Looking at the point values for climbing and considering the difficulty of building a mechanism to climb. Climbing a deep cage appears to be very difficult, and the point value would only be equivalent to 2-3 coral cycles to L3 or L4; shallow cages are less difficult, but more insignificant.
Do you think it would be worthwhile for your team to build a robot that can climb the shallow or deep cages, or would you rather keep your robot simple and avoid climbing outright?
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We determined it is worth it if we can do a deep climb. We got to this conclusion as only 1 other bot would be needed to park in that area with us to score a crucial ranking point.
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This alone has me almost trying to design mechanisms around how we climb. The potential for such an easy ranking point just isn’t something I want to pass up.
Been taking a lot of inspiration from previous years for other mechanisms, but the climb is so unique. I personally think the deep hang might be one of the hardest endgames FRC has seen in awhile.
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Unlike the trap from last year, getting a deep climb this year basically guarantees a free ranking point. This alone makes it absolutely worth it.
Being able to guarantee a free ranking point in basically every match is huge.
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i think to most teams, climbing will probably be about getting that final possible ranking point rather than caring about the points it can get for the match. obviously the points are nice, but if one team on an alliance can climb the deep cage, it’s basically a guaranteed ranking point as long as at least one other bot can park in the barge zone.
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To this point, I’m a bit curious how this math will change during Elims when ranking points no longer matter.
Between Climbing and Algae, I think the Qualifications and Eliminations parts of this season will be VERY different games.
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I think you’re looking at it wrong - more points are not a nice to have compared to RP - it’s the other way around imo. Final qual ranking isn’t what’s going to win you an event.
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i think so too! at least with my team, that’s what we’ve decided to focus on during qualifications. we haven’t had a great track record with qualifying to worlds recently, so with being ranked high & preforming well in matches, if we don’t end up ranking top 3, we could still have a good chance getting chosen as a 1st pick for one of those top 3 teams. of course, being able to climb deep will still tremendously help when it comes to elims because that’s already an extra 12 points— not even mentioning the capabilities the rest of our alliance could have. i’m not saying points are completely void until elims, i just meant i think most teams, much like mine, will focus on ranking points before focusing on points!
Depends on your team’s perspective and what counts as success I think. if getting into a captain slot is the goal then it is a valid argument.
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while being ranked high is not a surefire way of winning, it is a pretty good strategy to end up on a good alliance regardless if you’re top three or not. not to mention, if a team is able to deep climb, that is already 12 points (that can go towards barge ranking when needed, like during qualifications), but those point still count when it comes time for elims. i’m not discrediting the worth of points in the game entirely, but just setting the priority of qualifications to climbing and getting ranking points. not to mention, 12 points is still the most you can get from one action therefore extremely beneficial when it comes to winning a match anyways.
Depends on how much you compromise on the way up to the climb - lots of resources would have to be invested into it, be it season design/manufacturing/assembly/programming time, robot real estate, weight, and general complexity. Point is, time per points per mission is not the only metric to consider.
Its a little different for district teams I’d say. If your goal is to make district championships or make worlds, the extra RP every match translates to DP and definitely can make or break your chance to that next event. Winning an event is also a lot of DP but that is much harder and also has some bit of luck involved as well.
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Fair point, though I do think aiming for more points rather than a higher seed would lead to more DP as well.
Agree with what’s been said here: We basically concluded that if you can’t figure out the deep climb, then don’t worry about climbing at all. Having the ability to basically guarantee the barge RP especially in a 6 rp game is crucial
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