1/5/2014 Day 1: Strategy, Game Analysis, and Requirements Document

1-5-13

A more lengthy and more in depth document of Day 1.

Scoring:

            Low goal - 1pt

            High goal - 10pt

            Truss toss - 10pt

            Truss catch - 10pt

            Bonus:

                        1 Assist: 0

                        2 Assists: 10

                        3 Assists: 30

            Penalties:

                        Foul - 20pts

                        Technical - 50pts

            Autonomous:

                        Mobility bonus: +5

                        Any goal: +5

                        Hot goal: +5

Game notes

            Assists: # robots in possession of ball in unique zones

            Score all auto balls before cycles begin

            Up to 3 assists per cycle

            10 second autonomous

            2 minute, 20 second teleop

            20” outside frame perimeter after start of match

            Truss = 5’2” , top = 6’2”

            goal = 6’10” at bottom, 3’ tall, 11’ wide

            low goal = 7” lip, 29” up, 28” sides

            field = 24’8” x 54’

Robot:

            112” perimeter

            120lbs weight limit

            60” tall starting config

            6” cylinder above robot in goalie zone

            Bumper zone = 2”-10”

Technical fouls:

            Human reaching into field

            Possessing opponents ball

            Ball entered not from side of field

            Ball inbounded does not contact robot or carpet first

            Human player impeding opponents ball

            Ball grabbed or removed if pedestal not lit

            Ball inbounded if pedestal is not lit

            Impeding flow of match

            Drawing fouls

            Contacting robot or ball in contact with robot

            Touch OI during autonomous

            Intentionally picking up other robots

            Robot extending outside field

            Contact inside another robot’s frame perimeter

            Pinning

           

Strategerizing

            Overall game:

                        One robot cycles (1 assist)

                                    Pros:

don’t rely on other robots

other robots are free to play defense

less risk of ball loss

less scouting required

fastest cycle time

                                    Cons:

miss out on assist points

no assist points = no ranking points

tell other robots to not touch ball (rude)

no catch points

            Two robot cycles (2 assists)

                        Pros:

                                    Not missing out on assist points

                                    3rd robot can play defense

                                    Allows weak offensive partner to be useful

                                    Catch points

                                    assist points = ranking points, so higher seeding

                        Cons:

                                    lose ball, cycle takes longer

                                    not getting aaall of the assist points

                                    lots of assist practice

                        Three robot cycles (3 assists)

                                    Pros:

                                                max points possible per cycle

                                                whole alliance involved

                                                good for scouting

                                                assist points = ranking points, so higher seeding

                                                weaker robots can score points

                                                most flexible, can fall back to one or two robot cycles

                                    Cons:

                                                slow

                                                heavy reliance on partners

                                                high risk of ball loss

                                                lots of assist practice

                                                may lose assist points if takes too long

                        High goal scoring

                                    Pros:

                                                points! yay

                                                can also score truss points

                                                used in autonomous

                                                looks good :D

                                                pass to human player

                                                used for passing

                                    Cons:

                                                harder to achieve

                                                can lose ball more easily

                                                takes resources

                        Low goal scoring

                                    Pros:

                                                simple

                                                easy to make, less resources

                                                possibly more cycles?

                                                harder to miss, less risk if you do

                                                easily pass to other robots

                                                easy to adapt mechanisms to accomplish

                                    Cons:

                                                fewer points

                                                not cool bro : (

                        play goalie

                                    pros:

                                                block shots

                                                awesomesauce :D ie look like a pro

                                                possible in autonomous

                                    cons:

                                                6” wide blocker

                                                not scoring points

                                                limited application (only effective against high goal scoring)

                        play defense (pushy or fast)

                                    pros:

                                                preventing points from being scored

                                                prevent other teams from seeding high

                                                combined with other strategy, ie assists

                                    cons:

                                                not scoring

                                                not necessarily preventing scoring

                                                risk of fouls (pinning, etc)

                        Throw balls over truss

                                    pros:

                                                points

                                                simple with launcher, compatible with high scoring

                                                reliable, immediate points

                                    cons:

                                                need to catch or retrieve ball

                                                makes ball bounce or exit field : (

                                                may miss, would be bad

                                                slower than driving under

                        Catch thrown balls

                                    pros:

                                                points

                                                same mechanism for passing or receiving from human player

                                                compatible with launcher

                                                easy to build

                                                immediately in possession of ball (assist)

