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

[MARS_James]

After much consideration I have made an opinion on the things listed by Frank:

Number of teams on an alliance:
I think a 4v4 would be a cluster unless the ideas listed about only 3 robots in play at a time were to be initiated. My only problem with that is logistically making it so all 4 robots have an impact.

Number of alliances in a match:

I am against 3 alliances for one very big reason:
I assume ranking would no longer be win loss but more likely a 1st 2nd 3rd system. Lets say we are at a regional and the last match of the day contains one member on each alliance who currently have all 1st places, 2 of these teams want to be on an alliance together for eliminations so they agree to send their defensive bots to disrupt the other alliance effectively turning it from a 1v1v1 to a 2v1, perfectly legal but very unfair to the final alliance. Now if we played a game were the alliances can't interact that would solve that but then strategy for opponents is a non-entity, as would upsets.


Match length:
I don't want matches to be to much longer as I like more matches which goes against that idea. Now shorter matches I like, if Aerial Assist would have been 2:15 instead of 2:30 at most events you would have been able to squeeze in an extra match for every team.


Bumper rules:
I think that these change so much that it doesn't really matter BUT I could see FIRST taking away sail cloth bumpers. Honestly with some of the headaches I have seen over the years I am surprised FIRST doesn't find a supplier to give us a voucher for the exact cloth FIRST wants us to use.


Field surfaces:
Now I find it interesting he made this plural not singular. I am totally against 2009 as a game BUT I do think a game where it is mostly carpet with a few areas not could be fun.


Robot size:
I am so used to our new robot size I hope they don't change it. I would however love to see the weight classes of 2007 brought back. The shorter you start the heavier you are allowed to be was a fun trade off.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by MARS_James

Number of teams on an alliance:
I think a 4v4 would be a cluster unless the ideas listed about only 3 robots in play at a time were to be initiated. My only problem with that is logistically making it so all 4 robots have an impact.

Imagine having 4 big pads, one in each corner, with an opening that essentially only lets one robot into the pad at a time. One pad from each alliance has to be depressed at all times, and if a pad is depressed more than 15 consecutive seconds the other team is awarded points. Have weight sensors on the pads tied to a countdown clock the drivers can see. Add in safety zones so you can't trap a robot on a pad or park your robot on an opponents pad... You can have 4 robots on the field, but only 3 are active at a time and which three that is changes periodically. If this was combined with an assist-oriented game like we had this year, everyone could still participate in assists, given sufficient planning and coordination.

[MARS_James]

Originally Posted by Jon Stratis

Imagine having 4 big pads, one in each corner, with an opening that essentially only lets one robot into the pad at a time. One pad from each alliance has to be depressed at all times, and if a pad is depressed more than 15 consecutive seconds the other team is awarded points. Have weight sensors on the pads tied to a countdown clock the drivers can see. Add in safety zones so you can't trap a robot on a pad or park your robot on an opponents pad... You can have 4 robots on the field, but only 3 are active at a time and which three that is changes periodically. If this was combined with an assist-oriented game like we had this year, everyone could still participate in assists, given sufficient planning and coordination.

I like the idea in theory, but you have to have only 2 robots on the field at some points since you need 1 pad compressed at all times, a robot breaking down completely destroys your alliance, and will lose you the match. If you have a sub-par bot on the alliance you just have them constantly running from pad A to pad B to relieve the heavy hitters.

Like I said it will take a lot of thought to make it work