2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast

[hallk]

Has anyone thought about 5 vs 5? The field would have to be really big or really empty but someone mentioned basketball and thats what made me think of this.

[Elgin Clock]

This kind of looks like a banana.
http://www.bluefinrobotics.com/index.htm

Ya know.. just saying.

Ok that was a joke..

But.. I'm not giving up on my volcano idea.
In fact, I had a crazy thought.

Who remembers the tv show American Gladiators?
What about the game Atlasphere?
See what the goal of it is??
It was to seat a large ball in a volcano type platform for points.
Sounds good to me.

http://images.google.com/images?q=tb...atlasphere.jpg
http://images.google.com/images?q=tb...diatorball.gif



Get what I'm saying??

Ya know.. kinda like a large Golden Ball inspired by Google?

[AndyB]

well dave is at it again....

Originally Posted by dlavery

Just out of curiosity, what is the spacing between the wheel sets? Is it sufficient to cross a 20-inch wide, 16-inch deep, water-filled moat, should that capability ever be necessary?

[Rich Cooper]

what's in the clue?
I've attached 2 pictures one of the original clue with the tone levels adjusted.
three areas of the picture were processed differently :
the "5" was lightened to bring out the diamond pate bumps showing through
the diamond plate was left original
the background was enhanced to bring the rather compressed range of data on the three (RGB) channels to full scale
A) in the original it look like we're looking through a blue filter that has been distorted by the diamond plate
what we see behind the diamond plate looks like
B) a large ball in the center foreground
C)in the lower left it looks like a smaller ball ( this could be a head but I think that is just jpg aliasing with the filter warp )
D)on the right hand side it looks like the edge of the playing field with another line for the edge of the crowd seating
E) above the ball there are three bands that could be large rings or hanging slings
F) between the bands we can see heads of the crowd on the right they are oriented vertically but in the upper left they are distorted to be tilted counter-clockwise whereas in the upper right they are distorted to be tilted clockwise

the second jpg is a guess of the picture with the diamond plate and the blue of the filter removed

What about the Diamond plate? First likes obscure clues. Others
have suggested a baseball theme. I will push that a little further.
diamond plate - diamond could both suggest baseball but also more specifically the diamondbacks - a 5 covering the plate would suggest the catcher
#5 for the Arizona Diamondbacks is Robbie Hammock who's historical contribution to the history of baseball is that he caught #51 - Randy Johnson's (the Big Unit) Perfect Game ( the 17th in MLB ) in Atlanta on 5/18/2004

odds and ends: the 12 diamond repeats across the circle => 18" circle
the "5" font is bold arial

What's it mean?
Game Name - "the Perfect Game"
Game pieces - large and small balls
Goals - rings or hanging slings ( Hammocks )
field - 4 goals at center of each side + one center of field ( 3 line up as in picture) center of field raised diamond plate platform ( pitchers mound )
BLUE and RED Lights above goals to say which are active for scoring for either team ( from Blue filter )
other - if the diamond plate - "manhole cover" is hanging vertically as in the picture it could be used to toggle the lights on the goals

[MPblankie]

I haven't read through all of these comments but I am really agreeing with the few people that suggest that it relates to the home plate in baseball. Baseball diamond...5 sided home plate. I think this is key when you consider how previous clues relate to sports. I.E. the triple play clue.

I also have been waiting for FIRST to use smaller balls in the baseball or tennis ball size range. I don't know if they have used them in the past but in my history they haven't. I think this would be a neat eliment. I am tired of the kickball sized balls.

I also think people are looking way to deeply into the colors and background. Past clues are usually tricky but easy to figure out by simply typing in the clue in to google.

[SPARKY1688]

I am just throwing this out in the open but what if the shape of the field maybe changes this year maybe a circle, or a triangle?

[Caleb A.]

Here's what i am thinking, since a water game could present expensive problems, what if FIRST decided to use a gamefield wall made out of some sort of light distorting material, kind of like a funhouse mirror. When you look thru it you would see what would resemble looking into water; a distorted, wavy image. This would hinge on the game being water based and this is just a guess, looks like we will find out come Saturday

[Gabe]

Aerogel! That's it! The entire field will be covered in a thick mat of the stuff!

[pogg]

American Galdiator styled game would be awsome.

[Sindegen]

Hey guys... Quick thing I just found out... I was just trying to be dumb but I actually found something. And it rgards the fish.

I was on google, and I was looking at diamondbacks and all that came up was about the MLB league. Then to be an idiot I searched diamondfish (not knowing that there was actually a diamond fish). Well I came across a Monodactylus argenteus or diamond fish, and I came across something else. It also "supposedly" shines a bunch of colors of the rainbow (not like that matters). But then what are some colors of the rainbow? Blue, Yellow, Red,Green, and maybe purple? But I just found it ironic that this search turned out to be the two team colors, the color all the robots go after, and I suppose the yellow that I have read on some posts they have seen as well. I wouldn't be so sure about the purple though.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Sindegen

I wouldn't be so sure about the purple though.

I can vouch for purple, it is a very nice color.

[cgredalertcc]

I have given up guessing at this point it is such a vague clue the challenge could be almost anything. I'm content waiting till saturday, though if dave wanted to give us a little clearer hint I wouldn't mind taking a look.

Oh well.

[ElectronJohn]

Just joined Chief Delphi.

I have been reading through this thread and discussing things with my Coworker. (We are both mentors for the local team here in Pocatello, Idaho. Team 1569)

Here is our SWAG (Scientific Wild A** Guess) at what the clue is: The picture is a clip out of a digital video presentation. We (the viewers) are looking straight down on a scoring platform that is worth 5 points. Guessing on the "diamond" spacing, the plate appears to be about 20 some-odd inches in diameter. The swirled colored background is simply an artifact of the FIRST video show background.

Conclusions:
1) I would agree with the "Gimme 5" title.
2) The picture is of an actual scoring platform. Which makes it too small for robots to climb on.
3) This is one of many platforms at various heights and diameters for which scoring objects are placed upon. Lower, larger platforms are worth less points.
4) In keeping with FIRST symbols, the square is due this year - so the game pieces are likely cubic in nature.
5) Also, in keeping with FIRST, the 5 point platform may be the most elevated - 6 or 7 feet.
6) Game pieces are relatively small and must be widely available. My guess here is a little mini-milk crate organizer sold at WalMart. Other small cubic organizer containers would probably work too. Two colors would be used - one for each alliance.
7) The contest is to load as many square storage containers onto a platform as possible. The higher and more difficult platforms are the most difficult.
8) The playing field has traditionally been quite simple in its construction, so I bet this year's contest will not be exotic in the field elements.

Or - Maybe the clue is the "lid" of a cone shaped bin. Different heights of cones have different points. There are ports just underneath the lids that allow small cubic storage containers to be placed inside. Each opening is surrounded by a "target" color for the cameras to home in on.

Just my thoughts

EJ

[Vince lau]

isn't this FIRST 15th year? 1992-2007... maybe the game will be a 15th year special.. with 5 different ways to score. thats why they didn't give us and an advance BOM. so what have the best 5 game pieces been?
Tetra from triple play, bin from stack attack, floppie?, inner tube?

[Manoel]

My (very) conservative guesses about this year's game:

- 3 vs. 3
- Playing field is rectangular and approximately the same size as usual
- Camera is here to stay, possibly tracking multiple colors
- Game element is something you build (i.e., tetras), not something you buy (poof balls). Great for us international teams

Confidence level: 87,5%