Im slightly confused, because by the specs for the field, the corner goals are supposed to have a height of 10", but at the IIT remote kickoff, there was hardly any clearance for the balls to go through. Does anyone know how much clearance the balls are supposed to have when they roll through, because as it looked to me, the human players would have a nearly impossible job to try to throw a ball at that, and get it to come to a gentle enough roll to go through.
After talking to Woodie Flowers in person today at the Kickoff, I can confirm that the balls are counted in real time. I believe <G05> implies this. The way this is worded, it says that balls from the field can only be scored once, until a human player reintroduces them into play. This would mean that once they are on the field again, they can be scored again, and then thrown back onto the field, and then back again… Just like a basketball arcade game. The only way they could track the score is by real-time scoring. <G05> In order for a ball to score, it must enter the goal and exit via the exit chute. A ball that bounces out of the goal is not scored. Once a ball is scored for a particular ALLIANCE, it cannot score again until it is entered onto the field by the opposing ALLIANCE’s HUMAN PLAYER.
The balls in the center goal are counted right as they enter the chute that drops down into a metal trash can. (A.k.a. the ball holder for the center alliance station.) You can see the ball-counter in the picture below. For the corner goals, the balls are counted right after they go through the opening and cross the white light.
If people were wondering what various aspects of the official playing field look like, I uploaded a bunch of them to my team’s website at the following address. There are pictures of the center goal from all angles, the corner goals, the ramp, the openings in the ramps, the ball chutes, etc.
[quote=Greg Perkins]From watching, I saw that the balls that went in the center goal were not touched, but the side goals the human players were taking balls from the hopper and putting them back on the playing field…(from the animation). If thats the case how do you tell whose are whose and are the total amount at the end of the match your points??
QUOTE]
What I saw wandering around the field after the kickoff in Manchester was that the scoring in this game looks automated. There are cameras in the lower ball chutes and another sensor in the high basket. There are no Red or Blue balls - scoring is based on which side of the field a ball enters a goal on.
Balls shot into the high basket will be dropped down into a bin (a metal garbage can in Manchester) via a tube and Human players can take them out of there like any other hopper.
As of now, it wouldn’t seem so, but they may change that based on what they experience at the first regionals. Personally, I think it would help, but may change the atmospere to have nets between the stands and the field, it will seem more like a sporting event than they really want it to. They may just have a bunch of people around the area trying to shag balls as they leave the field. I can’t say for sure, but it wouldn’t seem reasonable to just let the balls fly everywhere.
According to <G02> it’s the highest scoring alliance. Apparently, this is either a mistake in the animation or there were some balls scored by the red alliance that we didn’t see in the animation.
Yeah but then I could see the possibility of outside fan interference when they toss the ball back into play.
There’s a potential for it anyways.
I don’t see the problem with the nets. Hockey fans still enjoy hockey with the nets at the ends and appreciate the protection from having that puck not hit them upside the head.
Does this mean that each team will already have 40 balls at thier disposal ALONG WITH up to 10 balls in each robot? Or does it mean 40 balls and you can stick balls in the robots but then that gets subtracted from your total?
The game is gonna be crazy this year, its basically telling you to use the sensor cam or you will be shooting randomly…
the thing i didnt uderstand is that if you score int he 1 pt goal…the HP from the other side can throw it out…how are they gonna count them if they get descored so fast>?
::EDIT:: sry, just looked it up, the opponenets HP can only touch balls on offense, and you score while they play defense
I have a specific question. It states in this rule:
<G13> Balls Contained in ROBOTs at the Start of a match - Each ALLIANCE will start a match with 40 balls.
Each ROBOT may contain up to 10 balls at the start of a match. Any balls not contained within the robot
will be evenly distributed between the alliance ball corrals. All of the balls must be contained within the
ROBOT’s 28” x 38” x 60” starting volume and must be clearly visible from outside the ROBOT. The
Head Referee will require that balls outside of the starting volume be removed. It is the responsibility of
the head referee to verify that this rule is satisfied prior to the start of the match.
So do they have to be totally visible, from all angles, which sounds a bit unreasonable, or should the referee just be able to see each ball from some point outside of the robot, and if that is so, what happens if because a bunch of balls are stacked together, a ball is hidden by other balls, and is thus not visible to the referee? Is there a penalty for that, I can’t find a penalty for failing to comply with this rule, so what exactly would they do in that situation.
I don’t think that it will be penalized when 10 balls are piled in…you obviously can’t see through the balls…or it could be one of these “up to the discretion of the referee” deals…in which case they should have a set guideline to go by so there isn’t the confusion like there was last year.
That is a good question, I would bring it up with Q&A and wait for their response. I would assume that they just want to make sure that before the 10 balls are loaded, the robot does not already contain extra balls for cheating purposes. So as long as the refs can easily see nothing is in the robot before and after matches, you should not have a problem. This is only an assumption, I would still contact Q&A about this.
3.4.3 Ball CorralsA Ball Corral is located at the ends of the Alliance Station Wall to restrain any balls that enter through the Corner Goals. The Ball Corral covers a four-by-four foot area. The side walls of the Ball Corral are three feet tall and constructed of square aluminum tube and polycarbonate. The back wall of the Ball Corral is of similar construction, except it is only 20 inches tall to permit easy retrieval of balls from the interior of the corral.
**<G39>**Scoring Inerference - HUMAN PLAYERs, DRIVERs, or COACHes may not reach into a ball chute or in any way interfere with the ball counting system. Violations of this rule will result in DQ.
I’m I misinterpreting, or do these statements contradict each other?
I think there are designated makrs on the ball chorals which would be “roped off”. Just dont reach into there which would interefere play. But you need to pick the balls out.
I am believing that the velocity speed limit (12 m/s or 28.6 mph) would be the fastest the ball could travel through the center goal to actually be counted as a score by the automatic counting mechanism for their alliance.
Actually, im guessing this is a true safety issue. Somewhere else in the rules it discusses that the speed limit ends up equaling a 30deg shot that goes 35’. Any farther than that and you risk shooting it into the audience.
Also keep in mind a ball is NOT Scored when it first enters the goal, its only after it goes down the chute.
No.
The ball chute is the drop for the center goal and the ball corral is for the two corner goals. You may not interfere with the ball counting system for either.
This is incorrect. Per <S02>, the velocity at which the ball exits the muzzle(your robot) may not excede 12 m/s. This is considered in violation of <S01>, 10 point penatly and disabled for the remainder of the match.
Does anyone know if a human player picking up a ball from the corral happens to drop it across the counting system, will the other team get a point?
Let’s put it this way - do you think the refs or the scoring system will be able to tell the difference between you dropping one over the ball counter or it being scoring by the opponent? Probably not. Since the scoring is automatic and immediate and sensor driven, I’m about 99.9% sure they are not going to take those points off because you have butterfingers (not you personally ).
However, realize there are times of the game where that scoring side will not be “active” so nothing can be scored on that side. So just drop it then and you won’t have problems.
Also, regarding netting around the field - I was told it’s been discussed and probably will be discussed more. Hopefully we get a decision on it prior to week 1.
I believe <G05> implies this. The way this is worded, it says that balls from the field can only be scored once, until a human player reintroduces them into play. This would mean that once they are on the field again, they can be scored again, and then thrown back onto the field, and then back again… Just like a 
).
