WOW !

FIRST General Forum
1

I don’t seem to understand it, In the past all I have heard is people saying that they want more contact and now people keep saying that there is too much contact. Was the 2000 competion (most recent I can think of) just enough or or was it too little/too much? People keep saying that the rookie teams and Finacial Challenged (is that Politically Correct?) teams don’t have a chane in Heck to win cause they can’t build tanks. Well I always thought that speed was just as important if not more than strength. They can’t hit you if they can’t catch you. If you get to the goals 1st and move faster that a “tank” than that kinda screws the “tank” don’t it

I don’t mean to upset anybody or anything but this is how I think it is. If you all don’t like lets all tell Dean that we don’t like contact and go back to a competion like 2001

2

We were a rookie team AND finacially challenged in 2000 even if we had mentors who used to be on other teams. Our robot help up quite well and didn’t do badly at all. I think it all has to do with how much people are willing to research these things and how much inginuity any team has. I don’t want to see fights to the death, but I do like the head to head competition better.

3

I think it all has to do with how much people are willing to research these things and how much inginuity any team has.

That is exactly what I am trying to say. Creativty wins these things

4

*Originally posted by Mr.Volcano *
**

That is exactly what I am trying to say. Creativty wins these things **

Creativity alone does not win things. In fact, creativity may not have anything to do with winning.

That doesn’t mean it is a detriment though :).

5

Our team has always been creative. In 2000 we did what no one else could think of. We were one of the most creative robots in the competion and helped win the Nationals.

I ment my words differntly, You need to think out side the box, to think what are most teams going to do and then do the opposite. Our 12 ft arm was a monster on the field. and then in 2001 we were one of the more succesful teams when it came to going over the bar. this year is going to be a team effort for the alliances. Each teams must know their own and their partners abilities to succeed

On A End Note,

I Would Like To Wish Every Team In The Competion Good Luck and Hope You All Do Well
6

Ok first off we should never mention the 2001 competition ever again. In all of the years of FIRST that was the only one that was bad. Next I agree people who are first to the goals are going to win the competition however, it is what a team does with that goal that will decide if they become the champions or eighth. Another thing I want to talk about is this malicious ramming rule. Who makes this rule and what if your trying to stop someone from getting to a goal. They make all of these analagies to football but its turning out to be soccer

7

*Originally posted by Todd Derbyshire *
**Ok first off we should never mention the 2001 competition ever again. In all of the years of FIRST that was the only one that was bad. Next I agree people who are first to the goals are going to win the competition however, it is what a team does with that goal that will decide if they become the champions or eighth. Another thing I want to talk about is this malicious ramming rule. Who makes this rule and what if your trying to stop someone from getting to a goal. They make all of these analagies to football but its turning out to be soccer **

Personally, I liked 2001. True, it was 4 vs. 0, but then it was also very competitive. One side would try to outdo the other for points, but without all the smashing and bashing.

They are trying to say “ramming is fine, but don’t go out to damage”. In essence, they don’t want Battlebots style fighting, but a little bout here and there won’t hurt anything.

8

hey, hopefully everyones robot can withstand a pounding, because there was a lot of that at our first scrimmage… it will probably be the same at regionals!

9

I think that there will be alot of contact.
But I think that the robots that are more defensive as in grabbing goals will come out on top in the end. The top seeds will be ball grabbers though

10

At KSC I cant remember seeing much intentional ramming or hitting. Most matches were either very little contact or a shoving match, often with the goals in between. Granted I was out there except for our matches (I was driver and needed in the pit) and the finals, but Ive yet to see a robot try to intentionally damage another robot. As for rookie teams being at a disadvantage, I think it will be more of engineering inexperience then actual financial cost. A well built robot made out of inexpensive materials will still be stronger then a poorly built robot. A suggestion to rookie teams: search out more experienced teams in your area and dont be afraid to ask for help. Your robot and theres will probably come out better because of it, and you will have made some great friends to cheer you on at competitions.

11

Got back from the VCU regional yesterday and after all was said and done it came down to goal handling and the extra ball or two. Most of the final matches came down to 2 of the robots pulling each other around the field. I did not see much crashing into of other ROBOTS, it happened, but not much. The goals however took a beating. I can’t remember if it was one of the last qualifyings or one of the first quarter-finals but one robot got so caught up in a goal, the robot was taken off the field with the goal still attached and a replacement goals had to be used!!!
I didn’t see many robots get their arms ripped off, but I did see many getting pulled around the field. We just went down for reconaissence, and it was worth it! I CAN"T WAIT FOR THE LI REGIONAL!! W00T!!
I wish everyone good times and great matches, FIRST is the best thing I’ve been involved with, It is so invigurating and there is always such a great atmosphere at the competitions! See You all round!

Team271 - Mechanical Marauders - Bad Boys from Bay Shore: KATN

12

There wasn’t a lot of robots hitting robots because the goals were in the middle between.

As soon as a match start, the robots went after the goals. So each team will try to get their goal from their side, and robots don’t get to run into one another that often.

Sometimes the robot got the goal, turn back to get it filled with balls, and went robot forward toward the other side. Even when that happen their opponent went from the side or the back to grab the goals with their goal grabbing devices. Not a lot of robot hitting each other because of that.

Teams want to get the goals more than playing defense. Because it is risky to have the goal near the opponent’s goal zone while they head for home zone. So they decided to try to score the goals instead. A good strategy, I think. A saying I heard: “The best defense is doing offense.” applies in this game.

Also, teams did have a lot of creative ideas this year, only those ideas were for dealing with goals.

There were a lot of different goal grabbers, some can only push, some can pull goals with them… Some can let go and some can’t… Some lift up goals, some have drive motors under the grabbers. The thoughts put into this were proven to be important. Just look at the finals and see how many goals were stolen by opponents off of the grabbers.

And the creativities of making an extension really pays off at the end. If you have one functional, you could stay out controlling the goal while opponents fight with you in the middle… Some extension worked because of how smooth they move around the field, some didn’t because they were blocked by a goal…

Even thought the winner of KSC regional didn’t have extensions on their robot, I would still argue that an extension will help out a lot if you can get it working.

Well, either way, I thought there are a TONS of creative ideas out there, and it did pay off and help robots do better in matches.

13

i believe that first is leaning toward battle bots to make it more interesting to the “common folk.” If anyone say our final match us and 122 vs another robot and 602. 602 rammed the hell out of us, breaking our front gripper(lucky we have spares) and bending alot of other stuff. Don’t get me wrong, team 602 was just trying to keep uss from scoring and that is fine, but they whole game is gear for more hitting, maybe a little too much. Like some1 stated before, i rally enjoyed last years game: it involved teamwork and having to watch the other alliance go was nerve racking but great