2011 FRC Game Hint #2

[Travis Hoffman]

Here’s my final (and only) wild and crazy guess about the 2011 game:

Game Name: Logomotion (not an original guess – others have suggested this name – it sounds cool to me!)

Originally, I thought there could be three moveable goals, similar to those built in 2002. One will be triangular. One will be circular (likely octagonal for ease of construction). One will be square. They will start in the FIRST logo orientation. Robots would be able to grab and move these goals around. There would be some advantage for positioning these goals in specific areas of the field. Hence – “Logo”motion.

However, now, instead of PVC goals, I'm thinking the three shapes could manifest in the form of 3 1999 pucks. These were castered carpeted platforms robots could drive on top of. Maybe the puck platforms would be set at 2 or 3 different heights - I'm thinking the triangle and square would be easy enough for robots to get on, but the central circular/octagonal platform would be taller and more difficult for robots and human players to reach. Maybe game piece scoring containers would be fixed at the center of each puck.

Just for fun, perhaps each puck would be fixed in its center to a pivot point and freely rotate. In fact, I can see this being a very cool field to pay homage to the 20th anniversary of FRC, as it would not mess with the chi of the FIRST logo – the shapes would always be in the same spatial relationship – triangle, circle, square.

There will be 1 big ball (perhaps the 2008 trackball), but playground kickballs will be the most prevalent game pieces. Each alliance has X game pieces in their alliance color - red or blue.

The big ball will start the match on top of the central circular (and tallest) puck structure. Small balls can be scored in any of the 3 puck goals, but you get double points for scoring in the center goal.

Human players get to be jump shooters like in 2004. Both HP's and robots can score small balls in the goals.

Capping your goal with the big ball doubles that goal's ball score for your alliance. Capping the center goal with the big ball doubles the ball score for EACH alliance's balls contained within the center goal (which are already worth 2x points). Awwww coopertition. Warm fuzzies.

The big ball can be freely descored at any time during the match.

There could likely be some other field element - we need more to the endgame, right? A king of the hill platform like 2004 would be fun. In fact, the center puck will serve as a stepping stone to this highest platform (but remember - it rotates...evil). Heck - add a hanging bar on top. Double heck - add steep ramps as a direct path to the KOH platform. Robots also get a smaller endgame bonus for being on the center puck at match end.


So there you have it.

Finally, some have suggested there will be 3 distinctly-shaped game pieces – one of each logo shape – 2005 tetras, 20-whatever balls, 2003 bins, for example. I hope FIRST doesn't go this route, as any type of triangular or square game pieces sturdy enough to handle the rigors of an FRC competition are likely either custom-built or hard/pricey to obtain.