What do you do with your old robots?

[sanddrag]

What does your team do with previous years robots? Put them on diplay, take them apart, sell them or their parts, demonstrate them,etc. . .

We have all 2 of our past bots on display in our school. We occassionally use the 2002 one for demos and such or getting the new people aquainted with the inner workings of it.

[Jeff Waegelin]

We took apart our first two robots (1998 and 1999). We were moving into a different facility for a year, and had no place to put them. They were non-functional (the computers had been sent back), so we scrapped them and used some of the parts.

Our last three robots, (2000-2002) however, are still fully functional and are used for demos and testing purposes. One is at our sponsor's office, the other two are at our shop. They're boxed up right now, but we've hauled them out a couple of times this year. We've done some demos in the community, and also used them to teach new team members and conduct driver tryouts.

[evulish]

Our robots are mostly on display...they remain on a shelf above where we work. The ones up there don't work. (We've had to take some of the parts off to reuse or we had to give back the computers) We currently have two running...the current one and last years (which we still use for demos)

[Joe Matt]

The origional Spark and 2 & 3 are fully functional. We actually had set out to revamp Sparky 1.0 for display. 2.0 is used a lot for show and tell, 3.0 is used for refrences to last year, and 1.0 was used somewhat last year for testing code for 3.0 while it was in Florida.

[dk5sm5luigi]

Team 155 The Techno-nuts only has the past three years robots in one piece and uses them for fundraisers. All of their past robots going back to 1994 only have a piece or two hanging on the Tech Ed room in the middle school. We only put up the interesting pieces on the wall which includes some drive chasis, claws, lift, and baskets. It is an interesting site to see. We also have our flags of 1997 and 1998 hanging there when we were the Toriod Twisters and Rail Runners. The good ol' days.

[Clark Gilbert]

All of our robots (except for 1 that mysteriously disappeared<--not sure, wasnt around, i thought i heard one of the engineers we had back somewhere between 93-96 took it) are put on display near the entrace to our shop. Although they are on display this doesnt mean they have to work :D. Most don't, some have been used for community projects or "robot practice" (the team trashed one w/ our 1999 robot). Then what ever is left is used for development for future ideas or they are lent to rookie teams so they can see how things work on a FIRST robot.

[Joe Matt]

Mysteriously dissapeared? How can you loose a robot?

[evulish]

We 'mysteriously' lose everything...nobody knows where the handle to our robot cart went...

[chellyzee93]

We keep ours and use them for promontional purposes. Most of them don't work because they don't have all of the parts or are just plum worn out... but we still keep them on display.

[hacksaw692]

our first robot (read: peice of wood on wheels... literally. it consisted of wood, the cpu, and two drive motors...) is somewhere. i'm not too sure where it is actually. but we did use it for programing practice last year. someone said that it's in pieces somewhere; it is yet to be located. but when it is, we're going to use it for training sessions.

last year's robot is still assembled (not a piece of wood on wheel, a very big improvement). well, more or less. one of the chains was removed because it kept on popping off. we're going to use it for demos with the rookie teams, driver training, and as a model for the new robot. i don't think we plan on taking apart.

[mtaman02]

Our Oldest Robot in Team 522's possession


ROBERTA - 2000 Robot - Current Role on Team = Turned robot over to Team 371 for their usage. Statistics = 0 Mechanical Failures to date, Still Weighs 128+ lbs.




WILMA - 2001 Robot - Current Role on Team = Ambassadorial Services, Retired, Public Relations. Statistics = 0 Mechanical Failures to date, Still weighs 129+ lbs. hehe,



DOROTHY - 2002 Robot - Current Role on Team = Retired, Statistics = 0 Mechanical Failures to date, Still weighs 129+ lbs.



Our 2003 Robot well we have a name for it already plus we already know that it won't have any mechanical failures.



All Robots that were built by McKee were built tough and Long Lasting. We Do not sacrifice our older robot parts to make new models. Our robots are currently being house inside RM 101 (our robotics room and machine shop) on the playing field where we test new drivers and come up with different scenarios to perfect our drivers.

