Suggestion to improve the alliance choosing program

[Kimberly]

Ok, let me explain it this way: If a rookie team were on 10 alliances with 20 different experienced teams, that's 20 sets of data. The rookie team can decide for itself which advice is useful and which is not, but the more times the same advice is given, the more likely it is to be valid. More information is better than less.

I also am well aware it's not about the competition and winning, which is exactly why I'm suggesting the rookie teams be paired with 2 experienced teams during the competition. If I were promoting a better winning strategy, I'd suggest teams be seeded by individual performance, but I personally don't care about that, except to the extent of keeping track of our individual performance so we know how our design and strategy worked.

If the algorithm were changed to include the fewest pairings of rookie teams possible, and to balance the rookie distribution between the competing alliances, it wouldn't matter what percentage rookies were at the competition. It would only mean there wouldn't be alliances where experienced teams were competing against inexperienced.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Kimberly

If the algorithm were changed to include the fewest pairings of rookie teams possible, and to balance the rookie distribution between the competing alliances, it wouldn't matter what percentage rookies were at the competition. It would only mean there wouldn't be alliances where experienced teams were competing against inexperienced.

I don't know how easy that would be to implement for next year. (It's too late for this year.) I think it won't be that easy.

Take a look at the 2007 match lists, if you can find any. (The Blue Alliance probably has them.) You will see almost exactly that situation. The hard part will be keeping the other teams from facing each other more than once or twice. Last year's algorithm was the most hated in FRC history. So you want the "third tier" to be made up only of rookies and only one other tier. That can't be easy to do. If you think it is, then I invite you to come up with an algorithm and submit it to FIRST for their use.