Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me
I think you're missing a few functions the most competitive FTC robots will have, honestly. And I doubt anyone who has them will say anything about them until they win their events with them.  |
Ah, heck, I'll say it.
Look at video of Aim High FRC robots for inspiration. With one exception (an amazing quick-fire catapult) they all used some version of a baseball pitching machine. Both single-wheel and double-wheel versions worked well. If you want to shoot, it will look like a pitching machine, and mostly the wheels will be top-mounted to minimize blocking.
Picking up balls is a pretty easy exercise, as is shooting them. Tying the shooter together with a ball store and picker is the engineering challenge. I predict that a lot of teams will fail at the center mechanism.
Check out the Robowranglers (FRC 148) Lunacy robot for some great inspiration on how to solve this problem. Add a baseball pitching machine to the top and Bob's your uncle.
You can vary the distance and height of your shooter by either varying the shooter wheel speed or the point of release. In 2006, I preferred the second method, but there's not much question that either can work.
A mechanism or strategy that can turn the goal is a valuable thing. I'm not suggesting any particular mechanism, but I have noticed that the penalty for moving the goal in autonomous is pretty small in comparison to the points you can avoid <deleted>. In the middle of writing this paragraph it occurred to me that the GDC is a pretty bright bunch and that they might have noticed that a 5-point penalty isn't enough to dissuade this strategy. In the latest version of the manual the penalty for SG7 has been increased to 40 points. Take note! A relatively minor offense is now the death penalty.
Most FTC robots I saw last year were poorly controlled, and I don't think this was bad driving. The drive motors are so powerful in relation to the size of the field that teams built fast robots that were hard to drive. I expect the best robots this year to have great smoothed-and-scaled drive code. With another cluttered field this year with four relatively large robots on it maneuverability will be at a premium, so I expect to see new-generation driving code to be combined with holonomic drive trains in many of the best robots. Our new FTC robot uses a holo drive and it's a revelation compared to last year's machine.
The blocking rules may engender some strategies which include "drawing fouls" by shooting balls in such a way as to lead referees to believe that another robot was blocking. The reliance of the rules on having referees divine the intent of drivers will lead to mind games where teams try to convince the referees that the other alliance intended to commit a foul where none was meant. I'm not a big fan of rules that require referees to figure out what teams intended, but it does open up a rich avenue for strategy boffins.
Of course, you need a good strategy for acquiring balls. Sucking them up as they come down the ramp seems like a no-brainer to me.
The ability to hold zillions of balls looks good, as is the ability to hit the off-field goals from more than minimum distance. Shooting while moving would also be valuable, but I doubt we'll see much of that.
Just like last year, winning auto will mean winning the match nearly all the time. The auto bonus is so incredibly huge in the last two FTC games that if you can't score in auto you might as well not play. Conversely, a terrific auto defensive strategy might make you a popular alliance partner. A defensive robot won't get you to Championships, though. Top scoring robots will end up top-ranked after qualifying, and while a great defensive robot will be a valuable alliance partner, it will only get ranked high in qualifying if it is paired with a great scorer. Since only alliance captains go to Champs, I wouldn't waste time building a defensive robot. A great defensive team would be a good partner for the best scorer, but won't go to Worlds.
Got to go back to work, but that's my 10-minute analysis.