                                                avoid defensive robots

                                                looks cewl

                                    cons:

                                                very hard, better drivers or maneuverable drivetrain

                                                relies on alliance partner

                                                missed ball = bad

                        Fine control of ball on field

                                    pros:

                                                very good at assists

                                                improved cycle time

                                                easier to chase down ball

                                                cool

                                    cons:

                                                mucho practice-o

                                                harder to build, more resources

                                                reach out, therefore bigger target

                        Herding ball

                                    pros:

                                                its easy

                                                assisting

                                                less resources

                                                less risk of trapping

                                    cons:

                                                slower cycles

                                                everyone else can do it

                                                its easy - to lose control

                                                need agility, maneuverability, good drivers

                        Pass to other robots

                                    pros:

                                                assist points

                                                compatible with other mechanisms

                                                looks good :D

                                    cons:

                                                rely on partners

                                                takes time

                                                requires good drivers

                                                possibly lose control of ball

                                                requires mechanism

                                                potentially incompatible designs between robots

                                                bad for ego : (

                        Catch passed balls (floor)

                                    pros:

                                                same mechanism as floor pickup

                                                works well with other strategies

                                                can be the scorer

                                                good for ego : D

                                                relatively easy?

                                                very attractive feature

                                    cons:

                                                requires mechanism to gain control of ball

                                                kinda sorta a little required

                        Pass ball back to human player for easy assist

                                    pros:

                                                fast maneuver

                                                potential assist points

                                                more options (against defense)

                                                fairly easy maneuver

                                    cons:

                                                requires a launcher

                                                can only do in four locations

                                                risk of losing ball

                                                risk of penalties

                        zoned offense (passing zone to zone)

                                    pros:

                                                less robot movement

                                                simple strategy

                                                requires one good shooter

                                                fastest passing strategy

                                                compatible with defense

                                                easy with rookie teams

                                                compatible with most robots

                                                can be done by only two robots

                                                oh yeah. : D

                                    cons:

                                                risk of losing ball

                                                reliance on partners

                                                restrict drivers

                                                potentially easier to defend

Autonomous:

go for hot goal

            pros:

                        points

                        easier than most vision tasks

                        have programming resources

                        experience

                        cool : D

            cons:

                        requires vision

                        less points for amount of work

                        go for second ball

                                    pros:

                                                more points

                                                awesome

                                                have the resources

                                    cons:

                                                hard

                                                chase down missed ball before cycles begin

                                                limited time

                                                harder to get the hot goal twice ?

                                                harder to maintain position of ball

                        drive forward into zone

                                    pros:

                                                super, super easy

                                                points

                                    cons:

                                                anyone can do that

                                                requires a teensy bit of programming

                                                further from human players at end of auto

                        bulldoze into corner goal

                                    pros:

                                                mobility bonus

                                                easier than shooting

                                                less risk

                                                reduce risk of two ball auto (second ball)

                                    cons:

                                                fewer points

                                                only two goals, alliance partners might both do this

                                                makes two ball auto harder

                        Start in goalie zone, play defense

                                    pros:

awesome if works

close to human players

            can be easy to program

                                    cons:

                                                hard

                                                cannot score in auto

                                                harder to do it well

                                                cannot defend corner goals

                                                requires 6” paddle

                        don’t shoot, start with one less ball, start close to human player

                                    pros:

                                                less risk

                                                really, reaaaaally easy

                                                Cal gets fired

                                    cons:

                                                no ball, no shirt, no points.

                                                looks not cool : (

                                               

Want to do	Controversial	Do not want to do/No discussion
One robot cycles	play defense	play goalie
Two robot cycles	Catch thrown balls	go for second ball
Three robot cycles	Herding ball	Start in goalie zone, play defense
High goal scoring	Pass ball back to human player for easy assist	don’t shoot, start with one less ball, start close to human player
Low goal scoring	zoned offense	go for hot goal
Throw balls over truss		bulldoze into corner goal (autonomous)
Fine control of ball on field
Pass to other robots
Catch passed balls (floor)
drive forward into zone

Decided defense does not dictate the design

Catching thrown balls can be divided into two groups:

            catching from human players

            catching from other robots

Everyone is for catching from human player

            To what degree? close or further away?

