**IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Game Tip and 2004 Competition Manual Information!!

[IMDWalrus]

Originally Posted by Cory

Overall, I dont believe these hints for a second, and I am not going to waste my time pondering them. For those that do, have fun with the headache, and have fun when you find on Saturday that your guess was 180* off from the real game. Are you really going to get any insight into the game in the next four days by poring over these statements? Even if there are stairs, we have no idea what theyre to, and people are already talking about changing their drivetrain designs.

But guessing is so much fun!

Spoilsport...

And comment for Ken: seeing the shape that car was in after it landed, I don't think that would be very good for our robots...

[KenWittlief]

but it was still running!

[swando]

i dunno, would they really pre-release an encrypted preview of the rules if they didnt want us to have a go at cracking it? cmon, this is robots, a good percentage of us are hackers, and pdf encryption is a bit shaky...

[Rickertsen2]

Nobody export the rulebook! (if you get this then you truly are nerdy.)


RC4 is pretty secure. I assure you that nobody will crack this rule book in time, unless they are really really really lucky. If you try to argue this point then i would say you don't have a very god understanding of RC4. Yes a few helpful vulnerabilities do exist, but these only reduce the time needed, and even then unless you have some $@#$@#$@#$@# powerful computers, it will still take to long. RC4 is actually pretty interesting. There are many good papers about it on the internet.

While RC4 is rather secure, the adobe implementation is poor, and not nearly as secure as it could be. Its almost as bad as the WEP implementation.

[Sachiel7]

Hmm. Lots of interesting ideas here. I think that yeah, stairs are likely. Especially for all that wood in the BOM. Also, remember that that is the "cheap" BOM, so if there are "goals", it may only include one, hence the 3 casters.

There were ideas about some sort of pyramid...
My point towards that: Anyone look into the Mars landings?

I doubt it's anything too crazy, but it sounds really sweet already. The one thing we can be sure about is there is definitially a big structure somewhere in there. My other guess is we're going to see goal(s) similar to 2002, hence the pvc, casters, and wood. I wouldn't doubt that the steel pole is for pivoting something, or grabbing.
Also, no actual scoring components are included, which means they must be a somewhat common off-shelf item again. My guess is balls are back. I know everyone gives the old been there done that, and balls got old, but I think if they find a rather unique type of ball, with a unique scoring method, that everyone would be satisfied.

As for the Vmax = 10 ft/sec...
Not much speculation has been put into that. What's the V? Velocity? Vertical? Not sure, but 10 fps will play a role. I doubt they'd limit our bot's speed. through, it would level some vets with the rookies...
But I doubt it.

Vmax is used in Kenetic equations alot...

If V is velocity, maybe each bot will be armed with a cannon? The cannons can shoot a maximum of 10 fps. Maybe they shoot tennis balls? Perhaps that's what's in the 12" cube?!??!
Oh, just frothing at the mouth. Heh.
Anyway, i think launching or swinging something is likely. V sounds like Velocity, and if it is, I doubt it applies to the bots.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Sachiel7

Also, no actual scoring components are included, which means they must be a somewhat common off-shelf item again. My guess is balls are back. I know everyone gives the old been there done that, and balls got old, but I think if they find a rather unique type of ball, with a unique scoring method, that everyone would be satisfied.

They dont include a list of scoring items because they dont want us to know what they are. FIRST didnt tell us we would need to buy totes last year, or soccerballs the year before.

Cory

[danielkitchener]

Simple Physics:
2as = vf^2 - vi^2
from a rest, vi=0
vf = vmax = 10 ft/sec
a = accel of gravity = 32.174 ft/sec^2
s = distance
thus, distance = 1.55 ft = 1 ft, 6.6"
Standard stair size = 4-8"
Assuming stairs are average, this means 3 6" stairs, 5 4" stairs (about) or 2-3 8"stairs, though the 6" ones fit the equations so much nicer.
So, 3 6" stairs is my guess
****
As for paths, possibly a choice between autonomous or user mode for at least a small portion of time. User is easier, but autonomous might give more points/time. Reference to "time to choose" might mean you do one autonomous mode (at start, probably) and then get to pick whether to go back into it or not further on (middle or end of game).
But, again, these are just my theories

[Mark Pettit]

. . and what about the Vmax thing?
There is a motorcycle called the Vmax.
Two wheels or Four????
Maybe they'll give us a Segway as part of the kit?

