Coaches keeping track of score

[Jimmy Cao]

For the official competitions i think they will have a nice little program that should be able to calculate score based on where the operators tell the computer where the rings are (did that last statement make sense)? Suppose the red alliance scored in H-3 (highest rack row 3). The operator would simply click that spot and assign it a value, denoting the red alliance. Then if the blue alliance put a spoiler over that, the operator could put a spoiler over that (virtually). At the end the program would count the rows and singletons.

Afterwards it would display the score to the big screen, and it would be verified by the people on the field. Much as they did last year.

[Scott Perry]

I'm going to add my voice to the people advocating small dry-erase boads. Not only does the Rack pose a physical challenge, but a visual one as well. You don't want to be wasting time seeing what color is where on the other side assuming you still can late game, or worse, getting it wrong.

Another suggestion: only keep track of what color is where, not points. As long as you know the length of rows and colums, you don't need to claculate point values unless you're debating whether or not to run home for the bonus.

[Graham Donaldson]

Here's an interesting thought regarding the tactician: In theory, all the coach would have to do is monitor the opposing color, because it can be assumed, especially at the end of the match, that if the opposing alliance doesn't have it, you have it. Maybe coordinate coaches so that one is watching the opposing, the other is watching your alliance. One says where to put your rings, the other says where to defend/put spoilers. The other coach and a human player could be relaying this information- there's only two slots for tubes to go through, which at max will use 2 HPs. Just a thought...

[Cyberguy34000]

Andy, one of the programmers on our team made an excellent suggestion for small blue/red magnets that would go on a magnetic board with a rack diagram on it. Does anyone know of teams creating anything like this before?

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Cyberguy34000

Andy, one of the programmers on our team made an excellent suggestion for small blue/red magnets that would go on a magnetic board with a rack diagram on it. Does anyone know of teams creating anything like this before?

We had the same idea, but <T23> makes it illegal:

Originally Posted by <T23>

The only equipment that may be brought on to the field is the OPERATOR CONSOLE, reasonable decorative items, and special clothing and/or equipment required due to a disability. Other items, particularly those intended to provide a competitive advantage for the HUMAN PLAYER, are prohibited.

If it were part of the console, it would be legal, but then the coach and human player couldn't touch it (the penalty is disable & disqualify). It isn't decorative, and it isn't for accessibility.

Maybe I'm just crazy (what a novel concept!), but in my mind the knowledge that the scoring is exponential could be enough for a level-headed coach to work with after some practice. I think it would be easier not to have to worry about dry-erase boards, etc. The only issue is visibility, but there's no guarantee that ringers will be visible enough to mark down anyway.

[Tytus Gerrish]

Practice practice practice. i know through my experience coaching. you need your eyes all over the field all the time. Im taking the full time role as coach this year with 1889. i already have that whole field burned into my brain. taking your eyes off that field for half a second to mark down where those donughts are or to look down to see what you've written could be the end of you.

not to mention my handwriting sucks anyways

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by Tytus Gerrish

Practice practice practice. i know through my experience coaching. you need your eyes all over the field all the time. Im taking the full time role as coach this year with 1889. i already have that whole field burned into my brain. taking your eyes off that field for half a second to mark down where those donughts are or to look down to see what you've written could be the end of you.

not to mention my handwriting sucks anyways

I agree 100% tytus...I don't think its a great idea for a coach to be attempting to "keep score" during the match. It doesn't make sense. You just have to practice, stare at the field and get a feel for the game. If you do take your eyes off the field for a split second, something could change and your entire scoring process to that time is screwed up. You don't need to know your score, you need to know how to increase your score and thats easily done with your eyes and some good old common sense.

[Daniel Brim]

Whatever happened to real time scoring? With this game it will probably be simple enough that it should be fine for keeping track of rows and points.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Daniel Brim

Whatever happened to real time scoring? With this game it will probably be simple enough that it should be fine for keeping track of rows and points.

Hah. Did you think that in '05 as well? Don't count on it. (remembering '05, when the "real-time" scoring was late and/or inaccurate until the end of the round)

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by EricH

Hah. Did you think that in '05 as well? Don't count on it. (remembering '05, when the "real-time" scoring was late and/or inaccurate until the end of the round)

As one of the real-time scorekeepers of that year (Curie field), I've got to say that we had a heck of a job on our hands. We had these handheld PDAs running some Hatch software that absolutely could not get disconnected from the network or turned off (lest you have to call them over to get it reset and working right). We had to count tetras on top and bottom of up to five goals (one did their home row, the middle row nearest the audience, and the center goal; the other volunteer did the other home row and the middle row goal nearest the scoring table), and track ownership. Basically, we had two people to do a three-person job.

However, that was with a Hatch-designed RTS system. I have high hopes for this year's system being more user-friendly.

Back to the topic at hand, I don't intend to send any drive team onto the field with more than a note card for reference (run this autonomous mode, block this guy, etc.). Assuming he or she can track the approximate length of their dominant rows and the opponent's dominant rows, a good coach stands to figure out what needs to happen next.

[dfukuba]

Our team had posted on the Q&A board about bringing laptops on the field for coaches to use, but as stated earlier. To comply with the rules, the laptop must me connected to the OI, and only the drivers can touch it.

I would think that your coach should be very aware of what is going on, and try to figure out where the best place to score is, without using any kind of Aid. It will be pretty had to write things down on the board and such, when robots are flying around and tubes are rolling everywhere.

IMHO

--Dan

[POLISH703]

Originally Posted by robotcanuck1676

Here's an interesting thought regarding the tactician: In theory, all the coach would have to do is monitor the opposing color, because it can be assumed, especially at the end of the match, that if the opposing alliance doesn't have it, you have it. Maybe coordinate coaches so that one is watching the opposing, the other is watching your alliance. One says where to put your rings, the other says where to defend/put spoilers. The other coach and a human player could be relaying this information- there's only two slots for tubes to go through, which at max will use 2 HPs. Just a thought...

Well there is only 2 slots for human players to use, but I do believe it is legal to load ringers over the top of the alliance wall to pass off onto robots.

To me it seems like the coaches this year will really have to work together to make things be a success in the matches. For instance have one coach be the captain of that Alliance and then have the other two coaches keep track of the red and blue ringers will the captain coordinates the placement of spoilers. Also rather then have the coach direct his/her own team it may have to be were that person will instruct other teams as well. And of course the alliance will probaly benefit from a team pre-game session on what the plan is going to be.