What has surprised you this year?

[Chris is me]

I expected far more teams to "overreach" - to try the hardest game tasks and fail to do so adequately. I think a game that was "obviously hard" (as opposed to subtly difficult like 2012) led teams to decide early to specialize, leading to a more balanced and competitive field than I have seen in years.

Specifically, I expected most teams to try and ground load like they did in 2011, as well as hang for extra points, rather than purely cycle and 10 hang.

I guess our commitment to simplicity isn't an advantage anymore, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[iSparky]

One thing that surprised us this year was our performance at the one regional we went to xD jumping from 43rd to 10th wasn't what we had planned c: but now it gives us so much more confidence for next season nwn

[Anupam Goli]

Originally Posted by Gdeaver

Ether posted a chart of all the match scores for 7 weeks. What surprised me was the sheer number of low scores. I believe this shows that there is a widening divide between the average First team and the elite.

I'm not so sure about this one. Last year had lower scores across the board I believe, and the EWCP blog says that last year's scores median score was dismally low. This year, with allt he resources out there, it seems like every team is able to score points, and as a result, we see less zero point scores and higher scores in general.

[DjScribbles]

I think this years game piece is awesome; I loved the ease with which it can be scored accurately, but the difficulty in manipulating it consistently. I think this led to a lot stronger average robots, and helped to subdue 'everything-bots' (along with the difficulty of climbing of course).

[JesseK]

Strategy-wise I think I nailed it on Day 1.

• For an alliance, there are 180 (almost) guaranteed points, yet the difficulty required for designs to get all 180 is well beyond 99.9% of teams
• A solid dead-reckoned autonomous with 4 cycles and a 10-pt hang puts many teams in the upper echelon this year
• Doing a 5 or 7-disc autonomous is HUGE, but requires ground pickup and under-pyramid heights
• Going under the pyramid opens up 2 entire zones of play, regardless of alliance

My only real surprise was that we couldn't get a good disc delivery mechanism from the floor to the hopper, given the talent on my team. Meh.

One thing that surprised me was how much more advantageous mid-field autonomous routines are for Quals, since I didn't realize that leftover discs were on the center line

Was surprised about being allowed > 60" for the start of the match

Nothing major though. We scrapped floor pickup last night since it was causing an over-complexity in our hopper. Now the discs don't jam one bit. Was a bit surprised that we could shove 7 discs through in under 7 seconds with no jams, for once .

[Carolyn_Grace]

Being an alumni of and former 9-year mentor for team 33, I'm disappointed that I completely missed how important autonomous mode was (i.e. picking up frisbees from the ground.) Those 15 seconds are basically an extra bonus time, and I feel like it's important to use it resourcefully. Luckily, when paired with another team with floor intake, this becomes mostly a moot point.

Not game specific:
it caught me off-guard how difficult it is to switch teams. There are so many tiny adjustments, based on small nuances that each team has, and habits that formed from the previous team, that it is actually pretty stressful. It was an amazing experience though, and one I recommend to other mentors. It's made me a better mentor. I love my team and everything they've taught me!

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by Wing

I'm not so sure about this one. Last year had lower scores across the board I believe, and the EWCP blog says that last year's scores median score was dismally low. This year, with allt he resources out there, it seems like every team is able to score points, and as a result, we see less zero point scores and higher scores in general.

This is the first year in 10 years of FRC that my internal estimate of robot scoring ability was less than than what we actually saw on the field. I think there are a couple of reasons for this.

Frisbees are the most consistent flying gamepiece we've ever had. The foam basketballs of 2006 and 2012 were just not very uniform, and even with an extremely rigid structure, close shots, squish-o-meters, and closed loop controls you would still miss. They were also less dense, meaning aerodynamic forces were a less negligible part of the force balance. Drag is not a fun thing to deal with for small squishy objects with varying surface characteristics at low speed. On the otherhand, it is dang near impossible to miss a frisbee shot! Even going for the comparatively small 3 point goal, teams didn't miss much. Frisbees are dense and consistent.

Frisbees also behave alarmingly well when left to their own devices (unless you are 67 at the MSC). It has long been a personal rule that you always keep power on the gamepiece, because it will break your heart if left to its own devices. Frisbees in a bucket "just worked", and this saved many teams from developing their own hopper.

I would love to know the number of Ri3D "clones" (understanding this definition can vary). I bet there are probably 100 robots that are pretty close, and several hundred more that used something from that video in developing their own solution.

There was also a significant amount of information sharing on CD, with people talking about their experiences with the Banebot wheels vs. pneumatic wheels, among other things. I don't remember as much manipulator specific information being shared in previous years.

I was surprised at the number of working 30 point climbers. They were relatively rare, but I had figured they would be closer to the rarity of suspensions in 2010.

I didn't anticipate the FCS actually working, but clearly the GDC did. (Or they got lucky with the 84" rule)

I think for once we thought frisbee pickup would be harder than it actually was. In ball games, it can be really hard to collect because you knock the balls away with your frame. Frisbees don't do this, they just stay put on the ground.

All in all, I was surprised that robots were better than I thought they would be. That is a very pleasant surprise.

[Mr. Lim]

That we under-estimated the 95th percentile winning score in our early strategy sessions.

Usually we overestimate how high scores will be.

Also, I was floored by the number of teams that successfully 30pt climbed at a week 1 regional at BAE...