[BB] 2010 Game Hint #1

[nathanww]

Because it's a fun challenge. Kind of like Sudoku, but with lexan and evil geniuses.

A few ideas I had:

Dave's morse code hint could possibly be decoded as "Everything is not as it appears"(which usually refers to visual perception)
The hint is in Morse code(a communication system)
The CAD render contains a reflection, possibly of another field element(which could be considered a form of visual relay/communication)
The new control system and field elements this year will support much richer telemetry from the robot

Therefore, I'm thinking that these hints might be pointing on an increased reliance on visual feedback and robot telemetetry. However, I'm inclined to think that if this is true, the emphasis is going to be more on robot-to-robot communications and vision processing. Just plain "let's drive the robot using the camera" is not very programmatically interesting or spectator-friendly.

Looking at the hint more literally, I'm reminded of this resturant that uses a suspended track system to deliver food to customers. Cracker Jacks and Haagen-Daaz cups or food. So maybe this is part of a system to drop game pieces down from the ceiling. Hmmm...

Or it could just be, you know, the whole field.

[TEntwistle]

A few recent posts have suggested that there is little purpose to guessing about the game hint (an old idea, BTW - mentioned a few days ago). However, it is a chance to get people excited about the game, and a chance to start strategizing/brainstorming. I have alsready started to think about what I would want to do if this game is played on rails, if it requires sorting balls by color, if it uses small (tennis ball sized) game pieces, if it requires a camera due to limited visibility, and now what to do if the field is partitioned. This may be the biggest value of the game hint - the ideas you thinnk of to tackle one issue may be the best way to conquer the real game, even though your imagined problem has nothing to do with the real problem.

Like JVN has said numerous times. there is no stupid idea in a brainstorming session. The student who asks that we have a robot that can fly will encourage someone else to think of the game-winning strategy. So I would encourage others to keep throwing out ideas, not matter how stupid (except for flying robots), but suggest that we keep it focused on the hint and game, and read prior posts (or search) to minimize pure repitition.

[GBilletdeaux930]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but I came across this as I was reading through some old blogs from Bill.

(This is in Section 5-Rev A pertaining to the new Coopertition Award)

"The Coopertition Award celebrates the team that best demostrates the ability to help their opponents compete. In the inaugural year of the Coopertition Award, the award will be granted to the team that earns the most Coopertition bonus points during the competition (See Section 9 for details about Coopertition bonus points)."

I'm thinking that means that teams will have their own score that they continue to add to after every match...

Sorry this doesn't quite relate to the first hint but it's about the game overall...

[TEntwistle]

Originally Posted by GBilletdeaux930

"The Coopertition Award celebrates the team that best demostrates the ability to help their opponents compete. In the inaugural year of the Coopertition Award, the award will be granted to the team that earns the most Coopertition bonus points during the competition

My guess is that these points will be unrelated to game play (directly) but maybe given in the pits, or by judges who see teams not running up the score, or something else like that. Maybe it will be related to teams that win high scoring games by both teams. There was some mention of this on the FIRST website in reference to last year, about how coopertition was demonstrated by everyone scoring, and that it was better to win a high scoring game than to keep your opponent to low score (very much paraphrasing). If this is true, then this year's game may have very little defense within it, or they may discourage defense as the primary means of winning. My take on Overdrive was this was intended to be an offense-oriented game. I expect the same this year

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by TEntwistle

My guess is that these points will be unrelated to game play (directly) but maybe given in the pits, or by judges who see teams not running up the score, or something else like that. Maybe it will be related to teams that win high scoring games by both teams. There was some mention of this on the FIRST website in reference to last year, about how coopertition was demonstrated by everyone scoring, and that it was better to win a high scoring game than to keep your opponent to low score (very much paraphrasing). If this is true, then this year's game may have very little defense within it, or they may discourage defense as the primary means of winning. My take on Overdrive was this was intended to be an offense-oriented game. I expect the same this year

This is already present in the Ranking Score / Strength of Scheduling system in place.

[TEntwistle]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

This is already present in the Ranking Score / Strength of Scheduling system in place.

Quite right. I just was wondering if is a double jeopardy kind of situation - low opponents score hurts you in quality points and in coopertition award standings.