More Than 1 Ball In Autonomous?

[gpetilli]

Originally Posted by TheMadCADer

It would be of limited use, but still useful. A robot with an inaccurate shooter (as determined by match scouting or the team's own admission), but still a functional one, could make the pass to a Human Player who has the advantage of being able to adjust to catch the ball. I expect a huge number of teams will design their robots to be loaded by a Human Player at the beginning of a Cycle, and this situation wouldn't be much different.

Even if you run out of time in Autonomous and don't score the extra ball, it is secure in the hands of the Human Player or already loaded and ready to be shot. That ball is still 10 points. The way I see it, the only downside is if you miss the human player entirely.



It's not for assists, its to allow for scoring more balls in Autonomous. My idea is slightly different from Magnets'. Rather than having one robot pick up two balls off the ground for a 3 ball routine, have one or both of those balls go to the Human Player(s) (you can distribute your Alliance's Human Players however you see fit). This eliminates driving time as well as the margin of error associated with driving around. It is very feasible to shoot from inside the White Zone. It is also feasible to shoot 3 times from that same distance. Maybe you don't get your Mobility points because the shots took a while, but you don't care, 5 points is nothing compared to the 17.5 points per ball in Autonomous.

This sounds like a very complicated AUTO program. I would imagine it is much easier to simply have a poor shooter put the ball touching the bumper and if someone else can gather and shoot, great. At 8 sec drive forward full speed for mobility - dont look at hot goals. Simple and effective.

[TheMadCADer]

Originally Posted by gpetilli

This sounds like a very complicated AUTO program. I would imagine it is much easier to simply have a poor shooter put the ball touching the bumper and if someone else can gather and shoot, great. At 8 sec drive forward full speed for mobility - dont look at hot goals. Simple and effective.

The purpose of this is to simplify the routine. Picking up a single ball is easy and will be one of the multiple routines used, but the amount of driving and fine tuned positioning needed to do the same for three balls is more work than using the Human Player.

Think about it, as the receiver of the extra balls, you only need to program your robot to shoot, reload, shoot, reload, shoot, and drive if there's time. Hot Goal will be disregarded, you're bound to get one or two each match without trying, so why bother for the extra 2.5 points per shot?

As the robot passing to the Human Player, you just set up sideways somewhere pretty close to the right distance (accuracy doesn't matter) shoot, turn 90 degrees, and drive. Maybe back up again if you're feeling fancy.

You just need the right Alliance for it.

[BigJ]

Remember, autonomous is 10 seconds long, and you want all the balls gone at the end of autonomous so you can start cycles. If you need to throw the ball to a human player instead of the goal for some reason, consider not placing that ball for autonomous mode.

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by TheMadCADer

The purpose of this is to simplify the routine. Picking up a single ball is easy and will be one of the multiple routines used, but the amount of driving and fine tuned positioning needed to do the same for three balls is more work than using the Human Player.

Think about it, as the receiver of the extra balls, you only need to program your robot to shoot, reload, shoot, reload, shoot, and drive if there's time. Hot Goal will be disregarded, you're bound to get one or two each match without trying, so why bother for the extra 2.5 points per shot?

As the robot passing to the Human Player, you just set up sideways somewhere pretty close to the right distance (accuracy doesn't matter) shoot, turn 90 degrees, and drive. Maybe back up again if you're feeling fancy.

You just need the right Alliance for it.

I still think it is easier to plan to pick up two balls off the ground than plan/hope/pray you have two partners that can shoot accurately enough to get to your human players (who must be pretty tall, athletic and a good shooter), but not accurate enough that they want to try their own shot. It is a clever idea, but I'm not sure how often you will get the opportunity to use it. There are easier ways to get a 3 ball auto.

[TheMadCADer]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

I still think it is easier to plan to pick up two balls off the ground than plan/hope/pray you have two partners that can shoot accurately enough to get to your human players (who must be pretty tall, athletic and a good shooter), but not accurate enough that they want to try their own shot. It is a clever idea, but I'm not sure how often you will get the opportunity to use it. There are easier ways to get a 3 ball auto.

There is a routine for that, too.

Accuracy is not an issue, the Human Player box is pretty large. Human player height is not an issue either, the field is plenty wide enough to allow the ball to arrive at waist height where it is easy to catch. The receiving robot is designed to catch, Human Player skill is basically irrelevant.

Originally Posted by BigJ

Remember, autonomous is 10 seconds long, and you want all the balls gone at the end of autonomous so you can start cycles. If you need to throw the ball to a human player instead of the goal for some reason, consider not placing that ball for autonomous mode.

The short time is the reason driving is being minimized. The ball is still 10 points after Auto finishes, so it's not the end of the world if the Human Player is still holding one after Auto. It's fully under control, much better than an errant shot. Be careful making blanket assumptions. It is good to get cycles started soon, but it's not a problem if you can still be scoring points anyway. You can score a ball faster than a robot can cross the field in most cases.

The plan is to ask other teams to throw to the Human Player instead of starting without a ball. There should be a handful of teams that can score over the Truss but not in the high goal. That is the kind of robot this is geared toward. It will be uncommon, but it can be useful. Got to keep the programming team busy!