Introduction
I have studied how the robots can move on the table to ensure that there is romm for avoidance an that it is possible to reach every point of interest without bumping into game elements.
Observations
- The top of the table is not available for circulation as the PAMIs and the top plant circle are bocking the way. (this is ok)
- The bottom of the table is not availabe for circulation as the solar panels and the bottom plant circle are blocking the way. (this makes it difficult to access solar panels without bumping the plants)
- A robot cannot go from one side of the table to the other without bumping into plants. (This will reduce the interactions between robots, each team being locked on its side of the table)
- A robot has nearly 0 alternative path if he gets blocked by an opponent.
Here is a picture of the table with, in white, the areas where the center of a 30cm (diameter) robot can be:
Solutions
- Smaller plant circles (from 30cm to 20cm):
- Smaller starting areas (from 450mm to 400mm): (with only 1 robot per team, we can reduce them)
- By also re-organizing the plant circles we can free up the acces to the solar panels, while also making this zone much more circulable (solar panel are a place where both robots will go, thus needs room for avoidance)
Answers to questions
I know that changing things can be hard, but I feel that the advantages of the final solution outgoes the arguments that can be opposed:
- "Some robots might not fit in the new starting areas" -> True, but the robot would have to be under 20cm deep to match the perimeter rule. So it applies to robot with: width>40cm and depth <20cm. Is there really robot of this form factor? (and i didn't mentioned putting it in diagonal). And do you really want be to draw the circulable areas for a robot of this size x)? (I did, it's awfull)
- "The circles are too small so the plants are too packed." -> True they will be more packed, but we still don't know their positions and that's the point. If we do want to make them bigger, we can tune their positions and acheive a similar result.
- "The logo wont be visible" -> There is a brand new position 50cm bellow it's original one. "But it is not centered!" -> does it really needs to be?
Available
If you want to iterate on the above propositions, get the exact position of the elements, don't hesitate to contact me!