Are we the only Hearder in this game?

[Travis Hoffman]

Well fast lappers have proven themselves to be very effective. See 148. If you can corral a trackball and deftly and quickly maneuver it around the track, while quickly releasing the ball, letting it cross the line, and reacquiring it without much delay, you can theoretically lap half as fast as 148 and be equally as effective. The only drawback I can see is that you may periodically be taking away a trackball from another robot in your alliance who may prefer to hurdle.

I've seen teams with round "hoops" that surround the horizontal equator of the ball and "marble" it around the floor quite easily. I could see these teams having success, especially if they also have a way to knock down balls off the overpass.

Just go out, do your thing, avoid penalties, and do this consistently well. You'll be most "useful" - you'll be fine.

[Vince lau]

there is never a useless bot in a FIRST event, if you are herding you can always herd the ball around the track and leave it the end zone for a hurdler, or if the other robots are busy bring the ball around the track again

[Joe Matt]

There is another team i know of that is a herder (carries the ball around and goes uber fast) but i can't say anything more besides "you aren't alone."

[Jeff Waegelin]

Team 58 did very well for themselves as a herder in New Hampshire. They were a first round pick, and regional finalist. They had one of the best autonomous modes I've seen, and they managed to score quite a few points in teleop mode just by driving laps, and releasing the ball as they drove through.

[ALIBI]

We have the option of hurding and will probably do so if the congestion on the field allows. We can hurd on the fly in practice, however, if the field is congested, we will probably opt to retain possession and hurdle.

[MegaSparks]

Herders and racers have their place in this game. If you can drive fast and maintain control you will be an asset to an alliance as there are only two balls of your color in the game. We had two fast racers in St Louis one was picking in the elimination rounds and the other was picked. Practice speed and maneuvering on Thursday push your comfort zone, but avoid penalties!

Good Luck!

[Ryan Dognaux]

Absolutely not. 1646 is a herder and can knock balls off the overpass as well. Why be just a race robot when you can be a race robot with ball control capabilities? That's our thinking as least, we'll see how things go at the Boilermaker Regional in week 3.

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

Absolutely not. 1646 is a herder and can knock balls off the overpass as well. Why be just a race robot when you can be a race robot with ball control capabilities? That's our thinking as least, we'll see how things go at the Boilermaker Regional in week 3.

That's exactly what we had in mind when we built Homer.

But I will guarantee we're the only herder that looks like a hippopotamus....

[JHSmentor]

Team 2374 from Oregon was a "herder" of sorts. We had arms to control the ball but found that they were in the way most of the time so we didn't use them. But, dislodging the ball was our specialty and was very valuable throughout the matches. We were picked for an aliance by 2046 for the elimination rounds and made it to the finals (as a rookie team). so, running laps, dislodging the ball, herding, and playing defense is a huge deal.

[XaulZan11]

I believe 2041, Midwest winner, was also a hearder. They had a clean ball pick-up method, and a great strategy in QF4-1 to bring the other ball around the track so 1114 had two ball to score with, leading to a high score.

[Goaliexam]

Team 1656 is a herder bot, with a method of knocking down the balls from the overpass. We'll be competing at Chesapeake this year.

[Lions for First]

team 2365 is a herder that can knock down trackballs we will be at AZ tomorrow

[seanl]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

I believe 2041, Midwest winner, was also a hearder. They had a clean ball pick-up method, and a great strategy in QF4-1 to bring the other ball around the track so 1114 had two ball to score with, leading to a high score.

wow that is relieving

[EricVicenti]

I think the problem with herding is that in many cases it is mathematically unwise to herd. If the ball is left on the overpass for the entire match, it gains 12 points, so to compensate for the 12 points that you likely loose by using the ball at all, you need to do 6+ herds.

This is of course operating under a number of assumptions. For one, it assumes the opposing alliance would not knock your ball down by the end of the match.

I remember one team during a practice match at SVR lost against nobody because they knocked down both of their color balls and made 2 laps. Because the 2 opposite color balls remained, they lost 24-4.

[David Noll]

Herders shouldn't focus on herding. Knock the ball down if you can and lap. The biggest thing though, and few people have been working on it, defense! Knock the other teams ball around, you see 'em going in for it, give them a love tap so they have to get moving. Even if you don't knock down show us you can lap and block, then you will get picked.