Possibility of a flying object?

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by kylemikableh

Based on the teaser trailer released earlier this week, it has come to my attention that multiple times it says such things as "Prepare to take flight" and "Ready your contraption". What I find most interesting is that here you see in the logo of this season actually has a flying machine in it. My question is, do you think that there will be some type of object in the air? If you do, do you think that teams will need to capture an object in the air or make their own "flying machine"?

It's an interesting idea but I doubt FIRST will be having teams building their own flying machines (drones, basically). There are a variety of reasons for this, if the drones were the only robot a team built, every team would essentially have to get a brand new kit with completely different electronics, motors, hardware, and batteries (FRC hardware isn't exactly weighted for flight). If FIRST built the game to have drones in addition to a normal FRC bot (think mini-bots) then you would run into the issue of putting an additional wireless communication system on the field, causing further interference than what is already experienced. On top of all that, in either scenario the field would have to be completely netted off for safety purposes or even completely redesigned.

Now that all said, I could see a flying machine being a field element (like a helium "blimp" that you have to inflate or lead around the field via a tether). Something like that would be a more controlled element, and something that would be less likely to cause issues (except for if they break free and hit the ceiling).

Of course, now that I think about it, the picture you posted did just make me notice something I hadn't before...









This is a football game everyone...