pic: Team 1501 (T.H.R.U.S.T.) 2009 Skyhawk

[Wayne Doenges]

[cdm-description=photo]32817[/cdm-description]

[gorrilla]

:D super cool, nice use of rivets,

[Akash Rastogi]

BEST. ROBOT. EVER. O.O

[cziggy343]

pardon my stupidity, but how does it shoot?

looks super dooper pretty :D

[s_forbes]

How do you guys manage to build the most amazing robots year after year? Somehow you always manage to make my favorite robot. You're awesome.

I hope it performs as well as it looks! When will we get to see more pictures of it?

[Ian Curtis]

That is soooooo pretty... :ahh: Looks like it belongs in a Pixar movie, not on a FIRST field, although I'm sure it'll be a fierce competitor! How are you shooting them, and how long does it take to reload?

[lukevanoort]

Very, very nice. I think it looks even nicer than the '06 1501 model (more reserved). I particularly like the pneumatic shooter, makes for a much smaller and cleaner package than a ton of wheels. So, what are the vital stats? Weight, ball capacity, range, firing rate, etc.

[R.C.]

DUDE I love this bot, if only if only I had seen this before season. Jk, vids would be nice.

[Qbranch]

HOLY COW! Another nice one from 1501! :yikes:

That's a real beaut guys... is the drive 4wd skid steer?

Any video in the works?

Again, fantastic machine.

-q

[roboticWanderor]

OMG ITS SOO COOL.
IT's like a whale bot, that spits balls, or something i don't even know! this thing must be able to eat other robot with that huge gaping mouth!!!

[Alan Anderson]

Not only is it one of the most beautiful FRC robots I've ever seen, but it makes the most wonderful "Ding!" sound each time it scores a moon rock.

[Mike Betts]

It reminds me of a Dr. Who style "villainous" robot... I like it!

Best of luck,

Mike

[smurfgirl]

That is one beautiful robot. (You guys and your rivets... seriously.:rolleyes:) I love the exit sign, by the way. Good luck this season! :D

[Wayne Doenges]

So, what are the vital stats? Weight, ball capacity, range, firing rate, etc.

Height: 59 7/8"
Length: 27 3/4"
Width: 37 7/8"
Weight: 116 lbs Nothing had to be removed to make weight :)
Ball Capacity: 7 ish
Range: 2-10 feet variable
Firing rate: Slow but being worked on.

Like Alan mentioned we have a very distinctive bell sound when we shoot. This is due to the resonate frequency of the large aluminum striker plate on the cyclinder.
We pick up the balls and transport them outside of the robot perimeter while the hooks stay within said perimeter.
Our progremmer was very good. We can lead the target and put the balls in the trailer.
pardon my stupidity, but how does it shoot?
Not a stupid question. The balls come up the spine and are transported over the top of the shooter where they drop down into the shooter bowl. An air cylinder/striker plate strikes the ball and sends it on it's way.

[gorrilla]

does your turret rotate? if it does,how did you get the piston to rotate with it?

[Wayne Doenges]

The camera rotates to find, and lock onto, the target trailer, than it brings the shooter turret in line to make the shot.
Turret can also be manually controlled. We have 180 degress of movement.

[Collin Fultz]

I got to see this bot at a pre-ship scrimmage yesterday. VERY cool and will definately be a force at Boilermaker.

[Fireworks 234]

I have to say that I find myself staring at your robot year after year. It's one of those robots that I look forward to seeing, because I know it'll amaze me every time! :yikes: Great job you guys!

[Luke Pike]

I'm the programmer that Wayne was referring to. I thought I would explain how the shooter does it's stuff. The camera code is a slightly modified version of the Two Color Tracking Example. Once the camera has a lock, I do a bunch of trig to get the distance and therefore the velocity of the moon rock. I also get the angle the turret needs to point at and, using a 1000 pulse per revolution encoder, turn the turret to the correct angle.

Most of the time, the camera can lock on quickly to a target and all the operator has to do is fire. However, if the target is moving very erratically or the camera is blocked by something, the operator can take full control of the turret and firing speed.

If any of the shooting components should fail (it shouldn't, but with other robots ramming into us, it is a possibility), we still have another option. That "huge gaping mouth", as roboticWanderor put it so well, is capable of holding 7 or 8 moon rocks held back by the thresher. We can deliver these balls to human players or even other robots by reversing the thresher speed (controlled by the driver) and regurgitating the moon rocks (seriously, that's what it looks like).

