First Official 2012 Game Hint

[Sean Raia]

Originally Posted by CNettles11

Bowled over is the FTC game, not the FRC game.

Ahh I realized that just after i hit post. I stand firm on my obstructed view prediction.

[CNettles11]

Originally Posted by Sean Raia

Ahh I realized that just after i hit post. I stand firm on my obstructed view prediction.

4 pound bowling balls are just dense styrofoam (Think about AndyMark's battery packing foam) wrapped in a plastic shell. Those seem like the best reason for the heavy game pieces. I'd love to have a bowling game! I still think that the way that FRC is trying to tie into FTC, it could possibly involve balls being used to knock things over.

[Simspi182]

I don't know what to think about it but combined with the introduction of the kinect, plus the new FRC game hint (which includes a bunch of lights) I think that I can expect something very unexpected!!!

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/kinect

[Robert Cawthon]

Who knew that the first hint would be the last? I was hoping for more since I enjoy watching everyone dig for the truth. Bill, here's hoping you do better next year! More hints! I also miss Dave's red herrings. Both wound up our brains (and, to a certain extent, our virtual mouths where we say things that we know are way out in left field, maybe not even in the ball park) and kept the CD rumor mill forum humming.

[Team 3705]

HELL YEAH! OMG, we won the safety animation award .

Go Team 3705- Arrowbots!

[ssmitka]

Maybe it's nothing related to the supplies, but the name of the company, Rockwell. Bill's other post was titled Over the River and Through the Woods...and now "rock"well...just my 2 cents.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by ssmitka

Maybe it's nothing related to the supplies, but the name of the company, Rockwell. Bill's other post was titled Over the River and Through the Woods...and now "rock"well...just my 2 cents.

Rockwell *sang* "Somebody's Watching Me". In 2012 FIRST, field watches you.

[Tristan Lall]

Ladder logic n. archaic 1. How to program old stuff, slowly. 2. The 1998 FRC game.

So you can imagine my sense of revulsion when I saw the RSLogix stuff. Fortunately, I think FIRST is going to keep it far from the robots. Its presence implies to me that the game elements need to be processed/scored in a way that occurs too rapidly for humans—hence the sensors and PLC stuff—yet it's important enough to the game that teams will need it after kickoff to test with.

[Jim Wilks]

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

yet it's important enough to the game that teams will need it after kickoff to test with.

As I see it, the only things the teams will have is the signal light, just like previous years. All of the rest will be buried in the field.

[the man]

I don't remember exactly but didn't one of bills blog's mention something along the lines of difficult driving conditions this year?

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by jgw

As I see it, the only things the teams will have is the signal light, just like previous years. All of the rest will be buried in the field.

That was awkward phrasing on my part. I agree that most of the 2 500 amber lights are for the teams, and the rest belongs to FIRST.

What I meant to imply was that if the game pieces are small and need to be counted quickly (as suggested by the previous posters who noted the high-speed counters and photosensors with a narrow field of view), teams that want to practice effectively (which includes practice dealing with the quirks of the field) may want to replicate the scoring apparatus, electronics and all. (For example, during a simulated game, keeping track of the state of 200 small balls might be more difficult than the state of a couple dozen large ones, as we had in 2006.)

Of course, this is merely speculation. I do recognize that the narrow field of view of a photosensor can also imply game pieces of indeterminate size, close to the sensor.

[Wayne TenBrink]

If the IR sensors have a narrow (8 degree?) field of view, then they are not likely to be used to count game pieces going into a large target opening (i.e. 2006 goal or the top of a basket). There are better sensors for that.

Besides counting game pieces, the high speed recorders could be used to measure the speed of an object passing between two sets of sensors. These items could also be configured into a linear or rotary encoder to measure speed and displacement of some moving part of a field element.

With the Kinect supposedly being used as part of the drivers station during autonomous, I expect to see moveable field elements. They would be repositioned after the bots are set on the field, and HP's would use the Kinect to steer the robot to them.

[linuxboy]

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

Ladder logic n. archaic 1. How to program old stuff, slowly. 2. The 1998 FRC game.

So you can imagine my sense of revulsion when I saw the RSLogix stuff. Fortunately, I think FIRST is going to keep it far from the robots. Its presence implies to me that the game elements need to be processed/scored in a way that occurs too rapidly for humans—hence the sensors and PLC stuff—yet it's important enough to the game that teams will need it after kickoff to test with.

If I remember correctly from a diagram I saw, the RSLogix controllers are inside the scorpion case to communicate with the SCCs and other field electronics and whatnot. From the qtys it doesn't look like each team will get one, there are two standard RSLogix controllers, one for each new field.

Oliver

[3098callahan]

Originally Posted by ssmitka

Maybe it's nothing related to the supplies, but the name of the company, Rockwell. Bill's other post was titled Over the River and Through the Woods...and now "rock"well...just my 2 cents.

Rock wall?
yay woah yay

[tidymaze]

Originally Posted by ssmitka

Maybe it's nothing related to the supplies, but the name of the company, Rockwell. Bill's other post was titled Over the River and Through the Woods...and now "rock"well...just my 2 cents.

Combined with the weight of the new field, you may be on to something!

In any case, previous hints have been on the esoteric side, so my thought is that the list of parts is superfluous. And speaking with people who have been involved with putting together fields, almost everything on the list has been there before.