FTC Strategy…probably more important than you

thought

Why Strategy?

Doesn’t that only happen when I’m in a match?

Strategy is a full season element!

NO!

Why Strategy?Strategy is the main driver of your competition team.

Strategy drives your robot design, not the opposite.

But the robot…

Why Strategy?

How does it actually take all season to do this?

Unless you're only going to one tournament, which no one is…

Welcome to the League

• Info taken from FL FTC Email blast on June 20• League play– Meets• Only match play

– No elimination matches

– Average qualifying points earned per match played at all Meets attended over the course of the season will make up 50% of the team's Florida state ranking.

Welcome to the League (cont’d)

• Judges– Judges will create score cards for every team– Regular awards will not be awarded at meets– 25% of your State Ranking

• Video Judging– Mid-season video 25% of your state ranking

• League Championships– Same as outlined in “Tournament Day” section of

manual– Affect State Ranking

Welcome to the League (cont’d)

• How you qualify into state championship– Minimum Three league competitions– 50% Match Performance– 25% Average judge score– 25% Mid-season video

• Rank regularly updated on Florida FTC website• Top 24 teams qualify into State Championship

So how does this change strategy?

Average qualifying points earned per match played at all Meets attended over the course of the season will make up 50% of the team's Florida state ranking.

Every Match Counts.

What do you think?

A season of strategyWhat happens all season for strategy

Kickoff• Hit the ground running• Learn the rules• Analyze the game

Robot strategy

• You can change your robot between tournaments

• First tournament bots don’t usually win state championships

• Evolve your bot through the season to get to the ultimate strategy.

• Field the best bot you can

“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” - Michael Porter

Pre Tournament

• Scouting– Facebook– Websites– Forums

• Gameplay strategies– What kind of bots might be

out there?• Plan B• Practice• Coaching is key

Tournament day

• Scouting– Matches– Pit– Scouts talk to coaches

• Welcome to the realities of your robots capabilities– Adapt game play

• Talk to alliances ahead of time

• Each match is different“You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.” - Charles de Gaulle

Post Tournament

• What worked for us?• What didn’t work for us?• What worked for others?• What didn’t work for

others?• What changes do we need

to make to the bot?• Is our strategy working?

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” - Winston Churchill

…rinse, repeat.For every tournament.

Good luck!