[Official 2006 Game Design] OK, so YOU design the 2006 game...

[SoftwareBug2.0]

Here's my idea:
There are some sort of balls which need to be lifted and placed into a mechanism that I think of as sort of half way between a Skee-Ball game and a pool table that collects the balls from the different pockets into one place. This would probably best be shown with an illustration:



There are eight slots coming from the center, which are each scored differently. One side would be scored for each alliance. Those in the bottom slot would be worth one, the second slot would be worth two, the third slot would be worth three, and the top slot would be worth four points.

The three upper slots would be enclosed so that any ball scored in them would remain there for the rest of the round. In the lowest section, the slanted part would feed into a level section at the bottom which could be accessible from the side, so that a very simple (just driving) robot would be able to score some points.

The field would be square, and there would be four to six robots on the field at once. As has been the case the last few years, the robots on the same alliance would start on the same side of the field. There would be two of the scoring mechanisms on the field, one each on the sides where the robots do not start.

The balls would start out in three movable goals in the center of the field. At the end of the match, a bonus or a multiplier would be awarded to for having the goals on the correct side of the field.

Also, the gap in the center of the scoring apparatus would be closed on one side (the side away from the field) by a sheet plexiglas.

I’d like to hear any comments or suggestions, and to give clarification if any part seems unclear.

[tckma]

Here's my attempt at a 2006 competition design. I present:

Starry Sortie!

The game is played on a field shaped like a five-pointed star. Five robots play at a time - two on red alliance, two on blue alliance, one on green "alliance." Yes, this poses issues with final alliance pairings which I attempt to solve below, note the use of the word "attempt."

Here's a hasty and horrible drawing I made to help illustrate:



Driver Control vs. Autonomous Mode

Driver control and autonomous mode operate simultaneously for the entire match as follows:

Red and blue robots are always under driver control, and the green robot is always under autonomous control. (This may raise some issues with team assignment during competition, assuring each team gets equal numbers of fully-autonomous vs fully-non-autonomous play, but I haven't really come up with a good solution for that.) Driver stations are marked "Red DS" and "Blue DS," respectively.

The green team may NOT bring controls/joysticks to the field. If an emergency shutoff is required for safety reasons, the green human player merely steps off the pressure pad for the rest of the match and hits the emergency shutoff switch. The human player and a coach are the ONLY members of the green team allowed on the field during a match.

Match Duration

The duration of each match is the familiar two minutes (120 seconds).

Game Play

Robots start out in the boxed areas within the star's points. The circles throughout the field are the goals. I envisioned 3" diameter PVC pipe. Goals within the home areas (star points) are, let's say, 4' tall, whereas those within the main field (pentagon) are, let's say, 7' tall. Game pieces are of course star-shaped, with a 4" diameter PVC pipe running up and down the middle (not on the flat side, so the heights of these would be roughly half of what Triple Play's tetras are). These will be colored red, blue, and green. The object is to stack the game pieces on the goal posts. (4" diameter PVC pipe fits nicely over 3" diameter PVC pipe, yes?)

Human Players

Like Triple Play, each team will have a human player standing on a pressure pad which disables the robot if it is not activated (the squares on the bottom of the star). Each pad will have a stack of the appropriately colored game pieces next to it. The human player will step forward with a game piece and load the robot (note that he or she does not have as far to travel as in Triple Play).

Defense

5 kickballs each of the appropriate color (the size of the yellow balls at the side of the "Raising the Bar" field) will be placed at the star points, around the back goal. (25 balls total -- 10 red, 10 blue, 5 green.) A robot may take one of the appropriate color balls and balance it atop any goal, effectively preventing any more star stacking on that goal. Other alliances may knock these balls off, but, once placed, the same alliance cannot remove it.

Center Hanging Goal

12 feet above the exact center of the playing field will be a small pentagon-shaped object with five short 1" diameter PVC pipes protruding downwards. The star pieces will be able to snap flat into this device, but in such a way that only one star may be placed there.

