Posted by Wayne Cokeley at 04/20/2001 12:17 AM EST
Coach on team #25, Raider Robotix, from North Brunswick Twp. H.S. and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
In Reply to: Basketball robots
Posted by Andy Baker on 04/19/2001 5:24 PM EST:
: : The best thing that a complex game has going for it is that it lends itself to many different ways to win. A simple game (like basketball) will lead to hundreds of robots that can pick the ball up, and shoot it. It will come down to whoever makes the most reliable robot and has the best drivers wins.
: Aha... basketball is not simple. There would be some shooters, but there would also be some dunkers, blockers (defenders), and passers. Definitely, basketball is not a simple game... plus it would be easy for everyone to understand.
: Imagine this:
: A passer-bot brings the ball up the court and passes it to a shooter-bot, who is defended by a blocker-bot. The shooter-bot has to use picks or screens to get open for the pass from the passer-bot. Once the shooter-bot gets the ball, it tries to shoot. If it misses (which would be often), the dunker-bot could rebound and slam it home!
: A 3 on 3 game would be pretty cool. FIRST could run the competition like a Gus Macker tournament... many teams play short games and by the end of the weekend, there is a winner.
: Maybe the rest of you are a bit afraid of us Hoosiers stomping all over your 'bots out there on the hardwood.
: I definitely know that people around here would simply go "ga-ga" over a basketball game played by robots. I can see demos during the halftime shows of Purdue-IU games, and also at a Pacer game.
: Simple it would not be. There could be defense, fouls, lane violations, and lots of action... "just look at those two robots banging it up down in the low post!"
: Also, you would see some robots play "above the rim" while others would be speedy and be looking out to steal the ball away from the opposition.
: That's just what I think... maybe I've lived in Indiana too long.
: Andy B.
I really doubt if FIRST would ever consider robotic basketball for two reasons;
1. it would glorify and give credence to professional sports and look like FIRST was trying to imitate them- and Dean Kamen would never do that.
2. there are several robotic basketball games around the world, mostly in Asia and on the small robot scale. I doubt if FIRST would want to look like they are copying any of them.
The idea of an original game will most likely always be in FIRST's minds. That's fine- but lets see some team vs team interactions again.
WC