Just wondering how many teams have been practicing this challenge, and what types of scores are out there. We have done it today for the first time, and are looking in the mid 30’s range for total points.
I too am interested to know what a respectable score is predicted to be in the Power Port Challenge.
My best guess after a little testing is 5 cycles is pretty reasonable. 6 requires some sprinting human players, and any more than that will impressive. So a score in the 30’s would be pretty solid but we’ll see scores into the 50’s and 60s from a few teams.
My guess is that if you see 6 cycles you will see 0 sprinting (by humans) as the balls will be thrown/rolled perfectly between them.
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We are hitting 6 cycles fairly consistently with 1 HP ball carrier.
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I am assuming they barely move and are pitched balls from a “shooter”?
No, they pick up the balls from the passive ball return and run them the 30ft back to the robot, where they set them into the intake.
You find that more consistent than using 2 hp and throwing between them? Seems like everything else would have to be insanely fast. I don’t doubt you but in disbelief.
The math I do to determine cycles:
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Take your gut feeling* of how many cycles you should be able to do.
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Divide by 2.
*Guts may vary, especially if full of corn beef and cabbage.
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We started with that method. Basically, every time there is a transfer of possession of balls from person to person, or person to robot, there are opportunities for error. On a whim, someone suggested running the balls down the field, rather than throwing them. We tried it and immediately saw an improvement in scores. Two HPs taking turns loading the bot reduces fatigue, but it’s doable by one HP. Having 2 HP also lets one of them retrieve bounce-outs. With 1 HP, a bounce out pretty much kills that video.
With practice we can hit 6 cycles consistently, and we’re inching up on getting 7. But, we’re well into the point of diminishing returns for effort. We’re wondering if putting an automatic ball return shooter on the goal will push us over the edge to seven cycles.
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Not to be nit picking, but could you show me, in the manual, where there is a blue line down the middle of the front face of the goal?
The only aiming point, on the goal, is the retro reflective tape under the 6 sided hole.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think this is legal.
If you are just practicing, then I have no problem.
Puts on flame suit 
BTW, nice shooting.
In addition to Nate’s response, there do not appear to be any rules in the IR@H manual regarding vision targets on the goals, similar to 2020 or not. Only the dimensions of the ports are specified.
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Thanks for sharing! I have not seen anything out in “the wild” better than 6-7 cycles at this point… Will be interesting to see what the high end limit is for this challenge!!
From team update 2:
In fact, if you wanted to, you could create your own custom vision targets with retroreflective tape anywhere you wanted them. You could lay down a path line on the floor and use line following for all your autonomous tasks. Or for keeping your robot on the center line of the field for the shooting tasks.
The team updates and the QA responses have changed the nature of the competition quite a lot since kickoff day. If you (global, not specific) haven’t read through the manual, the team updates, and all the QA responses lately, you are leaving yourself at a competitive disadvantage.
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And the GDC just made it even more interesting.
I don’t know what the GDC is thinking with this answer, but oh, well. Now we have to live by it.
In fact, for the Power Port challenge, there is no rule defining when the timer needs to start. We had been starting our timer when the robot is enabled, but this clearly is incorrect. If we don’t start the timer until the robot begins driving, we can begin the 60 second period with the first 3 balls already scored. Sweet.
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I guess per “The raw score is the total number of points scored within the 1-minute period.” that period could be right before the first ball enters the goal.
I completely agree that this ruling is insane. You can’t say “use common sense” and offer guidance of using test mode as how to run the challenge and then make a ruling like this that completely goes against all common sense!
Another big problem is Q104. We have been assuming it to be 15ft.
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We actually got tripped up by this. Early on we were going by the text, which conveniently matches up nicely with the zones from the Accuracy Challenge. For the Power Port Challenge we were using our shooter settings tuned for blue zone shooting. Upon closer inspection of the diagrams we found that we were shooting from the wrong spot. This required moving forward and re-tuning our shooter settings. You can see this in the two Power Port videos we posted. We’re shooting from different spots on the field.
Team 61 found out that the auto program was faster than the driver control.
Driver 4 cycle 36 pts 12 x 3pts
Auto 6 cycle 48 pts 12 x 3pts + 6 x 2pts
Once dial in, we should be able to do a better score with the 6 cycle.
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Extending this logic just a bit further, robots wouldn’t have to begin the challenges in their starting configurations.
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