sorry for the blurry pic. The kids are just too Fast!
Last night we implemented a full scale-ish game simulation. We bought 1 dozen pumpernickel bagels (red triangles), 1 dozen plain (white rings), and 1 dozen blue-berry bagels. We used 3 red, and 3 blue shirts to denote teams, and set two tables up approximately 54 feet apart with 2 3x3 grids laid out in tape. Students had wands to use as manipulators. We also marked the 4 pole locations.
Students were instructed to keep to a brisk walk so as simulate actual robot speeds. We played several rounds and tried different strategies that we had brainstormed earlier in the evening. Very fun and informative exercise.
And quite yummy to boot. 
Did the winning team get to choose the bagel they would eat? Great idea for a simulation!
Needs more Krispy Kremes.
On another note, I never realized how valuable this kind of thing is until this year. I think after doing a simulation, my team has a much better idea of how the game is going to go. I love the originality of the bagels btw.
Very nice! We are just about done creating the playing field, so we will be doing this full scale very soon. Are there any interesting things you found playing the game? How did you do autonomous? Did you just randomly place them?
Thanks in advance for answering the questions!
We did a strategy session before the game began. We talked about what kind of performances, and types of robots we would expect. We then gave each “robot” an Uber tube to start out with, and the first match, all 6 teams place all six Ubertubes (not very realistic). The kids then did a very good job of walking back and forth and getting tubes, and politely not bumping into each other (not very realistic). Then we began teh countdown with 15 seconds left, and the bots got into position and launched there minibots (raised their ands) at the 10 second point. We then tallied up the score, and talked about the realism of the match.
After that match, we played a couple more and made more realistic alliances. We ran full matches and measured the scores at the end and paid very close attention to what interactions effected the score.
I would recommend doing the simulation as your results may very.