FTC Strategy
…probably more important than you
thought
Why Strategy?
Doesn’t that only happen
when I’m in a match?
NO!
Strategy is a full
season element!
Why Strategy?
Strategy is the main driver
of your competition team.
But the robot…
Strategy drives your robot
design, not the opposite.
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 strategy
What 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!