Team Update #3 Posted

[Bharat Nain]

Board and marker or paper and pad.

[Cody Carey]

Originally Posted by Joel J.

In the heat of a match, to look away from the field could prove disorienting and costly.. especially when you have to reframe your brain to fiddle with graphic screens, touchpads, or keyboards.. you may forget what you are doing, or miss some important event on the field. I'd say find a better way.

Originally Posted by Bharat Nain

Board and marker or paper and pad.

That is crazy talk


One of the members on our team already made a palmpilot app. for scoring calculations, and all he needs to do is press two buttons to place a tube on the virtual rack. The program even tells the score of each alliance, and he is working on a 'Next best Move' algorithm... Which is MUCH easier than a pencil and paper or dry-erase board. There is absolutely no reason to use Paper/Board when you have access to a palm-pilot, Its only purpose is to detract from the usefulness of your coach.

[Nawaid Ladak]

would there be a way to get a wired connection to the feed on the big screen on a laptop?

that could possibl seeing the other side of the rack

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by FreedomForce

would there be a way to get a wired connection to the feed on the big screen on a laptop?

that could possible seeing the other side of the rack

No, just look up.

It can prove to be an advantage sometimes, but most regionals that have big screens have multiple cameras/ camera angles so it will be very ineffective. But it could help.

[Brandon Holley]

I say if you MUST keep track use a board and marker or a pad and paper like bharat said, otherwise, i think your coach should be plenty capable of devising your "next best move" in his/her head.

[Ali Ahmed]

I think if you used a program specifically designed for the game, like Cody said, for use on a tablet or Palm would be the best choice. In my opinion, using a normal laptop would be too distracting because a coach needs to keep his mind on the field the ENTIRE time because a lot of things happen at the last second. The next best thing would be pen and paper and draw some sort of diagram that suits your coach the best. I would advise against whiteboards because dry-erase markers dry out fairly quickly and I would hate it if someone was in the middle of a match and their pen drys out. My point is, use a method that allows the coach to keep his/her mind in the match.

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

I say if you MUST keep track use a board and marker or a pad and paper like bharat said, otherwise, i think your coach should be plenty capable of devising your "next best move" in his/her head.

I agree. In the month between now and regionals, your coach(es) should have a very good understanding of the game and gameplay. I would trust a dry-erase board, some markers, and a well-prepared coaching staff over an electronic device prone to malfunction (battery life, interference, programming error, crazy electrons bumping into each other, etc.). I may be an old-timer at 27, but I think there's enough technology on the field and in the drivers stations.
Also, there are no rules about drivers/coaches handling non-electronic devices. A picture's worth a thousand words, and if the drivers can see a pictoral representation of the rack, that could be much better than a coach shouting directions in their ears (not to mention all the noise that happens during gameplay).

[Rick]

Real coaches dont use "strategy assistants" during matches.

[camtunkpa]

All the devices people are mentioning on here are great tools for planning strategy, but coming from lots of experience on the field this game will be too fast paced to take your eyes off for entering ringer locations into any device. I'm not saying that the listed devices definately won't help. I'm just saying with one coach per team it will be very difficult to record ringer placement, monitor ringer placement you have recorded and coach the drivers all at the same time in a 2 minute and 15 second time period. That's just my $.02. I'm not trying to discourage anyone because I've seen some great devices for planning strategy and keeping track of the score.

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by Greg Marra

I agree that a tablet is the best option for keeping track of real time scores. However, I think that having a tablet is amazingly expensive, and most teams will have to settle for some sort of paper-based solution instead.

My roomate got a convertable (a laptop that the screen revereses to make a tablet) for $1400 with decent power. They are getting surprisingly cheap.

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

No, just look up.

Elgin, some regionals have the screen behind one of the player stations, which makes it real inconveinent for one alliance to use. Things are only mostly even between regionals.

Wetzel

[Nick M.]

I am currently writing a scoring program that will run on a PDA with a touch-screen. Simply choose what color alliance you’re on, and touch a rack position where a tube has been placed. As you select tube placements, it will automatically calculate the score. It also has dynamic scoring based on spoiler (black) and the opposing alliance tube placements.

[Barry Bonzack]

There is a thread dedicated to using scoring aids; further discussion about that should probably continue there. This thread is about the Update 3.

Will you be using a scoring aid?

That being said, I am interested in seeing pictures of user made scoring aids or palm programs.