Posted by Peter VanWylen at 1/7/2001 2:57 PM EST
Student on team #107, Team ROBOTICS, from Holland Christian High School and Metal Flow Corporation.
From reading the rules, I don’t see that this is specifically prohibited. The rules say that big balls must not be supported by a robot, and that they must be on top of the goal.
So, why not tip over the goal, and put 3 or 4 big balls on “top” of the goal, as it lies sideways – like how they store bowling balls at a bowling alley. I’m guessing that as soon as I mention this possiblity, a rule will come out against it, but who knows.
So, from reading the rules as it is, do people think that this is legal. If it is, it could dramatically change the strategy.
Posted by bill whitley at 1/7/2001 3:13 PM EST
Student on team #70, Auto City Bandits, from Powers Catholic High School and Kettering University.
In Reply to: 4 big balls on top of the goals
Posted by Peter VanWylen on 1/7/2001 2:57 PM EST:
I could be wrong, but I think someone asked this during Q&A at the kickoff and Dean said that it was not allowed. Can anybody confirm that?
Bill
Posted by Veronica at 1/7/2001 3:35 PM EST
Student on team #27, Team Rush, from Osmtech and Textron.
In Reply to: Re: 4 big balls on top of the goals
Posted by bill whitley on 1/7/2001 3:13 PM EST:
:Yes it was addressed at the kick off and it was determined that the balls had to be inside the top of the goal so if u flipped the goal on it’s side and put them on top they would count for nothing. lol but i wish we could i was thinkin of it too then they said no and i was like aww man!
I could be wrong, but I think someone asked this during Q&A at the kickoff and Dean said that it was not allowed. Can anybody confirm that?
: Bill
Posted by Patrick Dingle at 1/7/2001 4:15 PM EST
Other on team #639, Red B^2, from Ithaca High School and Cornell University.
In Reply to: Bill is right
Posted by Veronica on 1/7/2001 3:35 PM EST:
: :Yes it was addressed at the kick off and it was determined that the balls had to be inside the top of the goal so if u flipped the goal on it’s side and put them on top they would count for nothing. lol but i wish we could i was thinkin of it too then they said no and i was like aww man!
: I could be wrong, but I think someone asked this during Q&A at the kickoff and Dean said that it was not allowed. Can anybody confirm that?
: : Bill
I believe the question was about if balls inside the goal count after the goal is tipped over. The answer was that since the balls would be touching the ground, it would not count. Using this same logic, the big balls on top would count since (a) they are on top of the goal, (b) they do not touch the ground, and © they are not touched by a robot. But FIRST may quickly change this.
Patrick
Posted by Jon at 1/7/2001 6:32 PM EST
Engineer on team #190, Gompei, from Mass Academy of Math and Science and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
In Reply to: Re: Bill is right
Posted by Patrick Dingle on 1/7/2001 4:15 PM EST:
my understanding of the question at kickoff was that it was regarding the big balls, ie the bowling alley storage… disallowed… i expect it to be addressed in the 2nd update… i really hoped for the first update to have some meat in it, but its all clerical…
Posted by Raul at 1/7/2001 11:08 PM EST
Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Rolling Meadows & Wheeling HS and Motorola.
In Reply to: 4 big balls on top of the goals
Posted by Peter VanWylen on 1/7/2001 2:57 PM EST:
We built a goal already. And guess what - if you lay the goal on its side, the wood base orients it with a PVC pipe in the middle on top such that it is impossible to balance the big balls on it. However, you could slide two goals together and create the bowling alley trough effect you were talking about.
Raul
: From reading the rules, I don’t see that this is specifically prohibited. The rules say that big balls must not be supported by a robot, and that they must be on top of the goal.
: So, why not tip over the goal, and put 3 or 4 big balls on “top” of the goal, as it lies sideways – like how they store bowling balls at a bowling alley. I’m guessing that as soon as I mention this possiblity, a rule will come out against it, but who knows.
: So, from reading the rules as it is, do people think that this is legal. If it is, it could dramatically change the strategy.
Posted by Ken Leung at 1/8/2001 1:22 AM EST
Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M. Gunn Senior High School.
In Reply to: Try this instead - 4 big balls on top of 2 goals
Posted by Raul on 1/7/2001 11:08 PM EST:
Hmm… With the goals tipped down, this bowling “alley” is going to have a downhill slope toward the “top” of the goal. I wonder how well do the balls stay on there. And IF this really happens, how will one balance the bridge consistently? They will really work out an entire different mode. But the goals will be really stable on the bridge, and there only need to be some hard pushing on the bridge to get it to the exact location for the 4X multiplier.
Posted by Splash at 1/8/2001 1:06 PM EST
Other on team #53, Team Inferno, from college and NASA GSFC.
In Reply to: 4 big balls on top of the goals
Posted by Peter VanWylen on 1/7/2001 2:57 PM EST:
: From reading the rules, I don’t see that this is specifically prohibited. The rules say that big balls must not be supported by a robot, and that they must be on top of the goal.
I was watching the kickoff on the net, and someone asked that same question there. I’m pretty sure that the answer was no, the balls must be on top.
Posted by Carl Champagne at 1/8/2001 1:27 PM EST
Student on team #122, NASA Knights, from New Horizons Regional Education Center and NASA.
In Reply to: i dont think so
Posted by Splash on 1/8/2001 1:06 PM EST:
: I was watching the kickoff on the net, and someone asked that same question there. I’m pretty sure that the answer was no, the balls must be on top.
This is correct. They made it perfectly clear in the Q&A at the kickoff that the big ball MUST be nestled in the top of the goal for the 10 pts to count. However, the black balls CAN be supported by any part of the goal.