alliances

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Posted by Dave, Student on team #308, Walled Lake Monster, from Walled Lake Schools and TRW.

Posted on 4/27/99 5:32 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: a box with wheels posted by Chris on 4/26/99 10:12 PM MST:



Hey,

That match was most intresting, because at the end of the match, we were the only functioning robot, Husky Brigade had a chain pop off, the box blew a fuse, and the other robot was immobile and got tipped.

And for being paired with different robots that can't do much, I know how it is on both sides of the road. At Great Lakes, we were one of those robots that couldn't get on the puck and plagued by problems. But at nationals, we tangled with the best and came out on top, and we were occasionally paired with robots that were like us at Great Lakes. Just remember that no matter how frustrated you get because of it, the team that didn't work right is more then likely more frustrated then you are.

I also have to agree on the thing about minuim requirments before you enter a match. Using this year as an example, have it move and somehow have a device to succesfully hold at least 1 floppy. And if a team mate doesn't show up, I think they should have gotten their points doubled. If they get a 1 man 180 point game, doubling it would give you a 360, still not a perfect score, but a score that is more deserving if you do that good.


Dave

: I have to add something. The box with wheels did have a control box and it could move around. Although when we played with them they blew a fuse and we were on our own.

: -Chris

:
: : I have to reply to this one because our team was mentioned.

: : Yes, there was a team that was a box on wheels. And wouldn't you know it, they were our partners in one match. In fact, we were in 7th place going in to that match and needless to say we weren't 7th coming out. However, I am proud to say that we won that match (like all of our other matches ).

: : -Chris

: :
: : : I can't confirm it, but I have heard that one team at the Nationals was literally a box with wheels. No motors, no wires, not even a battery or control box!

: : : Is this right?

: : : Teams that had to be paired with this team had no chance of scoring more than 180 points and most likely would even have a hard time doing that against any two 1/2 way decent teams.

: : : I know of teams that had 0 partners out of 6 get on the puck, while they got on the puck every time in addition to getting the 2 point doubler every time. Others had the exact opposite.

: : : I am not complaining, I am just pointing out that the luck of the draw played a bigger role than ever in determining the top 16 teams.

: : : The picking of alliance partners leveled this out in many cases, but there are cases like the TRW team (and Boston Edison/Plymouth North and others), where things didn't really work out so very well.

: : : I don't really have a solution, but I think that this is a topic that there should be open discussion about.

: : : What do you think?

: : : Joe J.