[FRC Blog] - NASA Grants and Something New for 2015

[The_ShamWOW88]

Maybe instead of 4 v 4, keep the same amount of bots but 3 alliances of 2 teams....add that mysterious Green alliance everyone keeps talking about....

[Steven Donow]

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

I'm more talking about match play. These fields get crowded with 6 robots playing on them, add in another 2 robots and you end up with clusters or robots not able to move because there isn't enough room. Not much fun to watch or compete in.

Yeah. Keeping logistics in mind, I assume this means something like different playing surface or bumper rules or robot size or something.

[Kellen Hill]

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

I'm more talking about match play. These fields get crowded with 6 robots playing on them, add in another 2 robots and you end up with clusters or robots not able to move because there isn't enough room. Not much fun to watch or compete in.

Ah, but what if you make the robots smaller as well!

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by Kellen Hill

Ah, but what if you make the robots smaller as well!

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

I'm trying to imagine the logistic of fitting 8 robots onto one field without changing the size limitations on the robots again. Especially if we see some field obstacles added to the field again. That would be one crowded field.

[Blackphantom91]

I think if they went with the motor constraints they had before it would be much harder in general. Size is a good point though.

[IndySam]

I would love to see a small size reduction and much more limits on #of high powered motors.

[efoote868]

Something new could be reusing an old set of rules... 2004 on ice!

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

This would also cause scheduling issues because you've now drastically dropped the number of matches each team will play.

Unless you change the amount of time it takes per match "cycle."

[Ali Ahmed]

What about 4v4 but only 6 robots in the field at a time? There could be a holding area for the extra robots and would switch off at certain points during the match. Similar to hockey. Just a thought...

[AdamHeard]

There is an interesting dynamic that could be done with a different type of minibots.

Teams are required to make 2 robots, one is the minibot.

Each match has full size robots and minibots (presumably in a segregated section).

It could be that your minibot is usually not in a match w/ your main robot.

[Michael Hill]

I don't think the number of teams fielding robots per match will change, mostly because of the AndyMark field having 6 driver stations. They're not going to go any wider because the field (and required field equipment) already takes up pretty much a whole gym floor. I can see height/weight requirements changing. I don't see bumpers going away, but rules about design may change. I can't really see a 2x2x2 game with the AndyMark field setup (as 1 alliance would have their drivers separated). I could see some of the motors going away completely (taking away the CIM would really make things interesting). I could also see taking away motor quantity restrictions, which is something that's been lobbied for for some time now.

[MARS_James]

Number of teams on an alliance, number of alliances in a match, match length, bumper rules, field surfaces, robot size

Last time these were done:
Alliance Size: 2005 (Kept at 3)
Number of Alliances: 1999 with the advent of alliances
Match Length: 2007 (Matches went from 2:10 to 2:15)
Bumper Rules: Every year they change slightly from my experiance
Field Surfaces: 2009
Robot Size: Frame Perimeter 2013, Height Classes 2007

Originally Posted by thatprogrammer

I don't think field size will change because of the andymark field being approved for 2015... *MAYBE *

Hey the field was technically a different size this year then previous years

[phurley67]

Don't forget you could run 2x2x2 with your alliance partner opposite you (only your opponents on the same side of the field). Which would be fair and present interesting opportunities with communication (which possibly could be part of the challenge as well -- driver station to driver station messages could be really interesting). Especially if there was still a significant assist type bonus at play.

Also consider a situation where 2x2x2 would allow for dynamic teaming red and green work together to slow a powerhouse blue, etc. Or if scoring was windowed so your alliance could only score during 1/3 of the match, and both the other 2 alliances would be working together on defense.

[Caleb Sykes]

Originally Posted by MARS_James

Match Length: 2007 (Matches went from 2:10 to 2:15)

Match length changed from 2:15 to 2:30 in 2014.

[Link07]

Originally Posted by Blog Post

You should make no assumptions

ITT: People making assumptions