Game Dynamics

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How to win?

This game is won by maximizing the number of 5 point shots

Match Strategy: Planning & Executing

Autonomous

Collecting notes

  • Pilfering from your opponent’s source zone is easy if your opponents can’t or won’t punish you with fouls.

Lanes

Use the language “ampside” and “sourceside” to communicate with alliance partners. This has the advantage of being alliance-agnostic. I also like “frontcourt” to refer to the space between the podium and amp zone, but this is not as obviously intuitive.

Using the space below the stages allows your alliance to get a lot of additional room to maneuver. However, it’s very easy to incorporate a single cycling robot that cannot get under the stages by having them run the sourceside.

Natural Cycling Paths

Natural Cycling Paths

It’s natural to have a short, amp-first robot take the ampside, and a possibly-tall, speaker-first robot take the sourceside. The central lane is in the best position to switch between amping and speaker cycles.

Amplification

Baseline Greedy Algorithm for Amp Scoring:

  • Assumption: All scoring members of the alliance can capably score in either the amp or the speaker
  • Process
    • Score in the Amp if it will make progress towards Amplification. Otherwise, score in the speaker.
    • Human player: Amplify every time the stack lights are lit up and a robot scores in the speaker.

Mechanics

  • Speaker scores are processed after they fall down into the indexer. This means that a human player paying close attention can hit the amplification button just as they see a note go into the speaker and get the credit for amplifying that score.
  • Notes scored in the Amp do not make progress towards Amplification when scored during the Amplification period.

Heuristics

  • Any shots in an unamplified speaker are inefficient
    • 2 amp scores + 1 speaker score = 7pts; 3 speaker scores = 6pts
  • Any amplifications with fewer than 4 speaker scores are inefficient
    • Amplifications max out at 4 speaker scores

Stockpiling

  • Stockpiling: storing 1 or more notes on your scoring side of the field so that they’re available in the next amplification period.
    • Stockpiling can help get speaker scores in each amp period by shortening cycle times.
    • A good spot to stockpile is the amp zone, because it is difficult to pilfer from (opponents run the risk of tech fouls) and close to both scoring locations.
    • Stockpiling lots of notes increases your vulnerability to pilfering, and clutters your scoring area. Amplifications max out at 4 scores, so stockpiling more than 2 notes doesn’t make a lot of sense.
  • Scoring Flexibility
    • Robots able to score both in the amp and the speaker help with amp efficiency because they can switch to what’s needed.
    • This risks teams getting in each other’s way as they cross lanes.

Safe Zones

Key safe zones:

  • Amp Zone
  • Podium

Defense

Subwoofer Defense

Sending a single robot to your opponent’s wing to disrupt the opponent’s speaker scoring. This works best when the opponent’s alliance is highly reliant on scoring from right up against the subwoofer. Analogous to rocket defense in 2019 or tower defense in 2016. Generally works best when the defender stays disciplined and doesn’t move from the subwoofer much, if at all.

Having a physical shot blocker at maximum height can make this strategy more successful - you can also take advantage of the 12” extension to increase your shot blocking ability, reaching into opponent’s airspace.

Subwoofer defense runs a high risk of zone penalties, especially with the amp zone protection.

Successful examples: team 1014 in the playoffs of the Smoky Mountains Regional. 1405’s eliminations run at the 2016 Championship.

Amplification Defense

When your opponents amplify (or you can identify they’re about to amplify), send a robot to opportunistically clutter their frontcourt and maybe steal stockpiled notes. This is highly tricky and situational, and relies on a lot of communication behind the glass. However, it has the potential to really disrupt the opposing alliance at the most efficient time.

Source Zone Bottleneck Defense

This is the safest type of defense to play from the perspective of penalties, and requires the least amount of robot motion. Position a robot between your opponent’s stage and the field boundary, on their sourceside. This chokes up 2 of the natural lanes coming out of their source and will make their cycling more awkward.

Endgame

Climbing without either the ability to trap or harmonize is not very rewarding points-wise. It is only 2 points more valuable than a park, so you truly need your hang to be fast to be worthwhile.

Attempting harmony is high-risk. Touching a robot that is not onstage invalidates your hang, so when you attempt harmony every robot attempting Harmony really needs to prioritize making it.

The previous points taken together imply that when it comes to winning playoff matches, climbing is not particularly important.

Playbook

Full Court Passing

This strategy involves collecting notes from the source and launching them into your alliance’s wing to speed up cycle times for your partners. The core reason this strategy works is that robots can launch notes across the field much faster than they can traverse it. It takes advantage of specialization - the full court launcher is able to drill down on a very short cycle and repeat it many, many times. This also has the benefit of deconflicting your source zone and frontcourt - if one robot is just passing forward, then there isn’t the possibility of 3 robots all in the source at once.

Aim to land notes between your alliance’s subwoofer and amp zone. It’s difficult for the opposing alliance to pilfer from there and they risk tech fouls from the amp zone.

This relies on the alliance being able to clean up the frontcourt effectively. At least one robot needs an excellent ground pickup and the ability to score in both the amp and speaker.

Successful examples: 2468/3005 at FiT Waco and FiT Fort Worth