most feared thing

[Joel Glidden]

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

... and avoid being moved...you really can't beat them.

Any robot can be moved.

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Tyler Olds

According to the rules, all small balls on top of a capped ball still count and will get a 2x multiplier.

have you tried shooting 18 to 24 balls into a goal that has a 2x ball wedged in its top?

when they are fully inflated, they dont push down very far very easy - if someone caps your goal, and you dont have a means to uncap it, you are not going to get very many balls in it.

TO answer the subject of this thread, The thing I would worry the most about is a team that thinks this is battlebots - with a machine that comes flying out in autonmode and smacks their opponent, or that rams our bot for no apparent reason

even if they do get disqualified, we still have to go back and repair the damage.

[ngreen]

It would be hard to move them if they brace themselves against the wall and the side and that corner. You really can't push them from the other side and most robots can't pull as well as they push. Anyway what could you grab onto to pull. That would just get you in trouble. My next move would be if they have a fabric to capture the balls to strategically push on that kind of like when a baseball gets caught on top of mesh batting cages. This would possibly divert the flow of the balls.

[bjammin64]

my biggest fear is a robot that can control the bar, but then im just worrying about the finals matches

[Koko Ed]

I fear the team that has decided the best way to play the game is to run around and look to shove robots over off of the ramp or find some way to topple other robots and try winning by breaking the opponents robot (not intentionally, of course ).

[Tyler Olds]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

have you tried shooting 18 to 24 balls into a goal that has a 2x ball wedged in its top?

when they are fully inflated, they dont push down very far very easy - if someone caps your goal, and you dont have a means to uncap it, you are not going to get very many balls in it.

Very good point, however the balls are only inflated to 30", not the full amount. Also you only need 1/2 the amount of balls, and that potentially leaves the mobile goal open for scoring (which when stationary isn’t that hard to shoot into).

I never said that this was a bad strategy; I was just stating what the rules say.

Also make sure you don't get caught for goal tending, when the robot has the 2x ball in its possession, it is considered a part of the robot. So if it blocks any of the balls while capping the opponent’s goal, they should get the penalty bonus.

[Iain McLeod]

I'm afraid of that lip on the side of the platform-- foolhardy robots falling onto our robot would be quite bad.... or top heavy ones spanning the whole side and blocking it. That would be bad.

[Andy Grady]

Originally Posted by Joel Glidden

Any robot can be moved.

I think judging from their 2002 robot, Beatty and Hammond might have an issue with that statement.

[Tyler Olds]

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

I think judging from their 2002 robot, Beatty and Hammond might have an issue with that statement.

Beatty was still able to be moved, you just had to wedge a goal underneath them ( I am refering to our match against them at MMR). don't get me wrong, their design was great, and whenever they got those file cards down, they were unmovable.

I think the point is, is that any robot can be beaten (disreguarding the 2001 season because it was all co-op). and because of that liek you said Andy, somebody will find a way and exploit it.

[tenfour]

There is no real most feared thing this year because there are so many ways to score and so little robots to do so. Any robot that dominates any one aspect will not be able to do the others. I think the really scarey thing is a robot that can actually work.

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

I think judging from their 2002 robot, Beatty and Hammond might have an issue with that statement.

It took quite awhile, but they were moved eventually...




The biggest fear I have is finding a robot that can do pretty much any feature in the game, do it consistantly, and do it well. If they don't make the top 8, they will pretty much be a guaranteed pick...

[Aignam]

Originally Posted by Tyler Olds

Here is what I see winning:

1.) A robot who can catch all the balls while its partner triggers the bonus ball

2.) A robot who can get on the bar immediately and de-cap the 2x ball (if needed).

These two simple strategies I will fear the most. I fear even more an alliance who can do both of these, for I believe that they will be unstoppable.

That alliance wouldn't really scare me. Nobody would trigger the ball release in autonoumous, and then I would make a beeline for the catcher robot and do everything to prevent them from catching all 18.

Originally Posted by D.J. Fluck

The biggest fear I have is finding a robot that can do pretty much any feature in the game, do it consistantly, and do it well. If they don't make the top 8, they will pretty much be a guaranteed pick...

There are far too many strategies in this game to tell which is going to win every match consistently just yet. But we'll know in a few hours...

[Tyler Olds]

Originally Posted by Aignam

That alliance wouldn't really scare me. Nobody would trigger the ball release in autonoumous, and then I would make a beeline for the catcher robot and do everything to prevent them from catching all 18.


There are far too many strategies in this game to tell which is going to win every match consistently just yet. But we'll know in a few hours...

sorry forgot to put in triggers the bonus ball. But even if they didn't i still see this alliance winning.

I believe scores will be much lower that what peopel expect this year. Adv. with about 60-90 pts for the losing and 125-160 for the winning (at most).

[Andy Grady]

Originally Posted by Tyler Olds

Beatty was still able to be moved, you just had to wedge a goal underneath them ( I am refering to our match against them at MMR). don't get me wrong, their design was great, and whenever they got those file cards down, they were unmovable.

I think the point is, is that any robot can be beaten (disreguarding the 2001 season because it was all co-op). and because of that liek you said Andy, somebody will find a way and exploit it.

Correct in the fact that any robot can be defeated. I guess the point I was trying to make about Beatty's 2002 robot was, if you put those same file cards underneath the funnel robot and at the same time use the walls for support, its gonna make it mighty hard to move something like that. Like you said though...for EVERY strategy, there is a counter strategy. Even the most unbeatable of robots has been defeated before.

[Lil' Lavery]

The thing i fear the most is a GOOD ball collecting mechanism comibed with a good human player(cough cough..Team 33-who won VCU). They collected as many as a dozen balls at a time a dropped them off to a human player who seemingly never missed. Our HP didnt miss a shot in 4 matches int he middle of the competition, but theirs was unbeleivable. not to mention they had goal hooks to move mobile away from blocking the ball deposits. They were slowed down when an oppenent basically devoted its enite match to stopping them in the finals, but they broke away from them soon enough to have hteir human player score another 20 points. They truly exemplify the phrase, you cant stop them, you can only hope to contain them. The bar blocking robot is not very possible. Many teams used "grappling hooks" or tethers to reach the bar fromt he ground or simply had long enough arms, so even if you swing or can stop off the top platform, they can still reach around and get on. Plus with teams like 33, they can counteract the bar with a full stationary goal. Not to mention when 388 capped it for them...