All our robots get maintenance whenever they must do a big show (PTA Nights {color Guard}, Meeting Gov't Officials {Met The Mayor @ City Hall in March}, and Off-Season Competitions)

[Dan 550]

We tossed the 2001 bot in the scrap yard after stripping it of its electronics. The 2002 BOX O' DOOM will have one body panel saved and turned into a plaque sometime soon, then we'll un-bolt the extrusion and such for recycling into the 2003 bot. Extrusion = good.

[Redhead Jokes]

Originally posted by sanddrag
What does your team do with previous years robots? Put them on diplay, take them apart, sell them or their parts, demonstrate them,etc. . .


All our previous robots were torn apart, except 2001 championship robot which we happily revamped this year.

[Koko Ed]

We keep all of our robots(except the very first one) in an X-Cats museam at the far end of our site. Collecting 12 years of FIRST memorialbelia.

[Johca_Gaorl]

I believe we have our:
2000
2001
2002
Robots, and our 2000 will be taken apart this year :( that's just how it goes, we don't have enough room to store them

[Kit Gerhart]

Originally posted by Clark Gilbert
All of our robots (except for 1 that mysteriously disappeared<--not sure, wasnt around, i thought i heard one of the engineers we had back somewhere between 93-96 took it) are put on display near the entrace to our shop. Although they are on display this doesnt mean they have to

Our two most recent robots are kept operational and are used for demonstartions and driver practice. We have also lent the working robots to new teams in the area so they can see what they are getting themselves into, and to give them ideas for their first-year efforts.

[Neal Probert]

Better yet, what do defunct teams do with their old robots and left over hardware?

We're a rookie team with nothing to start with. So, we could use some of that old left over junk as training material for the students. At least anything you aren't using.

[Rob Colatutto]

our first two bots (99-2000) are up in the loft, stripped of electronics, everything else is on them for the most part, and our 2001 and 2002 bots are still together in the clubhouse. 2002 is in perfect condition, 2001 (sbpli regional winner) is in good working condition, minus the damage from entering it at bash last month

[Lisa Rodriguez]

I know that our team stripps past robots for parts to build the "evil twin" or practice robot, to be used for drivers when the competition one is packed up in a crate, or even before, to be used playing against each other on our playing field. I believe will still have our 2000 and 2001 robots intact or close to it, we tend to use those as the "other robot" on the alliance while practicing. We get plenty of mileage out of our machinces:)

[Josh Hambright]

We had been saving our robots though for space reasons we scraped rowdy 1...our first robot our team built....
we still have the last 2 though...
I think that one kid on our team took home the bent up frame of rowdy 1 and has it in his room... i have one of the bumpers of this past years robot (rowdy 3) cuz i was proud of how mangled i had made a piece of angle alluminum....

We usualy use them for demonstrations and are always driving them around at PR events...the robot from 2 years ago is much better for this with its big ball manipulator and huge lift...this years robot just sorta drives and grabs goals...nothing spectacular.

[Perseus]

Big MOE has been stripped

Lil MOE is in a glass container with an air-tight lock, surrounded by sensors and motion detectors. It is in a remote cave in the depths of the Grand Canyon, where it is monitored daily by Action Joe(engineer) whose whole life is dedicated to making sure the temperature stays right, not to cold, but not to hot, and that Lil MOE may be sealed forever, unblemished so our grandkids can experiece the sight and sounds of a god-like lime green machine.




P.S. HAHAHA you MOE guys cant hurt me, I am all the way down here


P.P.S. please dont send george

[Chubtoad]

1999 - Scrapped, it never really worked anyway, we have the ladder of it still somewhere I think.

2000 - Rebuilt Last summer, currently awaiting the re-installment of electronics

2001 - Working Great, used for P.R. and pratice.

2002 - Off-Season Comps. P.R.

Also during the season we turned the prototype into a fully functioning copy of the final product, during off-seasons we tore it apart and now it is hanging from the celing of our off-site shop.

