The Robot Game
The robot game is the part of competition that involves the NXT. To prepare for this section of competition, look at the Basic Rules of building and the Basic Blocks of programming. Those are the bear minimum things you need to know to be able to compete in this section. Anything more you learn will only make this section easier for your team. Any less would be a challenge in competition.
The Robot Game takes place on a 8'x4' mat supported by a wooden table. On the mat are multiple missions made of LEGO. Each team will get two minutes and thirty seconds to run their robots. If the robot is within a section of the field known as the base it can be touched by two of the team members known as the operators. If not, the robot must be left untouched. Anyone who touches it outside the base will cost their team a point reduction. There are only two operators allowed at the table at a time.
Every year there is a theme to the competition. The robot game is based around that theme. The game is made up of many smaller missions arranged on a large mat. Your job as a team is to create a robot to complete as many of the missions as you can for the maximum amount of points.
Once your team has reviewed the table and rules of the game and missions, you should all sit down and plan out how you want to do all the missions. Your team should consider:
The Robot Game takes place on a 8'x4' mat supported by a wooden table. On the mat are multiple missions made of LEGO. Each team will get two minutes and thirty seconds to run their robots. If the robot is within a section of the field known as the base it can be touched by two of the team members known as the operators. If not, the robot must be left untouched. Anyone who touches it outside the base will cost their team a point reduction. There are only two operators allowed at the table at a time.
Every year there is a theme to the competition. The robot game is based around that theme. The game is made up of many smaller missions arranged on a large mat. Your job as a team is to create a robot to complete as many of the missions as you can for the maximum amount of points.
Once your team has reviewed the table and rules of the game and missions, you should all sit down and plan out how you want to do all the missions. Your team should consider:
- Maximum Points - Calculate the highest amount of points there are available to get on the field. This can help you to understand the worth of some missions over others.
- Prioritize Missions - Figure out which missions are the quickest to complete and worth the most points. List off the ones you think you can complete for the most points.
- Proximity - Missions that are close together are typically best to do all together in one big run. This reduces the amount of time you have to take moving to the missions and back to base. You must consider how you will transport game pieces, attachments, and order of the grouped missions. This is a difficult thing to do but very effective for competition.
- Game Objects - When combining missions you can end up having to transport a lot of game pieces. Make lists of the pieces you will have to carry and figure out if combining those missions will be possible for how many things you must carry.
- Accuracy - The robot will run completely autonomous so accuracy is a priority to any mission. You can use sensors and walls to maintain accuracy during missions but this uses up time. Plan this well.
- Points per Second - Time is limited and valuable. After completing a mission, record the time and amount of points earned. A good way to figure out if a run was valuable is to figure out the amount of points per second. For example, if i get 20 points in 10 seconds then that missions was 2 points per second. You want this number to be as high as you can. If you get a mission does not give you a high point per second then it may not be very valuable to keep.
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