week 1 questions

[R.C.]

For the the week 1 people, how has it been?

-Did the ir board work or did a lot of robots do nothing?
-What seemed to be the most dominating robot? (arms, lifts, launchers, basebots, other...)?
-Were there a lot of penalities (especiallythe 80 inch rule, and impeding)?
-High scores or low scores?

[Lil' Lavery]

Most teams didn't seem to be actively using signaling devices, but I'm not really sure as I wasn't involved with a team competing this weekend, just watching.
Of the two regionals I saw, 1114 and 1625 were the most dominant. Both of them combined aspects of the arms and shooters (probably closer to the shooter end), but their biggest advantages were their speeds (both of their physical robot and of their ball acquisition).
I don't think I saw a single penalty called for 80 inches or impeding, but I saw countless line crossing violations and a few high speed ramming/aggressive driving.
Qualification matches generally had low scores, but the eliminations picked up it substantially.

[Laaba 80]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

For the the week 1 people, how has it been?

-Did the ir board work or did a lot of robots do nothing?
-What seemed to be the most dominating robot? (arms, lifts, launchers, basebots, other...)?
-Were there a lot of penalities (especiallythe 80 inch rule, and impeding)?
-High scores or low scores?

I was at the midwest regional, and overall I was impressed, now to your questions:
1. From the stands its hard to tell if they used the IR or not, but most teams moved
2. SHOOTERS, SHOOTERS, SHOOTERS, need I say more?
3. I was disappointed with the low number of penaltys called outside of traveling clockwise. Clockwise was called alot, dont go anywhere the line, you will get called for it. I never saw an impeding call though, where I thought there should have been some. I also saw a situation where red alliance hurdles, then blue alliance knocks the ball back into the red homezone. The red robot went around the field picked up that same ball, hurdled it, and was given points for the hurdle! THat was not a legal hurdle because the ball must cross the opponents finish line before it can score again. I realize it may be hard to track, but then get some more refs, and give each a specific job.
4. The scores were pretty high. just a guess, but I think the average was 50+. The highest score I saw was either 124 or around 142. Cant remember which, but it was 1114 and 1024 against 1675 and 1038(3rd teams on both alliance, I'm sorry I cant remember your #s, its been a long day) in the quarter finals. 1675 had to back out of the match, and another robot on that alliance tipped at the beginnning.

EDIT: I'm not sure, but I dont think the 80in is a penalty. I thought is was something that they would check during inspection. Could some please correct me if I'm wrong?
Joey

[Vikesrock]

Originally Posted by Laaba 80

EDIT: I'm not sure, but I dont think the 80in is a penalty. I thought is was something that they would check during inspection. Could some please correct me if I'm wrong?
Joey

During inspection they mark whether it is physically possible for your robot to exceed 80" (regardless of programmed stops). If your robot exceeds 80" in a match, that is a penalty.

I have another question. Did anyone that competed this weekend use rose, amber or blue tinted glasses? If so did they help with the glare/reflection off of the lane divider?

[Binome]

The glare is definitely killer on the lane divider. On the two outside player stations, at least 1/4 of the field is practically blind to the driver. It would be interesting to run the stats on the center player station, to see how much it affects the scores.

[Cow Bell Solo]

also did anyone use like a line or reflective sensor

how many pts scored during hybrid

[Jimmy Cao]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

-Did the ir board work or did a lot of robots do nothing?
-What seemed to be the most dominating robot? (arms, lifts, launchers, basebots, other...)?
-Were there a lot of penalities (especiallythe 80 inch rule, and impeding)?
-High scores or low scores?

Well, I only watched the webcasts, but here's my best shot at this.

Launchers with a "roller gripper" to pick up balls were shining. Teams like 1114 fit into this cataglory.

The 80in rule wasn't called (at all) from what i saw. Even tipped robots didnt get checked/called. Impeding wasn't called either.

High scores were 130+. (I think MWR QFs). Lowest ones were 10ish without penalties


More important than how you hurdle, though, is accuracy. I saw a lot of shooters nail the overpass and fail. I've also seen arms ram the overpass and fall >.>

[thefro526]

We found that regardless of how you hurdle it is important to do it without stopping or if you do stop only for a second.

Line violations, Line violations, and more Line violations
Watch those lines, thats the most popular penalty to be called.

A good Hybrid is important to winning...

[R.C.]

i've been watching on blue alliance; the lifts are extremely slow. The arms are too tip heavy and the lauchers are doing well. The hybrid is extremely important and most teams are not doing it.

[R.C.]

also the thefro526 is right. On the vids there are a lot of lane violations

[IndySam]

Three things are important in this game
Speed
Speed
and
Speed


Fast bots for laps and hybrid.

Cycle time to acquire ball, move ball, and hurdle, doesn't matter if you lift shoot or a combo of both, the need to do that cycle quickly is what separates the bots.


80" rule was called in St. Louis, line penalties were big, hurdling interference was called a lot on Saturday, impeding not as much. Also extension outside the box contact was called a lot more on Saturday.

[thefro526]

Also go to your local craft store and buy LOTS AND LOTS of velcro, teams are shooting down full speed in hybrid/auto and one of our teammates today got their control board broken. Use the hook end of the velcro to keep your board secure and be ready to catch the board should it fall.

Use your coach/robocoach as extra eyes, there is a reflection off the lane divider that can cause confusion.

And once again watch those line penalties!!!


Woot 300th post

[R.C.]

so what is the problem with the lane divider?

[Vikesrock]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

so what is the problem with the lane divider?

This little magic trick is the problem with the lane divider:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...5&postcount=52

[Dad1279]

Originally Posted by Vikesrock

This little magic trick is the problem with the lane divider:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...5&postcount=52

Wow. Thanks for the pics, my team did not tell me this.

Beware the flags/lap counters. They are IR transmitters! Our autonomous failed miserably until we relocated the flag holder, then it worked 100%. Thanks again team 25 for diagnosing this problem, and helping with the repair.

The plates on the center dividers are an issue. Even with over 3/4" ground clearance, our bot was hung up on the carpet once. (it must have been loose or pulled up)

Bots with forks - Be aware of the fencing material in front of the robo-coach. We had to modify the forks 1st day.