A Question That Everybody Needs an Answer For!!!

At the begining of the match there are up to three balls in each robots zone depending on the zone they are occupying. Well i see there are nine possible locations for the one to three balls to be located. For programming purposes, we need to know whether our team gets to choose where the balls are going to be located or is it going to be random?

You get to choose.

I believe that Section 7: The Game can help provide you the answer.

<G09> BALL Starting Positions – Prior to the MATCH, each ALLIANCE is provided with six BALLS to be placed on the FIELD. The BALLS must be placed on a STARTING GRID location prior to the MATCH start. When the FIELD is viewed from the ALLIANCE STATION, the BALLS must be placed on the right side of the CENTER LINE, with one BALL in the near ZONE, two BALLS in the MIDFIELD, and three BALLS in the far ZONE. The BALLS must not be in contact with a ROBOT at the start of the MATCH.

So this means that yes, your team is allowed to decide where the balls are placed on the field prior to the match.

And If this thread is helpful to anyone please rate it for me. Even though they are just dots, it does not look good for my team if i have a bad reputation.
Much appreciated. Thank You

just a quick word of advice… asking to up you rep is a guaranteed way not to get your rep up because if you are asking people to do it for you then you are showing that you are to lazy to post meaningful posts that are worthy of a “rep up”

Here’s the deal with rep. You earn the rep. Your team doesn’t earn the rep.

It is true that what you say and how you say it, can reflect on your team. There are many many posts in ChiefDelphi that talk about that. One of the facets of those discussions that isn’t explored often enough - is how the individual member of the team who posts in ChiefDelphi - has the opportunity to grow and develop as a member of the community, improving in areas of communication and posting after careful thought and preparation.

If someone is new to CD and says or posts things that earn the negative reps, there is always time to earn the positive reps - the poster has to be patient and think about what earned the red reps in the first place. To try to hurry the process by creating threads or posts to garner positive reps - doesn’t always work. If you think about it, the community of ChiefDelphi is made up of members of all ages, across a wide spectrum of interests, experiences, educational backgrounds, and careers. Here you will find students, mentors, prestigious members of the FIRST community, parents, sponsors, potential sponsors, potential mentors, potential students in FIRST - the list goes on.

Don’t worry so much about trying to cover up your actions so they don’t reflect on the team. Take the time to look at your actions and see how they can benefit the team and help support it, instead of worrying about bringing harm to it. In doing that, you are being careful and thoughtful, and showing respect for yourself, your team, and the members of the ChiefDelphi community. It’s very true that it takes a long time to build a good reputation and a very short time to destroy it. It’s also very true that many of us receive a negative rep occasionally - myself included. I deal with it.

Sorry to stray from the original topic.

Jane

It also does not look good for your team if you keep asking questions which are clearly answered in the game manual. Reputation is earned, not granted.

I think this thread is helpful only for other lazy or inattentive people. I certainly don’t want to reinforce that.

I will agree that the G09 rule could be worded much more clearly. It took me a while to convince myself that the alliance members will be responsible for initial ball placement.

As worded:
<G09> BALL Starting Positions – Prior to the MATCH, each ALLIANCE is provided with six BALLS to be placed on the FIELD. The BALLS must be placed on a STARTING GRID location prior to the MATCH start.

Clearer wording IMHO:
<G09> BALL Starting Positions – Prior to the MATCH, each ALLIANCE is provided with six BALLS that they place on the FIELD. The BALLS must be placed on a STARTING GRID location prior to the MATCH start.

Not every statement in the rules is optimal for every pair of eyes that read it; much like the rest of “real” life as we have come to know it. This minor example simply reinforces and illustrates the necessity to read and re-read the rules, discuss the rules with another bunch of readers, then re-read again. The amount of effort you expend in the attempt to understand what you’ve read is an indication of how important you think it is to reach that understanding.