[archiver]

Posted by Ken Leung at 1/12/2001 10:57 PM EST


Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M. Gunn Senior High School.


In Reply to: Car Nack In Disbelief
Posted by Bill Beatty on 1/12/2001 10:36 AM EST:



: 1. That FIRST made such a dramatic rule change to alter the game to allow scoring with the goals on their sides and four large balls on the top side.

: 2. FIRST will need a large supply of PVC pipe to repair the goals that are broken from tipping the goals over and hitting the edges of the aluminum side plates.

I do not exactly agree with FIRST's decision of changing the rules this late. Many teams who set their strategy in the first few days are going to find this rule change making a huge difference in their standpoint behind their strategies.
However, this rule change does not seems as influential as it should be because the goals on its side lying on the ground are really hard to push around or mess around. All it take to get it on its side is a simple dragging it across the bridge and let it tip over, but moving it around is different thing because there are no longer casters for it to slide on, not to mention the friction of the wood base against the carpet. And then, it is not likely for any robot to do anything to the goal after this point except pushing and putting balls on. I would say putting the base up in the air is almost out of question, unless a robot is designed specifically just doing that. Maybe they should've made the entire goal out of PVC...

And yes, they are going to need a lot of replacement ready for goals tipping over when robots try to drag it across the bridge or balancing them. I can picture FIRST having at least 4 spare goal for each field at competition.