Team 935 autonomous testing

[railerobotics]

Just got our autonomous working after 3 snow days.

http://youtu.be/KFt4y4kJHxk

http://youtu.be/mwnq6qMQM5M

http://youtu.be/M1a3f4SlfHw

Now the snow can go away. Please and thank you.

[nikeairmancurry]

Very nice.... I predict a good result for your team at its first event..

[Animal Control]

Cool but just out of curiosity how long was that. My computer did not show me.

[railerobotics]

Cool but just out of curiosity how long was that. My computer did not show me.

It was 9.1 seconds across all of the tests based on the driver station counter. :)

[Nathan Streeter]

Very nice! It's very impressive that you already have a fully-functional system that you've got a double-ball auto working on!

40 points right there...

[Animal Control]

Thanks and that was really cool.

[JamesCH95]

I like how simple and fast your robot is, very impressive.

Are you worried about defending robots getting hit inside their frame perimeter by your collector mechanism, that looks like it must be deployed when you're shooting? Seems like you're approaching the edge of [G28].

[railerobotics]

I like how simple and fast your robot is, very impressive.

Are you worried about defending robots getting hit inside their frame perimeter by your collector mechanism, that looks like it must be deployed when you're shooting? Seems like you're approaching the edge of [G28].

The rule you are referencing (G28) does say that contact that is deliberate or damaging will be penalized. Excluding damage, there is a gray area of whether or not our contact was deliberate. Is the act of our robot shooting and a defense bot being struck deliberate contact on our part? We would be deliberately shooting the ball, not attempting to contact the defense bot. However I agree, that if we do cause damage we will probably be penalized, however the cylinders pushing out the arms are not forceful in any way. They only have the strength pull the arm in and out. They can be held up with merely an outstretched arm. Thus they will not be damaging unless we hit electronics (which is quite unlikely).

[AllenGregoryIV]

I like how simple and fast your robot is, very impressive.

Are you worried about defending robots getting hit inside their frame perimeter by your collector mechanism, that looks like it must be deployed when you're shooting? Seems like you're approaching the edge of [G28].

A lot of people have brought this up, but I doubt the penalty will be a factor for most teams. Getting your extensions damaged by hard hitting robots might be a problem but the penalty won't be called that often on pick up mechanisms. A lot of robots had drop down systems in 2012/2013 and their was a similar rule both years, I don't remember too many penalties being called, I remember a few cases where it should have been called but wasn't.

935, that is amazing that you already have a two ball auton working with over a week left in build season.

[JamesCH95]

The rule you are referencing (G28) does say that contact that is deliberate or damaging will be penalized. Excluding damage, there is a gray area of whether or not our contact was deliberate. Is the act of our robot shooting and a defense bot being struck deliberate contact on our part? We would be deliberately shooting the ball, not attempting to contact the defense bot. However I agree, that if we do cause damage we will probably be penalized, however the cylinders pushing out the arms are not forceful in any way. They only have the strength pull the arm in and out. They can be held up with merely an outstretched arm. Thus they will not be damaging unless we hit electronics (which is quite unlikely).

That's good that the mechanism is so forgiving, that should buy you a lot of latitude. I guess the only thing to really worry about is a defender stopping you from opening it in the first place!

[railerobotics]

A lot of people have brought this up, but I doubt the penalty will be a factor for most teams. Getting your extensions damaged by hard hitting robots might be a problem but the penalty won't be called that often on pick up mechanisms. A lot of robots had drop down systems in 2012/2013 and their was a similar rule both years, I don't remember too many penalties being called, I remember a few cases where it should have been called but wasn't.

935, that is amazing that you already have a two ball auton working with over a week left in build season.

Yeah I agree. That is what we are most concerned and we will probably build a couple spare loaders to swap in and out :)

And thanks for that, lots of hard work over the past 4.5 weeks.

[railerobotics]

That's good that the mechanism is so forgiving, that should buy you a lot of latitude. I guess the only thing to really worry about is a defender stopping you from opening it in the first place!

Yup and only one solution for that.


Practice. Practice. Practice.

[smart1]

wow that's impressive.

[Chadfrom308]

We were also thinking of a 2 mode autonomous mode

Also, is that a Haas CNC machine in the back? Very nice

[railerobotics]

We were also thinking of a 2 mode autonomous mode

Also, is that a Haas CNC machine in the back? Very nice

Yes it is, our team has been very fortunate in our high school partnering with a local community college. Because the community college has machining classes on our campus we are able to take full advantage of two CNC mills and two CNC lathes, as well as a multitude of manual machines. This also allows us to machine out every part of our robot, fixing mistakes as we progress through building it. And trust me, there are A LOT of mistakes.:yikes: , but that is what robotics is about, learning how to fail, and learning from failing.

