Human Player

[Danny McC]

Originally Posted by Kmo

I think this years game is better with human players because FIRST is trying to get more kids involved with the game. As long as the kids get some kind of interaction then kids will be more interested.

Hmmm this size of the drive team is the same how does this get more kids involved? Not trying to sound mean or anything I am just wondering what your logic is here.

[thefro526]

I think the Role of the Human player is being over-emphasized in this years game. Yes they are responsible for introducing balls onto the field but this was the same in 2006. The thought of a human player scoring a large amount of points into a trailer seems rather far-fetched unless the trailer is stationary. It requires an immense amount of skill and luck to be able to score into a moving trailer at even 5 fps and I can guarantee many robots will be moving faster than that.

That being said I think the human player will have to be more strategic than in the last few years. Yes, last year we had the robo-coach and they had to know how to send signals to the robot but this is the first time since my involvement in first where the Human Player actually needs to thing strategically. I say this because your Human player will not be at the Driver's station like in previous years so they'll have to know the strategy fairly well if they want to be effective.

[Cyberphil]

Personally, i don't think this allows for the best teams to be the best. What happens if one team gets a bunch of lucky shots and they win. The game is good if FIRST wants the teams to have closer games, but that brings the truly good teams down.

[Danny McC]

Originally Posted by Cyberphil

Personally, i don't think this allows for the best teams to be the best. What happens if one team gets a bunch of lucky shots and they win. The game is good if FIRST wants the teams to have closer games, but that brings the truly good teams down.

I think this is the year of unknown teams coming out of nowhere and winning the Championship.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Danny McC

I think this is the year of unknown teams coming out of nowhere and winning the Championship.

Highly doubt that.

You said it yourself, odds of turning a match around using the human player is slim to none unless they are used to directly load a robot (if a robot has a crappy loader system or something inefficient).

[nHouse]

My .02? I think that human players wont be as effective as some think, yes I think they'll score a lot of points but the really good teams will have robots that can still outscore them.

I do agree with cyberphil though, I really hope a truly well build robot isnt cost an important match due to a random great shooting hp on a team thats robot isnt as great or a few luck shots, it would negate the effectiveness of what that team spent so long engineering.

Anyway, there's no telling how things will turn out until regionals so until then!

[tim_reiher]

Originally Posted by nHouse

My .02? I think that human players wont be as effective as some think, yes I think they'll score a lot of points but the really good teams will have robots that can still outscore them.

I've got to agree here. I think that some people are overestimating the ease of human player scoring in these goals. In the heat of competition, with the robots slipping around, bumping each other around, etc., I feel that many more balls will end up on the field than in the trailers. Plus, It may prove to be very difficult to project a swinging trailer's path accurately enough as it gets bumped around to score reliably, while at the same time avoiding scoring in a robot of your own alliance's trailer.

Now robot scoring... well, we'll just have to see about that.



EDIT: Plus, I can't imagine a robot being in any danger from the outposts, unless it manages to get right next to an opponents. How good does your depth perception, coordination, and skill need to be to throw a ball over a wall, from a sitting position on the ground, into a trailer that would be obstructed from your view by another robot? Well... rather high.

[johnr]

How many moonrocks can payload specialist have in his possesion at one time? I know you have to pick them up with claw but could you pick up 3or 4 and hold on to them and what for best time to throw?

[Darkcrosbone]

If you have somebody that is remotely good at throwing the ball... than he is a vital part of gaining points

[katyrobo2177]

Though i feel the human player will be a key factor in lunacy, the robots will have alot of control in the game too. I'm still really loving the idea of the human players especially since if something does happen or goes wrong with the robot, you can still be somewhat defensive like blocking, and you can feel more involved with the game unlike last year's game. It will be interesting how things will play out once the regionals start. I'm very excited to see how everyone's ideas are generated into their bots.

[joeweber]

The human player will be very helpful when loading robots that can shoot accurately to the goals. The problem is that at each station only one human is available to do this, he could have his hand full trying to keep up.

Can we use just one driver and have the second driver help throw the balls?

[Wayne Doenges]

I think the Role of the Human player is being over-emphasized in this years game. Yes they are responsible for introducing balls onto the field but this was the same in 2006. The thought of a human player scoring a large amount of points into a trailer seems rather far-fetched unless the trailer is stationary

You guys are missing a major point. This year the HP can throw balls, into the trailer, at the start of autonomous mode.

Per FIRST Q&A:
Question: Is there any human interaction allowed during the autonomous period? Such as moon rock throwing...etc.?
GDC answer: There is nothing in the rules that prohibit the Payload Specialists from throwing Moon Rocks during Autonomous.

With this Q&A I think the HP will be a major player. Also review video of game from FIRST and you will see balls being introduced during auto mode.

Picture 20 balls at the red outpost and the blue robot in front of it. Auto mode starts. Bluebot spins wheels while red outpost Payload Specialist chucks moonrocks over the 4' wall. Our HP put 10 balls into the trailer in 8 seconds.

To put it another way, if you don't move, during auto mode, you're toast

[Wetzel]

This year, the human players will need to be well versed in the strategy to be used, with only 1 of your alliance human players where a coach can talk to them. Signaling devices on the robot or driver station to communicate with the remote payload specialist?

Wetzel

[Kyle]

Originally Posted by Danny McC

Hmmm this size of the drive team is the same how does this get more kids involved? Not trying to sound mean or anything I am just wondering what your logic is here.

I think what he is trying to say is, this will interest the kids more involved in sports to join to team, once they join they can see how great FIRST is and become interested in science and technology.