POLL: What surface do you want to see?

[Rombus]

So carpets getting a bit boring eh? So what would you pick? Here is an explanation of the choices:

Pure Water:
100% water playing field, robots have to float or be subs

Water/Other Surface:
a mixed playing field, Say like a river in the middle of the field, or islands

Ice:
Same as our current field, but made of ice, either smooth or like a curling surface

Rocks:
Same as current field, but made of rock, Rocks similar to stone/gravel used for driveways.

Dirt:
Same as current field, but made of dirt, loose/slightly packed/hard packed, doesn't matter!

Moonscape:
Mix of Dirt and Rock, alot more "off road" than rock or dirt field. Would have more of a rolling terrain with a mix of heights and lows

Keep it the same:
You love the carpet, and dont want to see it change!

[Josh Hambright]

you forgot to put corn on the list. I wanna see them take it back old skool on everybody!

[jpsaul7usa]

We just got a heap-load of carpet (thanks to Don Knight and Team 60 for helping us get it!) and next season will be the first time we have a large area of carpet to practice on. That, and water/dust will interfere with field and robot electronics and make the field setup more complicated. And ice certainly wouldn't be too popular here in AZ since it wouldn't last long. All good reasons why carpet is king! More slippery plastic surfaces like in 2003 and 2004 would be fun though.

Originally Posted by oneangrydwarf

you forgot to put corn on the list. I wanna see them take it back old skool on everybody!

Whaaa? Could you elaborate? I don't know anything about games before 2002 and this sounds interesting.

[Ali Ahmed]

I would like to see a change in the field but to a more manageable surface other than water or ice. You have to keep in mind the field setup and take down times. Water or ice would be hard to manage but I would love to see how teams protect their electronics and stuff. Dirt or mud wouldn't be that bad but it would be messy, you would see a lot of dirt in the pits too. I say make the whole field out of panels of HDPE.

[sanddrag]

Maybe recycled tires. Or the whole floor covered in "river rock" type small boulders. Something irregular. Something that needs suspension or artiulation of the drive system of some sort. Or maybe a field with a pit of PlayPlace plastic balls.

EDIT: The more I think about it a long trough (pit) of playplace balls (deep) that splits the field in half would be awesome. And the only way to score is on the other side. I bet getting across those would be harder than you think because you wouldn't sink to the bottom, yet the top is not rigid/stable. Hrrrmm...

[NoodleKnight]

Instead of ice, use hdpe or delrin, almost as slippery.

jpsaul7usa, in 1992 the competition field flooring was corn.

[Ryan M.]

Originally Posted by jpsaul7usa

Whaaa? Could you elaborate? I don't know anything about games before 2002 and this sounds interesting.

Maize Craze from FIRST's first (I think) year. The field was a hexagon filled with corn. I think. I don't know anymore than that.

Obviously, I'm not too sure either...

And I'm going to have to say carpet is what's it's going to be. FIRST doesn't seem to do "messy" things. (Just think if they penalized for "damaging the playing field" )

[Josh Hambright]

from the videos that andy baker has that i have seen and from what i have been told. It was infact called maize craze and it involved driving around in corn and collecting tennis balls, there was only 1 competition that year, none of the regional stuff we see today, and the robots were tethered. Some of the robots still exist, but i can only assume that they are merely museum pieces now.

[Steve Howland]

Originally Posted by oneangrydwarf

Some of the robots still exist, but i can only assume that they are merely museum pieces now.

Last year at the Battlecry@WPI offseason they brought back some of the originals and made a scaled-down field. Then between certain matches they had matches with the original robots, tethers and all. There are pictures of it here.

[DarkJedi613]

Water would be neat...but theres only two waterproof items on our (as in team 358's) robot. The PVC on the arm and the main circuit breaker.

I think the carpet works well, though Stack Attack was neat with the grating and stuff...

[SuperJake]

I think those options are cool and all, but not practical (as discussed in other theads. I like obsticals on the field that make things more interesting. Like in 2000, there was that large goal/ramp/bar structure in the middle of the field. you could go under the goals and over the ramp - lots of fun. The teeter-totter bridge in 2001 was alright with the bar you could go over/under. I wasn't a big fan of the platform in 2003 - there was too much falling off the steps.

I think it would rock if there was some sort of elaborate obstical course on the field. Something other than flat ground. Ramps are deffinetly the way to go so everyone can play without giving much thought to field mobility. having ramps or other barriers on the field make it really interresting to watch. If the scoring or robot interaction isn't exciting, or is too complex for a person off the street to understand, it is still fun to watch robots traverse different terrains.

I think the 2001 game with the bridge in the field was the most fun. Even if you had no idea what was going on, it was fun to watch how different teams would get their alliance across the field. All 4 'bots can't fit on the bridge at the same time, so someone has to reset the bridge for someone else... really fun stuff to watch even if you didn't understand the scoring of the game.

It also gave a good mix of complexity for the more advanced teams. If you want to get everyone over to the other side of the field as efficiently as possible, the more advanced teams learned to do things without the ramp (Robocong from 25 was the coolest in my mind). Also, Wildstang (111) became the ramp moderator to ensure efficient use of the ramp. Lots of roles for everyone!

[BaldwinNYRookie]

Ooooo, such a tough decision... I think the water would be cool but I doubt it would ever happen, who decides what goes as far as the field and game play? Is it Dean Kamen that makes the final choice?

[Rombus]

I know chances of anything BUT carpet or something very manageable (i like the sheets of slick stuff idea) are slim, but i figured it would be cool to see something a bit more complex. Personally, i would like to see a rock or moonscape surface myself, that wouldn't be too "dirty" but still give an off road feel to the game.

[jpsaul7usa]

Originally Posted by BaldwinNYRookie

...who decides what goes as far as the field and game play? Is it Dean Kamen that makes the final choice?

There's a FIRST game committee that makes the decissions with regards to the game design and rules. I expect either Dean Kamen, Woodie Flowers, or Dave Lavery is head of the committee, but that their votes count just like the other members'. If anyone else knows more about the process I'd love to hear about it.

[DarkJedi613]

Originally Posted by SuperJake

I wasn't a big fan of the platform in 2003 - there was too much falling off the steps.

2003 was Stack Attack - there was a ramp, 2004 was the steps.