Goal finding

At the bottom of each goal post will be 5 IR beacons arranged in a pentagon. These will flash at different frequencies depending on which goal. The green robot may use an IR sensor to find a specific goal this way.

Scoring

Each star stacked on a 4' tall goal post = 1 point for appropriate color alliance.
Each star stacked on a 7' tall goal post = 2 points for appropriate color alliance.
Each row of 4 goal posts "owned" (a la "Triple Play") by an alliance = 10 points for that alliance.
Each goal post "capped" by a kickball = 5 points for appropriate color alliance.
Each robot in appropriate color start zone at the end of the match = 10 points for that alliance.
Star in center hanging goal = 30 points for appropriate color alliance.

Green Fairness Multiplier -- Green "alliance" scores twice the amount of ground points (2 points for 4', 4 points for 7', 20 points per row, 10 points per cap, and 20 points if in start zone), but still 30 points for the center hanging goal. This attempts to accomodate for the fact that there is one green robot versus two red and two blue robots.

Penalties

Pinning = -10 points
Intentional tipping = -20 points + auto DQ for entire alliance
Human loading zone infractions (such as touching the robot or loading when the robot is not fully in the loading zone) = -5 points each
Removing same color kickball from previously capped goal post = -5 points
Intentional human player interference between alliances = -10 points for alliance + auto DQ for team involved
De-scoring opposing alliance's stars = -10 points each

An Attempt to Solve the Problem of Alliance Pairing during Final Matches

The "Green alliance" as well as any green game pieces will disappear during finals. Instead, each alliance will consist of 2 teams. Best 2 out of 3 matches. Both alliances will have one autonomous robot and one driver-controlled robot. It is up to the alliance to strategize as to which team to put in the autonomous position (same team every time or alternate?).

Fin.

So, what do you think? I think I'm far more insane than anyone who has posted to this thread so far. It definitely would take more than 30 seconds to explain to a TV audience, so maybe it's too complex.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by tckma

So, what do you think? I think I'm far more insane than anyone who has posted to this thread so far. It definitely would take more than 30 seconds to explain to a TV audience, so maybe it's too complex.

Definitely insane. Yes, it is a bit complex, but here's another solution to green: It's a kitbot, built by FIRST, that is programmed to run interference. It would be in every round, including the finals. Of course, this means that FIRST will have to have a large supply of batteries and chargers at each event, but still, no game has yet had a powered "field element". (Hey, for bonus points, score on top of the green robot! )

[tckma]

Originally Posted by EricH

Definitely insane. Yes, it is a bit complex, but here's another solution to green: It's a kitbot, built by FIRST, that is programmed to run interference. It would be in every round, including the finals. Of course, this means that FIRST will have to have a large supply of batteries and chargers at each event, but still, no game has yet had a powered "field element". (Hey, for bonus points, score on top of the green robot! )

A good idea to have a defensive kitbot -- it certainly would eliminate a lot of the scoring confusions, and would be just plain cool! But then, no team is encouraged to write autonomous code at all. I'd originally planned to have two autonomous robots (because the score doubling and final alliance pairings get a bit confusing) -- but for that I'd have needed a six-pointed star, and that would be offensive (desecration of a religious symbol). I wanted also to get away from the rectangular field, since I'm getting kind of bored with it. Any other shape of field that was used, was before my time with FIRST. Considering that this year's high school seniors were freshmen when I started with FIRST, it's time for a change.

My reasoning for making autonomous/regular modes simultaneous was that I think 15 seconds isn't really enough time to do things. (I saw one team alllllllmoooooossssst cap with the vision tetra during autonomous mode ONCE.) Also, with that, you don't have to make any special "autonomous only" tasks (like the magnetic hanging tetra).

[Petey]

While it is beyond me to design an entire game, I would like to provide one essential suggestion.

Dave said, in his opening post, that there is a "preference, but not a requirement, for a human player."

