Human players first move

[Justin Montois]

Originally Posted by 45Auto

If I'm on an alliance where my robots can't pick tubes up off the floor and you start throwing your scoring pieces onto the field, I'm going to have my alliance busily pushing your scoring pieces into our safe zones where you can't get them.

But what do I know, I'm just an old, blind, slow-witted, feeble mentor .....

Your going to fill your 'safe zones' with tubes that you can't pick up?

How are you going to get near your feeder slot with 3 tubes between you and the feeder slot? Or approach your rack if there are tubes between you and the rack?

I thought that might actually be a viable strategy against you, especially in the loading zone and your robot needs to be close to the feeder slot to get your tubes.

[donnie99]

Remember, ur gonna have three coaches that can help with the communication process, and that u can always hold up the tubes and get a thumbs up

[BJC]

Originally Posted by 340x4xLife

How are you going to get near your feeder slot with 3 tubes between you and the feeder slot? Or approach your rack if there are tubes between you and the rack?

I don't see this as being a problem. A 150 lbs robot traveling more than 0 fps will win a pushing match with a tube any day of the week. If you ram into a tube trying to get to the feeder station the tube will move out of the way or at least flip up against the wall. I can't seeing this being a problem for any robot let alone be a stratigy. I would, however, consider it a good stratigy to remove potential points from the opponents reach by stealing/pushing tubes in the middle of the field to your side. Not only do you not have to go as far to get a tube but your opponents are robbed of the same opportunity.

my 2 cents

[Justin Montois]

Originally Posted by BJC

I would, however, consider it a good stratigy to remove potential points from the opponents reach by stealing/pushing tubes in the middle of the field to your side. Not only do you not have to go as far to get a tube but your opponents are robbed of the same opportunity.

my 2 cents

Yeah if you can pick them off the ground then it's a great strategy.

And don't discount tubes being an annoyance in your safe zones, in a game where speed of scoring will be everything, any sort of extra obstacle is going to slow you down.

[pandamonium]

honestly i am slightly concerned with this concept of having a coach or analyst communicate, hold up a sign give a thumbs up what ever. Is it just me?

The match should be so fast paced. I would hate for a robot to be waiting with out a tube when some human player is waiting for a signal?!?!?

[Bob Steele]

We would LOVE for our opposing alliance to throw tubes out on the floor. Just less work for us..

Do your scouting..
and communicate before a match...

Really though, how many times do you think you will be up against an alliance that has NO minibots?

That same alliance will probably not be able to do much on the rack either...

The strategy of counting on 50 points at the end may backfire when you realize that the other team can also play defense on you trying to get to the pole....

i would think you would want a balanced attack..

Remember if a team comes in 3rd and 4th in the minibot race... you only have a 25 point advantage...one scored logo on the top rack with one uber tube is equal to 30 points...

so an ubertube and 3 tubes on the rack (at high level) will beat a team that captures both big prizes in the minibot and doesn't score anything else...if the tube scoring alliance puts 2 minibots up...

With no minibots it will take a full top row..(60 points) (with 2 ubertubes)


I would hazard a guess that a team that can put 3 tubes up and an uber tube will also have a good minibot....

Remember, playing defense can go both ways... if you are defending... you have to go through the teams that you are defending to get to your pole...if you are keeping them out of the scoring area... 18 feet wide is a big zone... don't count on controlling it for the whole match ....

Good luck!!

Communication before the match and teamwork during it will be a huge factor in this game.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by BJC

I don't see this as being a problem. A 150 lbs robot traveling more than 0 fps will win a pushing match with a tube any day of the week. If you ram into a tube trying to get to the feeder station the tube will move out of the way or at least flip up against the wall. I can't seeing this being a problem for any robot let alone be a stratigy.

Ahh, you never played Rack-n-Roll. Single tubes kept teams from being able to access their teammate's ramp or lift.

[45Auto]

Your going to fill your 'safe zones' with tubes that you can't pick up?

Yep, cause then you can't get them either!

How are you going to get near your feeder slot with 3 tubes between you and the feeder slot? Or approach your rack if there are tubes between you and the rack?

My experiences with Rack'n'Roll in 2007 were that robots had no problem with tubes on the floor. Once or twice over the whole season a tube on a ramp caused problems, but I don't see any ramps so far this year ....

[BJC]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

Ahh, you never played Rack-n-Roll. Single tubes kept teams from being able to access their teammate's ramp or lift.

Your right, I never played it. However, I have watched an extensive amount of videos from the year. Although tubes occationally stopped teams from getting on ramps I saw more tubes preventing the ramps from dropping all the way to the ground. Is it possible that those exceptions where a tube actually prevented a robot from getting up on a ramp was because the robot was riding up over the tube instead of contacting it on the bumpers due to the incline? Hmm... I think well do some testing with our robot and the tubes later this week to find if the tubes will be a problem.

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by BJC

Your right, I never played it. However, I have watched an extensive amount of videos from the year. Although tubes occationally stopped teams from getting on ramps I saw more tubes preventing the ramps from dropping all the way to the ground. Is it possible that those exceptions where a tube actually prevented a robot from getting up on a ramp was because the robot was riding up over the tube instead of contacting it on the bumpers due to the incline? Hmm... I think well do some testing with our robot and the tubes later this week to find if the tubes will be a problem.

Einstein FM 1.3 disagrees. It didn't happen often, but when you can't push a tube out of the way with a world championship hanging in the balance, I think it is safe to say that it should be a concern. The channels to the human loaders are fairly narrow and I think dropped tubes may very well become a huge nuisance.

[Siri]

Originally Posted by Ian Curtis

Einstein FM 1.3 disagrees. It didn't happen often, but when you can't push a tube out of the way with a world championship hanging in the balance, I think it is safe to say that it should be a concern. The channels to the human loaders are fairly narrow and I think dropped tubes may very well become a huge nuisance.

Very true. I remember driving in Rack 'n Roll. Did it happen constantly? Not really. But enough? Oh yeah. Open field it's not big a deal (but don't forget <G34>). But in a narrow lane or even a crowded rack...you'd be amazed at the things that don't seem to matter until your hand's on a joystick. And it effects more drivers (though less for the better practiced) than one could probably pick up from video archives. It certainly should monopolize your overall strategy, but I wouldn't ignore it. (practice, practice, practice)

[thefro526]

For us, at least, a tube on the floor in our safe zone or the lane is not a problem. If it's in our way and we have a tube then we push it without any drama then go back and get it - and with the bumper zone being where it is this year, I doubt many teams will have issues pushing a tube out of the way.

IMO, the caparison to 2007 isn't the greatest one, or at least not for tubes on the floor causing issues. In 2007, ramps were in play, which allowed robots to drive over the tube pretty easily, not to mention every 10th lift or so wasn't successful because there was a tube under the ramp.