Every year FIRST seems to come up with a game that so new and so different that everyone says, wow I never would have thought of that. I’m sure those mad scientists at FIRST have already finished the game for 2002, or are now putting the finishing touches on it. The competition conifguration, number of teams, how many versus how many, size and shape of field has already been discussed. I want to know what you guys think the game will be. What object will be placed where, how many points, how much time. Hopefully this will be a big thread so please don’t put in any, i agree, or yeah that sounds cool. And most of all be creative, i want to hear it all!
Im not sure…has the community gotten their “teaser” yet?
I think footballs will be the objects of play this year.
Also i think the field will be taller, meaning your robot needs to extened more.
-Nate
I don’t know exactly what will be done…
But I hope to see some diffrent scoring objects. Balls are nice and all, but something like the floppys would be much more fun for a change. Anything that requires some new ideas for how to score points.
-Andy
I have this reoccurring nightmare that we will have to do something that involves water. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I hope that this is a ways down the road. Other than that, I think there will be some kind of obstruction on the field, like the bridge last year only more difficult to deal with. Hopefully the same balls for last year will be out. Something odd shaped like a football or small like a tennis ball would be nice.
Water would be amazing! (but also very challenging). Having water would definitely require robots to be built well. Otherwise, a little nudge here and there might break the waterproofing and poof, there goes your electronics.
Anthony.
Me and my sparks of wisdom, I think this year will be a 2 on 2 matchup, where the object is to throw as many of your opponents balls or something to that effect out of the arena. So what you have to do is collect the yours and throw the other teams out. I doubt this will be the case but hey he said he would make the game simpler.
*Originally posted by GilaHumanPlayer *
**I’m sure those mad scientists at FIRST have already finished the game for 2002, or are now putting the finishing touches on it. **
I’m not sure about this…I remember from the MI forum, it being said that they develop and tweak up the game right until the “deadline” (a couple weeks before kickoff)…that’s one of the problems they run into when trying to have a full field at a kickoff remote…
They said that it would return to competative play, and that the scoring would be simplified. I would guess that because of the success of alliances, that they will maintain at least some type of alliance. As for water, I hope that the people at FIRST realizes that water and electricity do not mix well. I do also agree that footballs would be cool, but i doubt that they will use something so complex. It will have to be somehting easily grasped by big goofy robots, driven by unexperienced highschool students. So i would think that they would stay with balls, they might get bigger they might get smaller, can anyone say ping pong balls? I do like the 4vs1 idea but the scoring logistics would be tough. I don’t like the 2vs2vs2 because alliances could be formed to easily and it becomes unfair for the other alliance.
*Originally posted by Nate Smith *
**I’m not sure about this…I remember from the MI forum, it being said that they develop and tweak up the game right until the “deadline” (a couple weeks before kickoff)…that’s one of the problems they run into when trying to have a full field at a kickoff remote… **
I heard the same about FIRST when they design the game… specifically, Dean/Woodie are famous for pulling a change to the game the last minute, causing the FIRST crew a lot of “trouble” when they had to finish blue prints and field objects and release them at kick off. This will potentially be deciding if the remote kick offs will have field objects present.
It all depends if those two are willing to finish the game early 
Hey, if they are pulling changes the last minute, it only means these two have been spending a lot of their time into the game, and putting every clever design they can think of into it. Expect a really exciting game from them !!!
I think Everyone likes the field they have now. Its a good size and it fits into a gym very nice. Second I think they will not use water. The field must be something that any school can put together and have it fit in a small gym. Third I think teams will all start on the same side of the field again. It made it much easier for to set up the field and get teams on and off. That is an important thing to the game. For some reason I think there will be a nice big interesting structor in the middle of the field like 97, 98. It would be great to see footballs but they are far to hard for many teams to deal with. Last I think it they will use somthing other thatn all balls becase they have been use two years and a row and I think everyone is up to a new challege.
Just my thoughts.
Nick
aka (Swan)
Team 190
How about moving the Human player station into the middle of the field. Have Plexi glass surround him so that he is protected therefore the Human player can be more interactive in the late parts of the game.
