A few questions for teams in week 1.

[AlexD744]

I know I'm probably gonna get a dozen "Read the manuals," but it's midnight where I am and I'm falling asleep so I was wondering if you could answer these please.

1) can any given team have 2 human players if the alliance agrees on that?
2) Do you pick robot starting positions or is your number (e.g. red 3) decide the starting location
3) Were the tongs useful, and if so was it often?
4) Is the traffic annoying as a driver, b ecause I saw a lot of traffic jams?

Thank You

p.s. again, sorry if 1 and 2 are in the manual.

[big1boom]

Every team must supply a human player, or that spot goes unfilled.

The robot starting positions are set by your alliance strategies, the field does not tell you where to start.

The tongs are required to be used to pick anything up off of the ground, if the tongs can reach it, it is legal.

Traffic might get annoying, but a good drivetrain and driver are able to get out of mostly anything.


1, 2, and 3 are in the manual FYI.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by AlexD744

I know I'm probably gonna get a dozen "Read the manuals," but it's midnight where I am and I'm falling asleep so I was wondering if you could answer these please.

1) can any given team have 2 human players if the alliance agrees on that?
2) Do you pick robot starting positions or is your number (e.g. red 3) decide the starting location
3) Were the tongs useful, and if so was it often?
4) Is the traffic annoying as a driver, b ecause I saw a lot of traffic jams?

Thank You

p.s. again, sorry if 1 and 2 are in the manual.

1 is in the manual--you only get 4 players on the drive team, namely, 1 commander (can't touch the controls), 2 pilots (drivers), and 1 Payload Specialist (Definition of TEAM, 7.2).

2 isn't. I believe that, like the PS position, your alliance chooses this. I can be overturned.

3: Tongs are required by <G40-C>. No ifs, ands, or buts allowed. Also See <G40-D> and <G20-B>.

[NoahTheBoa]

The traffic was pretty bad, but a good driver can avoid it. Generally the robots would cluster on one side or in the middle so if you can back out of that pileup you have half of the field to yourself for a few seconds.

[coldfusion1279]

Let it be known, the tongs must be used, and they are very annoying to use an the heat of the moment... be prepared for that

[AlexD744]

Thank You. Again I know I probably read half of that stuff, but my brain was on meltdown. Thank You again.

[BradMello]

Originally Posted by AlexD744

1) can any given team have 2 human players if the alliance agrees on that?
2) Do you pick robot starting positions or is your number (e.g. red 3) decide the starting location
3) Were the tongs useful, and if so was it often?
4) Is the traffic annoying as a driver, b ecause I saw a lot of traffic jams?

2) Red 1,2,3 dictates the players station number you're assigned to during the match, but robot starting positions are negotiated before the match within the alliance

4)Traffic, especially without the aid of a traction control system can get very annoying. I found that in many situations the worst traffic jams occour immediately at the start of teleoperated mode, because many teams have camera tracking autonomous programs that tend to cause a pileup of robots in one section of the field. Sharp turns, as imagined, were hard to control and there were a few situations that I found myself "pinned", more or less attached to another robot during front end collisions, because intake gaps hooked onto each other. Try to collide with other robots only on fully bumpered regions of your bot and you should be fine.

[Lesman]

Traffic-not a huge issue, though it reduced most fancy autonomous code to go forward and crash. But, pinning was a big issue, especially since wall to bumper applies more traction than wheels to ground.

[Boron + Z]

4) One of the most ANNYOING things I found while driving had to be when there were a group of robots on your side of the field, right in front of you, while you're trying to drive on the opposite end of the field. It happened rarely, but when it did, oh man what a pain. The big green and pink trailer posts easily block a drivers vision, keep mobile and don't get stuck in the middle of a pack of bots. There's my Week 1 driver's advice.