***THE GAME OFFICIAL: AIM HIGH***

[Petey]

Originally Posted by Beta Version

The rules state that each allaince begins with forty balls, is thier a rule that determmines how many of those balls can begin inside the robots or anything?

<G13> Balls Contained in ROBOTs at the Start of a match - Each ALLIANCE will start a match with 40 balls.
Each ROBOT may contain up to 10 balls at the start of a match. Any balls not contained within the robot
will be evenly distributed between the alliance ball corrals. All of the balls must be contained within the
ROBOT’s 28” x 38” x 60” starting volume and must be clearly visible from outside the ROBOT. The
Head Referee will require that balls outside of the starting volume be removed. It is the responsibility of
the head referee to verify that this rule is satisfied prior to the start of the match.

Please read the manual and post with unenumerated ambiguities, not things that are explicated in the manual.

--Petey

[Bethany Mc.]

ok...i have a question....in the animation it says that during auto. the alliance that scores the highest gets the 10 points and their goal goes off and on defense...so y does it say that the red alliance won the auto..when the blue scored 4 in the top goal equaling 12 points, where as the red only scored 10 in a lower goal....is that a mistake or is it the alliance that has put the most balls in any goal???

sry if this is a repeated question.... but io havent had the time to read this..to busy working on ideas..lol...

[Jonathan Norris]

Does this rule mean that we have to basically make box bots and not allowed to have an angled front or back end of our robot, such as /---\ . I am personally not a fan with this rule.

<R04> "Wedge” robots are not allowed. Robots must be designed so that interaction with other robots results in
pushing rather than tipping or lifting. Neither offensive nor defensive wedges are allowed. All parts of a
robot between 0 and 8.5 inches from the ground (the top of the bumper zone – see Rule <R35>) that might
push against another robot must be within 10 degrees of vertical. Devices deployed outside the robot's
footprint should be designed to avoid wedging. If a mechanism or an appendage (a ball harvester, for
example) becomes a wedge that interferes with other robots, penalties, disabling, or disqualification can occur
depending on the severity of the infraction.

[Ian Curtis]

Does this rule mean that we have to basically make box bots and not allowed to have an angled front or back end of our robot, such as /---\ . I am personally not a fan with this rule.

I sure am a fan. I know with my team, the wedge was becoming an arms race. At the BAE regional last year, we got tipped several times. This year we were going to build wedges to protect ourselve from getting tipped all the time in the qualifications when defense it at it's premium becuase team's are generally still working on their scoring mechanism. Basically, the wedge was becoming an arms race, becuase even if you didn't like them, you had to have them to keep other bots from accidently getting under you. Plus 10 degrees is still asthetically pleasing.

[JoshuaFreier]

Originally Posted by Beta Version

The rules state that each allaince begins with forty balls.
However, is thier a rule that determmines how many of these balls can begin inside the robots, or an any one robot?

Read <G13>. Each robot may contain upto 10 balls.

Joshua

[BrianR]

I have a question about the corner goals.

Im slightly confused, because by the specs for the field, the corner goals are supposed to have a height of 10", but at the IIT remote kickoff, there was hardly any clearance for the balls to go through. Does anyone know how much clearance the balls are supposed to have when they roll through, because as it looked to me, the human players would have a nearly impossible job to try to throw a ball at that, and get it to come to a gentle enough roll to go through.

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Petey

If you'll notice, in my post, iCurtis, I said I'd read and hadn't been able to find it, although I did update to say we had kickoff evidence of progressive scoring.

Could you provide a game clause please? <GXX> and whatnot.

After talking to Woodie Flowers in person today at the Kickoff, I can confirm that the balls are counted in real time. I believe <G05> implies this. The way this is worded, it says that balls from the field can only be scored once, until a human player reintroduces them into play. This would mean that once they are on the field again, they can be scored again, and then thrown back onto the field, and then back again... Just like a basketball arcade game. The only way they could track the score is by real-time scoring.

<G05> In order for a ball to score, it must enter the goal and exit via the exit chute. A ball that bounces out of the goal is not scored. Once a ball is scored for a particular ALLIANCE, it cannot score again until it is entered onto the field by the opposing ALLIANCE's HUMAN PLAYER.

