FRC Blog - Kickoff and... Arnold Schwarzenegger?

[cgmv123]

http://www.firstinspires.org/robotic...Schwarzenegger

Kickoff
I can tell you that the atmosphere on Saturday at the ‘Mother of all Kickoffs’ in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA was electric. And at the end of game reveal, there were cheers and applause all around. I think I may have even heard a few Champagne corks being popped, though that seemed to be coming from the corner of the bleachers where the FRC Staff was sitting.

From the reaction I’ve seen in the community so far, we may have a winner!

Field Reset



It’s actually not going to be that bad, I think. Though this will be one of the most physically demanding field resets we’ve had, the defenses are actually all on casters and drop into the defense bases through a cleverly designed system our Mechanical Engineering team, led by Derek Foster, developed. There will be lots of activity on the field between matches, with robots coming on and going off, and defenses changing. However, we have the brightest, hardest working, most capable volunteers anywhere, and I’ve never seen them presented with a challenge they couldn’t find their way over, under, around or through. Look at it this way – even the field reset for FIRST STRONGHOLD is going to be exciting. (Haters: Please keep your comments about the field reset for FIRST STRONGHOLD being more exciting than the actual matches in RECYCLE RUSH to yourselves.)

Boulders

The game pieces for FIRST STRONGHOLD are more expensive than we would have liked. We couldn’t find less expensive alternatives that had all the characteristics we were looking for, like being foam (so we didn’t need to worry about inflation levels or popped pieces), having some level of durability (though spinning shooters will put them to the test), being the right size, and, very importantly, being low bounce (to minimize the chance of boulders bouncing somewhere you really don’t want them to go). Hopefully, you won’t need as many of them as you did for a game like Rebound Rumble, in which you could carry several game pieces without penalty.

Knight Surprise

I just had to share this. Some of the FRC Staff put a prop Knight in Armor in my office over the weekend without me knowing about it, then set up a smartphone to record my reaction when I walked in this morning.

https://youtu.be/wtwGdXBmcGM

Unfortunately (or fortunately, for me) there’s no audio. I made a noise that sounded like ‘GHU!’ when I saw it, then started laughing really hard.

BTW, the object I put down on my desk is an egg, ham, and cheese burrito. It’s a breakfast item, not a game hint for 2017. (Too soon?)

Frank

[dag0620]

(Haters: Please keep your comments about the field reset for FIRST STRONGHOLD being more exciting than the actual matches in RECYCLE RUSH to yourselves.)

This made me laugh. While I don't think RR was bad to that level, it makes me happy Frank and his staff are able to poke a little fun at themselves.

[Woolly]

2017 Burrito Barrage confirmed

Recycle Rush only got boring when the robots on the field couldn't play the game effectively or played so effectively that the match was decided in fractions of a second.

[Justin Montois]

Originally Posted by dag0620

This made me laugh. While I don't think RR was bad to that level, it makes me happy Frank and his staff are able to poke a little fun at themselves.

Me too. Classic.

[sanddrag]

2017 Game: Troll Trap. Robots must surround Frank while delivering him breakfast items.

[Ed Sparks]

I'm still laughing having seen Frank in Chainmail and telling Dean to "Go Away" ....

[s1900ahon]

Originally Posted by Woolly

2017 Burrito Barrage confirmed

Has anyone ever had a burrito that holds all of the tasty vitamin G in the paper wrapper? No. What do you clean up the burrito spillage with? Soap and ...

(vitamin G = grease, the flavor vitamin)

[SteveGPage]

Breakfast Burritos are the new Corn Dogs!

[Stephanie.S]

BTW, the object I put down on my desk is an egg, ham, and cheese burrito.

It's nice to see that while the rest of the world is reading the rules, Frank is carrying around other FIRST reading material.

[jds2001]

Who eats burritos, of any type, for breakfast?!?!?! It's almost as bad as Hawaiian Pizza seems to be to Frank (for the record: I find nothing wrong with Hawaiian Pizza)

[Ian Curtis]

It's definitely annoying that the game pieces are so expensive, but it seems to me like they are also denser, more consistent, and more durable than the '06 & '12 foam balls. Hopefully this leads to easier shots and higher scores, ala Frisbees in 2013.

[dieDoktor]

Originally Posted by Woolly

2017 Burrito Barrage confirmed
played so effectively that the match was decided in fractions of a second.

See: Einstein where the other 2:29 pretty much didn't matter after the Recycle Cans were grabbed

[Rosiebotboss]

Originally Posted by Ed Sparks

I'm still laughing having seen Frank in Chainmail and telling Dean to "Go Away" ....

Myself, I was waiting for the insults to start flying...in a fake French accent!