At the beginning of last summer, a group of freshmen and one sophomore (2019F) contemplated the NBN game and determined that they would not have the resources to compete with the amazing fielding teams that would develop over the course of the season. They also accurately predicted that there would be a convergence of predominantly fast scoring fielding robots as the season progressed (especially at higher levels). Instead of trying to compete with them, they set out to make the most compatible complement to this robot design.
What could be done if they abandoned fielding altogether? No one outside of our team believed they would be successful or competitive and it was a “flawed strategy.” Let’s let the results speak for themselves. In the North Texas region (one of the most competitive in the world), they attended 3 regular season events and would have won all 18 of their qualifying matches if their alliance partner had not lost drive control directly in front of the lift platform (17-1 in pre-state competitions). This resulted in two Tournament Championship as well as Excellence and Design awards…all with no intake! They have achieved this by making a robot that consistently scores 4 balls in autonomous, averages 98% of driver loads (especially as they approach elimination rounds during which they typically miss none), and is able to lift almost any other robot alliance partner (even lifting another high elevating robot at North Texas State Regionals).
The lift is easy and fast to load onto (allowing the fielding team to spend more time on the field) and very safe (over 25 completion lifts and no robot has ever even come close to being dropped). The team hold positions in the top 10 world recorded scores for highest alliance score (369), match total score (547- as well as a 502 in top 30), and winning margins (343). These students have proven their strategy is competitive and are now qualified for Worlds (they were 1 match win away from being the 2nd place qualifier at State)! They will all admit that they have surpassed even their own goals and expectations and I hope that the top teams at Worlds will at least consider what they could do with a consistent 185-190 point base (210 if all 8 preloads are available) and 1:25 of uninterrupted time on the field (at which point most fields will be empty anyway). Keep in mind that to date no alliance has ever scored more than 268 points and lost a VRC competition match. Posting videos shortly….
Um… We replayed the match when your partner got disconnected and we still won, so I do not think that this is accurate.
by “regular season” I was not including state qualification rounds (I’ve added a note to the original post so that’s more clear). You absolutely won the rematch no question…and congratulations, on a well deserved State Championship!!!
Good job on that robot!
I don’t think this is a “flawed strategy” at all. Consistently scoring in auton and getting almost 200 is great!
The only downfall I see is that worlds may be really competitive so most alliances would benefit from having two robots on the field scoring for them. This will make matches really hard, since most worlds robots are “the best of the best”. Maybe being a defensive will help out in the field.
Our A&B teams do the same thing as you. Unfortunatly they can only lift the robots from our school.
I think that it definitely isn’t a flawed strategy, but one robot going up against two equally good fielding robots will only be able to score at the maximum, under 90 points (250 field points ÷ 3 robots equals 83.3). The lift won’t make up for that, so you’ll have to rely on your ability to score DCLs more accurately than your opponent.
What’s your team number?
2019F and I should have videos of our State elimination rounds up by tomorrow. I’ve heard this argument a lot and while I agree with it in principle, in practice, respectfully, I don’t think its that simple. I don’t expect our team to get picked over the best of the best in in the first round. And when they get to round 2 I’m sure there will still be a lot of very good fielding teams. However, isn’t it reasonable to think that the top qualifier on each team will get more than their share of the field balls (meaning it wont be 250/3) making the field deficit potentially lower. One extra bonus ball in the high goal is a 20 point swing. Also there will be some loss of potential points (getting bumped while shooting, balls getting shove under the low goal). Now I think the deficit gets even closer. Does our partner have a high enough scoring autonomous with our 20 points to win those 10 points? If it comes down to DLs, our team has gone several matches without missing a single ball. What I think our team offers more than anything else is consistency and the ability to put the second match in the hands of the top alliance qualifier by eliminating as much variability as possible. Its our first worlds and honestly we are honored to share the field with the caliber of teams that will be there. So if it does not work out, we will enjoy the show and leave very happy, but I think we could be a very interesting 3rd pick for someone.
If on the field you can play both defense and ball hoarder, this becomes a very successful strategy. Remember, while the field may be cleared, you can prevent at least one robot from shooting almost at all times. The only issue I see is someone blocking you or your partner off of the home tiles.
When will the videos be posted?
Do you know if there’s a way to post a videos directly to the forum or does it have to be a YouTube link?
I am pretty sure it has to be YouTube link.
Ok, trying to get a channel for the team setup. Some politics are slowing this process.
Politics?
Appears we have had issues with multiple club sites in the recent past. For now I’ve posted on my Flickr page
Let me know if you can see these
One is the lift of another high elevation robot (who had never been lifted before). The other is our QF match 3
link text
Are you going to post quarterfinals 1-1 because I see it was the highest score of the tournament?
Wow.
Those lifts look like they would be compatible with pretty much anyone.
What mechanism do you use to pull the platform up?
I can see the videos. Are you going to post quarterfinals 1-1 because I see it was the highest score of the tournament?
cool…
I’ll see if someone got it recorded.
Ok. When do you think you will have them up by?
Thanks… That was our goal. We can handle anything up to 20lbs and up to 35 depending on how the weight is distributed.
Our captain is a bit protective of the details. I’ll ask him what he is comfortable saying.
Thanks for taking care of it. Our school and mentor are very particular about not revealing the details, sorry.