What do you think will be important this year?

[DonRotolo]

The tunnels will be insignificant. Hanging from the tower will be common, until teams realize they can't defend during that time. Being able to move balls accurately is key.

[Chris is me]

I think the best robots will do something with the bar not mentioned in this thread yet in addition to shooting from at least the mid range.

[vance]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I think the best robots will do something with the bar not mentioned in this thread yet in addition to shooting from at least the mid range.

Swinging? That's the third way to travel from one zone to the next.

[DMetalKong]

Originally Posted by vance

Swinging? That's the third way to travel from one zone to the next.

Tarzan-bot?

Anyway, I think that being able to start from any position will not be too important. Rather than seeing robots specialize at specific game tasks per-say, I think that the emphasis will be on specializing play for one zone of the field. I think that going over the bumps will be a risky proposition for quick traversal, and the tunnels seem easily blockable.

[s_forbes]

Ball control, as well as hanging.

On a related note: linky

[MaddyTheHatter]

This was the topic of discussion for our team today and, while no conclusion as a whole was reached, I agree that flexibility is key, but more so almost - durability. The robot should be able to push it's way through things blocking a tunnel, or withstand going over a bump, and be able to weather a fall if something goes wrong while it is suspending itself or has robots suspending from it.
It also seems though that if you can't hang your robot it would be useful to be able to play defense during the end of the match, because while one alliance may be focused on the tower the other may just be shooting in balls continually.

[SamMullen]

Seems to me that these matches will be somewhat low scoring (they wouldn't give you 11 seconds to return a ball if it didn't take that long, and that will limit shooting), so getting up on the towers will be really big, especially if you can lift up your alliance partners as well.

Also, I think that robots in the farthest zone (the one with three balls) will need to clear the balls towards their own goals before the start of teleop or the other team will just come over and score with them.

[DMetalKong]

Originally Posted by SamMullen

Seems to me that these matches will be somewhat low scoring (they wouldn't give you 11 seconds to return a ball if it didn't take that long, and that will limit shooting), so getting up on the towers will be really big, especially if you can lift up your alliance partners as well.

Having the opportunity to time the ball return at Manchester today, it took about 7-8 seconds to pick up the ball and place it on the track, and another full 7-8 seconds to roll down the track and onto the field. Theoretically then if you were continuously scoring you could get 7-8 balls a minute, maxing out (including autonomous) at 22 points for a match.

[SamMullen]

Originally Posted by DMetalKong

Having the opportunity to time the ball return at Manchester today, it took about 7-8 seconds to pick up the ball and place it on the track, and another full 7-8 seconds to roll down the track and onto the field. Theoretically then if you were continuously scoring you could get 7-8 balls a minute, maxing out (including autonomous) at 22 points for a match.

That means that in the time it takes all three robots to get on to the tower (lets assume 15 seconds), if the opposing team can score about six times, which means that hanging either ties or beats it (3*2 min. and 2+2*3 max for two robots hanging off the first, as opposed to the 6*1 of shooting).

[Ramiro_T]

Don't forget about defense. You can stay in your starting zone and block the opposing alliance. And, you can block opposing alliance robots from traversing the tunnels and bumps in the center field to buy time. Then, when it comes to the finale, hanging is key earn some extra points at the end of the match. I mean, scoring the soccer balls is 1 point each. At the minimum, you'll probably be able to score 2-3 balls, given the circumstance. So, defense, as much as offense, and hanging will be a key role in this year's game.

[quinxorin]

I believe the key robot tasks will be to be able to score, to elevate yourself, to "kick" balls across the bumps, and to be able to take balls from opponents.

[Jared Russell]

What will be important is that a team is able to do one thing "well".

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Jared341

What will be important is that a team is able to do one thing "well".

I am a huge supporter in making one or two aspects of the robot perfect over "doing everything", but this year I think the robots will need strategic flexibility with a "specialty function", allowing them to do different things with different alliances without compromising a primary function.

I believe one aspect of the game is more important than all the others at this point. I won't say what, partly because my opinion changes every day.

[Uberbots]

Zone-Zone mobility and ball passing (if mobility is too much of an issue)

[bobwrit]

Honestly, I think the tunnels will end up being a bottleneck for many teams, so being able to go over the bumps will be big,

Also, being able to play both offense and defense will be huge, as two of the three sections will be primarily one or the other.

I think for all the sections, being able to move balls quickly will be big, as you can effectivly play both offense and defense with a single move.

The middle will be a combination of offense(being able to move returned balls) and defense(blocking tunnels)