Pass to Human Player

[dubiousSwain]

Originally Posted by alectronic

You couldn't get ASSIST points because that would require a unique robot-zone pair, so a HUMAN PLAYER would not satisfy that requirement. Presumably, you could use a pass to a HUMAN PLAYER for something like getting around a defending robot from the opposite alliance, since it is easier for a human over a robot, in many cases, to maneuver the ball.

Assists are not based on passes, but possession. if a human player loads another bot, and that bot moves to another zone, the "assist" counts

[alectronic]

Originally Posted by dubiousSwain

Assists are not based on passes, but possession. if a human player loads another bot, and that bot moves to another zone, the "assist" counts

Right, I believe the original question though was if the HUMAN PLAYER received ASSIST points for being in a particular zone, which would be a no. But if they pass to a ROBOT, the ASSIST points are because of the ROBOT not the HUMAN PLAYER.

[jimwick]

It seems to us that a human play may be a good way to facilitate transfer between two bots. Maybe a "sending bot" can't send very accurately. Maybe a "receiving bot" isn't a very good fielder. A human player could get a sort of wild throw from the sender and carefully feed it toward the receiver.
Seems like a good strategy to us.

We see this as the real reason to have human players.

[Kevin Selavko]

Can the human player score the ball?
The only rule I see possibly against it is

G36 A BALL inbounded after retrieval from the PEDESTAL must first contact a ROBOT or the carpet on its DRIVERS’ end of the FIELD before crossing beyond the TRUSS.
Violation: TECHNICAL FOUL

But that only is right after you take it off the pedestal, so you have to have a robot toss it to you first.

[alectronic]

Originally Posted by Kevin Selavko

Can the human player score the ball?
The only rule I see possibly against it is

But that only is right after you take it off the pedestal, so you have to have a robot toss it to you first.

The rules state that the points are awarded for robot actions, which indicates a human could not score.

Originally Posted by Manual 3.1.4

Points are awarded once per CYCLE for BALLS SCORED by ROBOTS in the GOALS, BALLS SCORED by ROBOTS over the TRUSS, and for each ROBOT CATCH. Additional points are credited to an ALLIANCE upon each GOAL based on the number of ASSISTS earned by the ALLIANCE for that CYCLE.

(emphasis mine)

[RallyJeff]

Originally Posted by alectronic

The rules state that the points are awarded for robot actions, which indicates a human could not score.

(emphasis mine)

3.14.A makes this especially clear:

A BALL is considered SCORED in an ALLIANCE’S GOAL if

A. a ROBOT causes one (1) of their ALLIANCE’S BALLS to cross completely through the opening(s) of one (1) of their ALLIANCE’S GOALS without intervening human contact,

[brycen66]

One good reason to pass to a human player is to gain the truss bonus, that is if you shoot over the truss.

[chmorroni]

Originally Posted by brycen66

One good reason to pass to a human player is to gain the truss bonus, that is if you shoot over the truss.

Just looking at the field diagrams, that would be an interesting angle across the field. It would also involve moving backwards as far as field progress goes.

Personally, I agree that it may just be a way to make more teams' designs compatible with each other by having the human player as a go-between for the ball between 2 robots, so there can be more assists involved.

[Qcom]

Originally Posted by ninjosh97

Yeah, our team usually spends the whole kickoff just reading the rules & thinking of basic strategies.
The rules are definitely more complicated than the last two years...

Honestly, as team rule guru I have found very little that is "specialized" to this year. The field has less interactive elements, and a very small amount of ways to score points. Carrying out team maneuvers such as assists, however, will probably be difficult to do in practice.

[Marc S.]

If a human player throws the ball to a robot, would that count as a catch (assuming the ball does not touch the ground)?

Does 3.1.4 imply that up to 3 catches per cycle can count (1 per robot) or that every catch (regardless of robot or number) counts?

3.1.4
Points are awarded once per CYCLE for BALLS SCORED by ROBOTS in the GOALS, BALLS SCORED by ROBOTS over the TRUSS, and for each ROBOT CATCH. Additional points are credited to an ALLIANCE upon each GOAL based on the number of ASSISTS earned by the ALLIANCE for that CYCLE.

We're planning on asking Q&A about this but I wanted to see what others take on these were.

[Dragonking]

Originally Posted by Marc S.

If a human player throws the ball to a robot, would that count as a catch (assuming the ball does not touch the ground)?

No. A catch is when the ball possesses the ball after a truss shot, before the ball contacts the ground or a HP.

A CATCH occurs when a BALL SCORED over the TRUSS by a ROBOT’S ALLIANCE partner is POSSESSED by that ROBOT before contacting the carpet or HUMAN PLAYER.


An ALLIANCE receives CATCH points only if the CATCH is directly preceded by a TRUSS SCORE. This means that an ALLIANCE can only receive CATCH points once per CYCLE and will not receive CATCH points if the TRUSS SCORE criteria are not met.