Team 2869 met on Kickoff day and started with a team meeting detailing the procedures for build season and for kickoff. We will be meeting Monday-Thursday from 3pm to 6pm, Friday 3pm to 7pm, and Saturday 9am to 5pm. Then after some brief technical difficulties, we watched the game reveal. After that, the engineering team read the game manual and the operations team discussed themes for our Impact presentation.
The mechanical team split into groups responsible for researching different aspects of the strategy for this game. For example, one group looked at the pros and cons of going for amp only and another group looked at whether we should go under the stage. After all the groups finished, they presented their lists to the whole group and any additional details were added. They then gave a recommendation on their topic.
Chain Endgame
Location of our attempted Chain
The location of the chain that will be most sought after will be the one closest to the amp area as it will be easier for the human player to toss the high note.
Robot Location on the Chain
If only one robot is going on a chain, go in the middle of the chain.
If Harmonizing, try to align it in between the middle and one of the sides. Only two robots should try harmonizing as fitting three robots of various sides will be hard to accomplish at the end of a match.
Trap
If there is only one robot on a chain, they should align in the middle of the chain. If two robots are on a chain, don’t attempt to locate yourself with the trap (If we are attempting trap in the first place).
Harmonizing
If two or three out of three robots are big, each robot should take their own chain. If there are two or three small robots, two of them should go on the same chain while the biggest one goes on their own (don’t attempt three robots on one chain).
Pros
- Easier for human player to achieve spotlight
- Easier to Balance
- Easier for more robots to attempt trap
- Easier to achieve and Harmony and Ensemble
- Park points guaranteed
Cons
- Limits trap attempts (when attempting Harmony)
- Harder to align on sides (Harmony)
Amp Scoring Only
Pros
- Faster cycle
- More reliable
- Charges amp for teammates
- Easier to design
- Contributes to melody
- Allows for smaller robot design
- Smaller mechanism
- Easier to line up
- Might be able to reuse mechanism for trap
Cons
- Fewer points
- More reliant on teammates to score in speaker
Speaker Scoring Only
Pros
- Gets more points in comparison to amps
- During auto, unamplified speaker notes are 5 points each and in teleop if we use amplified, we will earn 5 points
- More points each time scored in comparison to amp
- Possibility that most teams will go for amp note since it is easier to score
- More points in limited time
Cons
- Takes time to line up the shot
- Higher possibility to miss
- Harder the make it shoot up right
- Harder and longer to design
- More parts need for the shooting mechanism
- Parts might be expensive
- Shooter might break and we won’t be able to score
- Bigger mechanism so we need to put more effort to make the robot balanced
- More reliant on teammates to score amp-
- Need to be very precise
- More room for errors
Both Amp and Speaker Scoring
Pros
- Efficient way of getting points as well as helping alliances
- Consistent
- Performance will not be hindered if both alliance members are doing amp/speaker
- Able to work well with other different types of robots
- More places to score from
Cons
- Much longer to build and design
- Compared to only doing amp or speaker, the jobs we will carry out will be less efficient
- More parts needed, more money
- More complicated, more risk/space for mistakes
Trap Scoring
Pros
- +5 points
- We are already probably going for a design with a height of less than 4 feet, so why not go for it
- Has april tags so it’s possible to get this point consistently
- It’s closer to where you get the Notes from
- Same mechanism as AMP
Cons
- Must be less than 4 feet
- less robot on the robot (at least vertically)
- focus on a more horizontal robot
- We need the ability to climb onto the chain
- Must shoot at a specific angle
- It’s pretty difficult.
- Need to push in to score
Going Under the Stage
Pros
- Easier navigation
- Less time to get to places
- Simple movements to areas on the field
- Increased Speed
Cons
- Height requirement (< 2 ft)
- Condensing robot components
Co-Op Button
Pros
- Lowers threshold for ranking points
Cons
- Can’t use note for amplify
- Only has first 45 seconds of Tele-Op
- Not everyone chooses to use this
- Not relevant in Playoffs
Floor Pickup
Pros
- Easier in autonomous
- Do not have to cross full field (shorter rotations)
Cons
- Over bumper intake
- More driver skill required
- Limited number of pieces on the floor
Source Pickup
Pros
- Less time spent picking up
- Less driver skill required
Cons
- Longer rotations – have to cross the full field
We ended up making a Need/Want/Don’t Want list. We also put them in order of priority within the list.
Need
- Swerve
- Score in Amp
- Floor Pickup
- Score and Move in auton
- Climb on Chain
- Harmonize
Want
- Go Under Stage
- Score in Speaker
- Score High Note
Don’t Want
- Scoring from far
- Scoring in trap
Impact Award Theme
The operations team had brainstormed many different ideas for our Impact Award theme. Each year we choose a theme to represent our team during our Impact Presentations, during interactions in the pits, and to theme our giveaways. In 2022, We were the Regal Eagle Railroad; In 2023, We were an electric grid providing connectivity to communities, local and widespread.
The team chose to go with a music tour theme for this year. Likely names include Regal Eagles on Tour, Regal Eagle Roadtrip, or Regal Eagles Round the World. We are thinking of giving out “tickets” to our show to anyone at our pits. We may also make “playbills” to show off our different initiatives.