2007 FIRST Competition

[Moose]

Duurrr. Thats what I get for not reading the whole thread. So yea it looks like there will be some color changing lights this year. The pvc seems rather ominous though, I doupt that they will have game pieces made out of pvc so soon after Triple Play. I guess it is a possibility. What if entire field is rigged so that robots will have to travel ON a grid of pvc that makes up the floor. I'm scared sarge.

[LightWaves1636]

Originally Posted by Alekat

Agreed. I think the fact that there was air time before you knew if you were going to score added to the excitement. And then there were the bots that were almost dumping in the high goal.

I completely agree. 2006 was a lot of fun because of the poofballs flying everywhere. This year, as a prediction, some of the team members are predicting terrain, and some are also predicting moving targets or moving obstacles.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by LightWaves1636

... This year, as a prediction, some of the team members are predicting terrain, and some are also predicting moving targets or moving obstacles.

I'm for terrain. It creates a fun challenge for drivetrain designers.

Ramps reward robust robots.

[Justin Montois]

We need something new for terrain, some teams have thier drive down pat that its not challenging. The only downisde is it makes it hard for rookies, but I think we need to lose the carpet.

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by 340x4xLife

We need something new for terrain, some teams have thier drive down pat that its not challenging. The only downisde is it makes it hard for rookies, but I think we need to lose the carpet.

We could always drive on an uneven surface like in Maize Craze when the field was covered in popcorn (unpopped).

[Stuart]

what about that pointy foam . . I think its called egg crate or something.

hmm but I think getting around the destruction of field rule would be hard.

[ewankoff]

your right it is egg crate but teams would get even more traction on that. i think it needs to be something loose or super slippery. maybe greesed delrin.

[Stuart]

what about both . . slippery/hard parts of the field and soft/grippy parts of the field . .

or how about 2' x 2'sheets of greesed delerin on top of egg crate so its squishy and slick

[Cuog]

We can't have too slick of floors cause we don't want to kill (literally) the feild reseters.

[ewankoff]

have them wear helmets
i like the idea of a field constantly shifting positon. would make autonomous less reliable and more a cointoss rather than a sure thing.

[roboticsguy1988]

Originally Posted by Schnabel

You know, with this being the 16th year, what if they use lights to signal what you have to do with pieces from all of the past years? Or better yet, make your robot accomplish the recent tasks and turn the lights on, the more lights the more points.

Hmmm, it is the 16th year... Sweet 16 and Donuts << thats just seems to go together somehow... lol

No matter what i think we can pretty much safely say that the camera is going to be involved in some way, most likely for autonomous.

Tetras in 2005 (shaped like a triangle), Balls in 2006 (similar to a circle), I guess a square shape in 2007. I mean look at there logo....

As far as the electronics go i predict some change, not sure exactly what, maybe the camera or the OI and RC... I think its safe to say the breaker panel, Victors, and Spikes will stay the same. Changing something with the Radio Modems might be a thought. (Programming wirelessly would be nice)