Week 1 Action

[JB987]

Originally Posted by waialua359

The experienced veteran teams who have posted clips all have self-aligning mechanisms to help them align their minibots to the pole. Aiming from 40 ft away would indeed be tough.

What I haven't seen or heard about yet, are the "other" ways of aligning the robots using software.

Hmm...or cameras?

[Robby Unruh]

Penalty's will be a definite score changer. I saw some penalties going as high as 7 or 8 per match.

[familyguyfreak]

Originally Posted by Jeffy

For someone who saw that better than I did on the webcast:
It appeared that the 148 bot was still in contact with the tube when auton ended. Therefore, it would not have counted. Being that i did not see the final score, did it count? If so, why?

I watched the Alamo webcast all day. 148 did it twice. The first time they did it, it was completely successful. (as in they backed away and it hung freely) The second time they were still in contact with the tube but they were not applying any kind of force to the tube so in a sense, it was hanging on the peg and they were just touching it. I do believe they counted it as a hang but some that was there in person should clarify this.

[thefro526]

1. What is most surprising about how early action is playing out? Will it last into the later weeks?

There are tubes everywhere, most predictions thought that the ground would be bare.

2. After watching some matches, are you seriously reconsidering your strategy? Did you anticipate a lot more or a lot less scoring? (Granted as the weeks progress, robots get better and match score goes up.)

I wish we would've put more emphasis on the Minibot and it's deployment.

There's nothing worse than scoring 6 tubes and then seeing an alliance offset those tubes with JUST a minibot.

I think as minibots and deployment become more consistent in the later events, overall scores and tube placement will be up.

3. Are you placing more emphasis on one element of the game now that you realize/understand it's importance?

Minibots.

If you can place a logo and win the minibot race, you're pretty much golden at the regional level.

4. What do you think of the overall flow of the matches? Is defense really that important or effective at slowing down scoring? Or do feeders make for a more fluid alliance?

The overall match flow is MESSY, but there is room for improvement.

Defense is powerful, when played correctly - don't under estimate it.

Feeders are good, but we haven't seen the NEED for one yet.

5. Now the game has been played. Where do you rank it against the previous games? Is it more exciting than you anticipated, or is it a let down to the hype?

It's exciting, but there's something missing. Perhaps it'll get better in eliminations.

[Vermeulen]

1. I definitely expected there to be less tubes on the ground. I thought that there would be some ubertubes left over on the ground, and possibly some from accidentally dropping the tubes, but I never thought that people woulf be throwing.

2. I'm not rethinking strategy much. We have a solid tube hanger, even if it can't floor load, and out deployer has worked great in testing. We assumed that minibots would be game-changers, and so far it looks like that was a reasonable assumption.

3. We're still focusing on improving our minibot in between now and Thursday.

4. Watching a few matches, I've noticed that the midfield is a tight fit, especially with the poles. Smart defense there could help hugely.

5. This year hasn't been the most exciting I've seen. I've only seen 1 minibot race, and hanging tubes just isn't as exciting as, say, kicking a ball 50 feet into the goal, or making a shower of orbit balls. I saw one match at New Jersey where the final score was 1-0, with no penalties, ubertubes, or attempted deployments.

[paragon]

1. I was surprised that there were so many low matches there was this weak.
2.Not really I think the strategy we picked is going to work out. I anticipate a lot more scoring.
3.The minibot race and placement of the certain tubes.
4.The flow can be improved. Defense is important to slow down the other alliance.
5. Logomotion is a letdown from breakaway and lunacy.

[Creator Mat]

Originally Posted by familyguyfreak

I watched the Alamo webcast all day. 148 did it twice. The first time they did it, it was completely successful. (as in they backed away and it hung freely) The second time they were still in contact with the tube but they were not applying any kind of force to the tube so in a sense, it was hanging on the peg and they were just touching it. I do believe they counted it as a hang but some that was there in person should clarify this.

Does anyone have video of this accomplishment?

[Norman J]

Originally Posted by Cyberphil

One amazing thing I just saw:

148 scored two, yes, thats right, TWO ubertubes in auto.

I am scared.

I'm not surprised they did it. Going in, I knew 148 definitely has the capability to do so. We were planning to do so since the start of the season, and it got ready in time for Kettering.

[PayneTrain]

The only logical explanation for a double uber in autonomous from 148 is sorcery. My weak, human brain can't process how one could do that.

[Jeff Waegelin]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

The only logical explanation for a double uber in autonomous from 148 is sorcery. My weak, human brain can't process how one could do that.

No sorcery. Just a lot of late nights by our programmers and a few other dedicated folks during the last week of build season, testing and tweaking it until we got it right. You can call it what you want, we call it pretty awesome

[StephLee]

I have two main thoughts after watching scattered matches yesterday and most of the webcasts this morning:

1) I hope the number of yellow and red cards for things like accidental minibot deployment in the middle of the match continues to decrease - it's not fun to watch or to receive.

2) So far, it seems that being really, really good at just one thing won't cut it this year, at least not all the time. The best alliances I've seen so far are ones where everyone contributes to the scoring (or plays defense), and then at least one manages to deploy a minibot to score points from the race. It also seems like consistent deployment is often more important than necessarily winning - cutting your opponent's effective bonus from 30 to 10 by taking second place is still a huge deal.

[Alexa Stott]

It's like 2007 with less no defense.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Alexa Stott

It's like 2007 with less no defense.

Must not have seen BAE then... Congestion defense was the name of the game.

However, it seems pretty clear that scorers will be free to do as they please. This makes 2 fetchers 1 scorer look like an optimal strategy to me.

I'm hoping that defense will be a viable option this year. I've seen matches with one robot blocking three, and matches with absolutely NO attempts at defense.

What I'd like to see is a team with one dedicated and good defender, and two scorer robots that can get at least 4-5 tubes each on the rack (at least 1 Ubertube), and deploy successful minbots, getting 1st, 2nd, and at the very least 3rd places. This would make a successful team, in my opinion.

[Nelson]

I was surprised at the amount of tubes on the floor, and at the throwing ability of the majority of the feeders. It is not to hard to get the tube 3/4 the way, and a good amount should make it to the safety zone. The fact that so many didn't even make it half way is surprising.