A Trend in the FRC Games?

[dtengineering]

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

The trend in FIRST games has been towards..

....

But I think almost anyone could spot these trends...

Don

Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. The significance of these trends is much greater than simple ball/not ball patterns, because it does tell you something about what to expect. Certainly some of the trends have reasons... for instance if we were allowed to build 38"x40" robots, I will bet at least a few teams would have to disassmble their shop to get the robot out.

Another trend, two drivers, a coach and a human player of some description is also present. Perhaps because it seems to work pretty well.

The field size also seems fairly fixed. There may also be constraints on the size of the playing field at some venues that I haven't visited... but I would certainly love to see it made larger. That, alone, would eliminate a lot of "defense" without needing rules to specifically take care of it. Kind of like Olympic vs. NHL sized ice rinks... the big playing surfaces benefit speedy, skilled players.

I would expect a few changes for next year as a result of the control system, however... I get the impression it weighs a bit more than the IFI system, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a slight increase in the weight limit... and with the possibility of video feedback, part of the match could be played with a curtain obscuring the driver's view of the field running on video feedback only.

As much as hybrid mode might have fit in well, I do miss having human players do something physical/athletic. The 2004 game where the human players shot the balls to score points was definitely the high point for human players since I have been going to regionals.

But as for trends, keep in mind what the mutal funds say, "Past performance does not indicate future results."

Jason