Vex contest from Exploding Bacon

[wendymom]

Hi Everyone:

Team 1902 announces our first shot at a vex game. We are inviting anyone in Central Florida, or anyone who wants to come visit to participate. Please go to our website www.team1902.com for all the rules. This is a very laid back competition. We are planning to hold the competition sometime in late Aug or early Sept. possibly in Dans garage if we can't get another place.

[Billfred]

This oughta be an interesting game. It seemed easy at first (really, where's the defense?), but the more I look at it, the more I realize that it'll take a great robot and driver to get the top scores.

It seems like the tennis ball will be a beast to score, given the lack of field barriers (you can't just spit it out like the bottles, or it'll roll out), but that might just be the speculation of someone who's never tried.

This might be reason enough to break out the ol' Vex kit...

[Warren Boudreau]

Originally Posted by Billfred

It seems like the tennis ball will be a beast to score, given the lack of field barriers (you can't just spit it out like the bottles, or it'll roll out), but that might just be the speculation of someone who's never tried.

That should be easy. Here's a hint. Grab the tennis ball last.

[miketwalker]

Originally Posted by Warren Boudreau

That should be easy. Here's a hint. Grab the tennis ball last.

I believe this contest has put me and my new roommate (CD Name: George1902) in a "We can't talk about VEX to each other" mode for the next few weeks while we work with our victims, I mean students, to design/build our robots.

Who says the college mentors can't have as much fun?

[Kevin Sevcik]

I haven't seen a definition of an object being "in" the scoring area. Does it have to be touching the ground, or can you load it on your robot and leave it?

[Doug Leppard]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

I haven't seen a definition of an object being "in" the scoring area. Does it have to be touching the ground, or can you load it on your robot and leave it?

Good question and it was vague in the rules. I better defined the rules adjusted the rules to allow part of an object is inside the robot home base but still be inside the robot.

Thanks for your input, it made the rules better.

[Doug Leppard]

Bill sent us an email about a bot that reached across from the robot base to pick up the object. I have updated the FAQ to specifically allow that to happen, I would love to see this bot in action. The FAQ says:

Q. Can a robot stay in home base and reach out to the objects and transport them across?
A. There is nothing in rules against that so it is legal. If someone can build a robot to stretch that far (about 12 to 14 feet) without falling over in the process and come up with a mechanism, that person should be rewarded, more power to them and I would love to see it in action.

[Billfred]

Since I can't quite resolve the conflict in my head, I'll ask a question or two.

-If an object being held by the robot is within its home base, is it still considered as an object being transported by the robot (and thus the robot can't get a new one)?

-Can a robot move objects within the object area while transporting an item?

[Doug Leppard]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Since I can't quite resolve the conflict in my head, I'll ask a question or two.

-If an object being held by the robot is within its home base, is it still considered as an object being transported by the robot (and thus the robot can't get a new one)?

-Can a robot move objects within the object area while transporting an item?

So I guess we need another FAQ:

Q. If an object being held by the robot is within its home base, is it still considered as an object being transported by the robot (and thus the robot can't get a new one)?
A. Correct robot can not get another one. The idea was a robot wasn’t going to grab 2 or more objects at a time and transport them. So the spirit of the rule is that you can only have one object at a time. Thus the robot can not pick up and hold more than one object.

[Doug Leppard]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Since I can't quite resolve the conflict in my head, I'll ask a question or two.

-If an object being held by the robot is within its home base, is it still considered as an object being transported by the robot (and thus the robot can't get a new one)?

-Can a robot move objects within the object area while transporting an item?

Q. Can a robot move objects within the object area while transporting an item?
A. Yes. Robot can touch, push objects in the robot home base or starting location while holding another object.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Doug Leppard

Are you really going for the robot that reaches to the other side from home base?

It's the idea that comes to mind. The idea is somewhat hero-or-zero, but it might just be crazy enough to work. (And I might just be crazy enough to book a ticket down to Winter Park to prove it. )

Alright, a couple more and I might just shut up.

-Given the natural predisposition of the game objects to roll if not perfectly upright, can a well-placed shoe, leg, buttock, or starter kit box camp out just beyond the edge of the tape?

-If a flopbot succeeds in doing the whole match without touching outside of the hard path, does it still get the 20 points?

And one field layout question: At the corners on the hard path, how far is it from the apex of the turn to the edge of the field?

(By the way, the revised rules on the website are a broken link.)

[Doug Leppard]

Alright, a couple more and I might just shut up.

NEW FAQ:
Q. Given the natural predisposition of the game objects to roll if not perfectly upright, can a well-placed shoe, leg, buttock, or starter kit box camp out just beyond the edge of the tape?
A. No. If it rolls out then and is touching the outside of the arena at end of game no points. It will be played on carpet which help in the roll see rule 1.

-If a flopbot succeeds in doing the whole match without touching outside of the hard path, does it still get the 20 points?

Yes!

And one field layout question: At the corners on the hard path, how far is it from the apex of the turn to the edge of the field?

I don't know. Haven't built it yet. But the sides of the hard path are parallel. One side is defined by it being 3ft from corner. Other side by it being parallel. I am not good enough in math to figure that out without building it.

I loaded the rules so you can get to it. Try this one, let me know if you can get to it:

https://www.mygcx.org/file/roboticsy...e%20V1%203.doc

[Doug Leppard]

BIll,

Good questions. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Let me know if you think my answers might be out of line.

Are you really going for the robot that reaches to the other side from home base?

[wendymom]

for the water bottle. we should chose an exact size because watter bottle size is not standard...

[Doug Leppard]

Originally Posted by wendymom

for the water bottle. we should chose an exact size because watter bottle size is not standard...

Why don't we come up with a range, so a person can bring their own water. There must be some sort of range. I don't the exact range is that important.