How many balls will you shoot during autonomous?

[Tottanka]

According to G13 you may not contact the Midline's volume. If that's where the boulders are located, how exactly are you planning on collecting more balls during auto, without any penalties?

[MrJohnston]

Originally Posted by Tottanka

According to G13 you may not contact the Midline's volume. If that's where the boulders are located, how exactly are you planning on collecting more balls during auto, without any penalties?

You have to have a ball acquisition manipulator that doesn't need to grab but about 1/3 of the ball to pick it up.... Your autonomous routine needs to have precise control of the robot's location.... You have to be able to do it all quickly.... Picking up the extra boulder, crossing a defense with it and scoring it is not the hard part.... Doing so without committing a mid-line foul and all under 15 seconds is the hard part....

We had one of the better three-tote autonomous routines last year and, as we have analyzed this, we do think it will be trickier to pull off than last year's routine.... It can be done, but will the time it takes to develop it be justified by an extra 10 points a match?

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by MrJohnston

It can be done, but will the time it takes to develop it be justified by an extra 10 points a match?

If the number of teams who are working on a scaling mechanism is any indicator, 10 points a match are being taken pretty seriously.

[Knufire]

10 auto points is a pretty big deal considering that auto is the first ranking tiebreaker.

[PayneTrain]

I think just being able to possess a second ball after scoring one in autonomous consistently will be a commendable action.

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

I think just being able to possess a second ball after scoring one in autonomous consistently will be a commendable action.

I think actually scoring a ball in auto will be a commendable action.

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

I think actually scoring a ball in auto will be a commendable action.

Single-ball seems straightfoward for a consistent shooter. The audience and opponents will inevitably help out:
Category A: Portcullis may be slow, but easy to get consistent. Given the width of the defense and the width of typical robots, each bot on an alliance would be on its own (unlike category C). Cheval De Frise will be faster, but it's easy for the robot to come off at an angle and become misaligned.
Category B: Single ball shooters will laugh when the moat is put in front of them and cry when the ramparts are put in front of them.
Category C: They're slow to get through no matter what, but patience with autonomous mechanisms will inevitably show the way. Also don't rule out a team bringing one down for the partner in autonomous, then following that partner through. It will be fun to watch this happen.
Category D: Rock Wall has a bit of indeterminate behavior depending on high-siding of the drive train, but should be consistent if the drivers are precise in robot orientation when they set the bot down. Rough terrain is easy once a good path is figured out, but that also requires proper setup of the robot.

[Turing'sEgo]

Is anyone considering scoring their teammate's boulder in autonomous (given that they aren't planning on scoring it)? It seems that this is a safer alternative than getting a boulder from the center and risking G13, and it will accrue the same amount of points.

[philso]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

Quoted for truth. The most improbable part of a 2-ball auto is the part where you cross a defense, then cross back and find a gray ball on a gray carpet in a specific location. Without crossing the midline, if you're grabbing a midline boulder.

And then cross a DEFENSE a third time. That's three opportunities to Tortuga...

Originally Posted by Turing'sEgo

Is anyone considering scoring their teammate's boulder in autonomous (given that they aren't planning on scoring it)? It seems that this is a safer alternative than getting a boulder from the center and risking G13, and it will accrue the same amount of points.

This would probably be a safer option up till Division Eliminations at Championship.

[Sunshine]

A one boulder score from spy bot will be common by week 1

A one boulder score from low bar bot will be common by week 1

A two boulder score from teams that dialogue with each other will occur by week 3. Especially from those with rear ball intakes working with those who have front ball intakes. But it will be a feat claimed by advnced programming and sensors.

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

I think actually scoring a ball in auto will be a commendable action.

I think an alliance surpassing a 30 point auto at any district in our region is literally not going to have a chance in hell. When I meant commendable, I meant top 1% of teams.

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

I think an alliance surpassing a 30 point auto at any district in our region is literally not going to have a chance in hell. When I meant commendable, I meant top 1% of teams.

Such a pessimist

[Paul Copioli]

The 3 Boulder Auton is the Lochness Monster of 2016. Many people will claim it, but no one will actually achieve it.

Now, I have been wrong before....

[Turing'sEgo]

Originally Posted by Paul Copioli

The 3 Boulder Auton is the Lochness Monster of 2016. Many people will claim it, but no one will actually achieve it.

Now, I have been wrong before....

I could forsee this happening: Robot A goes under the low bar and scores in the high goal. Robot B, discharges it's bot gently on the floor and moves away. Robot A goes back, picks it up, scores it. Robot C is the spy bot and also gently puts its ball on the ground in a convenient place. Robot A picks that ball up (as it's right next to it), and score it too.

Even that would be a time crunch.

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by Turing'sEgo

I could forsee this happening: Robot A goes under the low bar and scores in the high goal. Robot B, discharges it's bot gently on the floor and moves away. Robot A goes back, picks it up, scores it. Robot C is the spy bot and also gently puts its ball on the ground in a convenient place. Robot A picks that ball up (as it's right next to it), and score it too.

Even that would be a time crunch.

We managed that kind of autonomous, just, with the Wired Cats (2415) in 2012. They had a good shooter and 270 degree intake. All that 57 and 3997 had to do was feed them balls from the back and side at the right times to avoid controlling >3. And in our case, drive forward and tip the bridge to steal those balls. We JUST managed to get this programmed and tested over lunch. And 15 seconds was just about enough time to get it done. Grainy video evidence here. So a successful 3 robot rube-goldberg auton in which all of the robots started perfectly positioned and none of the robots moved before the ball hand-off. And yes, it was 6 shots instead of 3, which would be slightly more time consuming. But still. 3 robots perfectly positioned, not moving.

But your thing? Yeah, I can see whipping that autonomous ballet out over lunch. I can't wait for the grainy video evidence for that one.