Statistically Winning Strategy

[dtengineering]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

Agreed.

I would also add that rampbots have to be able to play some tough defense (and that makes your point #3 even more important).

Rampbots need to be careful when playing tough D. At least once at PNW I saw team 488 (one of the great rampbots at the tournament) get caught downfield. They had gone to the other side of the rack and played great D... but when it came time to go home and deploy their ramps the tables were turned. It was a great strategy by their opponents, and one that... done wisely... will limit the defense abilities of a ramp bot.

Another strategy to mess up the ramp bots included knocking the ringers all over the home zone, so that when the ramps came down they landed on tubes, forcing the bots to take time to clean them out. As entropy would suggest it was easier to make a mess of the home zone than clean it.

As for the robots that deployed early, I saw at least one case where once the ramp bot had committed to deploying at a particular location, one of the opposing team members just rolled down and played D in front of them.

The best play, however... perhaps one of the most exciting moments I've seen in FIRST... came in the final match when one robot was tipped while attempting to climb the ramp.... the robot lay there, helpless.... and victory seemed assured for the other alliance.... then slowly the arm deployed and the tipped robot lifted itself back up and climbed onto the rampbot and was elevated as the buzzer sounded for a 30 point bonus... and a regional championship.

Does anyone have any video of the final match at PNW?? The crowd was almost as loud as it is at the GTR, I think.

Jason