[Official 2005 Game Design] Game Elements and Subtasks

[Not2B]

Few ideas....

- Moveable platform that robots can get onto - because it would be interesting

- Temporary line of sight disruptions for the drive team, but with human players able to see what is going on. Teams would need to set up a "non-verbal" communication system to see what was going on.

- Field elements that need to be activated by robots. Examples... Pull on a ring, push a button, etc...

- Hula hoops or other such ring type of thing. Maybe collect them, maybe put them on a hook that can be raised or lowered by your partner. (I really like that idea now that I think about it....)

[Mark Pettit]

I'd like to see obstacles/barriers strategically placed on the field that cause a robot to become disabled for a period of time if they cross/touch them. The most attractive scoring zones could be guarded/blockaded by these to make it more challenging to get to those scoring zones.
Perhaps the alliance partner of the disabled robot could shorten the duration of the disable by doing some task that re-enables their teammate.

I would also like to see a contest that requires the robots to shoot projectiles at targets and/or at their opponents for points. I know safety is a concern but maybe you could get Nerf to sponsor a contest and use foam projectiles.
You could even force teams to put goals or receptacles of some type on their robots. If my opponent's projectile ends up in my robot's goal, then I am penalized with a points deduction. If my alliance partner's projectile ends up in my robot's goal, then there is a bonus/multiplier.

[Andrew]

This seems like the best place for this suggestion...

Release the robot building rules in the pre-season and set up the Q&A system for feedback.

This will allow the FIRST community to flag all of the picky little inconsistencies in the rules before we get to build phase.

It will let us look up suppliers, et al. and get an idea of what parts are legal.

Since most veteran teams right now have big stock racks of FIRST parts, this change would help the newer teams.

Rather than placing restrictions (e.g. you can only buy this from supplier x), set up a Q&A specifically for legal parts. Only those parts are legal.

So, if a team asks, "Is the BEI yaw rate sensor legal," FIRST isn't bound by the "only available from digikey" rule. It can say yes or no and that becomes gospel.

This also allows teams to browse the Q&A and determine what parts are legal. So, if you didn't know what a "fizzbuster" is or where to get one or whether you could use it, you could browse the Q&A as the competition progresses and get the benefits of other teams' experiences.