Team Update 2-19 and FRC Blog - Week 0 Observations and Stop Build Day

[MooreteP]

Originally Posted by nuggetsyl

We can easily do 2 if not 3 cycles in 30. I have to say this rule changes the game for us. I would like to see climbing lowered to level things out.

You may be right and I may be wrong.

Your team consistently builds clever and effective robots.

I would be amazed by a 10 second cycle.

One solution may be to ask a weak shooting partner to load and shoot from across the field, that way, you would have a constant supply for more than just the last 30 seconds.

Was your team able to solve the upside down frisbee pickup problem?

[nicholsjj]

Well from a climber perspective it's not a huge bonus to our game strategy except for the fact that our robot will sit at the feeder station and shoot all 15 of our shoots. If we miss then that gives our alliance the "snow" to do their 30 second strategy. This means that an alliance can get two chances to score the same 15 disks.

[JesseK]

Meh, I'm too tired to care. Maybe I'll feel differently later. It's a game changer for some, but it isn't for us. We totally did a double-wide scoop for autonomous, and as such it isn't the most efficient at swift floor pickup as others seen here. Though with such a quick hang, I was totally hoping to get at least an extra hopper from floor discs just because they were so close. Heavy sigh.

I wonder why they simply didn't reduce the window of time to something much smaller, or limit the quantity, or give a 3-point penalty per errant disc?

[dcarr]

Originally Posted by dodar

This will greatly lessen the end game. Imagine if all those epic endgame shots hadnt happened last year; some of those moments were more amazing than some by the robots.

Maybe so. But I do FIRST to inspire/be inspired about STEM, not athletic ability...there are plenty of other sports for that.

[dag0620]

While I understand the frustration with a mid-year rule change, I have to applaud FIRST for doing this.

As an attendant at Suffield, I can tell you the blizzard got out of hand. Several of my team mates and I did or almost did get hit by a Frisbee in the final 30 seconds. This is so needed for safety's reason.

I do also understand that many people would assume we would improve the nets. However at this point the next step to protect spectators would be nets hanging from the ceiling of the venue, and there's just too many variables, expense, and hastle to make that happen.

Overall great rule change, and I'm happy to see it happen.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by dcarr

Maybe so. But I do FIRST to inspire/be inspired about STEM, not athletic ability...there are plenty of other sports for that.

Its not about athletic ability, but to inspire you have to have the quality of a product to attract, and then hook students and mentors. Would a new student rather see 3 teams completely dominate another alliance because they have an amazing distance shooter and 2 hangers or see a match where that alliance is going up against a distance shooter, a hanger, and a ground clean up bot and the score is decided by HP scores? I would say the latter could be a greater way to inspire.

[nuggetsyl]

While I am disappointed in the rule change. I have talked to a few people that were at a week 0 event. The GDC made a decision to protect the kids and field crew and I fully support their decision. We will adapt and go kick some bot. On am added note I agree with Cory a few posts down in how the GDC could not see this coming is almost a crime in itself.

[dodar]

How tall were the nets? And are the media people for each team required to stay behind the nets? Also, are the nets going to be too tall to see psat them with the regional webcast? Because seeing streams and team videos through netting will be extremely annoying.

[Cory]

It's laughably bad that the GDC didn't have the foresight to realize this was going to happen.

Seriously, who didn't think that there would be a barrage of frisbees flying everywhere?

It's like a year ago when they came up with the game they said 2+2=5 and then today realized it actually equals 4...

Originally Posted by dodar

How tall were the nets? And are the media people for each team required to stay behind the nets? Also, are the nets going to be too tall to see psat them with the regional webcast? Because seeing streams and team videos through netting will be extremely annoying.

I highly doubt you'd even be able to see the netting from a webcast. I'm sitting 6' from some right now and it doesn't obstruct your view at all.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Madison

...based on what reasoning?

Silly reasoning. Silly wrong reasoning.

The fact is we all picked our strategy under a different set of rules than what we will now be playing under. While this may not be a problem for some teams it is a problem for others.

I'm not looking forward to explaining to my students this change. Not because it may or may not impact our strategy or our robot's performance but because of what it says at a deeper level. I don't want to have to explain to my students (again) why we are playing Whose Line Is It Anyway... The points are made up and the rules don't matter. Why all the analysis we did at the beginning of the season is changed now that it's too late to fix anything. What I'm telling them is that life isn't fair and it doesn't matter if you use due diligence only if you have dumb luck and the powers that be don't make a change that should have been obvious if they'd given this game even a modicum of thought.

[AllenGregoryIV]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

Silly reasoning. Silly wrong reasoning.

The fact is we all picked our strategy under a different set of rules than what we will now be playing under. While this may not be a problem for some teams it is a problem for others.

I'm not looking forward to explaining to my students this change. Not because it may or may not impact our strategy or our robot's performance but because of what it says at a deeper level. I don't want to have to explain to my students (again) why we are playing Whose Line Is It Anyway... The points are made up and the rules don't matter. Why all the analysis we did at the beginning of the season is changed now that it's too late to fix anything. What I'm telling them is that life isn't fair and it doesn't matter if you use due diligence only if you have dumb luck and the powers that be don't make a change that should have been obvious if they'd given this game even a modicum of thought.

Thank you for wording this better than I could. I just had to explain it to my team and it was the most unpleasant moment of the season by far.

[nicholsjj]

Originally Posted by Cory

It's laughably bad that the GDC didn't have the foresight to realize this was going to happen.

Seriously, who didn't think that there would be a barrage of frisbees flying everywhere?

Should teams have not have had the foresight then that this would occur or were we the only team to?

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by nicholsjj

Should teams have not have had the foresight then that this would occur or were we the only team to?

You anticipated that the GDC would make a ship day rule change completely changing how the game is played, invalidating a potentially great endgame strategy? I wish I had that kind of foresight.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by nicholsjj

Should teams have not have had the foresight then that this would occur or were we the only team to?

Can you get your team to pick powerball numbers for me?

[Alexa Stott]

Originally Posted by dodar

1. It should have been relatively easy to do.
2. Almost every year, the good teams have been able to get game pieces off the ground or from HP(2012,2011,2010,2009,2007,2006,etc..)

I beg to differ. We couldn't pick pieces up from the floor in 2006 and did pretty well for ourselves.

I think everyone upset about this has every right to be.

I certainly understand why the decision was made--safety is incredibly important. As many others have pointed out, it's very surprising that the GDC did not anticipate this ahead of time. All they really had to do was look at something like 2009's endgame and recall the balls flying all over. Add in that frisbees can move in pretty strange ways and you've got the perfect recipe for, well, a blizzard.