Possibility of a flying object?

[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"?

[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...

[Richard Wallace]

[bobbysq]

It is worth noting that Qualcomm was showing off a smart autonomous quadcopter at Worlds. While I don't think it could be directly controlled by teams, it could be used as a game piece or a unique field element

[Team 4264]

I was playing with FRC downloadable content. One of the ringtones is a shovel sound. In the history of rinetones, it's a really, really, dumb tone. I think is a crucial detail of the game. Meaning to shovel coal to make something go like a train, or fly like the blimp. The more we deliver to a coal bin, the more arena blimp inches forward. We are building front end loaders! Mystery solved. You may all sleep well tonight

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Team 4264

We are building front end loaders! Mystery solved. You may all sleep well tonight

The ideal alliance will have one front end loader and two dump trucks, for efficient cycling.

[jweston]

Originally Posted by cbale2000

This is a football game everyone...

Reminds me a bit of the Nerf Aero Howler. I seriously hope this is the game piece. That would be fun.

[roboruler]

Originally Posted by jweston

Reminds me a bit of the Nerf Aero Howler. I seriously hope this is the game piece. That would be fun.

Something like that would be awesome, but the fins are very fragile and if they get bent they don't fly properly.

[GeeTwo]

It depends on your definition of flying.

If you mean a game piece or mini-bot which is unsupported by the floor (either directly or through other condensed phase substances) for more than a couple of tenths of a second, I'd say it's almost certain. The last eleven games have encouraged or at least explicitly allowed game pieces to be launched by robots and/or thrown by human players. Triple Play was the most recent game in which throwing game pieces was prohibited for both players and robots, according to my archived rules. With the end of the teaser ending with the words "take flight", I would be more surprised if nothing in this game was allowed to "fly" than I was when the bumpers got tossed in the bin in the 2015 kickoff video.

If you mean flight that is sustained for more than about two seconds (e.g. lighter-than-air or powered flight), I'd guess 50%, or just a bit more - total guess, though.

[philso]

The title of this thread made me think that someone was speculating that the 2017 game is based on Quidich

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by jweston

Reminds me a bit of the Nerf Aero Howler. I seriously hope this is the game piece. That would be fun.

I seriously hope so too.
Already thinking of ways to spiral that thing out, on its way forward from a robot.

[Ringo5tarr]

A "flying object" could simply refer to a game piece in a shooting game (specifically a football shaped piece) however, if we are to expect a flying bot in the match this year, I would expect it to be in the endgame as minibots. It's not unreasonable for people to make their own quadcopters, right? So a voucher for some of the parts could come in the KoP, and the endgame could just be get a minibot onto a 5 (or something) ft platform.

[spaghetticat97]

It would be sweet if they meant for us to build a "Flying Robot" but I see this as a very low possibility. They're may be a flying game piece but my prediction is that one of the game pieces will have the illusion of flying... maybe using zip lines or having an object propel through the air. i don't think game designers will go as far as making an actual flying object. But that would be AWESOME

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by waialua359

I seriously hope so too.
Already thinking of ways to spiral that thing out, on its way forward from a robot.

I'm mostly thinking traditional two-roller launcher, but with same-handed mecanum wheels.

Originally Posted by Ringo5tarr

Concept Maps (CMs) seemed like such a good idea when I first read about them, except that I realized that they needed an "encapsulation" to function as parentheses do for algebra, but my conversations with the authors never achieved any traction. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a CM since that lived up to that initial paper, including new CMs from the original authors.
Just out of curiosity, what do you intend your colors/shapes to mean? The pentagons are obviously "authoritative information", but the others mostly seem inconsistent. All but two of the red ovals are "leaves", and none of the light blue round-corner ovals are, but the purple hexagons and the green trapezoids are a mystery.

[roboruler]

The fins of this would also be pretty fragile, but it looks like the Aerobie Football resembles the oval shaped craft in the teaser more.

http://www.aerobie.com/product/football/



It would be pretty cool for FIRST to be able to support one of the smaller toy manufacturers out there, especially with the very scientific/engineered focus of Aerobies products.