Hi all,
I have a question about the new Normalisation rule in FAI Sporting Code 2018.
https://www.fai.org/sites/default/fi...robatics_18.pd
(Page 15 in the PDF)
Anyone know how the top half is rounded off when odd numbers of competitors.
For example 9 competitors - is half of competitors (9/2=4.5) 4 or 5 for this rule?
- does one round up or down?

We will have our first F3A competition in our country for the season later in May and it is always good to prepare well ahead.

/Bo

Hi Bo

If there is an odd number then round up. So if there are 9 competitors then take the average of the top 5 pilots. We are now using the Notaumatic system and this is how the programme has been set up.

bandicootf16,
OK, I suppose if Notaumatic use rule to round up, then the guys that develop Notaumatic and it's scooring software has checked with FAI that this is the proper way to do it.

/Bo

Still trying to understand the value of this. I guess it helps if the winning pilot has a huge round and makes it a throw away for the rest.

Hello All,
Hi Anthony,
That's exactly what it is about!
Back in '89 I had to throw out a round at the Team Trials in which I placed third!
Any statistics based on a single data point are junk ... It's fundamental!
At the time, I proposed that normalization be done over the group of fliers for which you want the judging panels to be evenly weighted ...
for example:
I suggested that in the prelims it would be over 1+"the number of flyers who go to the Semi-Finals";
then in the Semis it would be over 1+ "the number of pilots to go to the Finals";
then in the Finals it would be over the top 4.
Why 4 ??? Think of it this way, there are two important decisions in a Final: 1) who is the World Champ? and 2) did we get it right between the last pilot on the podium and the first one off it?
Of course back in late '87 when I wrote this up, there was no Semi-Final.

The "top half" arrangement may not be ideal but it beats the living daylights out of normalizing to a single top score.
Take Care, All
Dean Pappas

Hi,
So then this new way of calculate Normalisation is better and more fair then.
It is little strange to me why this new rule has not been implemented in the Sporting Code until now.

Can any clever figure out what impact the new rule may have - could it affect the results in any significant way
compared to old rule?

/Bo

Hello Bo,
You are absolutely right: it is strange that this has not happened until now.
I am fairly certain that there will be many cases where the effect is subtle but beneficial.
The occasional dramatic effect is probably most noticed when a single standout flier either puts in a barn-burner (and depresses everyone else's normalized scores) or passes up the opportunity to fly the round.
I do remember overhearing a discussion between flyers at a local contest almost 20 years ago that if the sure winner would sit out the last round (having already mathematically won the meet ) that the two of them could then properly fight it out in the one remaining round. The one that earned the 1000 would would almost certainly win second place and the previous 5 rounds would have had diminished effect.
The mere fact that such a discussion took place underscored the weakness in the old single score normalization.
Regards,
Dean Pappas

Heck, it took 30 years for the FAI to incorporate 1/2 points!

Amen, Tony!
I had to read it three times before I believed it.
take care,
Dean Pappas