoring Locations:
- Troughs/goals/bins for the balls AND other scoring object.
- Something Else (ONLY for the other scoring object).

Ways to score points:
- Deposit balls into troughs/goals/bins (common scoring container for all alliances, points will be assessed by how many objects of each color are inside the scoring container).
- Deposit other scoring object (other than balls) into troughs/goals/bins (This will be worth more than the balls, but less than scoring this object at the specific scoring location) - EG: If I have a donut and put it in the trough, it is worth 5pts. If I take this donut and stick it in my mouth, I get 20pts because 1) it is hard to get a robot to put a donut in my mouth and 2) it tastes better in my mouth than in the ball trough.)
- Deposit other scoring object into other scoring location (reference example from before).
- Hang, get to a home zone, or do a little dance.

Auton Possibilities:
- knock off a ball (as in 2004) that releases more balls or alternate game pieces.
- Score other scoring object before Auton mode ends.
- Auton segment at the end, robots are able to move from anywhere in the field back to the home zone or some other location to score points. (Eg: you get points for being in your home zone. Time is running out, but you don't want to give up your position, or you want to finish scoring your last point. Time runs out and End Game Auton Begins. If you are a good team, you know exactly where you are and exactly where the end zone is [Possibly with the help of the camera or sensor beacons like in 2004]. Now that you have ~10-15 seconds of auton, you can get back to your home zone. If you are a less advanced team, you hope that you were able to get back before End Game begins, or you are at least pointed the right way so your dead-reckoning robot shoots back home.).

Field Considerations:
- Platforms for auto-loading stations. Here you can get the other scoring objects (not balls, the other thing).
- 1-2 ball troughs. Smaller bots should have the option of going under the troughs. The other scoring locations could be at the ends of the troughs, between the troughs, or some place else entirely.
- mobile goals?
- Alliance-specific other scoring locations?
- A hanging bar? (Everyone seemed to like the hanging games.)


What do you think?
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