I read that the drive coach can also be used as another human player, so to speak. Where exactly do the rules state this?
And how many other teams are using this technique?
The Manual and the Q&A are your friends.
<G15> is the rule. Note that <G16>, the definition of Human Player, and this Q&A prevent the drive coach from handling the trident, or getting a Human Player designation. <G49> keeps the coach out of the ball corral in autonomous mode.
I don’t think you’ll find a lot of teams that will be using this technique. Using the coach as an actual coach is very adventageous, as the drivers are not always watching the entire field - just their robot.
$0.02
your driver coach is going to be too busy to be the human player anyway… your coach has to watch the whole field so that he/she can tell the drivers what they need to do
So you don’t think it would be worth it to pass balls through the coaches on the outside?
It just seemed interesting to me; the idea that you have another pair of hands that COULD be used. Is it worth it? Probably not. Is it something to consider? Possibly.
Probably yes, but again, it’s an interesting idea to consider. This isn’t like Lunacy; there’s much more going on that the driver needs to be aware of. So in reality, the drive coach is very neccessary this year. But, if drive coach was ALSO passing balls from the human player on the outside to the trident holder in the middle, it could be useful.
Anyone planning on using their drive coach as a "human player"
Note that I don’t mean literally a human player; I just mean another person to handle the soccer balls.
I’d think it would be fairly difficult to handle the trident and catch balls at the same time, so I think we might see the center coach buffering balls occasionally.
The other human players could just walk the ball over to the trident operator.
Or, say “Mark!”(or “drive coach”), hand him the ball, and hand it to the trident.
Personally, if I had a simple enough robot that I could operate it with one person for a few seconds or longer at a time, I’d use the second driver as a human player relay point. Keep the coach watching the field, which is what he’d need to do anyway.
Interesting. That’s something to think about. Either way, a relay would be useful. If it works out.
We are not currently planning on using the coach (me) to handle balls.
However, if a ball is dropped and rolls out of the alliance station I will be taking the penalty to go chase it down.
Through the coaches on the outside, not really - they’d be right next to the human players, so the distance they’d have to cover would only differ by a foot or two: one step. Now that it’s brought up, I do see the possibility of the coach in the center possibly having a role. They could also hold the balls for the human player using the trident, if there’s more than one ball in the queue for the return. Now that you’ve clarified, I see how there can be an advantage. So, I would support the possible use of the coach as a suppliment, but not for the entire match. I will not support using a coach as a human player instead of coaching.
Unless you didn’t train or practice with your human player, I don’t see DOGMA being an issue. We had a few human player “combines”, with humans on the field mimicking robots scoring as fast as possible, and we didn’t have many issues at all.
As a driver, I NEED my coach there watching the field. Especially this year with the balls coming in from overhead, my coach always says “incoming ball” whenever there’s one on the way, alerting me to set up. It’s a big disadvantage to your team to lose your coach to relaying balls.
i totally agree with you Brad… i want my coach to be seeing whats going on… we do a similar thing when a ball is being returned… but my coach says center… but this year is going to be though to score
Remember, DOGMA exists primarily to stop alliances from hoarding balls, not to give the human players an impossible task. Thus, it probably won’t be an issue. (I’m sure the GDC has tested how long it takes to return balls to the field to ensure people who get DOGMA penalties are, most of the time, purposefully hoarding balls as a strategy.)
what if your drive coach is a mentor? i don’t think we can. i don’t think I’ve seen that anywhere in the rules.
Doesn’t matter, according to the rules. They make no distinction between whether or not the drivers, human player, or coach (student or adult) can handle the balls. The only restriction is that the human player has to handle the trident and the coach can’t touch the controls.
I am not entirely sure if I will be the coach this year, but it’s in the cards, and I know if I am I will not be opposed to the idea of helping out the Human Players should there be a backlog of balls that need to be re-introduced to the field.
It’s not something I want to do all of the time, but if I’ve got to do it then I will.
If Suffield was any indicator, the human player will have plenty of time to place the ball in the trident.
I believe there will be more scoring than at Suffield. That said, I agree that the human player should have no difficulty keeping up.