Practice Rounds??

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Posted by colleen, Student on team #126, Gael Force, from Clinton High School and Nypro.

Posted on 4/8/99 5:35 PM MST




hey, just a question..

everyone's talking about the time schedule and 6 QMs.. anyone know exactly how many practice rounds we have? 2? 3?

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Posted by Vinny Buchemi, Other on team #386, The Cats, from Lyman Hall and CYTEK.

Posted on 4/8/99 7:40 PM MST


In Reply to: Practice Rounds?? posted by colleen on 4/8/99 5:35 PM MST:



Coll
I don't think that info has come up yet. It will probably be in the update.

See you later.
Bad Larry

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Posted by Raul, Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Rolling Meadows & Wheeling HS and Motorola.

Posted on 4/9/99 5:49 AM MST


In Reply to: Practice Rounds?? posted by colleen on 4/8/99 5:35 PM MST:



:
: hey, just a question..

: everyone's talking about the time schedule and 6 QMs.. anyone know exactly how many practice rounds we have? 2? 3?


Let's do some math:
-> We get 7.5 hours (11:00 to 6:30PM)
-> 4 fields at once
-> 4 teams play at once -> 4 x 4 = 16 teams play per round
-> 220 teams
If 15 minutes per round -> 4 rounds/hour/field
-> thats 7.5 hr x 16 x 4 per hr = 480 team rounds
=> 480 / 220 teams = 2.18 rounds per team
If 10 minutes per round -> 6 rounds/hour/field
-> 7.5 x 16 x 6 = 720 team rounds
=> 720 / 220 = 3.27 rounds per team

Note that 15 minutes / practice round includes a 5 minute setup time = 10 minutes of actual play time. 10 minutes per round = 5 minutes of actual play time.

With 2 rounds, each team gets 20 total minutes of play time. With 3 rounds, each team get 15 minutes of play time. More rounds = less actual play time because of the extra setup time. Of course all this could change if FIRST decided to reduce the setup time from lets say 5 minutes to 3 minutes.

So which do you prefer? In conclusion, depending on what you are trying to accomplish during the practice rounds, will depend on which is better for you. I prefer 3 short rounds to simulate the game. We may not know what FIRST decides until we get there.

Raul

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Posted by Tom Wible, Coach on team #131, chaos, from central high school manchester and osram-sylvania.

Posted on 4/9/99 5:54 PM MST


In Reply to: How many would you prefer? posted by Raul on 4/9/99 5:49 AM MST:



I would prefer fewer sessions with more time. Let's say 1 or 2 sessions with more time. This would be more efficient use of the precious time we have. I would like to suggest that if this thing is to grow, that someone set up a practice area which would be available at anytime. First come first served, limited to 5 minutes each. That way anyone can test drive thier 'bot at anytime by remote control. Also alliances could practice driving together before the 'big one' up on stage. All you need is some real estate (the parking lot), power, rnets, and some rug.
I think this would be fun, and the people who just happen to pass through on their way to EPCOT wouldn't have to fight through the crowd to get to a stage that they can't see the action at anyway. Maybe teams could devise some of their own little competitions on the side like tug o' war robots, or tractor pull on these little make shift fields.
Just my 2 cents.

Tom Wible
Team 131

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Posted by Jon, Engineer on team #190, Gompei, from Mass Academy of Math and Science and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Posted on 4/9/99 7:22 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: How many would you prefer? posted by Tom Wible on 4/9/99 5:54 PM MST:



: I would prefer fewer sessions with more time. Let's say 1 or 2 sessions with more time. This would be more efficient use of the precious time we have. I would like to suggest that if this thing is to grow, that someone set up a practice area which would be available at anytime. First come first served, limited to 5 minutes each. That way anyone can test drive thier 'bot at anytime by remote control. Also alliances could practice driving together before the 'big one' up on stage. All you need is some real estate (the parking lot), power, rnets, and some rug.
: I think this would be fun, and the people who just happen to pass through on their way to EPCOT wouldn't have to fight through the crowd to get to a stage that they can't see the action at anyway. Maybe teams could devise some of their own little competitions on the side like tug o' war robots, or tractor pull on these little make shift fields.
: Just my 2 cents.

: Tom Wible
: Team 131

----
i think the unofficial practice area idea is good! but if the total max practice time was limited somehow then it'd be a great idea (just to keep it fair).
And putting it in a prime piece of real-estate would be cool too, so that passerbys could see something occasionally.

Jonathan
t190

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Posted by colleen, Student on team #126, Gael Force, from Clinton High School and Nypro.

Posted on 4/10/99 11:21 PM MST


In Reply to: How many would you prefer? posted by Raul on 4/9/99 5:49 AM MST:




personally, i think i prefer more rounds, and a little less time because the more times you can get your bot out there, the more times you have to fix things that may have gone wrong. if you break something in a practice round and fix it, especially if it's something major, most of us would like to get it out on the field again before our actual matches (and just think, rounds start thursday night, so even if your last practice match is kinda early.. you won't have that rest of the day and next morning to fix it as in years past.).. and that's my view from a driver's perspective too.. you can only do the same things over and over again for a while, but the more you're off and on, with new setup and different competitors, the more times you have to refocus when starting anew, the better practiced you get for the actual matches..

and keep setup time to 5mins. just because even with five minutes, there are team from the previous match getting off the field when you're match starts, and you have to start late anyway, cutting it to 3 would make the change up hectic, and in the end, you'd probably lose more practice time in the shuffle..

..so i think..

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Posted by Raul, Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Rolling Meadows & Wheeling HS and Motorola.

Posted on 4/12/99 3:07 PM MST


In Reply to: well, i prefer.. posted by colleen on 4/10/99 11:21 PM MST:



Here is what Lori said in an email:

The update was supposed to go out on Friday afternoon...I'm not sure why it
didn't but I'm checking into it. It should be very soon.
There will only be 2 practice matches for each team, but 6 qualifying
matches between Thursday and Saturday. The practice matches will be as
usual, 10 minutes long, with 2 1/2 minutes to get on the field and 2 1/2
minutes to get off.