[UlTiMaTeP]

Originally Posted by Rickertsen2

Nobody export the rulebook! (if you get this then you truly are nerdy.)


RC4 is pretty secure. I assure you that nobody will crack this rule book in time, unless they are really really really lucky. If you try to argue this point then i would say you don't have a very god understanding of RC4. Yes a few helpful vulnerabilities do exist, but these only reduce the time needed, and even then unless you have some $@#$@#$@#$@# powerful computers, it will still take to long. RC4 is actually pretty interesting. There are many good papers about it on the internet.

While RC4 is rather secure, the adobe implementation is poor, and not nearly as secure as it could be. Its almost as bad as the WEP implementation.

– four characters: 22 minutes– five characters: 9 days– six characters: 42 days– seven characters: years

-unless I can get my hands on japan's 20 gigaflop supercomputer vault....

alpha x characters x # = 36^#

ohhhhh that could take a while

[Winged Globe]

Originally Posted by danielkitchener

As for paths, possibly a choice between autonomous or user mode for at least a small portion of time. User is easier, but autonomous might give more points/time. Reference to "time to choose" might mean you do one autonomous mode (at start, probably) and then get to pick whether to go back into it or not further on (middle or end of game).

Without overanalyzing it, I think this auton/driver mode switching is a more reasonable guess for this hint. Maybe we *have* to switch to auton mode for certain tasks.. puts those touch sensors and limit switches to good use.

[Adam Collet]

Returning to speculation on Vmax ... remember, FIRST official hints are obscure and try to get us thinking somewhere different from what the game actually is, though you can always figure the hints out in hindsight. Thinking along these lines, I highly doubt that it will be a maximum speed, and it is more likely but still improbable that it is giving us the height of the stairs. I'd think in totally different directions ... my mind doesn't really work this way, but for example, like (someone) mentioned not too long ago, Vmax, for one thing, is used a lot in kinetics stuff. So think along the lines of kinetics. Kinetic engergy. As opposed to potential energy. So constantly moving is important. Or you can get stuck somewhere and be trying to move but not going anywhere. Who knows. It's not very likely that we'll crank it out. Point is, it's more likely that it'll be something way off of the obvious. And besides, it's more fun to think about the clues this way.

[danielkitchener]

Originally Posted by Mark Pettit

. . and what about the Vmax thing?
There is a motorcycle called the Vmax.
Two wheels or Four????
Maybe they'll give us a Segway as part of the kit?

V is the physics symbol for Velocity - speed with direction
I'm guessing 10 fps is down, given that they cannot control our robots in other directions due to the differences in drive trains
Vmax means maximum velocity, or the fastest velocity at which the robot or object will travel

[UlTiMaTeP]

spec·u·la·tion - Reasoning based on inconclusive evidence; conjecture or supposition.

[Matt Leese]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

are there any teams sponsored by NSA? (National Security Agency)

they could bust the encryption in a matter of hours

but then again, they have rooms full of CRAY computers.

Team 1111 out of Maryland is sponsored by the NSA. I believe they only get financial support however.

Matt

[KenWittlief]

I like the idea that someone posted in the BOM thread

maybe the equation Vmax = 10 ft/sec is for scoring

maybe the V is for Value

and f and t are the number of objects you obtained, like floppies and tires

so to score points in auton mode you have to get at least one of each

and the /S means the sooner you switch off auton mode, the higher your score: 10/10 is a multiplyer of 1, 10/5 is a multiplyer of 2, 10/1 is a multiplyer of 10...

maybe we will choose WHEN to end auton mode this year.

Value max = (10 * F * T) / Seconds ?

why the max? maybe this will establish the max score you can get in the rest of the match, what you can score in manual mode?