[Wayne Doenges]

We will be holding our usual Count-the-Rivet contest at Boilermaker.
We don't know what the prize will be, but it will be nice.

The total count is not 1501

[BPetry234]

It was really cool to see it in action this past weekend. Like others have said, it sounds really cool when it fires. Seemed to do pretty well on the field, better then I thought a shooter would do.

[Steven Zehner]

Not only is it one of the most beautiful FRC robots I've ever seen, but it makes the most wonderful "Ding!" sound each time it scores a moon rock.

It doesn't like to miss either, so the "ding" is truly telling others that it scored. :p

[That Green Gent]

WOW! Nice. This is my teams first (pun intended) year and from what I've seen so far, this is the nicest looking one with a clever utilization of rivets and the exit sign (lol). Just throwing this out there, it looks like a kitchen mixer.:D But still awesome at that!

[samir13k]

I totally thought it looked like a kitchen mixer when it was finished! I just was not sure if i was just dillusional since i was hitting my 20th straight hr in the shop and it was 7 am!

[Wayne Doenges]

I thought it looked more like an espresso machine.
One of the possible names was Express-O Delivery :D

The name "Skyhawk" is to honor one of our mentors who passed away 2 years ago. Jerry Smyth flew for the Navy and his aircraft was the A4 Skyhawk.

[Nathan]

Congrats 1501! The robot looks amazing!!

[Crump]

maybe its just me... but are those 1024 shirts you're wearing!?!?! GO THRUST! :)

[Curt Henderson]

Those are Kil-a-byte T-Shirts, but they are on the Kil-a-byte team memebers who got caught in the crossfire of the camera.

[JaneYoung]

I thought it looked more like an espresso machine.


It is so sleek. I really thought it looked like a combo espresso machine/salon hair dryer - futuristic/and something you would find in a cool games arcade. It's a beauty.

[Enigma's puzzle]

It is so clean and beautiful

inserting Envy here

[Wayne Doenges]

Here is another video showing Skyhawk shooting.
Sound is muted due to the size of the building we were in.
This was taken at our robot revealing to the public.
Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bne0iw3GaB0

[thefro526]

Wow, I really like how the straight the shooter shoots. Looks like a lot of fun.

One question though, why does it jerk back and forth? Does that have to do with the auto targeting?

[Wayne Doenges]

One question though, why does it jerk back and forth? Does that have to do with the auto targeting?
The camera was getting confused with the lighting in the building as it was much brighter than where we build our bot.

[Luke Pike]

Those shots weren't camera controlled, they were manual. As Wayne said, the lighting was completely different then the shop, messing the camera up. So I switched to manual mode and shot the balls that way. Afterwards I adjusted the brightness for the camera so we could do the promotional video.

As for the jerkiness, that was before I implemented a Proportional control for the turret. Now it's nice and smooth.

[dodar]

DUDE! most of my team and alot of kids from my school believe that is THE MOST EPIC robot we have seen this year!!! :yikes:

[Wayne Doenges]

DUDE! most of my team and alot of kids from my school believe that is THE MOST EPIC robot we have seen this year!!!

Thanks for the great compliment. I will pass it on the all the students and mentors.

[Katie_UPS]

So seriously, the robot looks like it should be saying

OM NOM NOM

[ComradeNikolai]

Yes! Another pneumatic schooter!

Oh, wait... It actually looks good.
And it works.

Congrats on an awesome 'bot. I wish I could see it in action!

[Shadow503]

nice job you guys! This baby is gonna get tons of camera time for sure!

[SafetyGracie]

Dear 1501 build team,

Thanks for making our bot so pretty. It makes our job a lot easier.

Sincerely,
Team 1501 marketing team.

[Wayne Doenges]

When will we get to see more pictures of it?
Check our website for the build pictures. Pictures are there now.
http://huntingtonrobotics.org/

[Wayne Doenges]

The prize for the Count-the-Rivet contest has been graciously donated by Elston Enterprises. It will be a 1 gig iPod Shuffle.
So come by our pit, at BMR, and take a guess as to how many rivets were used on Skyhawk

[Collin Fultz]

What was the final count on number of rivets? How close was the winning guess?

[Wayne Doenges]

The final rivet count was........Drum Roll........................2395 :ahh:
The winning guess was 1799

[Enigma's puzzle]

you guys have some sort of automatic riveter right? or just some carpel tunnel?

[Curt Henderson]

That count doesn't even include the rivets we had to drill out due to errors during the assembly process.