            All want to catch from close-up

Catching from other robots will not drive design, is not a requirement

Herding balls

            herding is a feature, preferably using intake mechanism

Pass ball to human player

            nice to have, won’t drive design

Zoned offense

            possible design: intake on one side, spit out on other

                        not a design feature

Required Robot Attributes:

            Defense:

            Catching thrown balls:

           

                       

Drivetrain discussion

            Omnidirectional useful, but do not want

            Performance for standard skid-steer

                        Cal and Linus: speed over force

                        Alex: speed and force, two-speed shifter

                        Brittany: speed is good, force might be nice for defense

                        Gary: fast but with more torque

                        Danny: two-speed, shifted a lot last year, use better transmission, lower speed for finer driving

                        Alex: 3-CIM gearbox alternative to two-speed for speed and power with fine control

                        Gary: cheap and easy to add another CIM to each side of current drivetrain

                        Brittney: drive of CRUSH, two-speed very useful last year

                        David: functionally want speed AND force

                        Danny: putting 6 CIMs on drivetrain limits mechanisms

                       

Launching ball:

            Trajectory

                        flat as it enters goal

                        determined by whoever designs the darn thing

Spin

            Grant: spin probably not needed

            Cal: spin not necessary

            David: spin takes a lot of angular momentum

                        consensus: not needed

           

Robot Requirements

Type:

            Functional - what the robot needs to do

            Performance - how well the robot needs to do something

Priority:

            Must - cannot live without

            Desired - would like to have

Num.	Description	Priority	Performance
0	Win	Must	Yes
1	Drive	Must	Speed - ~10 actual fps Force - a lot
2	Omnidirectional	None	Does not exist
3	Launch ball	Must	Height - 100” Accuracy - 95%-100% Spin - no
4	Floor pickup	Must	Speed - <= 1sec Offset - ~50% ball diam. On-the-fly pickup - yes
5	Remove ball (no launch, no bounce)	Must	Time - <= 1 sec Speed - >= 5fps Control length - <= 50% ball diam.
6	Human player reception	Must	Distance - 5 to 10 feet Horizontal disp - +/- 8” Accuracy - 100%
7	Herding mechanism	Desired	Works. Not a driving feature

1/5/2014 Day 1: Strategy and Game Analysis

Today consisted of entirely game analysis, followed by a brief 20 minute break and intense strategy discussion.  Overall, the game seemed simple and easy on the surface, but it is interesting for its strategy elements.

For a decent portion of this time, we discussed the general rules, and created a list of big parts of the game, big ones being how to score and how much each way is worth, and lack of safe zones, which is different from the past three years.  As a reminder:

Action	Base	AUTO (=Base+5)	AUTO & HOT (=Base+AUTO+5)	1 ASSIST (=Base+0)	2 ASSIST (=Base+10)	3 ASSIST (=Base+30)
LOW GOAL	1	6	11	1	11	31
HIGH GOAL	10	15	20	10	20	40
TRUSS	10
Mobility		5
CATCH	10

From the general scoring possibilities, it would seem assists are wanted and needed.  This means a floor intake is required, giving the robot the ability to pick up a missed ball or floor passes.  Also, as high goal and truss points are next to assists in terms of scoring points, some sort of launcher would also be required.  In addition to those, the ability to catch would be nice, but can be somewhat of a bonus, and should not affect the way the robots play the game.

By the end of the game analysis, we wrote out all possible strategies and abilities and knocked off the one's thought to be useless (playing in the goalie zone).  As a result, a requirements list was created for features/abilities of the robot.

Num.	Description	Priority	Performance
0	Win	Must	Yes
1	Drive	Must	Speed - ~10 actual fps Force - a lot
2	Omnidirectional	None	Does not exist
3	Launch ball	Must	Height - 100” Accuracy - 95%-100% Spin - no
4	Floor pickup	Must	Speed - <= 1sec Offset - ~50% ball diam. On-the-fly pickup - yes
5	Remove ball (no launch, no bounce)	Must	Time - <= 1 sec Speed - >= 5fps Control length - <= 50% ball diam.
6	Human player reception	Must	Distance - 5 to 10 feet Horizontal disp - +/- 8” Accuracy - 100%
7	Herding mechanism	Desired	Works. Not a driving feature

We were now set for the rest of the conceptual design process, moving toward the preliminary design/prototyping phase.