We also built a robot we call "Slanty" durring the summer of 2001, that we use for P.R. and fun, cause it is fun!

We also have some other random prototype from this past season hanging on the shop wall.
Our new Motto "If It doesn't move, Mount it on the wall!"

[lady lighting]

Our team we have a whole shelf of our previous robots in our crib. idk what we are going to do with them next year when we move but thats what we do.

[Vikesrock]

Wow, some serious thread revival going on here. How do you even find a thread this old?

[Chris is me]

Wow, some serious thread revival going on here. How do you even find a thread this old?

Searching!

That's been a problem on some forums I've been to, people get told to search, then they do and get warned for bumping but i digress

Anyhow, 1714's kept all of its bots every year. We used our 2007 robot to beta test the new control system, though when we had to gut the beta parts out our robot's so disassembled it's unlikely it'll ever drive again. It would take a few weeks of effort and scavenging for old parts.

They're really cool to have around and use for demos and whatnot. Though I think our 09 bot is the coolest to demo, since a ton of balls quickly flying out of our robot's a lot more dramatic than our slow 06 Aim High feed or our 08 ball manipulator.

[ATannahill]

Searching is appropriate when trying to find information, but the poster seemed to answer the question. I don't see why you search for threads more than six years old to answer the question.

Team 79 still has all of our robots, although some do not work anymore. They are great for practice, demos, and showing to freshmen.

[cpeister]

We have kept all of our robots over the years, however, one or two have been pillaged for parts, and others don't drive due to occasionally mechanical, but usually electrical and programming problems. We have about 4 robots that operate right now.

[DiehardCybercard]

ha, you can see parts of previous robots all over our workshop. we try to keep our robotcs intact... but that never happens. the longest we have kept a robot together was our Overdrive robot, homer. until recently we broke the poor guy.

we plan on keeping our 09 robot together because it is the first robot we have ever built that has competed and performed well.

[EricH]

Seriously, guys, there are much more recent threads on this topic.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68092&highlight=old+robots is one of them

How about directing this discussion there?

[Dillon Carey]

we have tried to always have at least 1 of our robots working all of the time, for promotional purposes. But.... if we are working on something in the off season and we need some chain, and we don't have any, the chain on one of the old bots goes missing. all of our old robots have been slowly decaying this way.

[Ramiro_T]

With us, we use "Jerry" to practice driving. "Virginia" is used for demo with the large ball. We might use "Carmen" for programming practice with LabVIEW. I don't know about the rest.

[Molten]

Seriously, guys, there are much more recent threads on this topic.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68092&highlight=old+robots is one of them

How about directing this discussion there?

If we did that, it would cause 2 revived threads instead of 1. Besides, there is nothing wrong with thread revival as long as it is done properly.

Keys to proper thread revival:
1. The topic must still be applicable to today.
2. The thread being revived should contain no flaming.(please don't revive old arguments)
3. Make sure the post you make in the old thread add something to the thread.

As long as these three are met, revive the thread.

Erich: According to standard delphian practice the thread you referenced shouldn't have been made. The OP for that thread should have been a revival of this thread in the first place.

Just my 2 cents.

[ShaunT]

We rip ours apart for parts... it's kind of sad, actually. It seems to have been improving, though; in 2007 (when I joined) we only had our 2006 competition robot, and that got cut apart to be a useable drive base halfway through build. The 2007 robot lasted about as long, but this year we kept our 2008 robot mostly together. The only problem with it now is we stripped a globe motor to repair our practice robot, but the rest is still fine. Hopefully the team will keep the practice and keep that one and our 2009 robot together...

Interestingly we had about 8 robots in our plant during build season: 2009 competition robot, 2009 practice robot, 440's robot, 3096's robot, 3098's robot, a fully functional prototype (made out of wood and breaks pretty much every rule for inspection, but still), and 2 prototype drive bases (kit base tank steer and 3-wheel). This is excluding robots that just came every now and then to try out the field (such as 3095 or a couple of other teams).