Driverstation Layout Question

Competition Rules/Strategy
#1

Hello,
We had an incredible meeting today for our Game Design Challenge submission. One of the members would like to have the driver station area be on only one side of the field.

His plan is that the two sides would be next to one another in a v formation on the left side of the field.

He asked me to pose this thought to the community and gauge whether people thought that it would be an immediate disqualifier. We are aware of the physical space constraints and may have a plan for that. Assuming we figure that out, would this be acceptable?

In the evergreen slidedeck, they do mention…

Typical configurations include:…
• Rearranging Alliance Wall layout
• Connecting Player Station to Player Station
• Connecting Player Station to Side Border
• Inserting frames that can connect to Player Stations or the
Side Border
• Modifying non-Player Station components of the Alliance Wall
to angle the corners of the field

However, we are wondering if going this far is, well, frowned upon. We feel the alliance v alliance on opposite sides of the field paradigm has pretty strong roots.

#2

It would basically be a matter of taking one wall, swinging it out 45 degrees, and attaching the other one in the gap, yes? Aside from an additional 27 odd feet of field border, or whatever is at the other end, most structures are already present. I of course will not be judging, so…

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#3

So, uh… back in 2000, they actually did something like this IIRC. 4 stations across the narrow end of the field, ignore the folks on the other side setting up/removing their stuff, ignore the coaches next to you because they’re the other alliance. 2001 as well but that doesn’t count. 1999 and 2002 were opposite ends, BTW.

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#4

I would think that as long as it can fit in a standard high school gym with enough space to get robots and people in and out and leave room for the standard scoring table, and you don’t need EXTRA pieces to the standard perimeter except for a reasonable number/size of scoring and HP stations, there shouldn’t be a problem. There have recently been fields with clipped corners, so 90 degrees is not a requirement. Especially if the HP and scoring stations are all at the far end from the driver stations, this sounds great!
Caveat: I’m not one of the judges, either.

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#5

Thank you all for your responses. I am constantly impressed with how well the team thinks outside the box. It is a rare day when I meet someone who makes me question why things must be done a certain way (I tend to be one of those bringing those kinds of things up among my faculty peers), but during our meetings, it happens relatively frequently. You all bring up excellent points.

@EricH These are some considerations we had not thought of. Thanks. Not only that, I decided to search for it. I found this legendary match. One of the best teams in it, 131 Chaos, is a team we see at events often. Not only that, look at the channel :slight_smile:

1 Like