[BB] 2010 Game Hint #1

[TEntwistle]

It looks more to me like two parallel bars with stops at either end, then another set of tubes that slide over the parallel bars from one stop to the other (there is a small ledge on the pole beyond the center piece that suggests it is not really a telescoping piece)

[ionave]

The mechanism in the picture looks adjustable, kind of in the same way that a hurdle can be adjusted... Maybe the robots will have the task of changing the height of the mechanism?? Who knows...

[EdwardP]

Originally Posted by Pausert

I don't see how it would be adjustable. There are two pins on either sides that snap into other tubes, but those holes in the center are for attaching the plastic piece, not for sliding, right?

Perhaps the piece that slides over it just isn't pictured.

[James Tonthat]

It might be a field piece, but it would have to be something attached to the robot side. Again, it just doesn't seem substantial enough (thick enough) or has proper fasteners to be a stationary (permanent) field piece.

It's shown in a horizontal position, maybe we should think of it as a vertical piece of some sort, say a tower? Maybe this is the game piece, you have to make a tower of this and use the Lexan part as some sort of shelf to hang something off of or put something on.

[TEntwistle]

The center (outer) poles look like they slide over the longer inner poles and stop at the pins at either end. On the render, there is a little ledge on the poles that suggests that the inner pole extends the entire length of the image, and that the larger diameter pole is actually shorter than at first glance. I still don't ahve a clue as to what it does, though.

[AcesJames]

Perhaps we should think of what someone might call this object, rather than what it's function is? A name for this piece might be some kind of play on words for a more complex and subtle game hint within this piece itself. I mean....it is the GDC we're dealing with here...

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by TEntwistle

The center (outer) poles look like they slide over the longer inner poles and stop at the pins at either end. On the render, there is a little ledge on the poles that suggests that the inner pole extends the entire length of the image, and that the larger diameter pole is actually shorter than at first glance. I still don't ahve a clue as to what it does, though.

You're right about the tubing diameters, but I don't think the bigger ones slide on the smaller ones out to the stops. (Where would those two fasteners slide in the absence of slots in the smaller tube?)

[gallo26]

Originally Posted by Billfred

You're right about the tubing diameters, but I don't think the bigger ones slide on the smaller ones out to the stops. (Where would those two fasteners slide in the absence of slots in the smaller tube?)

FIRST did this in 2008 with the Overpass. They weld it together, and pretty much make it a connection. So maybe this piece is solid and doesnt move, but what it's connected to....

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by brianc217

This is the first actual hint released today on Bill's Blog and the usfirst.org website.

Looks to me that it's in the wrong orientation and that it is a support for something like a 2x4 or box aluminum.

[Boydean]

I say they are lasers, and you have targets you have to shoot. The field is foggy too. There are some safety issues involved, but he I can dream right?

(Wow I'm posting this on my blackberry curve in a waffle house)

[TEntwistle]

Originally Posted by Billfred

You're right about the tubing diameters, but I don't think the bigger ones slide on the smaller ones out to the stops. (Where would those two fasteners slide in the absence of slots in the smaller tube?)

Good point. I don't think that the connectors go all the way through, though. If they only went in to the outer tube, without penetrating the other side, you wouldn't need the slots, but you also wouldn't ahve a very strong connection either.

The center bracket has 4 small holes in it, making me think that they are designed to be attached to a very specific piece, not used as a rest or anything else. I can't think of anything that would fit that bolt pattern. Perhaps a gearbox, or some other item that we regularly use, but with a bolt pattern that is new from prior years.

[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by Billfred

More discussion over here:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=79453

Perhaps a mod can merge the threads?

[s_forbes]

Possibly a field element for dispensing game pieces? Looks to be about 8" wide, assuming that's 1/4" polycarbonate. Maybe a clue as to how big/how many game pieces we have this year?

Better yet: a tray that holds one robot's battery at the beginning of the match. In order to be functional, an alliance member must go get the battery and plug in the disabled robot.

[TEntwistle]

An additional thought - the holes in the inner side of the outer tubes looks like they are there so that the bolts holding the brackets to the poles can be tightened or a nut placed on them. It sounds crazy, but if the machine screw were placed from the inner aspect of the pole (using the access hole), if the screw hear were slightly rounded to match the internal diameter of the tube, and if the hole in the outer tube were countersunk (countersinked?), the connection could still be secure, yet allow the outer pole to slide over the inner.

I like the idea of the bracket connecting to a 2x4 or aluminum box. Perhaps it creates a field element that raises adn lowers, giving the robots a short windoe of opportunity to cross from one side of the field to the other, like the year that the robots had to cross on the tilting platform.

[gallo26]

Originally Posted by TEntwistle

An additional thought - the holes in the inner side of the outer tubes looks like they are there so that the bolts holding the brackets to the poles can be tightened or a nut placed on them. It sounds crazy, but if the machine screw were placed from the inner aspect of the pole (using the access hole), if the screw hear were slightly rounded to match the internal diameter of the tube, and if the hole in the outer tube were countersunk (countersinked?), the connection could still be secure, yet allow the outer pole to slide over the inner.

It looks like there are short standoffs?

Originally Posted by TEntwistle

I like the idea of the bracket connecting to a 2x4 or aluminum box. Perhaps it creates a field element that raises adn lowers, giving the robots a short windoe of opportunity to cross from one side of the field to the other, like the year that the robots had to cross on the tilting platform.

2003 Stack Attack had the same thing. If your robot was small enough, you could just go right under