I would request that the role of a human player become a requirement. I realize that Dean, in his opening speeches, often downplays--if not insults--the importance of physical adeptness in the context of society. This is very sad.

As a webmaster, FIRST subcaptain, and ex baseball and football player, it seems to me that it is essential that FIRST does not forget that the well formed person is deficient in neither mind nor body. But that is a largely theoretical argument (and certainly it is inaccurate to suppose that all FIRST gurus share Dean's view, since Dave himself is a notorious outdoorsman--and, I might add, an inspiration for many of my 1073 teammates, who do FIRST in the winter and lead expeditions in the summer).

More practically, I propose that it is necessary to include a strong human player role because it is important to remember that much of the importance in science and technology lies in the interfacing of man and machine. While both can operate in a vacumn (in the metaphorical sense--but, in the case of machine, in the literal sense as well), it is usually much better if they act in cahoots.

That's why I feel that the best FIRST game I ever participated in was the 2004 challenge. The interaction between the bots (bar hanging, ball corralling) and humans (ball scoring) added a certain spark to the air absent in, say, the 2003 game. It really drove home that message of man and machine working together.

So please, FIRST...no matter what Dean thinks of athletics, strive to keep human players actively involved. It doesn't mean that FIRST will be overtaken by jocks (one of the best shooters I saw in 2004 was bespectacled and wheelchair bound). It just means that the game will be more diverse and interesting.

Thank you for all the great years.

--Petey

[KenWittlief]

hypno-bots

this year the human player must stand at the edge of the playfield, keeping his eyes open and facing the center of the field

the first robot to successfully hyponotize the opponents human player, and get them to do the chicken dance, wins :^)

extra points if you can also hyponotize the opponents driver, controller, and coach within the 120 seconds

and a 3X multiplyer if you can hypnotize any member of the opposite team in auton mode !

[Koko Ed]

My game is called Load n' Lock on the FIRST Shipping Dock.

The game features of allince of two robots each whio start out on a pair of docks with a ramp in the center. On the field there are three racks. One colored red located next to the red alliance. One colored white in the center and one colored blue located by the blue alliance. The are also two three slot racks located over the driver stations.
The objects to be used are 44 gallon tubs similair to the ones used in Stack Attack and can only be recived from the human player.
At the beginning of a match the robot has 15 seconds to seek out on their allince rack a vison tub, pick it up and place it on the overhanging allince rack.An alliance scores 25 bonus points for placing the vision box in the overhanging alliance station rack during autonomous mode. Whether the vison box is dealt with during Autonomous mode they are still required to move the vison tub from thier allinace rack to the overhead driver rack if no t they will suffer a one point deduction for failure to place the vision tub in the overhanging alliance station rack during a match.
After the 15 second autonmous period the robot can retireve tubs and place them in the racks. Once a tub is placed in a rack that spot on the rack it's locked. There are nine loading areas on a rack and if an alliance gets more tubs on the rack they win the rack or as it is called in this game they lock the rack and get the bonus.
Scoring goes as follows:
An alliance scores 1 point for each tub placed in their own overhanging alliance station rack.
An alliance scores 3 points for each tub placed in their own alliance rack.
An alliance scores 5 points for each tub placed in the neutral rack.
An alliance scores 10 points for each tub placed in the opposing alliances rack.
An alliance scores 15 points for each tub placed in the opposing alliances overhanging alliance station rack.
An alliance scores 5 bonus points for locking their own rack.
An alliance scores 10 bonus points for locking the neutral rack.
An alliance scores 15 bonus points for locking the opposing alliances rack.
An alliance scores 20 bonus points for locking the opposing alliance's overhanging alliance station rack.

When there is 30 seconds left in a match a chime sounds and the opposing robot can seek to park themselves in the opposing allinces dock.An alliance scores 25 bonus points for parking both robots in the opposing alliance's loading dock. The referee cna at his discretion calll off interaction between the human player and robot if it is being loaded or call off an opposing robot from removing the opposing robot from trying to claim the dock.