We noticed that the surrogate teams are placed last in the competition. However, we can foresee issues with having the surrogates playing at the end of the qualification matches (e.g., surrogates might not play if they are already ranked high and don’t want to damage their robot). Is it possible for the Tournament Software be changed so that the surrogate matches are more in the “middle” of the qualification matches?
This is something that we can consider for future versions.
I know at regionals in mass there was a rule that if you did not show up to s surrogate match you would be penalized. Although this doesn’t guarantee anything. I wanted to save battery for later on so i put a robot on the field but i “forgot” to plug in batteries.
Penalizing teams for not showing up was a good incentive to be there but in the end they may physically be there but they just take up 324 square inches of the field and half of your driver station (if they choose not to really play).
~DK
On the other hand, another match may mean another chance to show the scouts what your robot’s got, i.e. if the rest of the matches you were against tough opponents, or something wasn’t working. For example, this year if you had a surrogate match, you could pull off a clean sweep because you wouldn’t need to worry about SP, but it would still demonstrate your prowess.