The balls in the center goal are counted right as they enter the chute that drops down into a metal trash can. (A.k.a. the ball holder for the center alliance station.) You can see the ball-counter in the picture below. For the corner goals, the balls are counted right after they go through the opening and cross the white light.



If people were wondering what various aspects of the official playing field look like, I uploaded a bunch of them to my team's website at the following address. There are pictures of the center goal from all angles, the corner goals, the ramp, the openings in the ramps, the ball chutes, etc.

http://www.team228.org/index/picture.../kickoff-2.htm

[JoshuaFreier]

[quote=Greg Perkins]From watching, I saw that the balls that went in the center goal were not touched, but the side goals the human players were taking balls from the hopper and putting them back on the playing field...(from the animation). If thats the case how do you tell whose are whose and are the total amount at the end of the match your points??
QUOTE]

What I saw wandering around the field after the kickoff in Manchester was that the scoring in this game looks automated. There are cameras in the lower ball chutes and another sensor in the high basket. There are no Red or Blue balls - scoring is based on which side of the field a ball enters a goal on.

Balls shot into the high basket will be dropped down into a bin (a metal garbage can in Manchester) via a tube and Human players can take them out of there like any other hopper.

Joshua

[Koko Ed]

Is FIRST planning to put netting around the field to keep errant shots nearby for quick retrieval and out of the stands?

[BrianR]

As of now, it wouldn't seem so, but they may change that based on what they experience at the first regionals. Personally, I think it would help, but may change the atmospere to have nets between the stands and the field, it will seem more like a sporting event than they really want it to. They may just have a bunch of people around the area trying to shag balls as they leave the field. I can't say for sure, but it wouldn't seem reasonable to just let the balls fly everywhere.

[Joshua May]

Originally Posted by Bethany Mc.

ok...i have a question....in the animation it says that during auto. the alliance that scores the highest gets the 10 points and their goal goes off and on defense...so y does it say that the red alliance won the auto..when the blue scored 4 in the top goal equaling 12 points, where as the red only scored 10 in a lower goal....is that a mistake or is it the alliance that has put the most balls in any goal???

sry if this is a repeated question.... but io havent had the time to read this..to busy working on ideas..lol...

According to <G02> it's the highest scoring alliance. Apparently, this is either a mistake in the animation or there were some balls scored by the red alliance that we didn't see in the animation.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by BrianR

As of now, it wouldn't seem so, but they may change that based on what they experience at the first regionals. Personally, I think it would help, but may change the atmospere to have nets between the stands and the field, it will seem more like a sporting event than they really want it to. They may just have a bunch of people around the area trying to shag balls as they leave the field. I can't say for sure, but it wouldn't seem reasonable to just let the balls fly everywhere.

Yeah but then I could see the possibility of outside fan interference when they toss the ball back into play.
There's a potential for it anyways.
I don't see the problem with the nets. Hockey fans still enjoy hockey with the nets at the ends and appreciate the protection from having that puck not hit them upside the head.

[b_mallerd]

I'm still wondering about that ball issue.

Does this mean that each team will already have 40 balls at thier disposal ALONG WITH up to 10 balls in each robot? Or does it mean 40 balls and you can stick balls in the robots but then that gets subtracted from your total?

[65_Xero_Huskie]

The game is gonna be crazy this year, its basically telling you to use the sensor cam or you will be shooting randomly..

the thing i didnt uderstand is that if you score int he 1 pt goal..the HP from the other side can throw it out...how are they gonna count them if they get descored so fast>?

::EDIT:: sry, just looked it up, the opponenets HP can only touch balls on offense, and you score while they play defense

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by b_mallerd

I'm still wondering about that ball issue.

Does this mean that each team will already have 40 balls at thier disposal ALONG WITH up to 10 balls in each robot? Or does it mean 40 balls and you can stick balls in the robots but then that gets subtracted from your total?

Your alliance as a whole gets 40. Each robot can hold up to 10. Any balls the robots don't have onboard get distributed at the player stations.