[SenorZ]

What about "lit" goal detection? We haven't test (or considered) auto yet, but we're most likely going to have a "wait to shoot" feature to get extra points if our goal isn't lit.

[wireties]

Very nice - simple, repeatable, reliable! Do you use a sonar to measure the distance from the wall?

[JohnSchneider]

Good luck this season guys!

[railerobotics]

What about "lit" goal detection? We haven't test (or considered) auto yet, but we're most likely going to have a "wait to shoot" feature to get extra points if our goal isn't lit.

We decided the extra 5 points we would get was not worth (most likely) not getting 2 shots off. It was much simpler to just time the program to be sure to get the goal when it is hot at least once. The first shot goes in during the first 3 seconds and the second at 9 seconds. So we will get the hot goal at least once.

[railerobotics]

Very nice - simple, repeatable, reliable! Do you use a sonar to measure the distance from the wall?

Nope it is all just dead reckoning. Battery voltage and power levels were initially a concern, but we will have a charged battery on the board each time and even when the voltage did drop the results were not effected negatively.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Nope it is all just dead reckoning. Battery voltage and power levels were initially a concern, but we will have a charged battery on the board each time and even when the voltage did drop the results were not effected negatively.
Dead reckoning using time as the only feedback?

[railerobotics]

Dead reckoning using time as the only feedback?

Yup. The plan is to put encoders on eventually, but we could not make the brackets this week and we wanted to test it and get it to work.

[JB987]

Great job guys. Have you considered how much air the multiple cylinders you are using will require and how frequently your compressor will likely need to run if you shoot x number of times per match? Looks like you might need more than 4 accumulators for sure.

[waialua359]

I predict we will see a lot of these type of robots with 2 ball autons with the exception of those that will flip the ball over their head shooters, opposite intake collectors.

[railerobotics]

Great job guys. Have you considered how much air the multiple cylinders you are using will require and how frequently your compressor will likely need to run if you shoot x number of times per match? Looks like you might need more than 4 accumulators for sure.

We actually have 7 tucked away on there. :) we can get about 10 consecutive cycles with no recharge time before we need to stop and wait.

[Iaquinto.Joe]

Have you tested picking up both balls at the start? Leave the first ball ready to fire and holding the second ball in your intake? This could cut several seconds off your time and increase reliability.

[railerobotics]

Have you tested picking up both balls at the start? Leave the first ball ready to fire and holding the second ball in your intake? This could cut several seconds off your time and increase reliability.

If we can manage to get ahold of a second ball before the end of build season, this would be a great thing to test. Unfortunately, the way our pickup and firing system is designed, having a second ball in the pickup would most likely affect the shot of the first ball.

I was originally unsure if this is legal, but after looking around a bit I found this in the Q&A section:
Q. During the autonomous period, are teams allowed to possess two balls at the same time? Say if one alliance partner is in the goalie zone and their ball remains in white zone (compliant with G5) and we start with a ball in possession, are we allowed to possess/herd that second ball after the start?
A. There are no Rules prohibiting this. However, per G5 the ROBOT may only be preloaded with (i.e. touching) one (1) BALL prior to the MATCH starting.
So it seems this is legal, and is definitely worth looking at. Thanks for the feedback!

[waialua359]

If we can manage to get ahold of a second ball before the end of build season, this would be a great thing to test. Unfortunately, the way our pickup and firing system is designed, having a second ball in the pickup would most likely affect the shot of the first ball.

I was originally unsure if this is legal, but after looking around a bit I found this in the Q&A section:

So it seems this is legal, and is definitely worth looking at. Thanks for the feedback!
With that being said and your design, if you're able to get two at the same time, why not 3 afterwards?:)

[Team 2016]

Very nice! I especially like you'r pick up/catching device.

[dradel]

How many cylinders are you guys using to launch the ball? Hard to tell but it looks like 4

[railerobotics]

How many cylinders are you guys using to launch the ball? Hard to tell but it looks like 4

It is actually three cylinders.

[Mongai]

I was able to sneak in Saturday to view the robot. All I can say is that these guys got themselves a tough "Kansas Princess" to play with this year. :D Good job, Railers!