I say keep the progress bar b/c it looks cool and its different. There is a count down timer at each player station which is accurate. Why should you look up at an angle for a countdown time when all you got to do is look across. just my .02. However there is a setting on the field control system that shows the remaining time, score and ringer position and progress bar all on one screen. Its up to whoever is at the helm to choose what is seen on the viewers screen.
Oh, so you have x-ray vision? Remember, there is this 10+ foot tall contraption square in the middle of the field, and it would effectively block the vision, particularly when it is loaded with tubes. This is why the coaches, drive teams, etc. want a clock on the screen (which is much harder to block).
the only thing about drive teams using a clock shown on the main screen is that it becomes a problem at regionals in smaller venues where the screen is behind one of the alliance stations (philly, chesapeake)giving a huge advantage to that alliance. but it would work perfectly at regionals like NJ and VCU where the screen is on the side.
Well, I was at St. Louis as a spectator only, and from a spectator’s point of view the clocks on the alliance station walls aren’t good enough. First of all, if you don’t know anything about FIRST, it would take you quite a while to figure out that those clocks are even there. More importantly, however, is the fact that there’s quite a few places in the stands where you can’t see either clock (due to the rack being in the way or any of several other obstructions).
I have many things to comment about when it concerns this game. a more visible clock sadly enough is not one of them b/c Teams are suppose to work in co-opertition with one another forming a dominant alliance. Very Very Very Rare does that alliance do what they say they are gonna do. Having a Visible Clock will not change a thing. Even with the extremely Audible Game sounds doesn’t make the alliance do what they have to do. I have played in the FIRST Game and I have Volunteered at the FIRST Game and I have not seen anyone look at the screen to see where they stand as far as time was concerned. Heck I don’t even think the teams pay attention to the scoring. They’re too busy concentrating on whats going on in front of them. Now what teams should do is appoint 1 person only to keep an eye on the clock and have them run back and forth in the player station informing the alliance how much time they have left to complete the game successfully. Now if you want ask FIRST to put up more visible timers on top of the player station b/c I do agree that one on each side is not enough or better yet put the countdown timers on top of the goal. b/c my person opinion is your eyes should be on the game not looking for a clock.
HMMMMM, good idea but there may be a copyright to that type of thing that apple would get mad about, if they found out.
If the game had no time limit and rather “who achieves this objective first?”, then I’d agree with you. This year’s and every year’s game is entirely based on timing your moves. For example, it is important for a ramp bot to know when they need to get back to their home zone and deploy their ramp. It is also important for the alliance partners to know how much time they need to get up on the ramp. If a team is attempting to place a ringer on the rack and they have 5 seconds left, they can time their drop/cap. I think I have provided sufficient evidence that an accurate timer is absolutely essential to this years game and FIRST should implement it into their system.
If you’re not keeping track of the score and looking at the clock, you’re a bad coach. There’s a lot to keep track of in this game and knowing how much time is remaining is critical to making good decisions about strategy. That teams can be penalized for being in a certain part of the field during the last fifteen seconds ought to be reason enough to make the remaining time visible throughout the match.
I’m not sure how many other folks who’ve chimed in here have coached so far this season, but I can’t count the number of times I looked toward the large screen to find out how much time was left. When we were assigned to the middle station, I could not see the clock at all and had to run to one end or the other the alliance station and back to see the clock.
I’d also love to be able to know how much time is left in matches that I watch on video. I’m trying to get a sense for how much time it takes partners to climb our lifts and that’s difficult to do with the existing display.
I don’t think the audience really needs to see a clock. The time-bar may even be an advantage while addressing a wide sample-audience. What I’m worried about is the drive-team.
A very easy and simple solution would be to have the field-setup crew just put the clock facing towards the opposite side of the driver station wall in the center. That way it would be facing the drivers, and absolutely not a problem for any of the teams to see.
Just a thought.
The general audience might not, but It’s awfully helpful to the scouts to know how much time is left. If team X has a ramp, it’s nice to be able to say that they set up close to 25 seconds left in the match, not “about 4/5 of the way along the progress bar”
I to noticed this while watching the webcasts. I don’t think it is that big of a deal for the driver because there is a clock across the field that you can see.(i think or was this visible to anyone?) The audience would be the ones confused because they are looking at the progress bar.
This would be a great idea and I think that we should use it at Competitions. It will be a lot easier for the drivers so that they can see how much time that they have left.
The only problem that I can see is that if they start doing that now, then some people who have already competed might complain.
Part of FIRST is about progression, and if the system is found lacking and is changed, it just benefits the entire FIRST community as a whole and shouldn’t be cause for complaint. Yeah, anyone would be a little miffed, but hey, you can’t please everyone…
But yes, there should definately be a real clock somewhere on the big screen at least.
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Well, i doubt we’d be using the EXACT same mechanism as this Apple countdown, so i don’t know if copyright would be an issue…
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if i was in the stands i would have been pretty annoyed by the bar…not even gonna lie
as a driver i was not too worked up by the clock on the fields. They were not too hard to be seen through the rack.
but…a cluck ontop of the rack would be great!
My team has been doing that as long as I have been on the team. When I was an operator last year I would constantly look at the the screen to see the time, and a different perspecitve of the field.
If we’ve been doing, I’m pretty sure many teams do the same.
im not sure about a chicken, but a clock would definetly be helpful;)
I think the scoring display should have a true clock and state what match number it is. Like others have said, a true clock would be very helpful during endgame when you may only have a handful of seconds to climb a ramp or score a tube. It is nice to know exactly how much time you have left and not just an approximation.
My team scouts every match, and offers the data we collect to every team at the regional. For accurate data we keep track of match numbers which also allows us to see alliances. However, we switch on and off, so the same 6 people aren’t always scouting. I know sometimes when I am focused on a match I forget which one I am in. It would be easier if they posted the number during the match as well as on the screen with the final scores for the match.
Put me down for getting the clock back. After watching the first week of regionals, I was frustrated in trying to figure out how much time was left in the matches. All I could tell was when there was less than 15 seconds left in a match which does not really help when you want to find out what to do or how long it takes a team to get up a ramp (for scouting). This also really puts a major road block for teams who use the time to decide when they should head for the ramps. In the first week there were many teams who looked like they could have gotten up the ramp if they just would have known how long was left because they would wait until the progress bar was almost out before they noticed there was like 3 seconds left when they needed 5 to get up the ramp.
I think FIRST really needs to bring the clock back.
I would think that the uneducated eye (walk in spectator) would figure out the time bar pretty quickly. I think it would take them longer to figure out the game.
Wetzel