As to the water suggestion, it appears to be a recurring thought. It would definitely be interesting, but think about it: water and electronics. Not a good combination. Too much potential for a safety hazard. That alone would rule out water, not even considering the logistical problems with water in the arena. I’d say for all practical purposes, water is out.
How about some kind of obstacle course / scavenger hunt…with MANY different ways to score points-- …field including maybe a 3 ft tall platform “the stage” where robots could earn points & collect props by climbing on top or crawling underneath…balls through hoops, frisbees through hole, rings on pole, boxes stacked on shelf…etc Ample small point props…limited big point items.
No robot could possibly do it all.
Simple scoring…2 pt per ball here…3 pt per ball there…etc
Would get a WIDE variety of bots…making for very interesting alliances
I didn’t think this through…but it’s an interesting thought!
Lisa T
Ping pong balls, tennis balls and hockey pucks have been on my mind the past two years. To say that footballs are too difficult to handle for many teams seems to only encourage Dean and Woodie to maybe consider such an item. This is supposed to be a challenge, right?
The only problem I see with ping pong and tennis balls is their size. The drivers would have a hard time even seeing them, and resetting the playing field after every match might be cumbersome.
I would like to get away from the balls…maybe something more like foam cubes that you have to stack… Or, if you want some involvement of water, how about carrying water balloons across the field?? (just kidding, really bad idea).
Having a playing field where the teams can play and set-up simultaneously (like the past two years) really seem to help speed up the competition. Now, if we could only get the scoring to be more simplistic so that the ref’s don’t have to take so long, then we’d be in business!
I’ve been saying it since '98 and I’ll say it again: inflatable cubes.
Matt
I do like the idea of changing the object this year. Unfortunately this my third year, so all I have know is the yellow and black balls. What kind of cubes were we thinking here? Because I don’t usually see inflatable cubes when I go to the store, keeping in mind I don’t look for them. Because from what I have seen, the balls were easily accessible things, unlike floppies. I still don’t like the idea of footballs, but I guess as lopsided as the yellow balls were in 2000, they might as well have been footballs. I have also heard cones, I don’t think road cones but cone shapes never the less. What do you guys think that the balls/cones/cubes will be put into or what not, I thought the 2000 goals were cool and I liked the mobility of the 2001 goals, what kind of crazy goals do you think they will make us deal with this year?
*Originally posted by GilaHumanPlayer *
**I do like the idea of changing the object this year. Unfortunately this my third year, so all I have know is the yellow and black balls. What kind of cubes were we thinking here? Because I don’t usually see inflatable cubes when I go to the store, keeping in mind I don’t look for them. Because from what I have seen, the balls were easily accessible things, unlike floppies. I still don’t like the idea of footballs, but I guess as lopsided as the yellow balls were in 2000, they might as well have been footballs. I have also heard cones, I don’t think road cones but cone shapes never the less. What do you guys think that the balls/cones/cubes will be put into or what not, I thought the 2000 goals were cool and I liked the mobility of the 2001 goals, what kind of crazy goals do you think they will make us deal with this year? **
I’ll be honest and say I’ve never seen them. Doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I thought cubes because they’d be harder to pick up but still be light like the balls are. And they wouldn’t roll. Plus it’d just be cool. 
Matt
I’ve said it before when this topic has come up, and I’ll say it again. Ropes. Something involving ropes could be easy to set up, while still be something very very new for the FIRST community. Dean said, when asked about the game this year, “This one’s so sick, even I’m proud of it.” Whatever its going to be, its going to be good.
~Tom~, the guy who can’t wait 'til January!
Everyone seems to be concerned with water being a safety issue with our robots. We only have 12 volt batteries.
In an episode of Junkyard Wars, teams had to build machines to pull divers around under water. One team used an electric motor and a 12 volt car battery to power their machine. The team said that 12 volts really isn’t dangerous when submerged under water. They proved this when everything worked and they won. (I think)
I don’t understand the details but I do know that in most cases 12 Volts and water mix just fine. This is why you can touch both terminals on a battery and not be shocked.
Can someone more knowledgable on this shed some light on the subject?
I still don’t think they will have water, but I think for reasons other than safety.