Defensive Strategies

[Nimmy]

well in the strategy team we brainstormed about all kinds of defensive strat's

the backbot, on all our strategies collected balls all the time
but we had a few ideas for him
for example have the backbot pile up lots of balls infront of the corner goals
and pick up ALL balls from the field, arranging them according to the teams capabilities, also during the defensive period our HM's will throw balls continusly towards the bot for him to organize the balls

one of the most important thing is we control ball circulation,not the other team, that way they need to wait for us before they can act
heck if we have a lead when most balls are in our side we might not even throw balls out and just wait out the rest of the match, always think about the circulation VERY important

about the 2 other bots they will try and push balls away as much as possible
if the opposing team has 2 pushers and one shooter (Average?)
if the pushers get the balls in the corner goals we can let go of them and focus on the shooter (since any ball coming from the HM's on the other side will be quickly pushed away by us, easier to push a ball and disrupt collection
then collecting a ball...

we are trying to get a meeting with some basketball coaches on more defensive moves and strat's seeing as this game is VERY similiar to basketball
in the gameplay

and that's about it, wont get into specifics ( ) but I do suggest
you guys take photoshop or even PAINT or whatever and take the arena graphic (from above) and draw up moves your bot might do on the defense
study them
and offer them to your alliance teammates in the matches

only trouble is trying to convince your alliance to go with one certain plan
and not just "play it out"

good luck all

(my 2 cents, sorry for typos)

[Cathen1]

a strategy to consider goes along with collecting all the balls, but you dont necessarily have to score them. Because once u do, the balls are then available for the other team to score, and if u scored one-pointers, they could use those to make three-pointers. You could just collect the balls and not score them, just hold on to them, if you have a decent lead, because for every ball that you have, that is one less ball for the other team to score.

[pyroslev]

Ramming like that is what i call sniper ramming.

But anyways...

Use your defensive robots, all of them to plot/prepare for offensive period.

It's surprisingly simple.

[Mike Norton]

you need to think out of the box.


First everybody is worry about the 3rd robot scoring. what would happen if a defence robot can push 2 robots at the same time around leaving the other robot 1 on 1.

If you where to block a side goal while waiting there you could be filling it with balls

no one have said anything about the ramp. this is going to be big. it is worth 25pts if you get three robots up there. I like that because if you push your opponent up on to the ramp you can hold them there until the end. (by the way the ramp I think will flip robots over if being push to it) that will make it easy to move a turtle on its back up the ramp.


go to where the points are and you will win.

[Jon K.]

Originally Posted by Mike Norton

you need to think out of the box.


First everybody is worry about the 3rd robot scoring. what would happen if a defence robot can push 2 robots at the same time around leaving the other robot 1 on 1.

If you where to block a side goal while waiting there you could be filling it with balls

no one have said anything about the ramp. this is going to be big. it is worth 25pts if you get three robots up there. I like that because if you push your opponent up on to the ramp you can hold them there until the end. (by the way the ramp I think will flip robots over if being push to it) that will make it easy to move a turtle on its back up the ramp.


go to where the points are and you will win.

Only thing to watch is if the refs continually see you tipping teams even if it is pushing them up a ramp they may start calling penalties and dq's etc... Something for the FIRST q&a maybe?

[Mike Norton]

the way the rules are stated it looks like they are looking for teams to do this. because they will let you pin forever on the platform.


It will be up to the other team to make sure their robot will not be tip over

Look at this video. that year almost every match there was a robot on there back. this was at the nationals. and not once where we ever warn. because if your robot is defending and trying to stop someone from scoring and they flip over it would not be your fault. But you had to make sure you did not have anything on your robot to help the other robot to flip. ( like a wedge ) like our robots they always had a flat surface only 1/2 - 7 inches off the floor. this alone help robots over if they turn and you pushed them on there side. some form the front

so if the other teams robot is worth points to your team they become a scoring object.

yes

[blue_crew]

is the pinning rule the only rule that does not apply on the ramp/platform?

[Mike Norton]

is the pinning rule the only rule that does not apply on the ramp/platform?

Yes that is the only one

[Arkorobotics]

Originally Posted by Mike Norton

Yes that is the only one

You mean you can pin this robot the whole round on the ramp?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Arkorobotics

You mean you can pin this robot the whole round on the ramp?

As the rule is written, you can pin any robot for any length of tim on the platform as long as one or both robots is not touching the carpet. Though I would like to see someone pin a robot on the ramp during auto mode.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Arkorobotics

You mean you can pin this robot the whole round on the ramp?

Yes, but I think that'd be pretty hard on the drive system and electrical system.

[Mike Norton]

Yes, but I think that'd be pretty hard on the drive system and electrical system.

Not if you do it right. My only thing was how many robots would move up the ramp without falling over if being pushed the ramp will play big this year. Like I said every robot is now worth points. So if you plan on getting some points why mess with the ball when you can use other robots

[henryBsick]

Originally Posted by Mike Norton

Not if you do it right. My only thing was how many robots would move up the ramp without falling over if being pushed the ramp will play big this year. Like I said every robot is now worth points. So if you plan on getting some points why mess with the ball when you can use other robots

Correct they are, but you cannot assume that you will be able to bulley every robot that you will be against this year. Robots are dynamic, balls on the other hand are fairly static.

[Mike Norton]

Correct they are, but you cannot assume that you will be able to bulley every robot that you will be against this yea. Robots are dynamic, balls on the other hand are fairly static.

I would say 80% of the robots will be pushed around easy it is the 20% that you have to worry about. I been around long enough to know that at a competition you will have the weak, quick and weak, brittle robots, the average robot, strong and slow or the strong and fast. Then you will have a robot that will do everything and be good at everything. these robots will be at the top 1%.

If you are a small school and looking to do good and have fun I do think you have to think out of the box. like looking at the other robots as points. I do not think you will run into any teams that will have 3 strong robots during the seeding rounds. So for the seeding rounds this option would work out good.

I always do like your robot from Penn team 222. You always come to the competition prepared. But you must know what track can do with power. and how so many robots do go over on a flat surface.

We will see you in New England and at your competition. a great venue in Penn. Good luck and take your team far.

[cfair]

Does anyone know whether the leafblower idea (blowing air to deflect shots) is legal?