Starting Placement of Yellow Totes

[Caleb Sykes]

What are you planning to do with your yellow totes at the start of the match in the qualification rounds?

4536 will usually be starting with our yellow totes behind the alliance wall. In our view, the RCs are worth more in auto anyway, and it is unlikely that many alliances in quals will have the ability to score both the yellow totes and the RCs in auto. The yellow totes will then just be in the way for the rest of the match. Additionally, our robot is designed to quickly receive totes from the HP, so it will be easy for us to make a yellow 3-tote stack from the HP station which we can then use for a coopertition set or coopertition stack.

[BlueOps4216MrG]

We are primarily a tote chute loading bot so they wouldn't do much good on the floor. It would depend on the particular alliance's strategy for the placement of the totes. Communication will be key for autonomous as well as teleop. There should be many strategies seen during competitons. One team might be a "noodler" , "short stacker" , "re-stacker". Should be interesting.

[KrazyCarl92]

If an alliance prefers to perform a tote stack or tote set in auto, then they will have to start on the field. If an alliance plans to do neither and has a good human loading robot, it makes perfect sense to put them behind the alliance wall for field clearing and coopertition purposes. Or if an alliance is incapable of tote sets/stacks or coopertition, it generally makes sense to leave them off the field to make more room.

However, at high levels of play, I find it difficult to believe that alliances would simply not perform a task for 20 points they could get during auto. If a single robot can reasonably perform a tote stack, then this leaves 2 partners to perform tasks during auto which can also earn points or acquire additional game pieces for later in the game. Additionally, already having a neat stack formed with which to use for coopertition right off the bat makes clearing the field and getting 60 points quite a fast set of actions.

[Nathan Streeter]

Originally Posted by KrazyCarl92

If an alliance prefers to perform a tote stack or tote set in auto, then they will have to start on the field. If an alliance plans to do neither and has a good human loading robot, it makes perfect sense to put them behind the alliance wall for field clearing and coopertition purposes. Or if an alliance is incapable of tote sets/stacks or coopertition, it generally makes sense to leave them off the field to make more room.

However, at high levels of play, I find it difficult to believe that alliances would simply not perform a task for 20 points they could get during auto. If a single robot can reasonably perform a tote stack, then this leaves 2 partners to perform tasks during auto which can also earn points or acquire additional game pieces for later in the game. Additionally, already having a neat stack formed with which to use for coopertition right off the bat makes clearing the field and getting 60 points quite a fast set of actions.

+1. Agree wholeheartedly.

[Taylor]

Our primary strategy involves removing one of the three yellow totes from the field for robot placement reasons. The fates of the other two are up to our alliance partners.

[JamesBrown]

Originally Posted by Taylor

Our primary strategy involves removing one of the three yellow totes from the field for robot placement reasons. The fates of the other two are up to our alliance partners.

Just curious, do you have a back up plan if your alliance partner has an autonomous mode that allows it to stack all 3 totes?

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by JamesBrown

Just curious, do you have a back up plan if your alliance partner has an autonomous mode that allows it to stack all 3 totes?

Yup. That's why it's our primary strategy. Secondary and tertiary strategies exist.

[2130driven]

does anyone have any good ideas on what you should do if say, the totes were all collected by just one robot?

[2130driven]

our team may start by either taking all or just one tote to the autonomous zone. if someone else wants them then we will have our robot go to the auto zone. if all else fails and none of our team can take a tote we will just go to the auto zone. (not likely i think we will take at least one)

[MrJohnston]

Originally Posted by 2130driven

does anyone have any good ideas on what you should do if say, the totes were all collected by just one robot?

Well... If one robot is going to collect all the yellow totes and stack them, other robots could:
* Quietly move to the auto-zone to collect the 4 points... (Boring, but 4 points could be significant in some early round matches)
* Make a line for the landfill and start stacking totes.
* Make a line for the step and start grabbing bins.
* Line up perfectly for HP loading.
* Follow the first robot and sweep the displaced recycling containers into the auto-zone.
* Use its automated clapping manipulator to cheer for the tote-stacking-madman-of-an-alliance-partner.

[Kevin Leonard]

Originally Posted by 2130driven

does anyone have any good ideas on what you should do if say, the totes were all collected by just one robot?

There are tons of things to do in autonomous this year.
If robot 1 can do a tote stack on its own, robots 2 and 3 can:
Perform a container set from the staging zones
Grab containers from the step
Begin stacking totes from the landfill
Get into position to start stacking totes from the landfill

And with all the options above, robots 2 and 3 can end in the auto zone for a robot set as well.

Additionally if a robot set is deemed not necessary, robots 2 and 3 can:
Get into position to human load

I'm sure there are options I haven't thought of yet as well.