Approximate times of working: 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM (Half hour of breaks)

1/4/2014 Day 0: 2014 Kickoff!!! Aerial Assist

Today, we (all teams) learned about this year's FIRST game, Aerial Assist.  Almost as soon as it came up, this year's manual password (3Zones2Goals1Alliance!) unlocked the game manuals.  This game manual contains all restrictions and new constants for previous variables of the Engineering Design Process.  Much like the past years, the weight limit is 120 pounds and time limit is 45 days, with Day 1 on the 5th of January (Sunday) and Day 45 on the 18th of February (Tuesday), as well as a $4000 dollar limit on parts on the robot.  Unlike past years, the dimensions restrictions are now a frame perimeter of 112 inches and 5 feet tall.

Today was the beginning of our conceptual design and preparation.  We (FRC Team 4183, The Bit Buckets) attended a design meeting with Team 842 (Falcon Robotics from Carl Hayden High School) and Team 4962 (Knight Tech Robotics from Metro Tech High School), in which our three teams discussed rules and possibilities as well as strategy.  Most importantly, though, we discussed basic requirements and standards for the robots.  Our three teams decided the assists will be what matters most, and should get the most points.  This means there is not much difference between high and low goals.  Also, as there are no "safe zones" this year, shooting may be a little more difficult, making the 1 point low goal very valuable.  General strategy seems similar to soccer in some ways, and volleyball in others.

The Bit Buckets have decided the abilities to catch a ball, pick up a ball from the floor, pass a ball, and scoring for both the high and low goals are needed capabilities for our robot.  This means we will need some sort of floor intake to pick up the ball from the floor and spit it out to someone else, an open top to let the ball fall in, and a catapult to shoot the ball into the high goal.

Through the design meeting, we began and now have a good idea of the requirements and strategy parts of the conceptual design process.

Approximate times of working: 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM (1 hour break in between)

1/4/2014 The 2014 Game Manual: Aerial Assist!

The 2014 Game Manual: Aerial Assist is the entire set of rules for this year's game, from technical parts of the game to technical parts of the robots to technical parts of the awards.  While the rules of this game are fairly lengthy, it can be briefly summarized, as it is in this game animation, and will be explained in this blog post.

This year's game is played on a 54'x25' field, split evenly into a red zone, white zone, and blue zone, and is played with 2' diameter balls, colored red or blue for each alliance.  Other than autonomous mode, alliances only have one ball at a time to try to score during the match.  There are two high goals spanning 11' across the wall, which are 37" tall and 82" above the ground with 1' of separation between.  The low goals in the corners are 32" wooden cubes with open faces.  Scoring in the high goal is worth 10 points, while scoring in the low goal is worth 1.  Bisecting the length of the field is a "truss", with its bottom at 5'2" and its top at 6'2".  If a ball is thrown over the truss, 10 points are scored by the throwing alliance.  If a robot on the same team catches the ball, the alliance scores an extra bonus 10 points.

The biggest part of this game though is the assist factor.  As suggested, this game gives bonus points for passing to your own team.  For a one robot cycle, where only one robot has the ball and just runs over and shoots it, there are no bonus points.  For a two robot cycle, where two robots "possess" the ball before scoring, 10 bonus points are added when the ball is scored.  For a three robot cycle though, where all three robots "possess" the ball before scoring, 30 bonus points are added when the ball is scored.  This poses the huge strategy question of what strategy is most efficient in terms of points per time.

In addition to the drivers, coach, and robot, there are human players, one from each team on the alliance.  These human players are the ones that feed the ball back into the field, can serve as something to pass to to redirect the ball, and can prevent the ball from exiting the field, but cannot interact with anything within the field perimeter, and cannot score.

In terms of rules for robots, robots can only be 5' tall unless they are contacting their goalie zone, in which case they can have an unlimited height, but the area above 5' tall must fit within an infinite 6" diameter cylinder.  The weight is the same as recent previous years, at 120 pounds, and the frame perimeter must be less than 112".  While there is this restricting frame perimeter, the robot can extend to 20" outside its frame perimeter as soon as the match starts.

For normal rules of the game, there are not too many, but the few have major consequences.  Teams may absolutely not intentionally touch or possess the opposing alliance's ball, otherwise they will be called for a 50 point foul.  Also, cycles begin as soon as the last ball for an alliance in autonomous is scored, which is when assists and truss points can begin to be scored.  And, of course, as the goal is not destruction but cooperation and fun, no structures for intentionally harming other robots.

That is a basic summary of the restrictions and building blocks for the conceptual design process for this year's game, and what I will be working around for my project.