FIRST 101 [11/25/05]

[Andy Grady]

Hello class, time for another action packed lesson in FIRST 101...

Releasing Objects

One of the more interesting facets of the pre 1998 era was the ability to leave objects behind on the field behind you. It allowed for some very interesting defensive design features before the invent of the "Cap"

cap: n, 1. object used to hold a bunch of scoring objects on the goal while your robot runs amuck over the rest of the field. 2. see Beatty and Hammond

Back in 1993 during Rug Rage, the goals were small crossbars very close to the ground. One team figured it would be an inteligent move to release a long wall to block teams from scoring underneath the bar. A stroke of pure genious! There was also the appearance of a landmine type obstruction left by Plymouth North High School in 1996. We don't stop there though! Also during Hexagon Havoc, a couple of very inteligent teams thought it would be a smart idea to put all the small balls they collected on the field into a bag or container and drop the whole bag inside of the goal. Those two teams? The Rhode Warriors(current team 121) and Wildstang (current team 111). The Rhode Warrior robot's cage actually also had the ability to block the goal from the inside!

Maybe in the future we'll see the return of releasable items and as a result see the invent of these awsome defensive features.

Class dismissed.

-Professor Grady