Winning strategies from winning teams

[Japper]

In the spirit of gracious professionalism,
are there any of the teams out there that have been
winning the regionals willing to share their winning strategies
with the rest of us?

Just curious what is working and what is not for the
rebound rumble match ups.

Any tips for those of us with upcoming regionals to prepare for
is definitely appreciated.

thanks and best of luck to everyone!

[Alan Anderson]

In general, robots supported on balanced bridges win matches.

However, unless you have an unstoppable robot, there is no one winning strategy. A winning team must be prepared to change strategies based on the strengths and weaknesses of all other robots involved in the match. I suggest that you hold strategy discussions with your alliance partners and discuss your options. Base your match strategy on honest self-assessments and good scouting information.

[Japper]

You are right about balancing on the bridge as making a major difference for winning teams...

The problem that we had was most times there was a ball under the bridge that didn't allow the bridge to come down all the way to drive up onto it and the lexan pieces that First put under the bridge to keep the balls from getting lodged didn't do much to keep the balls from gathering under the bridge.

Also, if we did get up on a bridge and a ball was under it, the refs disallowed the balance points because they claimed the ball helped to balance the bridge.

I wonder if anyone came up with a strategy to deal with getting the balls out from under the bridge...

[CompSciGeek]

If your alliance all have decent autonomous, you can time it just right so that just during hybrid mode, each team on the alliance scores 12 points each(6 per ball for 2 balls), giving you 36 points right off the bat.

This can be helpful if your opponent can balance as well and may end of being the deciding factor. Unless your robot is really awesome at shooting, I wouldn't go for tele-operated shooting.

[Alpha Beta]

Originally Posted by Japper

I wonder if anyone came up with a strategy to deal with getting the balls out from under the bridge...

Sure we (1986) did. Reach under the bridge with a 14" appendage and draw the balls into your collector.

We played in week 1 and week 4. I must say that flipping the lexan piece over to increase the angle under the bridge made a huge difference. The only balls that really caused a problem were ones the driver bumped under the bridge as he was trying to ascend. It is a blind spot and can easily happen. If we let our collector run as we tried to climb we found any ball in the way got sucked into the robot and was no longer a problem.

Also if your shooters are so hungry for balls that they scoop up everything there won't be any left on your side of the field to interfere with the bridge. When we played with 16 in KC they started the match by going to the other side of the field to get balls knowing that together we would shoot them all. When we played with 1985 in St. Louis we on occasion would venture to the other side of the field because there were no balls left on our side and it was way too early to go for bridges.

[TheMadCADer]

Originally Posted by Japper

I wonder if anyone came up with a strategy to deal with getting the balls out from under the bridge...

Most teams with a "drop down" intake system (for example, teams 1114, 2056, 1477, and 973) should be able to get a ball from under a bridge. Also, many robots can use their bridge manipulators to push a bridge up, which will free a ball. Other robots can drive into a bridge and push it up by nature of their robot's shape (118 does this, especially to co-op balance with a team that doesn't have a bridge manipulator). Pretty much any robot with a slanted side to push the bridge or a decent manipulator should be able to solve this problem.

Of course, you could always just drive to the other side and push down, but that can take a while.

[drwisley]

If your strategy relies on bridge balancing, then one robot should be left enough room to clear the alliance bridge carefully and after auton. Another can go directly to the coop bridge if it is still loaded. The third can block inbounded balls or rebound the opposite side. In general, your strategies should keep each other from inhibiting each other.

[mandrews281]

We found a strategy to help keep the bridge clear of balls. Tip the bridge from the side with our foot. This way they can roll down the ramp and NOT hit the robot (which tends to knock the balls under the bridge). Instead they roll nicely away towards the alliance wall. I can't claim credit for this (I saw team 2974 do it first).

[fortinj1354]

Originally Posted by mandrews281

We found a strategy to help keep the bridge clear of balls. Tip the bridge from the side with our foot. This way they can roll down the ramp and NOT hit the robot (which tends to knock the balls under the bridge). Instead they roll nicely away towards the alliance wall. I can't claim credit for this (I saw team 2974 do it first).

This is way too late, but I'm glad others caught on to my idea